Australia and the World Past and Present

Good on C. Berry and K. Perrett (1985) for their book describing pioneering life on the Bass Coast.

The book was written to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of settlement in Glen Alvie and the surrounding area.

It is a small book. In terms of style, it has dated a bit. But it provides a valuable insight into rural life in this part of Victoria in the 1800s and 1900s.

We are offered a chronology of events. It is interesting to see the dating of key events and changes.

There was a lot of surveying and selecting going on in the 1870s. Grantville was surveyed in 1870.

We can see the development of Grantville over time. In 1875, a general store appeared. Three years later there was a hotel – a necessity for any town. By 1887 saleyards had been constructed to facilitate the trade of livestock. This was a time of fast development. There were population inflows and a lot of building construction. In 1888 the Great Southern Railway reached Loch.

The late 1890s saw an explosion in the number of butter factories. One at Kongwak opened in 1896.

The coal fields in Wonthaggi were opened in 1909. Largely because of this coal, a branch line to the town was completed in 1910.

By the 1920s, cars were appearing in the district.

Also in this decade, chemical fertilisers were coming into use.

Radio was a crucial form of communication at this time.

Around the time of the Second World War, tractors were making an appearance.

The Korean War (1950) had an interesting impact. The U.S. army was sourcing Australian wool to clothe their troops and this led to a spike in the price of wool.

By the early twentieth century rabbits had become a major problem. The question was how to deal with them? Attention turned to a possible viral solution. The Lands Department released myxomatosis – otherwise known as “myxo”. It led to a large decline in numbers, but it never completely eradicated them.

Chainsaws came into wide use in the 1950s. Technological improvements continued, as did mechanisation.

In the 1950s, tractor-operated hay presses made an appearance.

In 1957 the collection of milk by specialised tankers began.

By the 1960s fertilizer was not only being spread by tractor or trucks, but from the air as well. Fertiliser spread by small planes was seen as a more effective way to spread the product on the steeper parts of a property.

Perhaps of little consequence for non-farmers, but in the early 1960s fence posts now came “treated” with chemicals to prevent rot and insect damage.

The authors noted the arrival of round hay bales in 1981. Again, probably not of much interest to a non-farmer, but farming families noted each change in technology. Each was supposed to make life easier. Tractors replaced horses. Seeding was done by machines rather than people. This was also generally the case for harvesting.

Until the arrival of chemical fertilisers, things were rather thin on the ground. Of course this was the natural way things were up until that point. Fertilisers made pastures lusher. In turn, livestock put on more weight faster. The land could hold more cattle. There was more and more talk of efficiency and productivity.

Bracken, although native, was seen as a bit of a pest. It was viewed as non-productive and difficult to clear.

Between the end of WWI and the 1930s, hay tended to be stacked rather than bailed. A pulley system was used to make enormous stacks.

In the 1920s, gumboots arrived on the scene. Concrete too. What was the significance of concrete on farms one may ask? It was particularly useful on dairy farms. Areas around the home or milking sheds used to resemble mud pits. Concrete made milking a much more tolerable affair. It became easier to get around.

Mechanisation changed things. It allowed people to do things faster and faster.

An individual doing hand milking could process perhaps 8 cows an hour.¹

This was done two times a day. And of course it had to be done every day of the year come rain, hail or shine. Dairy farmers were renowned for never taking holidays.

When milk tanker collection began, the back-breaking work of lifting milk cans went the way of the dodo.

Input costs were always increasing, often at a rate that outpaced the price farmer were getting for their own products.

At the time of writing, the price of petrol is going through the roof due the U.S. / Israel war with Iran.

A similar spike in the oil price occurred in the 1970s with the OPEC oil crisis.

Over time, farms have become larger and larger. Smaller operators shut up shop and moved to the towns or cities. Farms were amalgamated. Operations became larger.

Debutante or “deb” balls were a common feature of life in the district. They were a rite of passage ceremony for young people in the community.

Lifestyle developed over time. It was not uncommon in the late 1800s or early 1900s for schools to have their own dedicated pony paddock – as so many kids rode their horses to school.

It is a small book, but Glen Alvie & District provides a plethora of details about life on the Bass Coast in the 1800s and 1900s.

1. C. Berry and K. Perrett, Glen Alvie & District, 1985, p. 27 ↩︎