Photocopy of a sepia photograph. Students Laying Agricultural Drains. Enlargement of B92.581agricultural drains, a. e. bennett, prize essays, students working outside, orchard

It was used as an illustration in, "Green Grows Our Garden," A.P. Winzenried. P 10. Note strong picket fence - later generations of students had to cut massive boxthorn hedge (T.H. Kneen).Sepia photograph. Students and staff in the Orchard. Copy of an illustration in, "Prize Essays," A.E. Bennett following p110. Also see B92.597 for an enlargement. Ten people appear in the photograph, two perhaps are supervising, the remainder are working in or around the trench which has been dug to accommodate the drain pipesstudents, staff, orchard, prize essays, a.e. bennett, green grows our garden, a.p. winzenried, boxthorn hedge, students working outside, agricultural drains

This postcard is addressed to Tom Lloyd from Uncle Frank c/o F. Lloyd Esq, Bairnsdale.This item is a pictorial record associated with the agricultural history of Orbost. .The extensive Snowy river flood plain was swampy, but by the 1880s the river flats were being drained. The Orbost flats are very fertile and crops were planted on the rich deep soil, with maize rapidly becoming widespread.A black / white photograph of the Orbost farming flats. The sky is very cloudy. There are paddocks of crops in the foreground.on front - "Orbost Flats" on back - "How are you enjoying your holiday.......Uncle Frank"orbost-flats-farming lloyd-frank

When early settlers began to arrive on the Snowy River somewhere in the 1880s, the land was mostly swamps and heavily timbered jungle on the river frontages. The swamps were drained bit by bit using hand tools. The frontages were cleared by axe and shovel and fire. Several kinds of crops were experimented with such as hops, hemp and maize. Maize grew particularly well and became the main crop of the district. (info. from October 2006 ODHS Newsletter) The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia that was established in 1846 and closed in 1957. It was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period.Maize-growing has been an important agricultural industry in the Orbost district since early settlement. This item is associated with that history.A typed letter sent to a local maize farmer requesting information on maize growing. The letter has the "Argus" letter head. The name of the recipient is unknown.maize agriculture-orbost correspondence-argus