“SPRINGVALE” The home of Mrs Miles McDonald 1917.
There is no better known farm in the district than Springvale, where Mrs Miles McDonald (since the lamented death of her husband over a year ago) carries on mixed farming on an extensive scale.
The work done on the property since the first portion of it was acquired from Mr W Porteous some ten years ago bears evidence of the energy an thoroughness of the methods adopted by the founders and his sons.
The soil comprised within an area of 1860 acres ranges from dark friable loam to light sandy, with in places a sub strata of small gravel, and during the drought of three seasons back, crop on the latter yielded an average of 12 bushels with the exception of a small area of the whole of the then cleared paddocks provided with substantial sheep proof fences. Two hundred acres have been placed under crop. 80 tons cut for hay and harvesting should be completed within the next week or so. For the next season’s operations, 270 acres have been fallowed and it is Mrs McDonald’s intention to sew 70 acres with Rape and oats as winter feed for the sheep. The above mixture is most favoured as fodder, and on one small paddock 450 ewes and lambs were grazed to the end of September of last year, when the sheep were taken off and the crop later yielded six bushels per acre.
During last week Mrs McDonald had drafted out 110 lambs, which will be forwarded as fats to Midland Junction towards the close of next month and the opinion expressed by one district farmer competent to judge in such matters is that they are the finest flock of fat lambs it has been his pleasure to see, and should fetch to prices on the metropolitan market. The farm buildings are all well and substantially built. The large straw covered stable, is delightfully cool for the stock this hot weather (with convenient swing doors). The chaff house is equipped with an I.H.C. internal combustion engine. On first sight the steep bank on the creek alongside the homestead offered an exceptional opportunity to conserve water. So Mr McDonald thought, and at one spot deepened the creek and built a weir across it, damming back a magnificent stretch of water. But, as the immortal Burns has said: The best schemes of mice and men “Gang aft agley”. The clearing that had been done right back along the creek now floods more quickly than when the banks were well wooded. As occasionally happens, a sudden flood came down the creek and overflowing the barrage, washed it to the level of the creek bed. Nothing now remains but some of the boulders used in making the weir. Other dams along the creek have been filled in with sediment in like manner, and the water supply is now largely secured from less treacherous catchments. The shed provided for storing artificial manures and other perishable products, and another building not too often met with on W.A. farms is a roomy smithy, equipped with anvil and bellows and other tools for doing repairs. Mrs McDonald’s name is associated with most branches of farming, her activities are manifold and her capacity as a manager undoubted. At the local show she secured the honour of exhibiting the winning pen in the export lambs competition. (Commented upon by Judge Hayman as being the best export lambs exhibited at any of the shows that year) and secured prizes in bacon-curing, butter-making and cookery. It is not breaking any confidences when we say that Mrs McDonald secures revenue of over 100 pounds a year from the sale of butter and bacon alone. The information was freely given, and we pass it on in the hope that as time passes others may be induced to devote more time to the production of side lines, which are in such demand and meet with ready sale.
In the older settled districts of the Eastern States the small farmer who does not grow eggs or butter or bacon or other side lines is looked upon by his neighbour as improvident and does not rank high as a farmer. On “Springvale” an average of eight cows are milked during the year, and the herd numbers about 20 head.
The present shortage of labour, consequent with the enlistment for military service abroad of two of her sons who habitually worked on the farm and in other directions, has compelled Mrs McDonald to somewhat curtail her operations, and she is now paying more attention to sheep, of which she has close to 900 head. It may be here remarked that last season generally throughout the district a bad one, the lambing average at “Springvale” was 75%, a result achieved only by unremitting care and attention. “Springvale” adjoins the town boundary on the south, and the railway line follows the course of the creek right through the property.