Avondale Agricultural Research Station

About

Avondale Agricultural Research Station or Avondale Discovery Farm is one of thirteen research farms and stations operated by Western Australia's Department of Agriculture and Food. In addition to its research, Avondale has historical buildings, a farming equipment museum and operates as an agriculture education centre specialising in introducing primary school children to farming, and teaching of its history in Western Australia. Avondale is situated on land where the Dale River joins the Avon River 6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi) west of Beverley. It is located on land originally granted to the first Governor of Western Australia, Captain (later Admiral Sir) James Stirling and Captain Mark Currie RN in 1836. These grants were combined in 1849 and with additional land purchases they became known as Avondale Estate, expanding to in excess of 13,330 acres (53.9 km2). On 4 April 1924 the remaining 1,740 acres (7.0 km2) of Avondale were passed on to the Department of Agriculture and Food. Initially Avondale continued its involvement with the Group Settlement Scheme, it was not until 1926 that research activities commenced. During the 1930s it was to be the laboratory for Dr Harold Bennetts successful...

In November 1835, an expedition led by Governor James Stirling joined another party led by the Surveyor General John Septimus Roe in King George Sound. Roe had made arrangement for both parties to return to the Swan River Colony via an alternative route. The route was intended to join the settlements of King George Sound, York and the Swan River Colony along with the newly established settlement of Williams. This expedition passed through the area of Avondale sighting the Dale River and a granite hill that Roe name Bald Hill on 27 December. Bald Hill was to become the primary reference point for surveying the region.

In 1836, the surveyor Thomas Watson returned to area and used Bald Hill as the principal trigonometric reference. Watson was to map out a number of lots in the area including the western boundary for Beverley town site. Two of the lots surveyed were Avon location 14 with 5,000 acres (20 km 2 ), and Avon location K with 4,000 acres (16 km 2 ); location 14 was given to Captain Mark Currie, Fremantle Harbour Master, while location K was given to Stirling. Stirling as Governor and Currie as harbour master were not paid salaries by the colony but given land grants as compensation for their services. In 1978, surveyors using current equipment were engaged to determine the exact location of these original holdings, and commented on the remarkable accuracy of Watson's survey 142 years before.

Currie sold his grant of land to a Nicholas Carey in September 1838 for £ 330, equivalent to A$ 43,075 in 2022. Carey entered into a lease agreement in December with Governor Stirling for his grant, which included Carey purchasing the property at the end of the lease for £750 in 1846. Carey also purchased 3,000 acres (12 km 2 ) to west of location 14 he also received an additional grant of land in 1849. With all the land in the vee formed by the Avon River and the Dale River the property was now 13,330 acres (53.9 km 2 ) in size and was named Avondale Estate. During the late 1840s Carey moved to Guernsey leaving Avondale to be operated by an unknown caretaker.

Upon Carey's death in March 1889, Avondale was inherited by his 16-year-old grand nephew William Herbert deLisle. deLisle arrived and took up residence there in 1893, and assumed the land title in 1894. Avondale had been a pastoral property until deLisle's arrival, over the next ten years sections of the estate were sold off to fund its development. During this period, the house was expanded and the stable built, which included 20 horse stalls with hollow walls and an overhead loft. The hollow walls enable feed from the loft to gravitate directly to the feed bins in each stall.

The remaining 5,232 acres (21.2 km 2 ) were sold to William James Butcher and Charles John Hunt Butcher in 1904. The brothers purchased adjoining properties adding 4,403 acres (17.8 km 2 ) which enlarged Avondale to 9,635 acres (39.0 km 2 ). In 1908 they offered to sell Avondale to the Western Australian Government for £5/10/- per acre. The Government countered with an offer of £5/5/- per acre, which was accepted. Avondale was purchased in March 1910 under the Agricultural Land Purchase act for a total of £51,494/12/6, equivalent to A$5,872,240.26 in 2022.

Even though the Butcher brothers' farming operations continued until January 1911, the government began preparations for subdivision. John Hall was sent to Avondale in April 1910 to locate all improvements and draw subdivision lines following existing fencing where possible. His arrival sparked considerable controversy, because not only had he set up camp on the golf course but the golf club also had leased 40 acres (160,000 m 2 ) of Avondale that joined the edge of town. Investigations found that the lease was terminated when the land was sold.

Hall divided Avondale into nine substantial size farms whose boundaries have remained unchanged since, the 40 acres (160,000 m 2 ) that had been occupied by the golf course was made into small lots which have since been further subdivided. Lands Department accountants calculated that the sale of the lots would return £8,768/3/3 after expenses, and the estate was gazetted and land made available on 21 December 1910. Of the nine substantial lots only four were taken up as settlers were unable to pay the £6 per acre price. Lot 1 was taken up by George Hancock, the father of mining magnate Lang Hancock, and George's brother Richard took up Lot 2. Lot 13 was taken up by G.W. Isbister, and Lot 4 was taken up by former Premier Sir Newton Moore, who then proceeded to London with the plans. As Agent General Newton was to offer to prospective settlers lots at Avondale, although a number telegram inquiries to ascertain availability of lots at Avondale were sent, there is no record any lots being allocated in London.

As none of the remaining 5 substantial lots had been taken up by November 1911, it was suggested that 4 of those remaining be used for an Agricultural College with the Lands Department responsible for continuing to farm the remaining lots. This left one lot known as Drumclyer available, in 1914 a Dowerin farmer tried to lease Drumclyer after losing his property there from drought, but was unable to negotiate an acceptable rate. In December, the Hancock brothers had abandoned lots 1 & 2, Isbister had also abandoned Lot 13, although it is not known exactly when, leaving only the 780 acres (3.2 km 2 ) of Lot 4 in private hands. With the outbreak of World War I the Agricultural College plans were abandoned as well.

Near the end of 1916, the Beverley community requested that Avondale be subdivided into 20 lots for returning soldiers. It was also suggested that Avondale be a nursery where soldiers are given small allotments and those that succeed are then given larger grants elsewhere in the state. In July 1918, it was decided that Avondale would have 6 lots made available for servicemen from the Beverley area and that 1,740 acres (7.0 km 2 ) which included the area around the homestead was to remain under control of the Lands Department.

Even though the Butcher brothers' farming operations continued until January 1911, the government began preparations for subdivision. John Hall was sent to Avondale in April 1910 to locate all improvements and draw subdivision lines following existing fencing where possible. His arrival sparked considerable controversy, because not only had he set up camp on the golf course but the golf club also had leased 40 acres (160,000 m 2 ) of Avondale that joined the edge of town. Investigations found that the lease was terminated when the land was sold.

Hall divided Avondale into nine substantial size farms whose boundaries have remained unchanged since, the 40 acres (160,000 m 2 ) that had been occupied by the golf course was made into small lots which have since been further subdivided. Lands Department accountants calculated that the sale of the lots would return £8,768/3/3 after expenses, and the estate was gazetted and land made available on 21 December 1910. Of the nine substantial lots only four were taken up as settlers were unable to pay the £6 per acre price. Lot 1 was taken up by George Hancock, the father of mining magnate Lang Hancock, and George's brother Richard took up Lot 2. Lot 13 was taken up by G.W. Isbister, and Lot 4 was taken up by former Premier Sir Newton Moore, who then proceeded to London with the plans. As Agent General Newton was to offer to prospective settlers lots at Avondale, although a number telegram inquiries to ascertain availability of lots at Avondale were sent, there is no record any lots being allocated in London.

As none of the remaining 5 substantial lots had been taken up by November 1911, it was suggested that 4 of those remaining be used for an Agricultural College with the Lands Department responsible for continuing to farm the remaining lots. This left one lot known as Drumclyer available, in 1914 a Dowerin farmer tried to lease Drumclyer after losing his property there from drought, but was unable to negotiate an acceptable rate. In December, the Hancock brothers had abandoned lots 1 & 2, Isbister had also abandoned Lot 13, although it is not known exactly when, leaving only the 780 acres (3.2 km 2 ) of Lot 4 in private hands. With the outbreak of World War I the Agricultural College plans were abandoned as well.

Near the end of 1916, the Beverley community requested that Avondale be subdivided into 20 lots for returning soldiers. It was also suggested that Avondale be a nursery where soldiers are given small allotments and those that succeed are then given larger grants elsewhere in the state. In July 1918, it was decided that Avondale would have 6 lots made available for servicemen from the Beverley area and that 1,740 acres (7.0 km 2 ) which included the area around the homestead was to remain under control of the Lands Department.

The original homestead block faced an uncertain future for many years, until it was given to the Department of Agriculture in 1924. Initially intended for the production of pure seed wheat and oats, very little was produced for several years. Avondale was used as an assembly and holding ground for dairy cattle, prior to them being sent to group settlers in the state's South West. During this period, the silo was built with a capacity of 100 tonnes; the silo is now heritage listed.

The local farming community raised concerns about cattle being unsuitable for the area, while the concerns were not immediately addressed Avondale was turned towards seed production and research. The first research began in 1926; this was in the application of superphosphate its alternatives and the timing of application. Initial results were published in the Journal of Agriculture in 1927.

A Braxy-like disease originated in the Beverley- York region in 1915. Over the next 15 years it spread across most of the state's farming districts. Flock losses generally were around 5% though there were reported cases of 30% loss. In 1918 Professor Dakin of the University of Western Australia identified the disease as a toxaemia of bacterial origin but was unable to establish the source.

Dr Harold Bennetts was appointed the state's first veterinary pathologist in May 1925. Bennetts commenced an immediate investigation into the disease, using alleyways and open space around the department's city offices to house the sheep needed for the research. In 1930 a field laboratory was built at Avondale; a flock of 1000 sheep were purchased to enable feed experiments. In 1931 Bennetts had identified Bacillus ovitoxicus as the cause of the disease. With this knowledge he was able to develop the infectious enterotoxaemia vaccine ; for his efforts Bennetts received a CBE.

The sheep populations that were required by Bennetts at Avondale also afforded additional research opportunities. From 1931 for several years experiments were conducted with the object of determining how to best produce prime export lambs. This investigated various breeds and cross breeds determining that cross-bred ewes where significantly more productive than pure-bred Merinos.

In 1934, Bennetts teamed with state botanist Charles Gardner to study the toxic effect of native plants species on sheep. Gardner would collect the plants and supply them fresh to Bennetts who would then feed them to the sheep. They confirmed 24 species of plants as being poisonous, most which were from the native pea genera Gastrolobium and Oxylobium. Based on this and later research, Gardner and Bennetts published The Toxic Plants of Western Australia in 1956. During 1935, investigations into the effects of castrating male lambs with either mechanical pincers compared to using a knife, both of these methods have since been replaced with rubber elastrator rings. The experiment on 499 sheep concluded that no significant differences were observable in respect of mortality, maturity rates and meat quality.