Throughout the month of January 1939, the weather in Bathurst vacillated from a daytime high of 40.6°C on the 11th to a nighttime low of 8.6°C on the 29th. Smoke haze filled the sky, rain was only recorded on six days, and the Macquarie River ceased flowing. This is only part of the information that […]
When the NSW Government established the system of Experiment Farms, the aim was to turn out practical farmers in order to improve agricultural capacity. To achieve this, the Bathurst Experiment Farm School was established in 1897 and would train over 850 students until the school closed in 1941. This register of students enrolled at the […]
Keeping warm during cold winter mornings was a constant consideration when working in the orchard and fields of the Bathurst Experiment Farm. This hand-drawn fire cart, which was made on the Farm from a forty-four-gallon rolled steel drum and welded frame, provided workers with a source of warmth on frosty winter mornings. Along with providing […]
To students of the history of animal husbandry, the lecture notes contained within this book are of great interest. In elegant copperplate script we learn that even the best food will not produce good returns unless the cows are properly handled and their surroundings are comfortable and warm. Although such information has a value in […]
Most of us, supposedly like Pavlov’s Dog, react to the ringing of a bell. Whether the bell rings out an alarm or calls us together we are programmed to respond to its call. The tolling of this brass bell alerted students at the Bathurst Experiment Farm to changes in their day. It called students to […]
The orchard at the Bathurst Experiment Farm was well-known for its fruit research especially on apple varieties. Research into the possibility of producing nuts commercially is less well-known. The plan of the Farm’s orchard includes walnuts and filberts and these displays of nuts grown at the Farm demonstrate that almonds and macadamia nuts were also […]
The establishment of the Bathurst Experiment Farm in 1895 (later the Bathurst Agricultural Research Station) was part of a move by the New South Wales Government to increase agricultural capacity through the systematic application of science and education to agriculture. The rather gruesome looking device in the first photograph is the grinding gear of a […]
Although students at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, may not know it (and may not want to know), their accommodation is situated where the piggery of the Bathurst Experiment Farm was formerly located. The piggery was just one of the studs kept at the Farm and this book records the number of horses, sheep and pigs […]
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