1865–1881
Highlights
Community-Driven discovery
- 1843: The Ridley Stripper (Agricultural Engineering)
- 1865: Goyder’s line (Agricultural Ecology) beyond which pastoralists received assistance (= arable agriculture should not proceed)
- 1868: Mullenising the scrub
- 1869: Eradication of sheep scab mite (Tobacco, Hg, S)
- 1876: RB Smith invents stump-jump plough (Agricultural Engineering)
Government Policies and Acts
- 1869: The Strangways Act provided Government loans to small–holders with 20% deposit to allow land purchase on credit (Agricultural Economics)
- 1869: Government policy providing access by wheat-growers to a port or railway within 15 miles of their properties (Agricultural Economics)
- 1873–1874: Agricultural prosperity strengthened belief that “Rain follows the plough” (no science!)
- 1874: University of Adelaide Act passed
Minister of Agriculture appointed
- 1875: Ebenezer Ward appointed the first South Australian Minister of Agriculture “Education should not be free as it would otherwise undermine family responsibility and encourage radical ideas”
- 1877: Post of Minister of Agriculture abolished
Cropping in 1875
- One man with 4-horse team ploughs 2-3 acres/day
- One man carried out seeding with Adamson broadcaster, covering 40 acres/day
- One man carried out harrowing with 6-horse team
- Pests included rust, cockchafers and locusts
- One man with 4-horse team strips 7-8 acres/day
- One winnower was required for each 3 strippers (Payment to operators was 1d/bushel)
Farmer selection and breeding of cereal varieties
- 1860: Purple straw wheat selected by an unknown farmer
- 1868: Richard Marshall, farmer, Wasleys commenced wheat selections
- 1880: Dr Schomburgk imported Du Toits from South Africa. James Ward, farmer, Nelshaby selected Ward’s Prolific from this
Marshall's contribution compares to Farrer
Marshall made crosses, selecting for:
- rust resistance
- liability to shake out the grain when ripe
- quality and yield of grain
- stooling and
- strength and length of straw
Marshall's varieties
- Marshall’s No 3 (Purple straw x Ward’s Prolific)
- The Majestic, Gallant, Silver King (a white-grained selection from Marshall’s No 3)
- Phyllis’ Marvel, Dart’s Improver
- His most successful variety was Yandilla King (Silver King x Farrer’s Yandilla and half-sister to Farrer’s Federation)
- Marshall’s No 3 and Yandilla King were the standard wheats until 1920s
Royal Commission into Agricultural education 1875
- Create a Department of Agriculture (rejected)
- Establish demonstration farms
1280 acres at Mannahill (Cereal farming finally abandoned in the drought of 1880)
1000 acres drained swamp, Millicent
(Overseer’s instructions “Do as well as you can”)
- Appoint a Professor of Agriculture
Agriculture 1876
Extracts from South Australia: Its history, resources and productions, edited by William Harcus (1876):
- SA agriculture and land, 1876 ()
- SA land statistics, 1876 ()
- SA agricultural production statistics, 1876 ()
- SA pastoral production statistics, 1876 ()
- SA staple produce, 1876 ()
Main aspects of the era
- Settlement beyond Goyder's Line
- Land speculation
- Willochra Plain-Hawker
- Railway, port and road transport facilities
- Towns and communities established
- Arrival of rabbits