Avondale Agricultural Research Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Avondale Agricultural Research Station |
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The heritage listed stables built around 1890
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| General information | |
| Type | Research Station |
| Location | Beverley, Western Australia |
| Coordinates | 32°7′00″S 116°52′07.9″E / 32.11667°S 116.868861°E |
| Designated | 19 March 2004 |
| Reference no. | 5566 |
Avondale Agricultural Research Station, also known as Avondale Discovery Farm, is a special place in Western Australia. It's one of thirteen research farms run by the state's Department of Agriculture and Food.
Avondale is not just for research. It also has old buildings, a museum of farming tools, and teaches kids about farming. It's a great place to learn about the history of farming in Western Australia.
The farm is located where the Dale River meets the Avon River. This is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Beverley. The land was first given to the first Governor of Western Australia, Captain James Stirling, and Captain Mark Currie in 1836. Over time, these lands grew to more than 13,330 acres (5,400 hectares) and became known as Avondale Estate.
In 1924, the remaining 1,740 acres (700 hectares) of Avondale became part of the Department of Agriculture and Food. Research started in 1926. In the 1930s, Dr. Harold Bennetts did important research here on a sheep disease. In 1979, for Western Australia's 150th birthday, a machinery museum was built, and the old buildings were fixed up.
Today, the National Trust of Western Australia looks after Avondale. It is open to visitors at different times of the year.
Contents
Avondale's Early Farming History
In 1835, an expedition led by Governor James Stirling explored the area where Avondale is now. They saw the Dale River and a granite hill called Bald Hill. This hill became an important landmark for mapping the region.
In 1836, a surveyor named Thomas Watson mapped out several areas, including parts of Avondale. Two large areas were given to Captain Mark Currie and Governor Stirling. They received land instead of salaries for their work. Surveyors in 1978 were amazed at how accurate Watson's maps were, even after 142 years!
Captain Currie sold his land in 1838. Later, Governor Stirling's land was also sold. By 1849, all the land between the Avon River and the Dale River was combined. This huge property, about 13,330 acres (5,400 hectares), was named Avondale Estate.
In 1889, a young man named William Herbert deLisle inherited Avondale. He moved there in 1893. Before he arrived, Avondale was mainly a pastoral property, meaning it raised livestock. Over the next ten years, deLisle sold parts of the estate to pay for improvements. He made the house bigger and built the stables. These stables had 20 horse stalls with special hollow walls. This design allowed feed from an upstairs loft to drop right into the feed bins for each horse.
In 1904, the remaining 5,232 acres (2,117 hectares) were sold to the Butcher brothers. They bought more land, making Avondale 9,635 acres (3,899 hectares). In 1908, they offered to sell Avondale to the Western Australian Government. The government bought it in 1910 for about £51,494, which would be around A$5.5 million today.
Avondale from 1910 to 1924
Even though the Butcher brothers continued farming until 1911, the government started dividing Avondale into smaller farms. John Hall, a surveyor, mapped out nine large farms. He also created smaller lots where a golf course used to be.
Only four of the nine large farms were bought by settlers. The price of £6 per acre was too high for many. One of the farms was bought by George Hancock, the father of a famous mining businessman, Lang Hancock.
By 1911, most of the farms were still empty. It was suggested that four of them be used for an Agricultural College. But when World War I started, these plans were stopped.
Near the end of 1916, the local community asked for Avondale to be divided into 20 smaller lots for soldiers returning from the war. In 1918, it was decided that 6 lots would be for local servicemen. The area around the homestead, about 1,740 acres (700 hectares), would stay under government control.
Avondale as a Research Station
The main homestead area of Avondale was given to the Department of Agriculture in 1924. At first, it was meant to grow pure wheat and oats seeds. But for several years, it was used to gather and hold dairy cattle before sending them to new settlers in the state's South West. During this time, a large silo was built, which could hold 100 tonnes of grain. This silo is now a heritage-listed building.
Local farmers worried that the cattle were not suitable for the area. So, Avondale soon focused on seed production and research. The first research began in 1926. It looked at how to use superphosphate fertilizer and when to apply it. The early findings were published in the Journal of Agriculture in 1927.
Important Research at Avondale
In 1915, a disease similar to Braxy started in the Beverley-York area. It spread across most farming regions, causing about 5% of sheep to die, and sometimes even 30%. In 1918, a professor identified it as a bacterial disease but couldn't find the cause.
Dr. Harold Bennetts became the state's first animal disease expert in 1925. He immediately started studying the disease. In 1930, a special laboratory was built at Avondale, and 1,000 sheep were bought for experiments. In 1931, Bennetts found that a bacteria called Bacillus ovitoxicus caused the disease. With this knowledge, he created a vaccine to prevent it. For his important work, Bennetts received a special award (a CBE).
The large sheep flocks at Avondale also allowed for other research. From 1931, experiments looked at the best ways to raise lambs for export. They found that cross-bred ewes (female sheep) were much better at producing lambs than pure-bred Merinos.
In 1934, Bennetts worked with state botanist Charles Gardner to study how native plants affected sheep. Gardner collected plants, and Bennetts fed them to sheep. They found 24 poisonous plant species, mostly from the native pea family. Their research led to a book called The Toxic Plants of Western Australia in 1956.
Dr. Eric Underwood also did research at Avondale starting in the mid-1930s, using the sheep flocks. He studied how sulfur affected wool growth and looked into botulism in sheep. These were just some of his many experiments over 30 years. In the 1940s, he studied the nutritional value of hay and pasture for sheep. His findings were published in the Journal of Agriculture.
During World War II, Avondale researched growing linseed and flax in Western Australia. They found that an early version of the insecticide DDT helped fight pests that damaged these crops.
Other Farming Efforts
In 1942, Avondale helped develop and use contour banks, which are special ridges built on hillsides to stop soil erosion. In the 1950s, Avondale monitored its sheep flocks to study the effect of a type of clover (Dwalganup strain of clover) on sheep fertility. In the 1960s and 1970s, Avondale worked on breeding and testing different cereal crops for Western Australia. Since the early 1980s, Avondale has focused on farming methods that protect the environment and on new ways for farms to earn money, like marron (a type of crayfish) farming.
Like many farms in Western Australia, Avondale used horses, especially Clydesdales, to pull farming equipment. In the 1930s, when horses were no longer useful, they were sometimes sent to the Perth Zoo as food for lions. This practice continued until the 1950s, when tractors replaced horses on farms. Since the museum opened in 1978, Avondale has again used Clydesdales for demonstrations of old equipment. These horses are sold as pets when they can no longer work.
Avondale from 1976 to Today
In 1976, to prepare for Western Australia's 150th birthday in 1979, the Department of Agriculture decided to restore Avondale farm. Farmers from all over the state generously donated old machinery and equipment. Most of this machinery was fixed up by mechanics from the Department of Agriculture. In 1978, Prince Charles was invited to open Avondale's agricultural displays. He accepted, and on March 16, 1979, Avondale was officially opened.
The farm continues to research ways to improve farming in Western Australia. Avondale's displays are open to the public and have picnic areas. You can see the original homestead, the stables with Clydesdales, and a machinery shed. There's also a road around the farm with signs explaining what each paddock is currently used for.
See also
- Agricultural science
- Agriculture
