Limits reaffirmed: New wheat frontiers in Australia, 1916-1939

Journal of Historical Geography

Volumn 23, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 459-477

  Wood, David ^a  

^a YORK UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT; AGRICULTURAL HISTORY; ECONOMIC HISTORY; FRONTIER REGION; HISTORICAL STUDY; LAND SETTLEMENT; TWENTIETH CENTURY;

AUSTRALIA;

EID: 0031422904     PISSN: 03057488     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1006/jhge.1997.0063     Document Type: Article

References (86)

1. Bowman, The Pioneer Fringe, Foreign Affairs 6 (Oct. 1927) 64, 66. See also his The New World: Problems in Political Geography (New York 1928), 15.
2. Bowman, The Pioneer Fringe, Foreign Affairs 6 (Oct. 1927) 64, 66. See also his The New World: Problems in Political Geography (New York 1928), 15.
3. Bowman, The Pioneer Fringe (New York 1931). I am grateful to the American Geographical Society and Dr D. R. McManis for the opportunity to study Bowman's manuscript materials in the Society's New York offices.
4. See the frontispiece of W. A. Mackintosh, Prairie Settlement: The Geographical Setting, Canadian Frontiers of Settlement, Vol. I (Toronto 1934). Volume III of the nine-volume series was not published.
5. Bowman in W. A. Macintosh, op. cit., ix.
6. Ibid., xiv-xv.
7. D. A. MacGibbon, Economic factors affecting the settlement of the Prairie provinces, in W. L. G. Joerg (Ed.), Pioneer Settlement: Cooperative Studies by Twenty-Six Authors (New York 1932) 32.
8. S. H. Roberts, History of Australian Land Settlement (1788-1920) (Melbourne 1924) is the classic study; also S. H. Roberts, History of the pioneer fringes in Australia, in Joerg op. cit., 392-404. The classic study of wheat growing in Australia is E. Dunsdorfs, The Australian Wheat-Growing Industry 1788-1948 (Melbourne 1956).
9. S. H. Roberts, History of Australian Land Settlement (1788-1920) (Melbourne 1924) is the classic study; also S. H. Roberts, History of the pioneer fringes in Australia, in Joerg op. cit., 392-404. The classic study of wheat growing in Australia is E. Dunsdorfs, The Australian Wheat-Growing Industry 1788-1948 (Melbourne 1956).
10. S. H. Roberts, History of Australian Land Settlement (1788-1920) (Melbourne 1924) is the classic study; also S. H. Roberts, History of the pioneer fringes in Australia, in Joerg op. cit., 392-404. The classic study of wheat growing in Australia is E. Dunsdorfs, The Australian Wheat-Growing Industry 1788-1948 (Melbourne 1956).
11. G. Taylor, Possibilities of settlement in Australia, in I. Bowman (Ed.), Limits of Land Settlement: A Report on Present-day Possibilities (New York 1937) 206.
12. Rural Review 9 Nov. 1934, 6. The ambivalent status of migration from the British Isles in the search for people to settle the rural areas, the sometimes contending stands of the governments involved, and the connection with Soldier Settlement, are dealt with in M. Roe, Australia, Britain, and Migration, 1915-1940 (Cambridge 1995).
13. Rural Review 9 Nov. 1934, 6. The ambivalent status of migration from the British Isles in the search for people to settle the rural areas, the sometimes contending stands of the governments involved, and the connection with Soldier Settlement, are dealt with in M. Roe, Australia, Britain, and Migration, 1915-1940 (Cambridge 1995).
14. Sydney Morning Herald 7 March 1925, 13. Also see J. M. Powell, Historical Geography of Modern Australia: The Restive Fringe (Cambridge 1988) 139 and passim. See also his scholarly review of the debate of which this was a part in J. M. Powell, Griffith Taylor and 'Australia Unlimited' (The John Murtagh Macrossan Memorial Lecture, 1992) (St Lucia, Queensland 1993).
15. Sydney Morning Herald 7 March 1925, 13. Also see J. M. Powell, Historical Geography of Modern Australia: The Restive Fringe (Cambridge 1988) 139 and passim. See also his scholarly review of the debate of which this was a part in J. M. Powell, Griffith Taylor and 'Australia Unlimited' (The John Murtagh Macrossan Memorial Lecture, 1992) (St Lucia, Queensland 1993).
16. Sydney Morning Herald 7 March 1925, 13. Also see J. M. Powell, Historical Geography of Modern Australia: The Restive Fringe (Cambridge 1988) 139 and passim. See also his scholarly review of the debate of which this was a part in J. M. Powell, Griffith Taylor and 'Australia Unlimited' (The John Murtagh Macrossan Memorial Lecture, 1992) (St Lucia, Queensland 1993).
17. A process of ongoing adaptation by the farm population, according to J. Bennett, Northern Plainsmen: Adaptive Strategy and Agrarian Life (Arlington Heights, Ill. 1969) especially 18-19; J. Bennett, Human adaptations to the North American Great Plains and similar habitats, in P. A. Olson (Ed.), The Struggle for the Land (Lincoln 1990) 41-80.
18. A process of ongoing adaptation by the farm population, according to J. Bennett, Northern Plainsmen: Adaptive Strategy and Agrarian Life (Arlington Heights, Ill. 1969) especially 18-19; J. Bennett, Human adaptations to the North American Great Plains and similar habitats, in P. A. Olson (Ed.), The Struggle for the Land (Lincoln 1990) 41-80.
19. J. Andrews, The emergence of the wheat belt in Southeastern Australia to 1930, in J. Andrews (Ed.), Frontiers and Men: A Volume in Memory of Griffith Taylor (1880-1963) (Melbourne 1966) 60. Michael Williams indicates that 10 miles (16 km) was taken to be the limiting distance in South Australia. See M. Williams, Urban-rural links in south Australia, with special reference to strategies in rural education, 1930-1976, in R. E. Lonsdale and J. H. Holmes (Eds), Settlement Systems in Sparsely Populated Regions: The United States and Australia (New York 1981) 277.
20. J. Andrews, The emergence of the wheat belt in Southeastern Australia to 1930, in J. Andrews (Ed.), Frontiers and Men: A Volume in Memory of Griffith Taylor (1880-1963) (Melbourne 1966) 60. Michael Williams indicates that 10 miles (16 km) was taken to be the limiting distance in South Australia. See M. Williams, Urban-rural links in south Australia, with special reference to strategies in rural education, 1930-1976, in R. E. Lonsdale and J. H. Holmes (Eds), Settlement Systems in Sparsely Populated Regions: The United States and Australia (New York 1981) 277.
21. Andrews, op. cit., 58-9.
22. D. W. Meinig, On the Margins of the Good Earth: The South Australian Wheat Frontier 1869-1884 (Chicago 1962) 207. The general historical geography of South Australia is M. Williams, The Making of the South Australian Landscape: A Study in the Historical Geography of Australia (London 1974). See also M. Williams, More and smaller is better: Australian rural settlement 1788-1914, in J. M. Powell and M. Williams (Eds), Australian Space, Australian Time: Geographical Perspectives (Melbourne 1975) 61-103; and, for New South Wales, see D. Jeans, An Historical Geography of New South Wales to 1901 (Melbourne 1972).
23. D. W. Meinig, On the Margins of the Good Earth: The South Australian Wheat Frontier 1869-1884 (Chicago 1962) 207. The general historical geography of South Australia is M. Williams, The Making of the South Australian Landscape: A Study in the Historical Geography of Australia (London 1974). See also M. Williams, More and smaller is better: Australian rural settlement 1788-1914, in J. M. Powell and M. Williams (Eds), Australian Space, Australian Time: Geographical Perspectives (Melbourne 1975) 61-103; and, for New South Wales, see D. Jeans, An Historical Geography of New South Wales to 1901 (Melbourne 1972).
24. D. W. Meinig, On the Margins of the Good Earth: The South Australian Wheat Frontier 1869-1884 (Chicago 1962) 207. The general historical geography of South Australia is M. Williams, The Making of the South Australian Landscape: A Study in the Historical Geography of Australia (London 1974). See also M. Williams, More and smaller is better: Australian rural settlement 1788-1914, in J. M. Powell and M. Williams (Eds), Australian Space, Australian Time: Geographical Perspectives (Melbourne 1975) 61-103; and, for New South Wales, see D. Jeans, An Historical Geography of New South Wales to 1901 (Melbourne 1972).
25. D. W. Meinig, On the Margins of the Good Earth: The South Australian Wheat Frontier 1869-1884 (Chicago 1962) 207. The general historical geography of South Australia is M. Williams, The Making of the South Australian Landscape: A Study in the Historical Geography of Australia (London 1974). See also M. Williams, More and smaller is better: Australian rural settlement 1788-1914, in J. M. Powell and M. Williams (Eds), Australian Space, Australian Time: Geographical Perspectives (Melbourne 1975) 61-103; and, for New South Wales, see D. Jeans, An Historical Geography of New South Wales to 1901 (Melbourne 1972).
26. M. L. B. Proctor, Marginal land: South Australia and New South Wales compared, Australian Geographer 3 (1940) 21. Goyder's Line (1865) marked approximately the 10 inch (250mm) isohyet.
27. New South Wales, Department of Education, School files in Archives Office of New South Wales, 5/17051.4.
28. E. Franklin and E. Heath, Grain Amid Granite: A Story of the Le Hunte District [Eyre Peninsula] including the towns of Minnipa, Yaninee, Pygery, Wudinna, Kyancutta and Warramboo (District Council of Le Hunte 1986) 16. Most of the information on the Le Hunte district is extracted from this source. The 'hundred' was a survey and administrative subdivision that came to have primary importance in South Australia. The hundred was normally rectangular and had an area roughly 100 square miles (similar to the rectangular 'township' as applied in Canada during the same period).
29. E. Franklin and E. Heath, Grain Amid Granite: A Story of the Le Hunte District [Eyre Peninsula] including the towns of Minnipa, Yaninee, Pygery, Wudinna, Kyancutta and Warramboo (District Council of Le Hunte 1986) 16. Most of the information on the Le Hunte district is extracted from this source. The 'hundred' was a survey and administrative subdivision that came to have primary importance in South Australia. The hundred was normally rectangular and had an area roughly 100 square miles (similar to the rectangular 'township' as applied in Canada during the same period).
30. C. R. Twidale and D. L. Smith, A "Perfect Desert" transformed: the agricultural development of North-Western Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, The Australian Geographer 11 (1971) 437-454; D. L. Smith, The impact of the friction of distance on the early settlement and development of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, The Australian Geographer 23 (1992) 149-163.
31. C. R. Twidale and D. L. Smith, A "Perfect Desert" transformed: the agricultural development of North-Western Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, The Australian Geographer 11 (1971) 437-454; D. L. Smith, The impact of the friction of distance on the early settlement and development of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, The Australian Geographer 23 (1992) 149-163.
32. W. G. Parker, All Those Yesterdays: A History of Carrathool Shire, New South Wales (Goolgowi, NSW 1975).
33. Parker, op. cit., 18-43.
34. South Australiia, Department of Lands and Surveys, Annual Report 1925-26 (Adelaide 1926) 9, Report No. 10, in South Australia, Proceedings of Parliament . . . with . . . documents, 1926, Vol. I.
35. South Australiia, Department of Lands and Surveys, Annual Report 1925-26 (Adelaide 1926) 9, Report No. 10, in South Australia, Proceedings of Parliament . . . with . . . documents, 1926, Vol. I.
36. Twidale and Smith, op. cit., 446.
37. New South Wales, Royal Commission of Inquiry on Rural, Pastoral, Agricultural, and Dairying Interests. . . . Commissioners' Report on All Matters Other than Dairying Interests (1917), in Joint Volumes of Papers presented to Legislative Council and . . . Assembly . . . Vol. I (1918). 'Closer Settlement': in Australia the process of making Crown Lands more readily available to crop farmers in modest-sized holdings, supposedly in opposition to the holders of large pastoral properties (the 'Squattocracy'), and in the early twentieth century applied even to some leased and freehold grazing holdings (resumption). From being a generic term, it gained formal importance in specific legislation before the First World War (e.g. Closer Settlement Act, New South Wales, 1904). See Williams, More and smaller; and J. M. Powell, The Selection Acts for Western Victoria, 1860-1880, in R. W. Steel and R. Lawton (Eds), Liverpool Essays in Geography: A Jubilee Collection (London 1967) 293-314.
38. New South Wales, Royal Commission of Inquiry on Rural, Pastoral, Agricultural, and Dairying Interests. . . . Commissioners' Report on All Matters Other than Dairying Interests (1917), in Joint Volumes of Papers presented to Legislative Council and . . . Assembly . . . Vol. I (1918). 'Closer Settlement': in Australia the process of making Crown Lands more readily available to crop farmers in modest-sized holdings, supposedly in opposition to the holders of large pastoral properties (the 'Squattocracy'), and in the early twentieth century applied even to some leased and freehold grazing holdings (resumption). From being a generic term, it gained formal importance in specific legislation before the First World War (e.g. Closer Settlement Act, New South Wales, 1904). See Williams, More and smaller; and J. M. Powell, The Selection Acts for Western Victoria, 1860-1880, in R. W. Steel and R. Lawton (Eds), Liverpool Essays in Geography: A Jubilee Collection (London 1967) 293-314.
39. New South Wales, Royal Commission of Inquiry on Rural, Pastoral, Agricultural, and Dairying Interests. . . . Commissioners' Report on All Matters Other than Dairying Interests (1917), in Joint Volumes of Papers presented to Legislative Council and . . . Assembly . . . Vol. I (1918). 'Closer Settlement': in Australia the process of making Crown Lands more readily available to crop farmers in modest-sized holdings, supposedly in opposition to the holders of large pastoral properties (the 'Squattocracy'), and in the early twentieth century applied even to some leased and freehold grazing holdings (resumption). From being a generic term, it gained formal importance in specific legislation before the First World War (e.g. Closer Settlement Act, New South Wales, 1904). See Williams, More and smaller; and J. M. Powell, The Selection Acts for Western Victoria, 1860-1880, in R. W. Steel and R. Lawton (Eds), Liverpool Essays in Geography: A Jubilee Collection (London 1967) 293-314.
40. New South Wales, Royal Commission . . . on Rural . . . Interests (1917) 198-9.
41. Ibid., 198.
42. Ibid., xxxii.
43. Ibid., cxxvi. Rewarding soldiers with land was a well-tried practice in the Empire. In Canada some of the earliest settlers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and in Ontario at the end of the eighteenth century had been demobilized soldiers. In western Canada, veterans of the Boer War were granted South African scrip for land. After the First World War, soldier settlers were put on the land in Canada and New Zealand as well as Australia. See J. M. Powell, The debt of honour: soldier settlement in the Dominions, 1915-1940, Journal of Australian Studies 8 (1981) 64-87.
44. Ibid., cxxvi. Rewarding soldiers with land was a well-tried practice in the Empire. In Canada some of the earliest settlers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and in Ontario at the end of the eighteenth century had been demobilized soldiers. In western Canada, veterans of the Boer War were granted South African scrip for land. After the First World War, soldier settlers were put on the land in Canada and New Zealand as well as Australia. See J. M. Powell, The debt of honour: soldier settlement in the Dominions, 1915-1940, Journal of Australian Studies 8 (1981) 64-87.
45. A. J. Perkins, Some parting reflexions on wheat growing in South Australia, Journal of Department of Agriculture [South Australia] 38 (1934-35) 697-699.
46. Perkins, Our wheat-growing areas - profitable and unprofitable, Journal of the Department of Agriculture [South Australia] 39 (1935-36) 1199-1222; 1201.
47. Ibid., 1203.
48. Ibid., 1199, italics added. For a sequel, see M. Williams, Planned and unplanned changes in the marginal lands of South Australia, Australian Geographer 13 (1976) 271-281.
49. Ibid., 1199, italics added. For a sequel, see M. Williams, Planned and unplanned changes in the marginal lands of South Australia, Australian Geographer 13 (1976) 271-281.
50. S. G. McCallum, The Marginal Cockies, in L. Blieschke (Ed.) Plain of Contrast: A History of Willowie, Amyton, Booleroo Whim (Blackwood, S. A. 1975) 2.
51. New South Wales, Royal Commission . . . on Rural . . . Interests (1917) Exhibit No. 23.
52. G. Taylor, op. cit., 203. J. Andrews, Pioneer farming in the Hillston District, N. S. W.: its character and opportunities, Australian Geographer 2 (1933) 50. Andrews reported that the mean annual rainfall at Hillston was 14 inches, but the mode was 13 inches (pp. 46-47).
53. G. Taylor, op. cit., 203. J. Andrews, Pioneer farming in the Hillston District, N. S. W.: its character and opportunities, Australian Geographer 2 (1933) 50. Andrews reported that the mean annual rainfall at Hillston was 14 inches, but the mode was 13 inches (pp. 46-47).
54. G. Taylor, op. cit., 203. J. Andrews, Pioneer farming in the Hillston District, N. S. W.: its character and opportunities, Australian Geographer 2 (1933) 50. Andrews reported that the mean annual rainfall at Hillston was 14 inches, but the mode was 13 inches (pp. 46-47).
55. South Australia, Eighth Progress Report of the Royal Commission on Rural Settlement (Closer Settlement Legislation) Together with Evidence . . . (1927) 136; and Mr Justice Pike, Report on Losses Due to Soldier Settlement, in Australia, Parliamentary Papers, 1929 vol. II, ff. 1901-1959, especially p. 7 of report. For background, Williams, More and smaller.
56. South Australia, Eighth Progress Report of the Royal Commission on Rural Settlement (Closer Settlement Legislation) Together with Evidence . . . (1927) 136; and Mr Justice Pike, Report on Losses Due to Soldier Settlement, in Australia, Parliamentary Papers, 1929 vol. II, ff. 1901-1959, especially p. 7 of report. For background, Williams, More and smaller.
57. In New South Wales, the shire was the second tier rural municipality, comparable to a county, whereas in South Australia the same level rural municipality was called a district council.
58. South Australia, Report of the Pastoral and Marginal Agricultural Areas Inquiry Committee (Adelaide 1948) (a parliamentary paper in the Miscellaneous Records, Chief Inspector, 1932-1951, Department of Lands, in South Australia State Records, GRG 35/297) 6.
59. Ibid., 7.
60. Kimba Country Woman's Association, Kimba CWA Golden Jubilee 1931-1981 (Kimba [1981?]) 5.
61. Schools listed by shire in New South Wales, Department of Education, Government Schools of New South Wales 1848-1993, 4th edition (Marrickville, NSW 1993).
62. South Australia, Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia with copies of documents . . . 1923 (Adelaide 1924) Vol II, Report No. 44: Report of Minister of Education with Appendices. 1922; similarly Report No. 44, 1928, and Report No. 44, 1929. This is also the source for the data in Table 2. The importance of the local school in the social dynamics of marginal rural areas, in the following period, is clarified in Williams, Urban-rural Links.
63. South Australia, Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia with copies of documents . . . 1923 (Adelaide 1924) Vol II, Report No. 44: Report of Minister of Education with Appendices. 1922; similarly Report No. 44, 1928, and Report No. 44, 1929. This is also the source for the data in Table 2. The importance of the local school in the social dynamics of marginal rural areas, in the following period, is clarified in Williams, Urban-rural Links.
64. H. Nelson, With Its Hat About Its Ears: Recollections of the Bush School (Crows Nest, NSW 1989).
65. Pike, Report on Losses.
66. South Australia, Department of Lands, Annual Report, 1935-36 (Adelaide 1936) 4 (also Report No. 10 in South Australia, Parliamentary Papers 1936). A good background is found in T. Griffin and M. McCaskill (Eds). Atlas of South Australia (South Australia Government Printing Division 1986) 22-27.
67. South Australia, Department of Lands, Annual Report, 1935-36 (Adelaide 1936) 4 (also Report No. 10 in South Australia, Parliamentary Papers 1936). A good background is found in T. Griffin and M. McCaskill (Eds). Atlas of South Australia (South Australia Government Printing Division 1986) 22-27.
68. South Australia, Department of Lands, Annual Report, 1935-36 (Adelaide 1936) 4 (also Report No. 10 in South Australia, Parliamentary Papers 1936). A good background is found in T. Griffin and M. McCaskill (Eds). Atlas of South Australia (South Australia Government Printing Division 1986) 22-27.
69. New South Wales, Department of Lands, Fifty-Second Annual Report . . . for the year ended 30 June 1931 (Sydney 1931) in Joint Volume of Papers Presented to Both Houses, 1930-31-32, vol. I, f. 135. See plate 6 (by G. Aplin) in New South Wales, Central Mapping Authority, Department of Lands, Atlas of New South Wales (R. J. Harriman & E. S. Clifford, eds, 1987).
70. New South Wales, Department of Lands, Fifty-Second Annual Report . . . for the year ended 30 June 1931 (Sydney 1931) in Joint Volume of Papers Presented to Both Houses, 1930-31-32, vol. I, f. 135. See plate 6 (by G. Aplin) in New South Wales, Central Mapping Authority, Department of Lands, Atlas of New South Wales (R. J. Harriman & E. S. Clifford, eds, 1987).
71. New South Wales, Royal Commission . . . on Rural . . . Interests (1917) xxvi. For a thorough review of Soldier Settlement in Australia, see Powell, Modern Australia, particularly his estimate that c. 72 per cent of soldier settlers in Victoria managed to stay on their farms (p. 116).
72. New South Wales, Royal Commission . . . on Rural . . . Interests (1917) xxvi. For a thorough review of Soldier Settlement in Australia, see Powell, Modern Australia, particularly his estimate that c. 72 per cent of soldier settlers in Victoria managed to stay on their farms (p. 116).
73. Pike, Report on Losses, 23. It might be noted that in Canada the soldier settlers, following earlier homesteading policy, received their land virtually free; also, that this policy did not seem to ensure a notably better rate of success because there too the land was usually marginal.
74. South Australia, Department of Lands, Records chiefly pertaining to Soldier Settlement. Letters received. 1918-1930 (896 boxes in State Records, Adelaide, GRG 35/176). New South Wales, Department of Lands, Closer Settlement and Returned Soldiers Settlement (State Archives of New South Wales, Kingswood, 10/29935).
75. Pike, Report on Losses 23-25 (ff. 1923-1925).
76. South Australia, Department of Lands, Records chiefly pertaining . . . (GRG 35/176) L. J. Naylor to Superintendent of Soldier Settlements (5 April 1933) re Simpson (italics added).
77. South Australia, Eighth Progress Report, 138.
78. New South Wales, Report of Committee to Inquire Into the Position of Wheat Farmers in the South-West Portion of New South Wales, in Joint Volumes of Papers Presented to Both Houses (in Three Volumes) (Sydney 1936) Vol. I, ff. 45-53.
79. Ibid., f. 48.
80. R. L. Heathcote, Images of a desert? Perceptions of arid Australia, Australian Geographical Studies 25 (1987) 6.
81. This is also the burden of Powell's conclusion, from a somewhat different selection of sources. See Powell, Debt of honour, and Powell, Modern Australia, 104-120. M. Lake, The Limits of Hope: Soldier Settlement in Victoria, 1915-1938 (Melbourne 1987) 236-7 is less prepared to absolve the soldier settlers.
82. This is also the burden of Powell's conclusion, from a somewhat different selection of sources. See Powell, Debt of honour, and Powell, Modern Australia, 104-120. M. Lake, The Limits of Hope: Soldier Settlement in Victoria, 1915-1938 (Melbourne 1987) 236-7 is less prepared to absolve the soldier settlers.
83. A. J. Perkins, Some Parting Reflexions 696-7.
84. New South Wales, Royal Commission . . . on Rural . . . Interests (1917) xxxiii, cxxvi.
85. Bowman, The Pioneer Fringe, vi.
86. Soldier Settlers, Hillston Spectator and Lachlan River Advertiser, 27 March 1926.