Gympie and District Farming and Grazing – Kilkivan 1905 – Part 1

Continuing on with our Farming series, this story features an article about the Farming and Grazing in the Kilkivan area.  The Article was published over several weeks in The Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette and we will also publish the stories in several parts with this first part featuring the farm of Mr Joseph MacFarlane.  

“GYMPIE AND DISTRICT FARMING AND GRAZING.
No XXIII.
-— (By Our Special Reporter).
Kilklvan District
The cold weather had set in when the road was taken again to visit the Kilklivan dis-trict, and the fine grazing country on both sides of the Ten Chain road, ater crossing the Mary River, had assumed its brown winter colour. After driving across Widgee Creek and a couple of long rolling ridges the country improves, and opens out witn Widgee “preemption” on the left hand side of the road, and the Woolooga paddocks backed by the Devil’s Mountain on the right. While travelling across this beautiful stretch of land, so eminently adapted for close settlement, a remark made by one of the New South Wales farmers who has settled at Cooran kept recurring to my mind. “Why you have no people or cattle in Queensland” : for mile after mile is passed with-out seeing a house or meeting a single person.

After crossing the river not a single habitation is seen until Mr. Joseph Macfarlane’s homestead, a distance of 15 to 16 miles, comes in view. This property was for many years known as “Old Wool-olga,” but on account of the confusion arising from the similarity of names with the station, it has been re-christened “Craigleigh Dairy.” This farm with con-siderable frontage to Wide Bay Creek, com-prises 2,500 acres of land, besides which there are 1,750 acres of leasehold used for grazing purposes. The homestead, which is about half a mile from, and in sight of the 17 Mile Gate on the Kilkivan railway, con-sists of two houses, shed, barn, pig stys and yards, and stock yards with milking bail covered in, plunge concrete cattle dip. etc. During the last twelve months, 10 acvres of land have been put under maize and pumpkins for pig feed, and another 50 acres are said to be stumped and ready for the plough. Nearly the whole ot the country about here consists of good quality of ridges and black soil flats suitable for raising gen-eral farm crops.

Mr. Macfarlane was the first to send cream away from these parts. having despatched his cans to the Model Dairy in Brisbane. prior to the Gympie Butter Factory being inaugurated, he is now milking 60 cows, though during the past summer the number going through the bails ran up to 80, out of the 350 head of cattle that are running on the place. The herd is being bred up to “red polls” : about three months ago two bulls of this breed were brought from New South Wales, and these animals should have an important influence in fixing the type. Mr. Macfarlane reports that during the drought there were practically no losses, on account of the bountiful supply of water in the Wide Bay Creek and other parts of the run, but the redwater scourge swept off nearly all the breeders, the cattle not having been inocu-lated. In December, 1902, thirty-two cows were being milked, at the end of February there were only 5 left, and these died later on. After being “cleaned out” of broken-in animals a fresh start was made with two bush cows, one of which was hobbled to prevent its straying, and the other had a bell on to assist in finding her in the pad-dock.

About 40 or 50 brood mares are kept, and those of a lighter stamp being mated with the blood stallion “Young Moor lad,” who was got by ‘Moorlad” from a “Roderick Dhu” mare. For some years the “Old Woolooga” breed of pigs have been well known for their quality, for a start was made ten years ago to improve the breed by the introduction of pure bred pedigree pigs from Mr. W. R. Robinson, of Toowoomba. and Walker’s Trustees, Tenter-field. Last year a boar and sow were ob-tained Irom Gatton College, but the anim-als have not turned out well. The swine are decidedly above the average, the boar showing a lot of quality combined with good length, good hams, and not too thick in the shoulder. The cows are mostly good, and two of them will receive more than a passing notice from the visitor. To feed the pigs, the corn cobs are ground up whole, and the coarse meal thus obtained is thoroughly boiled with pumpkin, etc. ; this feed, the cobs ground up whole, is very highly spoken of as being much more econo-mical than shelled maize.

There are about 140 fowls showing strongly the White Leg-horn strain, the pure birds having been ob-tained from the “College.” Among the im-plements are a reversible disc plough, of which It is said “it could not be better”, a sulky spring tooth cultivator, “one of the best implements a farmer can have,” and the “corn cob mill.” This mill is fixed and worked very much in the same way as a horse gear and one horse will grind up about four bushels of the crushed stuff an hour. Mr. Macfarlane now looks on this machine as a necessary adjunct to success-full pig feeding. The steam turbine separa-tor and boiler have been in use nine years, and are still in good order : before separat-ing, the milk is heated with steam up to 95 degrees, which enables very even cream tests to be obtained from the factories : 40 per cent of butter fat is the general return, this being the most profitable standard for both the farmer and the butter maker. “

Update: Joseph MacFarlane died on the 19th of November 1918 at age 88 and is buried at the Gympie Cemetery with his wife Agnes (nee Eadie) who died only 6 months later in May of 1919.  Agnes was 84.

 This story was compiled by Kathy Punter.

Sources:  Trove; Qld BDM; Gympie Cemetery Trust;