Rosewood History

From the Queensland Times, Saturday, 31st July1926, page 7

ROSEWOOD DISTRICT.
AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS.
DEVELOPMENT OF BETTER FARMING.
BRIGHT FUTURE FOR COAL MINING.
(No. 3)

The remarkable fertility of most of the Rosewood district, and the astounding range of its successful production, have made it one of the most closely settled farming areas of the State. In 60 years its rich forests and scrub lands have been completely cleared to supply many millions of feet of excellent timber for building and other purposes in many parts of Queensland and Australia, and many hundreds of small agricultural and dairy farms have taken their place. Where three or four big pastoral runs and timber holdings once supported a hundred or two white persons, and the bush housed many more blacks, there is now a town and farm population of several thousands, and no blacks. 

The district at present is essentially a farming area. It has some coal mining, still a little sawmilling, and a few butter and cheese factories, but its main industries are directly associated with the land-dairying, maize, end lucerne growing, general agriculture, grazing and pig-raising. Its towns are railway and commercial centres for the farming communities on which their existence depends. As the whole district has been fully settled for many years, the main avenue for progress in the future must necessarily be a better use of natural advantages by means of more profitable kinds of crops and stock, increased yields, and raising the standard of products. 

ROADS AND RAILWAYS.
The district generally is well served by railways and roads, although the Rosevale and Mount Walker section is still many miles from the railways. Some of the roads are good, but most need much improvement before they will be fit for modern farm transport. Most of the district is near enough to the railway lines for fairly intense settlement. Some localities, in fact, appear to have been settled too closely for comfortable “living- areas.” Dairying leads on the small farms. Maize, potatoes, sorghum, a little lucerne and oats are grown, and pig-raising has a place on many properties. When prices are favourable, much cotton is grown with great success. Given sufficient rain, all of these crops do well. The land in the smaller farm areas is chiefly fertile undulating country, well drained, but with few permanent watercourses. In the rougher country, and the land more distant from the railways, dairying is carried on on a larger scale, and there are many small cattle runs. Here and there some timber remains, but it is being quickly cut out by the mills. 

Unsuitable seasons and high production costs are turning the minds of the better farmers of the district to means of making farming more profitable than it has been under the methods in use since the district was first settled. Herd testing and better breeding are receiving consideration amongst the leading dairy farmers, and the necessity for the elimination of “scrub” bulls and random breeding is being more generally recognised. The district has some high standard stud dairy cattle, and some very fine herds, but so far the farmers with stock of this class are in the minority. With the beef cattle good work is being done generally, although there is not, very much big scale grazing. A big proportion of the men who stock beef cattle are mainly interested in fattening. Some, however, go in for breeding. At Fernvale one of these, Cr. John Poole, is endeavouring to produce bullocks suitable for the export beef market at two years old.

TRIAL OF NEW PRODUCTS.
The remarkable range of production of which the district is capable, offers a wide field for investigation of possibilities of development by means not yet tried fairly. By a fairly large scale experiment Mr. L. F. Schmidt, of Fernvale, has found that he can make £120 per acre per year by growing pineapples, with very little work and without much cost. Other settlers in the Fernvale district have had similar experience with pines. A Marburg district farmer took £300 worth of mandarins from two acres last year. Such results indicate previously unexplored possibilities. 

Farmers in the bigger proportion of the agricultural districts of Australia would scarcely conceive it creditable that the hills of the district could produce crops for 40 or 50 years without a spell and without artificial assistance-in many cases with very little rotation system. Such fertility, however, is liable to abuse. Many agriculturalists of the Rosewood district are now complaining that the land is “worn out.” “Even in good seasons we cannot produce the crops we got 30 years ago,” they say. In many cases the depletion of soil nutriment by may years of constant cropping is receiving serious attention.’ Consideration is being given to the soil constituents drawn out by various crops, and the land is being given a better chance by fair rotation systems. In this way the district production must inevitably be improved and increased. The use of artificial manures previously almost entirely unthought of, is getting a footing in the district. One farm selling superphosphate has disposed of some fairly large quantities in the Mount Walker and Rosevale districts recently. Prejudice against artificial manures has been caused in some places by the use of highly expensive fertilisers which simply added to the soil materials in which it was already rich, or which the crops for which it was used did not require. The failure to obtain better crops in such cases has sometimes caused a distrust of all fertilisers. Soil analysis and the right use of fertilisers  which would supply the deficiencies revealed by it will no doubt result in a valuable agricultural development. 

LITTLE FODDER CONSERVATION.
Despite the fact that the district has suffered from droughts, fodder conservation is not practised by many farmers. Financial difficulties and some unsuitable seasons recently have acted against much fodder storage. A few progressive farmers have big ensilage pits and make good use of them. One man who had proved the benefit of a big pit of ensilage stored up for a dry day said that many of his neighbours who had big stock losses in dry seasons might profitably have followed the system of many Canadian settlers-the building of a silo first and a house afterwards. 

Modern farm traction is coming into use here and there, particularly on the bigger agricultural areas. Tractors are being used on farm work, and light motor trucks on transport work. For farm business and pleasure scores of cars, particularly of the lighter makes, are in use, and many more farmers intend purchasing cars “as soon as a good season comes.” 

The district has three progressive agricultural associations, Rosewood, Marburg, and Lowood, all of which are doing valuable work in demonstrating stock and produce of the highest quality and encouraging the improvement of the agricultural stock standard. There has already been a commendable and promising extension of the sphere of the show societies’ activities by the introduction of lectures by experts on various phases of the better farming. 

Rosewood Show, held this month, was one of the finest shows in West Moreton. Its committee and officers are progressive and energetic. They have a ground equal to practically any country showground in the State. Mr. R. Sellars, the President, has been in office for four years. Mr. J. Hogan, the Secretary, handled the show organisation excellently, although it was his first year.

ROSEWOOD TOWN.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.
Rosewood is a big despatching centre for agricultural products, timber, and coal, and receiving centre for supplies for the town stores and for a big farming district. Most of the produce is handled by the railways yet, but the proportion of goods transported by motor is rapidly increasing. This is particularly so with dairy produce in which the big falling off in railway returns is attributed to the collecting of cream by motor lorries for delivery to the butter factories. Twelve to 20 trucks of pigs and calves a month are handled at the station. Last month’s returns, about normal, except outward produce, which was reduced owing to the dry season, showed that 245 tons of sawn timber, 131 tons of firewood, and 43 tons of farm and dairy produce were sent out, as well as 1100 tons of coal. The total inward tonnage was 452, and the total revenue from all goods £1053. Passenger traffic has also fallen off largely owing to the more general use of motor cars. Three mines deliver their coal to Rosewood station—Normanton, Westvale, and Lowfield. The usual output from these mines is 1200 to 1400 tons a month. The sawn timber and firewood traffic outward is always heavy, and the inwards loading of logs for the sawmill forms a big part of the tonnage handled. Mr. J. R. Allen, the Station Master, has been at the station 15 years, and is a well known figure in the district and with regular travellers on the main line.

COAL AND TIMBER.
The future of the coal mining industry in the district is considered very   bright. The Caledonian mines at Thagoona have been in operation for about 30 years but the greater part of the field which is being mined has been opened in the past 15 years. So far only a small portion of the country has been prospected. The first of the later nines was Glencoe, on the hill not far from the town. Later, Lanefield, Westvale, Normanton, Lowfield, Duckenfield, and Clarefield were started. The two Caledonian mines, opened by W. R. Black and Co., and later sold to the Australian United Steam Navigation Company, employ about 100 hands. The other mines have about 80 men between them. Most of these men live in Rosewood, and their weekly pay, totalling about £900, is a big factor in the business of the town. The total output of all the mines is about 6000 tons a month. They are working on thick seams, and have not yet reached their boundaries.

Sawmilling is still prominent in the district’s industries, although little of the timber is now taken from Rosewood itself. The Rosewood mill, owned by G. F. H. Atkinson, Limited, has been working about 25 years. It was started for the pine and hardwood of the Rosewood scrub, but is now working mainly on spotted gum, ironbark, and bluegum, much of which is brought from other districts. The mill is now managed by Mr. E. O’Sullivan, who has held the position for eight years. A few years ago the mill was burned down, and has since been rebuilt and equipped with a thoroughly up-to-date plant for dressing and moulding work. A plant for the making of axe-handles has also been installed. Eighteen men are employed, and about 7000 super feet a day are cut.