Rosewood History

Farm at Mount Walker c.1907 (State Library Queensland),

[Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser, Thursday 26 September 1878, page 3]
RURAL NOTES- MOUNT WALKER
The principal agricultural settlement in this district is to be found to the westward of the mountain on the banks of the River Bremer, which is not a very large stream here; indeed, at the present time it is not a stream at all, but a chain of waterholes. Some of these holes, however, are of a large size, and many a farmer in less favoured districts would be glad to have one such on or near his land.

Before giving a description of the farms in this locality, we shall notice a few of the places passed on the road up. At a distance of seven or eight miles from Ipswich, Ebenezer is reached. This name, we believe, was given by the Wesleyan denomination to their chapel here, but is now acknowledged as the name of the neighbourhood, which was formerly spoken of as the Seven Mile Creek. A State school has been established here, and is under the charge of Mr. Jacobs, who lives on property of his own near by, there being no teacher’s residence built yet. The attendance is very satisfactory, being nearly forty out of about fifty on the roll. Mr. Whitney has charge of the post-office, and also keeps a general store. In addition to this he cultivates eight or nine acres of land, growing maize, wheat, barley and lucerne. About an acre of wheat was just showing ear, and, although not very high, looked remarkably well; far better, indeed, than oats or barley. It would appear to be the most suitable cereal to sow for green feed, although as a grain crop it is not to be relied on. The pineapple and grapevine thrive well here. 

We noticed in this neighbourhood the farms of Messrs. Geiger and Ratz, who grow chiefly corn and green feed. Most cattle owners who cultivate have grown green stuff this season for their stock, though mostly to a small extent only. The land hereabout cannot, as a rule, be considered anything like first class, and these crops, in dry weather especially, do not come on very well. It is, we should think, better adapted for the growth of cotton. 

We called next at Mr. Henry Jacob’s farm. The owner was away from home, but we saw that he cultivates pretty extensively wheat, oats, lucerne and maize, besides attending to a fair-sized garden. 

The residents in this neighbourhood, we learned, strongly object to having to pay the marsupial tax, and are endeavouring to have it done away with, since there are no animals there which possess payable scalps, the only marsupials that annoy them being the opossum, kangaroo-rat and bandicoot, which are allowed to go free. 

Not far from Mr. Jacobs’s, we saw a party under Mr. Carl Runge engaged in building a bridge over the Bremer. This bridge, which is about 100ft. long, will afford the Ebenezer and Mount Walker farmers more easy access to Rosewood railway station than they at present have. 

At a distance of about twelve miles from Ipswich Mr. John Yates’s farm is reached. Seeing some cultivation here, we called upon the proprietor, whom we found drawing water from the creek, or rather from one of the holes, which still contains a fair supply of that necessary fluid. The watering places here are not at all good for cattle in dry times, being very boggy, the bed of the Bremer in most places differing in this respect materially from that of the Brisbane River, which usually shows a gravelly bottom. The losses in cattle were rather severe last season but Mr. Yates has done his best this season to provide something for his stock, having cultivated about twelve acres growing, besides maize, wheat, oats, barley and lucerne for green feed. Of these the wheat looks decidedly the best, though all appear to be feeling the dry weather very much. A nice looking young entire horse is kept here named Noble, after his sire, Mr. B. Watson’s Noble. He is but three years of age, and perfectly quiet, having been broken in to cart and plough. A few heavy mares and their young stock were also in the paddock close by. 

After leaving this place, the road for a few miles passes through some large selections owned by Mr. D. M’Grath, and until lately occupied as a sheep run. The owner, however, informed us that he had lately disposed of the sheep and substituted cattle. 

After passing through this large estate, which, we believe, contains over 7000 acres, the Mount Walker farming district proper is reached. On the right hand side of the road is the farm of Mr. Frances C. Kingston, who also owns two or three other selections near by. He cultivates about forty acres, growing principally oats, wheat and maize. Of the first mentioned ten acres have been sown this season; of the second between two and three acres. Over a ton of potatoes has just been put in; a small patch of peas is also grown. Last year a piece of land containing eleven square chains was sown with planters’ friend, from which, at the close of the season, ten bags of seed were gathered. This, we were told, weighs much heavier than maize, an ordinary corn-sack of well-cleaned grain being fully 300lb. weight. After the seed was gathered, the stalks were out and fed to cattle. Chaff is prepared by horse-power when required; but last season Mr. Kingston sold a great part of his forage crop green to neighbours for their cattle in the dry weather, making from that source alone £106. 

On the opposite side of the road is the residence of Mr. Hockley, one of the earliest settlers in this district, who owns about 400 acres of land, and cultivates at the present time about thirty acres. A large quantity of corn and pumpkins was grown last year, the latter crop being fed largely to cattle and pigs. Twelve acres have bees sown this season with early corn, which looks very well; six acres are in oats and barley, three in lucerne, and about one in potatoes. A good number of cattle is kept on this farm, for which ample provision has been made; for, besides a large supply of pumpkins and green feed, a huge stack of hay made last season is still in store. Owing to good management in this respect, the losses during the bad season were comparatively light. Dairying operations are, however, at a standstill at present, but, with better weather, we expect to see them renewed with rigour. Some very fine pigs are also kept here. One which we saw just dressed weighed 276lb. though by no means an old pig. The hams of this fellow were calculated to weigh 20lb. each when cured. Mr. Hockley finds no difficulty in disposing of this kind of produce, and, although he has not cured very much this year, in previous seasons he has slaughtered a great number of pigs. 

While on the subject of butchering, we may as well mention another case which came under our notice. Mr. Hockley shot a large carpet-snake, and, as reptiles of this description, though plentiful enough in some places, are very scarce here, he brought it up to the house as a curiosity. After supper (for we stayed here that night on the kind invitation of the hospitable owner) we all went to inspect it, after which it was duly measured and weighed, and found to be nearly 8ft. in length and 7lb. is weight. We then proposed fish for breakfast, but our proposal was negatived in favour of the big pig. 

Close to this are the farms of Messrs. Albert and George Rice, the former of whom was ploughing a piece of land, containing fifty or sixty acres for corn. The latter grew about twenty acres of corn last year; he has this season sown a few acres of barley. 

Mr. J. H. Brewer grew about twelve acres of corn and a little green stuff. 

Near this farm is situated the Mount Walker State school, which is under the care of Mr. Richard Hingston. This school was, we believe, only established in April last, and, from what we heard of the state of some of the children previously, by no means before it was needed. The usual attendance is about thirty or thirty-four out of forty-two on the roll. The progress made by the pupils must be considered very satisfactory, considering the short time they have had the opportunity of receiving instruction. The school is well supplied with maps and other requisites, which are all in first-class condition. 

After passing the school a great many farms are seen, the appearance of which would convey to a stranger the idea that they are deserted; no cultivation, and in many cases no buildings, are to be seen upon them. Cattle, however, are usually to be found on them. 

Mr. P. Cannon has about thirty two acres of cultivation, six of which were in cotton last year and one in oats. Mr. Joseph Sellars, formerly of Moggill, was ploughing about twenty acres for corn; one acre was planted with potatoes. A store and post office is also kept here. 

We visited the farm of Mr. D. M’Laughlin, on the other side of the river. Here eighteen or twenty acres of corn were grown last season. There will be about thirty acres altogether this season. A fair quantity of oats and barley is also grown. 

Mr. William Burkett has about twenty acres of corn and also a quantity of green feed growing. 

Mr. D. O’Brien, who owns 760 acres, cultivated last year about twenty-five acres of corn. He intends to have about forty acres under cultivation this season.

The lateness of the evening did not allow of our spending any more time in this neighbourhood at present. We may remark, however, that, from what we have seen here, we believe last season has taught many people a lesson, and that the stock on most farms will not be left to take their chance, as has been but too frequently the case in former years. A great many have saved paddocks as reserves in case of necessity, and in many of these splendid grass is still to be seen. Others again have sown sufficient quantities of oats, barley, &c., to have provided them with an abundant supply of fodder had rain only fallen to give it a good start. Some find that their holdings are too small for their requirements, and we cannot wonder that these people want to know why the large tract of land, resumed some time back from the Franklyn Vale run, has not yet been thrown open for selection. 

A great many German farmers are settled on the land lying to the southward of the mountain; we did not, however, spend much time amongst them. 

On the road from Mount Walker to Normanby we noticed the farms of Messrs. Millar, Schmidt, Dowe, and Fischer, which may be taken as a sample of the rest. Cotton seems to be grown more extensively here than in most districts. Maize and green feed is also grown. August Miller grew six acres of corn and six acres of cotton; he does not intend to plant any more of the latter crop this season, as he thinks 9s per cwt. too low a price, but he believes that if l½d. per lb. could be obtained for it plenty would be grown. Paul Fischer grew seventeen acres of cotton and a large quantity of corn, besides some wheat, oats, barley, and rye. The grain of the last is fed to horses and the straw cut for chaff. It appears to grow well and yield a heavy crop.