Memories – Ken Drury

Extract from Chapter 1 – ‘Banksia, Blessings and Beyond’

The known history of the property and owners prior to being leased and subsequently owned by the Drury Family

As far as I know there are no longer any Baulmans on the Lansdowne. We know of a Mr Pat Baulman who was a prominent member of the Lansdowne Literary and Debating Society in 1898. We know that in 1918 there were at least three properties that were owned by Baulmans. George Baulman owned a property at Mt Coxcomb, C.K. Baulman owned the property at Upper Lansdowne which is now owned by Kenneth Lester Drury, and John Baulman who owned the property now known as ‘Banksia’ which is still in my family and currently owned by my sons, Adrian and Terry.

I am also told that there was once a convent situated on the property now known as ‘Banksia’. Many years later this building was to become our barn, wallpaper and all! Convents were apparently established in Cundletown, Taree and Wingham.

There were about 20 dairy farms in the Lansdowne district, averaging between 25 and 50 milking cows. One farmer was milking 120 cows. All these farmers milked by hand. Maybe that had something to do with the need for large families. Whatever the reason for large families in those days, I feel that they were more contented than many of today’s modern families.

Sometime prior to the brothers, Andrew and Clarrie Drury, leasing the farm, the homestead was situated on the sharp well-drained point above the river-flat not far from Crittenden’s boundary. Houses in earlier days were mostly built near the river. I understand that it was because the early settlers had followed the river by boat, then over a period, either on foot or horseback, moved up the waterway. They cleared the land nearest the waterway first, established homesteads and cropped the most productive soil. A few miles nearer the coast the river was navigable and used as the main means of transport. However, from there on it would be the draughthorses and bullock teams that pulled the timber for the slab huts and stringy bark for roofing along the waterways. Later, tongue-and-grooved planks and shingles were used to build the homesteads.

When the Melinga-Upper Lansdowne Road was built for more modern transport, and before the Drury brothers leased the property, the house was moved to the western side of the road. This move was considered prudent, as the new modes of transport such as the horse and sulky or buggy, bullock wagons and the emerging motor vehicle were passing close by.

I understand that the house was lowered onto logs and hauled by bullocks to its new resting place where it was lifted onto new split wooden piers with a Wallaby Jack. A Wallaby Jack was metal and ratcheted being eased manually upwards by a metal lever about 4ft long. It was very powerful.

There the house stands today, although the piers have long since been replaced with Besser and earthen bricks.

Mick Brougham and his family had leased the farm prior to Andrew and Clarrie leasing the property. Mick was a blacksmith and farrier. I vividly remember the countless discarded horseshoes that we were forever finding around the old blacksmith shed. This shed was to become dad’s car shed. In later years dad moved this shed about 50 yards closer to the house. A lean-to was erected beside it to house the cart and harness.

I clearly remember two things regarding Mick Brougham. It was said that he seldom wore boots when he worked, in fact he only wore shoes to church! And, it was said that as soon as he got home from church, he’d toss them off and get stuck into shoeing a horse. He had no fear of ever being trodden on. He had a reputation for being a very hard-working farmer and blacksmith.

About 65 years later I met one of Mick Brougham’s sons, a local small time sawmiller in the Nambucca River area while I was working for the National Party. After the ‘niceties’, to my surprise I discovered that he was Mick Brougham’s son and that he had lived in the same house that I had been reared in. I invited him to visit. He said that it looked basically the same except for the additions. However, when he lived in it there were no ceilings. He was able to talk about his room and where the kitchen and stove were. This was a very pleasant visit for us all.

Extract from Chapter 5 – Farm Machinery and Farm Implements

The generation of farmers in my early days used equipment and machinery that has long since been replaced by modern technology. The right equipment and farm machinery have always been a must for farmers of all generations if they were to have a successful farming business. It seems timely to provide some explanation of equipment from days gone by so the reader can grasp a little of the way things were.

Dad was a self-taught carpenter and was the proud owner of his own beloved hand tools. There were no power-tools or pre-cut frames in his early building days. He built lots of dairies, pig sheds, car sheds, houses and house renovations all with his well-cared for tools plus lots of sweat and long working hours!

Laneways built of solid timber directed our cows to the milking yards outside the bails. They would mostly come on cue as milking time approached, however, there were always some that needed to be coaxed and persuaded to come.

HAND MILKING

The cow would be driven to the stall and then head-locked with an adjustable 3″ x 2″ piece of timber. It was pivoted at the bottom and pinned at the top according to the size of the cow. If the cow was temperamental, she was leg-roped by tying the back leg so she couldn’t kick the bucket.

Basic equipment used for milking was usually a two-gallon rounded milking bucket to hold between one’s legs when sitting on a stool to milk. The milker would sit on a stool, often just a sawn-off pole covered with a folded corn sack for comfort, opposite the cow’s udder. Occasionally, a disturbed cow would kick the bucket and the milk would be spilt hence the need to leg-rope temperamental cows.

After milking the cow, we would pour the milk through a suitably shaped strainer with removable gauze in the bottom. The gauze was used to remove any foreign matter such as cow hair. The milk was then poured into a 40-gallon steel vat which was suitably situated above the separator. The separating process took about half to three-quarters of an hour depending on the quantity of milk. In winter we would use a smaller less cumbersome vat as the milk production would be lower due to winter and/or a drought.

Every farmer had galvanised cream and milk cans to freight their product to the manufacturer. They would range in size from four gallons to ten gallons.

MILKING MACHINES

After about 14 years of hand-milking, mum and dad installed their first milking machine. Dad, a very fast milker, was suffering more and more from arthritis, so installing a milking machine was becoming the thing to do. Machines were improving in their efficiency and ability to milk cows better. Dad installed a Moffat Virtue Unit, a machine with only one pulsator driven with a 2½ horsepower benzine engine. In about 1944 he replaced the petrol motor with a Southern Cross Diesel engine, a beautiful motor and very faithful which is more than we could say about the previous engine.

The replacement of the engine was probably due to the petrol rationing being a wartime necessity. At that stage there was no electricity.

About 20 years later, in the 1950’s, Dorothy and I discarded the Moffat Virtue and had a new milking machine installed. We thought that we were doing the right thing. After seeking advice we installed a combination, consisting of a Danger Geddy pump and pulsators with Alfa Laval teat cups. The result was a disaster and cost us a lot of money. The machine proved to be too severe on the cow’s udders causing an outbreak of mastitis.  In hindsight we should have purchased one or the other, with the Alfa Laval Magnetic probably being the best choice.

The Alfa Laval had a magnetic pulsation which was easier on the cow’s teat and less damaging to the teat canal. Pulsators provide a squeeze and release action on the cow’s teat to extract the milk. If the teat canal is damaged it allows the staph germ to enter and cause mastitis which is a dairyman’s nightmare!

The Danger Geddy machine provided direct slide pulsation to each cow which may have been alright if we had used the Danger teat cups. At the time, we were advised by the Government milking machine officer to use the heavier Alfa Cups however, they were too heavy for the Danger Geddy machine. As a result, the cows suffered damage to their teat canals resulting in mastitis. 

The Government Officer realising his mistake ‘bent over backwards’ to help us rectify the problem. The problem was costing us money, and I can assure you that we were not amused! 

Firstly, he cut a little off the cups to reduce the weight. Then, he installed automatic cup-removers so that the cups wouldn’t remain on the cow for too long. The cup-removers came into operation when the cow’s milk ceased to flow. The cup-removers worked off the machine’s vacuum-pressure system. This meant removing the cups from the cow’s udder thus avoiding excessive pressure on the teat canal for extended lengths of time. Excessive pressure caused teat canal damage thus allowing germs to enter the teat causing the mastitis. This meant that the quick removal of the cups was less dependent on the farmer who was often delayed due to other milking activities. I think the germ that entered the teat canal causing inflammation and sometimes fever was golden staph. This solution was not perfect however, it did help the situation.

REFRIGERATED STAINLESS STEEL MILK VATS

In about 1960 refrigerated stainless steel milk vats replaced milk cans. Our vat had the capacity to hold 500 gallons. The milk was collected every second day unless, due to our supply being greater the collection was needed more often. I had injured my back, over a period of time prior to the coming of our vat. The doctor gave me a medical certificate to assist our request to have a bulk-milk truck pick up our milk. They were already collecting milk from a property three miles down the road, so it was no big deal for the carrier to come the extra distance. We certainly didn’t shed any tears about the demise of the milk cans!

The road to our dairy from the main road had to be improved to allow the bulk milk carrier access in all weathers. Loads of quarry metal were laid on the road so that the carrier wouldn’t get bogged in the wet weather. This was an expensive exercise however it turned out to be a ‘blessing in disguise’ because it was to also benefit other carriers coming to ‘Banksia’. Fortunately for us we only had a relatively short roadway to prepare compared to those on other properties, but nonetheless it was ‘hard on the pocket’.

MECHANICAL CREAM SEPARATORS

Before mechanical separators began to appear, milk was allowed to settle overnight so the cream could be scooped off the next morning. Around the 1890’s a few farmers on the Lansdowne installed mechanical separators.  These farmers would not only separate their own milk they also separated the neighbour’s milk.

I understand that neighbouring farmers took their milk to Mr Crittenden’s farm which was on the Melinga-Upper Lansdowne Road. The Crittendens’ purchased the cream and the farmer would take his skimmed milk home to feed his calves and pigs. The Crittendens’ sold the cream to a private company at Purfleet. The Australian Dairy Company (ADC) had established itself in opposition to the Cooperative Dairy Company. However, the ADC only survived for a few years.

Uncle Alf Drury had a lucky escape in January 1898. He had taken his milk to be separated at Mr Crittenden’s farm. There had been some heavy rains on the upper reaches of the Lansdowne River. While Uncle Alf was away the river had risen. As he attempted to cross the river between ‘Banksia’ and his farm he was washed down stream. Sadly, his horse drowned. However, Uncle Alf managed to swim free and retrieve the dray and the cans. I guess the pigs had to tighten their proverbial belts the day Uncle Alf was washed down stream.

By the time dad began farming ‘Banksia’ I believe that every farmer had their own separator. Some separators had a motor however others had to be turned by hand. 

A German, named Feldt, invented Centrifugal Separators in 1872. A Swedish man named De Laval developed it commercially by 1878. These machines came to Australia in 1885. The first machine was powered by a horse harnessed to a pole walking round and around in circles. This rotated a geared ‘contraption’ that was attached to a drive shaft connected to the separator. Horsepower was later replaced by a wood-fired steam-driven motor. 

The milk was gravitated through the revolving steel bowl containing about 45 stainless steel skimmers, whirling at 45 revs per minute. A bell rang to indicate that the required speed had been reached. The skimmed milk flowed out the larger spout and the cream came out of the smaller spout, both flowing into their respective receptacles. As a young fellow I can remember seeing the original ‘contraption’ at the Crittenden’s and Chambers’ farms. It was fascinating to watch. When I saw the ‘contraption’ it was being used to drive their chaffcutter.

CREAM SHED

Every dairyman had to erect a small cream storage shed, built according to regulations. The shed had to be at least 100 yards from the dairy and pigsties. The carrier would only come every couple of days, so the shed had to be big enough to hold cans for a couple of days with ample air vents to keep the cream sweet. Collection depended on the weather. In summer the carrier came every second day, however, in the winter it would mostly be twice a week.

CLEANING THE BAILS

The dairy and bails had a concrete floor. These had to be cleaned so we had to have a galvanised water-tank close by, and naturally we needed a broom and shovel. There were also two gravelled holding-yards. The smaller of the two was closest the bails. These yards had to be shovelled clean and the waste carried away. In our case we usually carried the waste to the fruit trees in our nearby orchard. The fruit trees really loved it!

HARNESS SHED

We usually had two or three draughthorses and thus had a harness shed to store the equipment needed to manage the horses. 

This is an ideal time to mention the horse harness. There are the winkers for a headpiece to bridle the horse, then there’s the leather straw packed collar framed with metal frames to which the draw-chains were attached. Well, to the rear of each horse there was a wooden swingle-bar, that was about 3″ x 2″ x 2″ in size, suitably shaped and fitted with metal assemblies to connect the trace or pulling chains, and then, in turn, the chosen implement would be attached to carry out the day’s work.

If there was to be more than one horse used for the job, each individual swingle-bar was attached to a larger swingle-bar further to the rear. There was a leather back-band to support the trace-chains so that the chains didn’t dangle around the horse’s feet. A slightly different version was used to pull a cart or dray between shafts.

It was important to care for the harnessing equipment so as to keep the leather supple and preserved. At least once a year we would use either a sump or linseed oily rag on the harnesses. When the harnesses were not in use, they were hung on specially made hooks and stored in our harness shed.

HORSE DRAWN SLIDE

Today, modern farmers wouldn’t know what we were talking about when our generation speak about slides. However, the slide was a must for the carriage of almost everything, especially the tools, and of course us, to wherever there was a job to be done around the property. They were a must for us in pre-tractor times, and I must say that they served their purpose well.

The slide was a timber construction about 10ft x 2ft 6″ with a 12″ x 2″ x 10ft side-boards curved in front to negotiate the ground or whatever! In turn they were morticed to carry 4ft x 2″ cross-bearers and they had a floor covering of long palings. A suitable chain was attached to the front and away we went. 

There were metal D’s bolted to each corner in which we could put 3″ x 2″ x 3ft pegs to carry green corn or saccaline stalks for cow feed or to chaff or distribute in the paddocks. Of course, the pegs were handy to hang onto while we were travelling!

The carry-all attached to the three-point linkage chain together with a large trailer was to replace the slide and horse-drawn cart. I can’t say that I was sorry to see them replaced!

SPRING-CART OR DRAY

The spring-cart or dray was an integral part of the farm business. The dray was preferred by some because it could tip its load, but it was heavy and could not be drawn at a fast pace. We owned a cart. Dad did the woodwork; it was a beautiful piece of workmanship! It was a single horse drawn cart with many uses such as corn pulling, fire-wood collection, fencing posts, fencing tools, vegetables, milk cans, pigs and you name it!

THE BARN; CORN THRESHER AND CORN GRINDER

Our barn was approximately 30ft x 20ft. No farm was complete without a barn to store corn, potatoes, vegetables, pollard, bran, Meggetts’ meal, fertiliser and essential equipment.

A corn thresher and grinder were essential to the farm business. Our thresher was a single shoot machine (there were double receptive machines available) that was turned by hand. When we were little one of us would turn the handle while our mate would push the cob of corn into the mouthpiece of the machine. The machine had two concaved, bevelled rough steel wheels that revolved inside removing the grain from the core of the cob. It would shuffle the grain along a shoot designed to allow the grain to fall through and pass into a four-gallon drum. The cores would go a little further along and then fall on the floor.

When we were young my parents didn’t own a grinder, so my brother Don and I carried as much grain as we could up to Uncle Clarrie’s farm so we could use his grinder. We didn’t mind going the three-quarters of a mile to Uncle Clarrie’s as we used the opportunity to play with our cousins.

At the time, grain was used mainly for pigs and chooks. In later years we ground the grain and later still hammer-milled both the stalk and grain for cow feed with a small amount being used for chicken feed. 

CHAFF-CUTTER AND CORN-GRINDER

The two-blade chaffcutter and corn-grinder were considered an asset in my younger days on the farm. They were both flat-belt driven machines with a two horse-power Sundial petrol engine. I remember, as a child, dad driving us all to Comboyne to see Vic Sowter’s machine. Dad bought the machine, and had it installed in what became known as the chaff-shed. Dad built the shed especially for chaffing and grinding of grain and the storage of all the where-with-all associated with feeding cows.

Adjoining this shed dad eventually built 30 feed-stalls. This method of feeding milking cows was practiced for many years till improved pasture and feeding methods outmoded the feed-stall practice. No-one shed any tears because it was such hard work!

Our former neighbour, Bill Chambers, often expressed the wish for someone to invent a machine that would cut the corn and saccaline and then throw it back into the paddock for the cows. Sadly, Bill passed away without ever seeing his wish come true.

CORN PLANTER

In my early years, acres of corn were sown for pig and fowl feed. The corn planter was pulled by a single horse, making a furrow allowing seed and fertiliser to fall from separate boxes. These boxes were placed strategically above the furrow. The concaved rear wheels pressed the grain down nicely. Revolving plates regulated the contents of the boxes with predetermined holes at regular intervals drilled in them. We had plates of various sizes depending on the size of the seed and the density required.

SCARIFIER

To keep the crops weed free and the soil lose a scarifier was required. To do this job required the use of a steady horse to pull the scarifier along each row when the crop was about 10″ high. The hotter the day the quicker the scarified weeds would die.

A scarifier was a sturdy steel frame with two handles at about the average operators hand height. It had five short legs with suitably shaped steel shoes. The scarifier did a good job and the operator gained a pair of strong arms! On a hot day one would think that the flies knew that your two arms were occupied! Some farmers found the pesky flies such a nuisance that they took to wearing a string net over their work hat with corks attached as weights. The corks would dangle around the face and solve the fly problem.

Cow cane was all the go when I was a kid. It was permanent, regrowing after harvesting ready for the next winter. It responded to a scarifier/cultivator being dragged through each row immediately after harvesting. However, in general it lost favour as a crop because the cane was difficult to cut without cutting oneself with the sharp leaves. Ouch!

GRASS RENOVATOR

Dad and Uncle Clarrie shared a small bullock-team between them. They used the team to pull, among other things a grass renovator. I don’t recall that it was used very often. This earlier model was superseded in the 1950’s by a stump-jump model attached to a three-point linkage on the rear of tractors.

STUMP-JUMP GRASS RENOVATOR

The stump-jump implement had spring steel curved legs with steel shoes placed about 9″ apart on a steel frame. The implement was used to aerate the soil as the legs were drawn through the soil. At times new seed was sown in conjunction with the operation.

MOULDBOARD STEEL PLOUGH

I loved ploughing the soil, enjoying the aroma and the rich texture as the draughthorses pulled the plough along. The plough was a 10″ mouldboard steel plough however I could never work out why it was called a board when it was in fact steel! The day came when labour became too expensive. More land needed to be cultivated to keep the farm viable. Eventually it became apparent that we had to upgrade from draughthorses to a tractor or be left behind.

DOUBLE-HARROWS

Double-Harrows were dragged with two horses over ploughed ground to level it in preparation for sowing seed. This process also was used to destroy any unwanted weeds that may have begun to show their ugly unwanted heads!

In my time, the harrow was made out of 4″ x 4″ sawn timber with steel tines (spikes). A blacksmith hammered the steel tines into shape while they were still red hot, making them square sided and pointed. Dad made beautiful wooden frames.

DISC HARROWS

These harrows were drawn by at least two horses depending on the roughness of the soil or the weed infestation. At times three horses were required to provide more horsepower for the job.

The disc harrows were sharp concave steel discs either plain or scalloped. They had five discs each side facing outwards. The working angle, depending on the roughness of the soil was adjusted by a leaver. The farmer sat on a seat suitability situated above the disc harrow. The result of using the disc harrow could be compared with the result a gardener achieves by turning over his soil with a shovel and raking the soil.

I can assure you that a soft lounge chair was very much appreciated after a day working on the disc harrow!

ROLLER

Most farmers considered that it was necessary to have a roller to firm the seed into the soil and crush the remaining sods of soil.

Our roller was a round-trimmed log about 8ft with a diameter of about 15″. Each end had a steel spike driven into its centre to carry a timber frame suitably attached so that it could be horse driven. Over time the design of rollers was changed slightly. The spike was welded to a steel plate that was riveted to the log-end.

Today, rollers are mostly made with steel pipe filled with cement or old car tyres clamped together as well as being longer in keeping with today’s tractor power. 

WOODEN MAUL

The maul was a round piece of timber (especially selected) about 6″ diameter x 1ft. It was fitted with a steel band on each end and had a 2ft 6″ wooden handle. This tool was used to drive steel wedges into a sawn-off tree length for fence posts or rails. Dad always used a wooden maul fearing, with some justification, that a steel splinter might fly off a steel hammer into someone’s eye. However, we of the younger generation preferred a 12-pound steel hammer and I must add that we were never hit with a steel splinter!

CROSS CUT SAW AND WEDGES

The cross-cut saw was 6ft long and was used to fell trees and saw the log into lengths. As kids Don and I used to do some cross-cutting ever so slowly while dad split posts out of the previous length. We thought that we were doing great strokes!

Then there were about six wedges of varying sizes. The small wedges entered the timber easier and a large wedge was more useful once the log was opened. A different steel wedge was used with a metal hammer, being pared a little on the driving end allowing for bruising by the hammer, no doubt assisting in the prevention of splintering.

CANT-HOOK

A must when clearing the property of dead timber and splitting fence posts! The cant-hook was used for rolling a log as there were no bulldozers in the early days on ‘Banksia’. The cant-hook was made of a lump of rectangular steel about a foot long and approximately 1″ x 1″. It was bent at one end to make a hook with a sharpened blade attached. The sharpened end was belted into the side of the log to be rolled. At the other end there was a solid ring, about 6″ across so a crowbar could be put though. In this way a log could be levered and rolled over. A very useful tool of yesteryear!

CROWBAR

A crowbar was required for many things including the rolling of logs against a stump for burning. We also used it for charring a burning log or stump. Other uses included ripping post timber apart when wedging and rolling logs in conjunction with a cant-hook and when posthole digging.

FENCING

On ‘Banksia’ we did our own fencing. We split our own fencing posts usually from a State Forest about two miles away. The horse and cart were very useful for the purpose of transporting us and our tools to the forest and then returning with a load of split posts.

The timber we split for posts was mainly white mahogany. It was easy to split, and the white ants won’t attack the white mahogany in the paddock. It was said that you use timber for fenceposts from the species of timber that is grown nearby. I am not too sure if this is so? However, these days not so many posts are used (either wooden or steel) due to the invention of the electric fence.

The cross-cut saw and wedges along with a crowbar, mattock, cant-hook, snig-chain and axe were all part of the tree-felling tool kit. The mattock was placed in the split and twisted sideways near the completion of each split mostly exiting a new fencepost.

The fence postholes were dug with hand tools, namely a spade, crowbar and a narrow shovel to empty or clean the hole in preparation for the post.

Sight-sticks with a white rag tied to the top were used to keep the line straight. We used a 3″ x 2″ suitably shaped rammer to firm the posts. The posts were bored with a brace-and-auger bit in readiness to pull the wire through and fasten to the strainer-post. The strainer-post was a much larger post stayed against the first post. In earlier years fences were morticed posts with a specially split 9ft rail fitted.

The wire was strained with metal strainers, two sets of claws which grasped the wires each end of a short chain, one being attached to a lever which claws its way along the chain till the wire was tight. Some makes or brands of strainers were more reliable than others. The worst ‘makes’ would sometimes slip along the wire and give the operator a nasty gash or bruise.

In my early days on ‘Banksia’, fences still retained a couple of panels of split rails at the end of each fence. Maybe there was a lingering thought that the ‘newfangled’ idea of a wire fence may not prevent cattle getting through and that perhaps a plank portion may be a deterrent. My strong criticism of a lot of fences is that the fencer didn’t dig a hole deep enough for the strainer-post. Therefore, as a result the strainer-post gradually leaned inwards causing wires to loosen allowing the cows to push through the fence.

Another undesirable fence was the fence where the wires were stapled onto the post. They looked all very nice (when they were new) and they were quick to erect but unfortunately, as the fence aged, the wires rusted where the staple touched it thus the wire broke unannounced. Also, the timber cracked allowing the staples to fall out! I spent too much valuable time and energy chasing cattle that had escaped as a result of these fences. Therefore, these fences could not continue to be part of my farming practices!

We always thought our finished fences looked good, but I think that the cows may have thought otherwise!

Electric wind-up fences came into favour around about 1960 enabling the farmer to strip-graze. As a kid I can remember spending many hours with a dog, physically strip-grazing cows. We kept the cows on a narrow strip of fresh pasture or oats so they wouldn’t damage, dirty or trample the whole paddock. In this way we were able to keep the paddock fresh for days.

For some years now most of ‘Banksia’ has been electric fenced. This enables the farmer to attach a portable fence to strip-graze a paddock. The original fence was battery operated. The latter are electrified from the mains in the cow bails or work shed.

Another advantage of this type of fencing is that it is easily moved aside for the slashing of foreign weeds which inevitability grew underneath the fence. 

POSTHOLE DIGGER AND POST-BORING MACHINE

Soon after we purchased our first tractor, we bought a rear-shaft driven posthole digger as well as a rear-belt driven post-boring machine. These were extremely worthwhile investments because they saved us many hours of hard labour-intensive work. I not only did my own posthole digging, I also had contracts with other farmers to dig their postholes. Very few farmers owned these machines, therefore, my services were in great demand. I didn’t make a fortune however; I did save a lot of people a lot of ‘elbow grease’.

THE LITTLE GREY FERGUSON

As years rolled by new improved machinery came onto the market. The little grey Ferguson Tractor had a hydraulic three-point linkage thus revolutionising the farm scene forever. Spreading fertilisers on pastures became an easier task. When we purchased the tractor, we converted our direct-drop machine to a tractor-drawn machine. In contrast dad had used a large washtub placed on the horse-drawn slide, filled with superphosphate out of a 150lb bag. He threw the fertiliser onto the pastures skilfully, through his fingers, while I drove the horses up and down the paddock at suitable widths till the paddock was completed.

CONNOR-SHEA SOD-SEEDER

Next we purchased a Connor-Shea sod-seeder. The discs sliced the soil open allowing the seed and fertiliser to fall in together. This was supposedly becoming the best way to establish pasture. The machine was carried on and controlled by the three-point linkage at the operator’s side.

We were so satisfied with this system at the time that when the machine wore out, we purchased another Connor-Shea sod-seeder. Eventually we sold this machine and began spreading our fertiliser with a spinning machine. This proved to be much faster and just as satisfactory. It didn’t take us long to realise the advantage of fertilising the whole farm rather than just a few selected paddocks.

An airstrip was built at Fingerboard Hill by the fertiliser company and some of the local farmers hired a contractor to fertilise our farms from the air. Although there were good results, after a few years four-wheeled drive trucks proved more economical, therefore the farmers adopted this new method in preference to aerial crop-dusting.

The contractor would dump the fertiliser in a centralised position on the farm. Then they would use a front-end loader to load the fertiliser into the four-wheel drive truck spreader. Using this method, the whole farm was usually covered within a couple of days. A worthwhile advantage considering seed could be mixed with the fertiliser if the farmer so wished. This saved us lots of time as the two jobs would be done all at the one time.

Scientific advances in soil testing allowed the farmer to fertilise according to his soil requirements. Such were the amazing advances in fertiliser spreading that farms experienced maximum pasture quality and growth. Scientific grass-breeding showed the dairyman which pastures were the most productive species for his particular property and even to the point of specifying which species would suit individual paddocks. Consequently, the dairyman had greater productivity allowing them to have more cows producing a better quality and quantity of milk. These same principles benefited the quality of pastures for beef and sheep breeders and in turn the consumer has benefited. Scientific research continues with progress forever changing and improving farming practices.

TWO-FURROW DISC PLOUGH

When we purchased our first tractor, we purchased a two-furrow disc plough. I ploughed a lot of the soil for ‘Banksia’ and other properties in the area. But gradually the idea of less soil disturbance changed our practices when we realised that grasses and clovers would grow on soil with less disturbance. The advantages were that there was a saving of planting time and the ground didn’t bog so easily thus enabling the cattle to graze under wetter conditions. The disc plough went out of fashion as the chisel plough was much quicker and in general much more effective.

Some of the farmers purchased rotary hoes. I decided not to as I reckoned that the hoe would powder our soil too much and in doing so it would destroy the soil structure. Most of ‘Banksia’ is clay based requiring a lot of drainage which our disc plough was able to do. We ploughed narrow strips throwing the soil inwards toward each other. All that was required then was to excavate a master drain at the end of the paddock to carry the water away. Sections of ‘Banksia’ that would have been suitable for rotary-hoeing are subject to severe fast flowing flood waters, thus risking the loss of valuable soil and my decision not to use a rotary-hoe. 

THREE-POINT LINKAGE TILLER/RENOVATOR/CHISEL PLOUGH

The three-point linkage tiller/renovator/chisel plough revolutionised cultivation practices. There were so many ways one could use this implement to improve pastures and/or prepare a seed bed.

As so often is the way, I learnt some usages the ‘hard way’!  For instance, I had adopted the practice of ripping a third of the farm each year. In some ways that was a good idea because the paspalum sweetened, and the cows loved it and the soil held its moisture better in dry times. However, in wet times it became waterlogged and sour. Furthermore, the paddocks grew what was called ‘wire rushes’, a real curse! Cows won’t eat it and it takes valuable pasture space.

During that time, we employed a farm consultant. After an appraisal of our farm and our practices his words to me were, “You need to sit up there on the front veranda for a while and assess what you are doing. You are tearing the pastures apart and leaving too much vacant soil allowing the enemy to cause mischief. The weeds grow in vacant soil. You must sow a useful alternative”.  This was a valuable lesson well-learned.

CUTTER-BAR MOWER

Control and mulching of pastures were eventually recognised and acted upon. Prior to this, our forebears, so it appears, used burning as their method. I was always a believer in both soil and grass conservation. By whatever means available it is important to return surplus growth into either hay or to put it back into the soil. Our forebears didn’t have the where-with-all to adopt such practices without a lot of difficulty. In their day they had little more than a hand-scythe and a pitchfork.

Some farmers had a horse-driven cutter-bar mower, faster than the scythe but not fast enough to complete the whole farm in time.

We purchased a cutter-bar mower when we purchased our first tractor. It served us well for hay making over many years but has now been superseded with several domes (depending on size) attached to it, working on a similar principle to a Victor mower. The original cutter-bar model was good providing everything was going alright. When anything worked loose, as they seemed too on a regular basis, such as a rivet on a blade or finger then at best it would gather foliage in heaps around the mower arm. At worst it would break requiring immediate attention, losing valuable time. Losing time was money so although the cutter-bar was an improvement it still wasn’t adequate.

Time is always very valuable when haymaking, especially if rain was forecast. These could be very tense moments. The old saying: ‘make hay while the sun shines’ is as relevant today as it was in my hay-making days.

Today the modern mower and or the mulcher (depending on the type of rubbish) cuts lots of unwanted rubbish much quicker and cleaner. 

FORAGE HARVESTER

We also purchased a small forage harvester, removing its delivery spout so we could mulch unwanted surplus growth. It was very effective, but once again proved to be too slow to do the whole farm. Consequently, we were still required to do a certain amount of slashing. Thus, a larger machine, with a matching horse-power engine to drive it was needed to do the job. 

Today, engineers have manufactured that machine and progressive farmers have purchased a larger tractor to drive it, with outstanding results. The principles of both our forage harvester and this machine are similar; a revolving pipe/cylinder approximately 8″ in diameter with lugs welded to it approximately 6″ apart drilled to carry a 5/8″ bolt, which held a blade approximately 8″ x 2″ with an angled cutting edge on its end, tail-shaft driven at enormous speed, cutting the pastures just above the ground into small particles, so that they eventually rotted back into the soil. Another use for this machine is to cover pasture seeds, especially after a light paddock renovation: All-in-all, a very useful machine.

CHAIN-HARROW

We purchased a chain-harrow with the dual purpose of levelling the renovated paddocks and spreading the cow dung. This machine was a series of diamond shaped 6″ metal sections, spaced about 10″ apart in rows, all interconnected, following one another. Being on the three-point linkage the chain-harrow could be carried to wherever it was required. It always did a good job.

HAY-MAKING

Haymaking is an essential part of a successful farmer’s programme. For years, in our time we mowed surplus pastures such as rye, clover and paspalum to make hay for the lean times such as in the winter or during a drought. We raked the mown pasture into ‘windrows’ with a fascinating machine. It was a series of 2ft 6″ wheels fitted with lots of what looked like spring steel wire curved. These revolved as the machine is drawn over the cut hay resulting in the pastures being dragged into what is known as a windrow in readiness for the baling machine.

The Longworth brothers, Jack and Keith, from Harrington, were contracted by us to do the baling on ‘Banksia’. In later years our contractor was Fred Hardes from Lansdowne.

The baling-machine drew the cut pasture into it as the tractor drew the machine along the ‘windrows’, compacting the hay, tying the bale with twine and then dropping the finished bale out the tail end ready for collection. Usually we were able to muster a few neighbours to help us pick up the bales of hay and then put them in the hay shed. 

We owned a 10′ x 6′ trailer which we used for many purposes including picking up bales of hay. Typically, hay-making days were hot, and the work was very dusty, consequently, we often jumped into the lagoon for a cool-off after each load, clothes and all!

In later years we built a shed for storage of the hay and an elevator to assist with the hay stacking. The elevator was similar to a roof tile elevator. The hay shed was very hot due to heat coming off the green hay and of course the usual high temperatures of the day. So, you just imagine how much we all looked forward to a cool shower and a cooler night!

This practice went on for many years.  Then along came a revolutionary machine, namely the Haylage Maker. As the name Haylage suggests the baled hay cooks, stews, ferments and pickles turning into silage and the cattle just love it!

The Haylage machine was able to make much larger bales which were wrapped in plastic sheeting with a mechanical wrapper. These bales could be stored in a convenient dry corner of a paddock for up to two years providing that the plastic sheet was not punctured. One of the distinct advantages being that a hayshed was no longer required, thus, saving the farmer a considerable amount of money. Also, the hay material doesn’t have to be dry before baling. This advantage is a plus for coastal farmers because the hay making season is also the time of year when it mostly rains, spoiling cut hay before it is baled and housed the old-fashioned way. 

A hydraulic clamp on the front end of the tractor is able to pick up the wrapped bales of hay and stack them two high wherever the bales are stacked. When the hay is required, a large fork attached to the hydraulic system picks up the bale and places it where the hay is needed. The plastic and twine is then removed. If the cattle are nearby at the time, removing the twine can be a struggle as the cattle fight for the hay.

Prior to the Haylage machine, I recall one occasion when we had cut a beautiful crop of clover and paspalum hay. It had rained for days and days, so we thought we had lost the crop. New grass was growing up through the mown hay before it was dry enough to bale. However, we decided to bale it while it was a bit wettish because we were afraid that it was going to rain again. When we stacked the baled hay into the barn it became very hot, frothing at the sides so much so that we were afraid it was going to burst into flames! Thankfully it didn’t because the next winter was cold and miserable and very hard on the cows. We fed them this terrible looking hay and the cows loved it, devouring every skerrick!

In summary, I can safely say that the advances in haymaking have come a long way in my life time.

SILAGE

Around 1960 the Department of Agriculture persuaded some of us to make silage out of green corn or saccaline. We had two silage pits that had been bulldozed out of the side of the hill to store the cut crop. We grew about four acres of the best crop of saccaline that we’ve ever grown. The Longworth brothers were contracted to harvest and cart the material to the silo. The saccaline was compacted by driving the tractor to and fro over it. Once the pit was full, we covered the silage with plastic sheeting and saw-dust to hold the sheeting down.

When we needed silage to feed the cows, we peeled the plastic sheeting back then used a coal fork to fork the silage onto the trailer. Once loaded it was a simple matter of spreading the silage onto the clean ground in the paddock where the cows were to be spending the night. The cows just loved it!

This all sounds good, but ‘silage making time’ was often too wet for the soil. Consequently, the Longworth’s tractor and trucks would often get bogged thus requiring another tractor to pull them out of the bog. As mentioned elsewhere, our flood-safe land was clay based and easily became water-logged. The river flats were flood prone and the soil porous. After a couple of silage making seasons, we changed our thinking and reverted to intensifying our pasture growing methods.

Then in the early 2000’s Adrian, our youngest son, and his wife Stella, with much more modern machinery, began silage making again and achieved some success. However, they have suspended silage making at the moment. I’ll leave it to them to tell their story if they wish.

When I was a young fellow, I was often fascinated with the large disused concrete Silos on Cundle Plains. The dilapidated silos still stand at Cundle Plains. Mr Perrett, a well-known progressive farmer had adopted the latest methods. I don’t know why he ceased to fill these enormous structures with ensilage, but the silos were disused by the late 1930’s.

According to Rod and Wendy Gow’s Chronicles of the early days, Stack and Pit silage was made on the Manning as far back as the early 1900’s. The first concrete silo mentioned for the Manning was erected on Mr J.F. Smith’s property at Nabiac in 1926.

Much more sophisticated silage systems were erected in the late 1900’s at Kolodong on the late Bernie Richard’s farm. There was also a system erected at Oxley Island on the Polson’s farm and another erected at Wootton on the late Bert Eade’s farm. I am not aware if any of these are still in use today.

DRAIN-DIGGER AND GRADER

A tractor operated drain-digger and grader were very helpful. The drain-digger revolved within a steel frame, with blades similar to rotary-hoe blades, which threw the soil outwards. ‘Banksia’ being a wettish farm needed lots of draining. When we were kids’ dad ploughed furrows and sliced them into sizable sections then we would throw them aside for drainage. At other times dad borrowed a metal scoop and used the horses to operate it, however, the job still required lots of elbow grease. Today contractors do the same job with advanced equipment much quicker!

SOLDERING

In my younger days, dad used a soldering iron very effectively to mend milk cans and buckets. He also used soldering with his building programme. However, I found soldering a tedious job, so I took leaky utensils to a plumber and broken machinery to an engineer.

Extract from Chapter 5 – Pastures and Wildlife

GRASSES NATIVE AND INTRODUCED SPECIES

I served on the Manning River Agricultural Research Committee for some years representing the Primary Producers’ Union. Our very capable Chairman was Mr Fred North, a produce store owner in Taree. We employed a research scientist, and the local New South Wales Government Agronomist was very involved, planting experimental plots of various kinds of potential ’grasses’ suitable for both milk production and fattening beef cattle. These plots were scattered throughout the Manning on varying types of soil and under varying rainfall patterns. The outcomes were very interesting and helpful. Sometimes it’s important to know, not only what it’s economical to do, but what not to do!! 

Therefore, I should refer to the fodder grasses as I remember them. My limited research and assumption tells me that the Manning River area was gradually cleared of timber and would have produced native grasses, such as what I knew as kangaroo grass.

It appears that paspalum seed, from South Africa or India or perhaps both, was introduced in the early 1900’s and proved to be good dairy-cow feed. The paspalum proved to be particularly good for increasing the butter content of the milk. However, it would become ‘hide bound’ and required renovation for best results.

When I was going to school, I remember dad and his offsider (sometimes even Grandfather Drury) cutting paspalum with a sharp sickle or reaping hook, laying it on the ground to dry, and collecting it a couple of days later for threshing. 

Dad made a wooden and very effective threshing machine. It was a boxed in arrangement about 6’ x 3′ 6” tall by about 18” wide. Assembled on the top was a wooden roller with an axle in the middle revolving in metal bearings, belt driven with a small engine. Into the roller were driven 4” nails, when revolving it tore the seed off the straw ready for bagging and delivery to the buyer. The straw came in handy for the hens’ nests in the fowl-pen.

Soon after we purchased our first tractor, my cousin Linton Drury and I made a wooden frame to fit onto the Ferguson Tractor. It was a pronged apparatus including the provision of a box to catch the seed (and grubs, spiders and sometimes snakes), attached to the front, which stripped the seed as we drove through the paspalum. 

The paspalum seed stripper was attached to the front end of the tractor and together with my cousin Linton we stripped lots of seed, painstakingly dried it on hessian. We sold the seed to D.K. Hammond of Jones Island and later Mitchell’s Island. This project was a very profitable addition to our milk cheque as well as being quite a bit of fun. Paspalum seed was worth money. This enterprise was very successful at the time, but the price eventually fell so low, it was no longer a profitable venture.

The forked arrangement we used was standard equipment for other operators on four-wheel drive Army Jeeps and Land Rovers.

It’s interesting that the old carpet-grass, that we once cursed, is now the grass in demand for some lawns. I think that it is worth money today. Well-established seed strippers have adapted their machines to strip the smaller seed, with some seed now exported to the United States.

Kikuyu appears to have originated from South Africa in the 1920’s. It also needs strict attention, both in mulching and fertilising being very responsive to nitrogenous fertilisers. Kikuyu has proved to be a prolific producer of high-quality feed, especially in the warmer months, and is easily over sown with winter grasses such as rye or oats for the colder months.

Lucerne gave mixed results. It was good while there were favourable conditions, but easily overtaken by couch grass and subject to grub destruction. Lucerne also requires deep well drained soil. As mentioned elsewhere, our deep soil is subject to flooding and because lucerne requires thorough soil preparation, we considered it risky to work the soil too much, in case a big flood washed it away before it settled down again. Grasses will hold the soil together once they are established.

Cow turnips are a good cow feed but require greater soil preparation which doesn’t altogether fit in with the kikuyu programme. The kikuyu production probably equals the turnip value.

Red and white clover make good feed as well as being a good legume for the soil but find it difficult to compete with kikuyu. All sorts of other grasses were tried with limited successes. 

However, there are some undesirable grasses that are worth a mention. Carpet-grass was found in small patches, probably no greater than a couple of square yards, when I was a kid. Dad would chip it out with his mattock. But alas, the carpet-grass got out of control and spread too quickly to chip it out. Lucky for us we discovered that carpet-grass doesn’t like renovation or superphosphate and nor does blady-grass another pesky grass.

Today, it’s difficult to find a blade of these undesirable grasses thanks to renovation, fertilizers and the introduction of better species; cows don’t do well on them, especially if the grass becomes rank. Fertilizers enrich the soil and, in turn, promote the better species, choking out the undesirables.

Fireweed is controlled in a similar way. Bathurst Burr should be pulled out regularly and is mainly to be found along riverbanks having been washed there by a flood. Privet-bush is a curse, especially along riverbanks and fence lines, spread in bird droppings. Privet-bush can be controlled with weed killer, bulldozing or pulling out, otherwise it will take over.

Cow cane was all the go when I was a kid. It was permanent, re-growing after harvesting ready for next winter. It responded to a scarifier or cultivator being dragged through each row, immediately after harvesting. However, it was difficult to cut without cutting oneself with the sharp leaves and, in general, lost favour to other crops.

FERTILISING

Fertilising methods have changed over my lifetime; however the reason for fertilising has not. On ‘Banksia’ we went from spreading fertiliser by hand to a direct drop machine pulled by one horse to a spinning machine on the rear of the tractor. Then we moved to fertiliser being spread from a small crop-duster aeroplane then back to using a four-wheel drive truck with spinning machines contractors. The contractors operated from a large heap of fertiliser that had been dumped in the middle of the farm by a contract carrier.

The result of fertilising is to have more productive pastures which in turn produces a healthy and productive herd. Milk production increases and beef quality is much improved. All things being equal, fertilising means a better outcome for the producer and the consumer.

WILD LIFE ON BANKSIA: THE GOOD, BAD AND THE NASTIES!

Rabbits, an introduced animal from Britain, were prolific and consumed lots of our cow feed. This pest was reduced markedly with the introduction of myxomatosis.

Foxes, another introduced animal from Britain, destroy lots of bird and small animal life. They are very cunning and clever, burrowing under fowl-pens to prey on the chooks and, to make things worse, they seemed to delight in killing all the chooks for sport and maybe only take away a couple to eat. Securing the fowl-pens at night was a must. One of our little jobs was to shut the chooks up each night. The fear of the chooks being destroyed and no eggs for daily use or fowl for Sunday dinner and Christmas meant that we didn’t forget too often. Our parents saw to it that we didn’t forget!

Dingoes were another cruel pest destroying piglets, small calves and sheep in a very cowardly way. They attack from behind, even tearing the animals’ innards out while they are still alive. I’ve seen sheep walking about dragging their innards.

Kangaroos and Wallabies consume lots of good cow feed. They are nearly as big as a cow. Keeping them to a manageable level is a real problem, being so controversial especially in this day and age of the ‘do-gooders’. These are usually city-folk who understand little or nothing of the plight of the man on the land.

Wallabies were in the bush on the eastern side of the river. They were said to damage passionfruit and other vegetables. They also ate the grass, our cow feed; however, the kangaroos were our most pesky grass eaters.

Koalas are in our bush country, but I seldom saw them.

Quolls are said to still be around the Lansdowne district; however, I have never seen them. They were said to destroy chooks.

Flying-fox were another pest to our farm as they can strip a fruit-tree overnight. Some fruit growers cover their fruit-trees with netting which is a very costly exercise.

Snakes are undesirable because of our fear of treading on them in the long grass and they have been known to kill calves and pigs. When we were kids there was a large carpet snake in the barn for a while. They were after the rats and mice and are quite harmless to humans.

Wild wood-duck come in rather large numbers, consuming the best cow feed, clover, just when we needed it most, in the winter and during a drought. They gathered in large numbers around the dams.

Chicken-Hawks are always a threat to young chickens. They would swoop down and grab the chickens at any time. A gun or rifle was a must for pest control.

When we were kids, an iguana came and devoured our hen eggs. As far as I know they are not seen around the farm now days. Bandicoots are still to be found on the eastern side of the river. Platypus and eels are in the river and eels come over land to the ‘turkey’s-nest’ dam. There were fresh-water perch when we were kids, but the water authorities built a weir for freshwater reticulation to the Lower River areas where their water is salty. They failed to build a fish-ladder on it, meaning that fingerlings couldn’t swim upstream to replace the existing stock. The local fishing enthusiasts soon fished the river out and, to my knowledge there are no fish in the river today. Today, the law requires that all weirs are fitted with a fish-ladder.

We are blessed with birds and animals too numerous to mention that are very desirable. One such bird, now extinct in our area because of foxes, is the curlew, a ground bird, with a lovely call. The last one on ‘Banksia’ was a real pet, responding to our calls and the like, but it eventually disappeared, and we blamed the fox. The pheasant coucal commonly known as swamp pheasants also had a very pleasant call and prefers to build their nests in the thick undergrowth near swamps.

As a kid I loved to go with dad to split posts in the forest. I really looked forward to lunchtime. We boiled the billy for our tea; there is nothing like billy-tea boiled over a few pieces of wood with a bit of smoke in the air. Then we sat on a log around a sandwich and cake box. Mum always prepared a scrumptious lunch and we made light work of it! After lunch dad sprawled out on a corn bag for a quarter of an hour’s sleep. We kids did likewise.

In the quietness, on most days we could hear one of the most delightful tunes. It would be a tiny Yellow Rump Tit whistling and singing to its hearts content. It was like it didn’t have a care in the world way up near the top of the forest trees; probably 100ft from the ground. I have never actually seen a Yellow Rump Tit, but their singing has left me with a fond lasting impression. Indeed, they are one of God’s creatures, so tiny yet so delightful and perfect.

There’s nothing like a day in the bush splitting posts or grubbing bushes. A day on the end of a 12lb hammer splitting posts always found a few stomach muscles that I had forgotten I had! However, I’m sure it was good for the constitution. It was also a time to recall days gone by and listen out for the Yellow Rump Tit. I would come across forest wildlife from time to time and spot a Banksia shrub growing adding to the pleasure of the day.

The blue and jenny wrens were among my favourite birds. They nested in mum’s many shrubs around the house. However, due to snakes harbouring around the shrubs we eventually had to cut the shrubs down; in the process the wrens no longer had a place to build their nests.

Ibis would have to be one of the farmers’ best friends. They flock in their hundreds most times of the year looking for grubs and black beetles. Without the ibis many a coastal farm would have been devastated. Army worms (grub species) can eat a farmer’s grass out in a very short time. The army worm to coastal farmers is the equivalent to the wheat farmers’ locust plague.

When there was lots of nesting places in old dead trees with hollow limbs and plentiful saccaline there would be large numbers of rosella parrots on ‘Banksia’, however, there are not so many rosellas seen these days. There are fairly large numbers of grass-parrots. We see galahs, king-parrots, lorikeets and possibly some other species that I am unable to recall. Parrots are very colourful birds however; they can be quite destructive. 

Naturally, we see kookaburras, their distinctive laughter is unmistakable, and it often seems as though they are really laughing at us! Then there were the butcherbirds, magpies, pied currawongs and peewees all with their own special call and cheeky habits. Willy-wagtails, the silver eye and bower birds are also species that frequent the property. Another gorgeous bird was the kingfisher. It is a very attractive bird that had a loud usually four syllable staccato call that it repeated throughout the day especially in the breeding season. If we were lucky, we may also see the night owls.

Then there are those pesky crows! The crows extract the immerging green stalk out of the soil and eat the seed. When the corn cobs begin to ripen the crows tear back the husk and eat the grain. Of course, it is too much to ask them to complete one cob at a time. Oh no, instead they go from cob to cob eating a few grains. This allows the rain to enter the cob and then in time the cob rots. So, the crows definitely have no friends amongst the farmers.

Over the years I have wasted hours sneaking up on them trying to shoot them, but I have failed! We clothed a wooden cross with old work clothes and of course the straw hat to make our so called ‘scare-crows’. However, the ‘scare-crows’ worked with limited success. The large-scale corn growers over the range would set up a scare-gun which is set to ‘fire’ periodically. 

The bird we possibly saw most is the swallow. They would build their nests in the cow bails out of mud. The wonder of it all: to see a little bird with a beak full of mud, slowly attaching and curving a nest onto a rafter in the bails. This activity would happen over a couple of weeks until the nest was shaped and lined with feathers. Eventually the swallow would lay three eggs. Of course, they were watched by us while we milked, from the time they commenced building till they reared their chicks. It was amazing to watch them hatching, feeding and teaching the chicks to fly!

There are many water birds that visit the property. There are the wood-ducks, black-ducks and a colourful blackish-turquoise duck like the ones I’ve seen on TV that inhabit many parts of the world. A couple of black swans visit the farm occasionally. There is also the dabchick or water-hen, white-faced coot of more recent years and the shag and red-bill.

The black cockatoo appears before rain making lots of noise. I’ve also seen blue jays, plovers, whip crackers and honeyeaters of various varieties. ‘Banksia’ is blessed with a bountiful bird population. Oh yes, I must mention the jabiru that comes occasionally to grace the farm. This impressive bird which stands more than four feet tall has been a visitor in more recent days rather than when I was growing up on ‘Banksia’.

The list goes on! There are the squeaker or soldier birds, starlings and in more recent times the Indian minor bird which is a real pest. They are prolific breeders. They also hunt out other small birds from their nests and take over the nests for themselves. It has been said that if we don’t eradicate them there will not be any small birds left. Large measures are being taken to destroy them, however, it will probably take a long time, if ever, to succeed.

Quails of several species can also be seen living in the long grass. Cranes and several other varieties of the heron family are also seen.

I must mention the egret. They are on the farm in large numbers. They follow the cattle around eating insects as the cattle disturb them; smart birds don’t you think? 

FORESTS

We had about 40 acres of forest on ‘Banksia’ and about 20 acres on Elliott’s (our back paddock) about four miles from the farm. We sold some of the forest some years ago enabling us to buy better producing country for the farm. Neither of our forests bordered State Forests. The nearest State Forest was about a mile from ‘Banksia’. To my knowledge there isn’t a wildlife corridor in the immediate area. I can’t see that there would be a need for one because there are plenty of trees in this area.

Extract – The Great Depression Years and War Years

I don’t remember much about the depression years. Mum and dad kept most of their worries to themselves. However, I do recall men calling desperate for work. They would be carrying a sugar bag over their shoulder which held their few belongings. Dad would give them a job for a couple of days such as picking up potatoes. Mum would feed them and make a bed for a couple of nights. Even though mum and dad were probably desperate themselves they still had compassion knowing that these men would have a wife and kids to feed at home.

During the war dad was a member of the Agricultural Bureau. I assume it was to do with increasing farm production. During the war there were certain foods rationed so adequate supplies could be sent to our soldiers at the war. We were issued with Identity Cards. I kept mine for a keepsake and still have it to this day. The number was 32741 dated 21st May 1942 on the Postmark.

There was petrol rationing along with clothes, tea, sugar, butter and other things that I have forgotten. Petrol rationing sticks in my mind. Dad was allowed a little extra to be able to go preaching. However, we were still restricted from going lots of places as there wasn’t petrol to spare. Dad along with others purchased a sulky and we road our push bikes if we were going short distances. Dad rode a horse to all his building jobs. If he had to travel a great distance he would camp out on the job.

Petrol rationing continued for a couple of years after the end of the war. However, after the Federal election, when Sir Robert Menzies and the Liberal-Country Party won Government in 1949, they put an end to the rationing.

Most men over the age of 17 years joined the Volunteer Defence Corp (VDC). They drilled at weekends and on some nights. Dad participated when he could however I was too young at the time. Fortunately the VDC were never called upon to serve.

Patriotic concerts were all the go during the war years. They would usually coincide with a farewell to some of our local soldiers. Funds would be raised for blankets and other comforts for the soldiers. It was also an opportunity for us to let off a little bit of steam caused by the constant work and tension over the war. We became accustomed to the ‘all work no play’ life-style when it was considered a waste of time when there was always so much to do around the farm. Upon reflection I realise that I should have taken some time out for sport or the like.

Lots of people knitted rugs and socks for the soldiers. Mrs Jean Rae, the School Principal’s wife, even had the patience to teach me to knit socks! I was so slow that the war was nearly over before I finished them that they decided to keep them for me. However, it is more likely that they weren’t up to standard! It is the one and only time that I have ever knitted but some how I don’t think I was ever cut out to be a knitter.

There were many troop trains travelling to the northern parts of Australia. These trains had right of way on the single line over regular passenger and goods trains. We heard that some of the Taree girls used to hang around the railway station to flirt with the soldiers as there seemed to be a fascination for a man in uniform.

Hilda, my second wife, tells me that there were long convoys of camouflaged military trucks and jeeps with their equipment and soldiers travelling the Pacific Highway north to bases in Queensland. Some of the local girls would race to the side of the highway to wave the soldiers on their way.

The Japanese had entered New Guinea and the battle of the Coral Sea was being fought in deadly earnest. I remember when the ‘Japs’ were looking dangerously like they might invade our country. They had bombed Darwin and entered Sydney Harbour by submarine. Dad came home one night from an agricultural meeting saying that: “if the ‘Japs’ came we are to put what we could in the car and spring cart and then destroy everything else”. We were to drive west, including the cattle over the Comboyne and go as far as we possibly could to escape the enemy. Thankfully, thanks to the Americans it never came to that! The alliance defeated the Japanese and the war ended.

There were rumours abounding that enemy spies were operating on the Brother Mountains, sending signals to the enemy situated out to sea. I feel sure that this was never proven however, there are some who still believe that this did happen. The thought that it might be true was very scary so we were always on alert.

There was a black-out directive initiated, calling on us to cover all windows at night. That is, we were to draw blinds if we had them or cover the windows with brown paper. If we really had to drive our cars at night there was a metal contraption with a narrow slit to place over the head lights. The shades or blinkers allowed a small amount of light to filter through. It was a great relief when the war ended to be allowed to remove the shades. The shades remained in our car shed for many years as a souvenir.

Our church constantly prayed for the soldiers, especially in our Christian Endeavour meetings. When it became obvious that the war was ending, the churches organised thanksgiving services. For one reason or another most of us thought the service was to be a certain day so we went by sulky and on our push bikes only to discover that we had the wrong day! No-one seemed to mind because we were all so thankful to our God for saving us from the ravages of war. The next day we gladly made the trip back to the church to attend the thanksgiving service.

^{Stories provided by Glenda (Drury) Dutton – daughter of Ken Drury}