The Brussels Post, 1974-02-27, Page 11HOPPE HOME HARDWARE
887-6525 BRUSSELS
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exal PHARMACY LTD. v M. E. HOOVER, Phm.B.
PHONE 527-1990 SEAFORTH
caftan couple sees
Wool auction, 23,000 acre farm in Australia
elbourne and Sheep-farming in
the shire of Arrarat.
rs. Bewley and her husband,
It, spent a month visiting their
tighter and son-ins-law in
Australia this fall.).
By Jean Bewley
As we continued down the
me Highway, toward
lbourne (over 500 miles) . we
more fields under cultivation
more sheep, some sheared
some not. There were fields
pletely covered with purple
ers with no green =whatever
wing. We argued whether it
been planted or not Until we
a mountain completely
ered. In one field ; we saw a
steer in the middle of a
pie field. Later we were told
t it was a weed and toxic to
le but harmless ,to. sheep. We
ly should have stopped and
that steer out of the field as he
robably dead by now.
efore we crossed the border
he State of Victoria, they
warning us to eat any fresh
we had in our possession- or.
dispose of it. apparently
e are no fruit flies in Victoria
they will not allow fresh fruit
the north to come in, in case
, bring some flies with them.
en we reached the border, the
and everybody in it, was
yed.
ince we were only in
bourne for two nights and one
we didn't see too much of it.
buildings are more
thered than in Sidney and
y are built of bluestone rather
sandstone, which of course
es them look darker. Like
ney, wrought iron has been
d extensively as fences or
oration on older houses.
inally it had been used as
ast in ships but later it was
ufactured. The amount of
ught iron trimming on your
se denoted social standing.
ne tall building is equipped
a glass-encased staircase
t 10 stories high. There is
one lift in the building so
equently there is a ruling that
late employees must use the
.s. I'll bet the women's
ers didn't complain about
Maternity Hospital
he Maternity Hospital has a
e statue of a green 'stork in
t of it. Appropriate eh!
ther large building has a total
ree and a half acres of glass.
y had problems with the glass
ng out due to changes in the
ther. Our guide told us 'that
can have four seasons
ther in one day andl believe
. The clay we were there, it
ged hourly.
yerything is either bigger or
er than its counterpart in
ey or else the one they are
ding will be higher when it is
e , - Just like Toronto and
treal!
hey hayed elm trees in
!bourne and they were just
ng out in leaf in October. We
't go near them hope we
en't carrying any Dutch Elm
s. Here's hoping they don't
the disease, then when we get
der control we will be able to
ort some trees.
he next °ening, four of the
t frightened people in
tralia went down to Avis car
tal in downtown Melbourne to
Up our rented station wagon.
haps we should have gone to
park where they had
ature streets laid out
plete with lights, where
ses of school children were
it to learn road sense and
s by riding three wheelers
ugh all the different traffic
ations. Much to otir relief, the ion Wagon already had dints
oth front fenders` - maybe a
Canadian had been the last
driver! We started out for Bolac
with Watt driving, Marie,
Carman and I as map-readers and
back-seat drivers. In Australia,
they drive on the opposite side of
the road,' signs are in different
' places and the car on your right
has the right of way regardless.
Stop signs are scarce and
everybody seems to know where
they are going.. Luckily, we made • it out of the city and on to the
Western -Highway which,
according to our map would lead
us to Lake Bolac.
Mary and Wayne rent the
second house on a sheep farm
located between Lake Bolac and
Willaura, two small villages about
twice as big as Walton.
That evening just as we were
almost ready to sit down to
dinner, there was a knock at the
door and Geof and Marg Bygrave
and their children arrived, Geof
carrying a Passion Fruit cake and
Marg, a Pavlova (a most delicious
Australian dessert). This was our-
first real experience of Australian
hospitality and it continued for
the remainder of our visit.
Sheep Faint
Life on a sheep farm was
thrilling. Drifting, draftin-g,
clipping, crutching, shearing - all
were foreign to us. Rick and
David (sheep dogs) were real
experts at herding sheep. All
Geof needed to cl-O" was whistle
and the order was carried out.
Rick could even pick out a sheep
infested with blow flies (maggots)
and hold it until Geof arrived to
treat it. I'm afraid we sometimes
held back the work as Rick's 'only
vice was a desire to be in every
picture. David, the younger dog
never stopped working. The(
always work in pairs and the older
trains the younger.
The Bygraves had made
arrangements to see different
sheep farms at different stages.
The thing that really made our
trip was the fact that everyone
went on with their work and let us
see them just as they were. No
one seemed self-conscious, just
kept right on with their work.
Shearing is back-br eaking
work. A good shearer can' make
$50 a day, every day of the year
and he earns every cent of it,
working in a bent-over position
while holding a sheep with one
hand and using the shears with
the other. The shears are
electrically operated and the
operation we saw had four
shearers working at once. They
cannot shear sheep that are wet'
so if it is a rainy season, the
-farmer must see that he has
enough sheep under cover to keep
them going - otherwise he has to
pay the shearers whether they
work or not. A week of rainy
weather can make quite a
difference to the profits when you
are paying several shearers
wages and not getting anything
done.
The wool is graded, baled,
weighed in kilos and stamped
right on the farm, then shipped to
a wool sale. Bob and Geof sent
their to Dalgetty 's in the city of
Geelong on the coast west of
Melbourne. They took Us to the
sale the day their wool 'was sold.
That was a real experience! In the
morning we saw- the Wool on
display - every bale was open for
inspection. Buyers from all over
the world Could be seen looking,
smelling, snapping it between
their fingers then making
notations in•their books. They told
that4he WOO1 in that One huge
room was worth about three
Million dollars
Wool Auction
That afternoon, the Dalgety
auctioneer sold 963 bales it lots Of
front one to 28 bales: There were
tWo - other derripaiiieS Selling that
day in other rooms for a total of
over ten thousand bales. Geof had
seven different grades for a total
of 42 bales. The prices were good
so everybody was happy it was a
good time to visit! During the late
sixties, wool prices had been very
poor and sheep farmers were
seriously considering more
diversified farming but with the
prices of last year and this, they
will probably remain the way they
are.
Geof's sheep are • Merino,
raised mainly for their wool, but,
take it from us, the meat is
delicious too.
Joe Arnold, nearby, raised
Choradales which are a
crossbreed and are bred for ,both
meat and wool. One of his
problems - when they get fat and
their wool is long, if they 'are
chased and fall, rolling on their
back, they cannot get back on
their feet. They must be checked
often or the mortality rate is high.
The paddocks are checked each:
morning for weak lambs, sick
sheep etc. If a lamb is too weak to
protect itself, the crows will pick
out its eyes even before it dies. Of
course the crows do good too as
they dispose of dead animals.
No Winter
We thought how nice it would
be to live in a country with no
winter - no hay to takeoff in the
summer - just enjoy the warm
weather. They take off hay in
November and •often are feeding
it the same time as we are. Their
seasons are different though.
Some years, they don't have to
use any but if it is hot and dry and
they become short of pasture,
they must feed hay. Last year
many had to and their supplies
were low so everybody was
getting ready to cart hay when we
left. It has been fairly wet this
year so they will not use too much
but it will keep until next year,
stored in opensided buildings.
'They grew grain too -.Geof had
about 200 acres of wheat and oats
and it was a beautiful crop. -
shoulder high and thick. The oats
have wider leaves than ours and
the grain itself is heavier - about
44 lbs. to the bushel. They don't
have to buy grass seed just leave
the field for a few months after
harvest and the wild grass grows
in abundance. Joe is experi-
menting with a field of lucerne
(alfalfa) to see how it will fare in
the Australian climate.
At Christmas, when we are
worried about snow, they worry
about forest tires. If there isn't
too much rain for a week or t
and a hot dry wind blovis down
from the north, the danger is
great. The least spark could burn
out the whole country: Everyone
ploughs firebreaks of between
eight and ten feet around their
fields and the sheep keep the
paddock around the buildings
clipped very close so a fire can be,
kept away from the buildings.
At Yarum Park, one of the
largest farms around, near the
Grampian Mountains, where the
risk of fire is great, they have a
total of 600 acres ploughed as fire
breaks - of course the farm itself
is 23,000 acres. It carries 29,000
sheep and 2,000 Hereford cattle.
These Herefords are beautiful
animals and bulls are sold all over
Australia. The owner_ was a
millionaire who also owned
department stores so the farm
was really a hobby. The sheep
produced about 99 bales of wool
each year and that money was all-
invested back in the farm.
Forest Fires
The Laidlaw's gave us a tour of
Yarum Park which was quite close
to their farm and at the foot of the
Grampians. The scenery was
beautiful. If it weren't for the
forest fire threat, it would be an
ideal place to live. The snakes
might be a deterent also! We
didn't see any but they said they
were common, poisonous and
about four feet long.
Not far from Yarum Park, we
saw an echidna (spiny anteater)
churn its way down into the
ground to get away from us; a
kangaroo jump out on the road in
front of us and birds of all colours,
large and small. This was about
14 or 15 miles from where Mary.
and Wayne live.
Hold dance
at Ethel
A successful Valentine Dance
was held in the Ethel Hall on
Saturday, February 16th.
Spot Dance winners were:
Debbie Raynard, Jamestown;
Wendy Adams, ,Jamestown; Bea
Raynard, Jamestown; Dwayne
Raynard-,Jamestown; Beth Boyd,
Shelbourne; Lois Gallagher,
shelbourne; Wilma Ducklow,
Listowel; Alice Stevens, Brussels;
Elmer Locking, Brussels; Helen
Subject, Monkton; Rodney
Godden of Brampton.
Betty Ann Stevens of Brussels,
was the winner of the door prize.
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