This photograph was taken at Samaria Farm on Sunday the 5th of September as part of a day trip by the Wooragee Landcare Group. The event was about looking at land use on small farms and as a social get-together for the Group. Wooragee Landcare was also researching how small landholders could run some enterprises around the time of this trip. Samaria Farm is located in northeast Victoria, near Mount Samaria, which is located 130 km northeast of Melbourne. Samaria Farm was owned by Sue and Due Matheson at the time of the trip and had a renowned rose garden, pigs, poultry, alpacas, and goats on their nine-hectare farm. The rose garden consists of 3000 damask roses. Samaria Farm distils the oil from these roses and is the only farm in Australia to do this. Rose oil has historically been used for religious and medical use. 20 kg of rose buds are picked by hand every day, which is then distilled and produced 5 to 8 ml of oil. The entire four-week season produces 80 to 100 ml of oil. Rose water is also created during this process and produces about 300 litres per season. Along with the oil, the Farm also harvests lemons, lime, olives, and oranges. The Farm is currently owned by Utako and Anthony since 2022, with Vicki and Allan Wight being the previous owners. Wooragee Landcare Group was created in 1988. Its core mission is to work towards eradicating animals and pests from the land to protect the natural vegetation and promote revegetation projects. This photograph is a great example of the type of events that Wooragee Landcare Group has organized, while educating the public about the importance of land use management. The group is important to the community and for the environment.Landscape coloured photograph printed on gloss paperReverse: WAN NA E0NA2N2. NNN+ 2 4240/ [PRINTED] (No. 18) / 371samaria farm, wooragee, wooragee landcare group, wooragee landcare's collection, samaria, small farm, land use, social, rose oil, damask roses, pests

This photograph was taken during a bus excursion to Tatong in North East Victoria, held by the Wooragee Landcare Group in September 2004. The purpose of the excursion was to look at land use on small farms. As part of this, the excursion included a visit to Samaria Farm, run by Sue and Don Matheson. In this photo, taken at Samaria Farm, Don Matheson is discussing the management of his commercial rose garden. Events like this meet Wooragee Landcare's organisational goals of promoting best land management practices, cooperating and engaging with landowners, and providing information on plant management and care. This object is significant as a record of Wooragee Landcare's activities and community involvement. Landscape colour photograph printed on gloss photographic material. Reverse: "WAN NA E0NA2N2 NNN+ 1 4240/ don matheson, sue matheson, matheson, tatong, excursion, bus trip, wooragee landcare, wooragee, landcare, wooragee landcare group, samaria farm, roses, commercial rose garden, rose growing, education, activity, 2004, rose, farm, small farms, land use

This photograph was taken at Samaria Farm on Sunday the 5th of September as part of a day trip by the Wooragee Landcare Group. The event was about looking at land use on small farms and as a social get-together for the Group. Wooragee Landcare was also researching how small landholders could run some enterprises around the time of this trip. Samaria Farm is located in northeast Victoria, near Mount Samaria, which is located 130 km northeast of Melbourne. Samaria Farm was owned by Sue and Due Matheson at the time of the trip and had a renowned rose garden, pigs, poultry, alpacas, and goats on their nine-hectare farm. The rose garden consists of 3000 damask roses. Samaria Farm distils the oil from these roses and is the only farm in Australia to do this. Rose oil has historically been used for religious and medical use. 20 kg of rose buds are picked by hand every day, which is then distilled and produced 5 to 8 ml of oil. The entire four-week season produces 80 to 100 ml of oil. Rose water is also created during this process and produces about 300 litres per season. Along with the oil, the Farm also harvests lemons, lime, olives, and oranges. The Farm is currently owned by Utako and Anthony since 2022, with Vicki and Allan Wight being the previous owners. Wooragee Landcare Group was created in 1988. Its core mission is to work towards eradicating animals and pests from the land to protect the natural vegetation and promote revegetation projects. This photograph is a great example of the type of events that Wooragee Landcare Group has organized, while educating the public about the importance of land use management. The group is important to the community and for the environment. Landscape colored photograph printed on gloss paperReverse: WAN NA E0NA2N2. ANN+ 1 4240/ [PRINTED] (No. 19) / 372samaria farm, wooragee landcare group, wooragee, victoria, mount samaria, farming, roses, rose oil, damask roses, agriculture, pests, vegetation

This photograph was taken at Samaria Farm on Sunday the 5th of September when Wooragee Landcare Group took a bus trip to the Tatong area (near Benalla) to look at land use on small farms. The day trip was organised to observe land use on small farms as well as a social event for the Group. Samaria Farm at the time was a nine-hectare property located in northeast Victoria, near Mount Samaria, 130 km Northeast of Melbourne. The photograph features several pigs believed to be the breed called Large Black. The Large Black Pig breed is a traditional, heritage breed that was first imported to Australia from the UK in the early 1900's. It is believed to have originated from the Old English Hog of the 16th and 17th Centuries. The first reference to them in the Australian Pure Bred Pig Herd Book was in 1912. They are a black pig with lop ears and were prized for their superior milking and mothering abilities and soon became popular with early Dairy Farmers who fed them whey from separated milk as part of their butter making process. They proved economical to keep and, being excellent grazing pigs, were also used to pick up windfall fruit in orchards. Their black colouring also enabled them to withstand the hot Australian summers and avoid sunburn which combined with their hardiness and docile temperament made them highly suitable for free-range pork production, however Large Black pigs tend to get very fat and were not suitable for intensive farming so were often crossed with other breeds for pork production. They are now quite rare as a pure breed having been on the edge of extinction for some time. They were rescued in the early 1990s by a rare breeds farmer in the Yarra Ranges. These days they are also the focus of a small conversation effort with six registered breeders currently in Australia. For biosecurity reasons there are no imports of live pigs or pig semen permitted into Australia. This photograph shows a group of people attending one of the events that Wooragee Landcare Group has organized within the educational framework of promoting best land management practices for all types of land uses and ensuring sustainability, in addition to encouraging community interaction via social events. The Large Black pig breed is significant because of their role in early Victorian farming. They are now quite rare as a pure breed having been on the edge of extinction for some time. These days they are the focus of a small conversation effort with six registered breeders currently in Australia. For biosecurity reasons there are no imports of live pigs or pig semen permitted into Australia. Wooragee Landcare Group is important to local community landcare and environmental management practices.Colour rectangular photograph printed on paperObverse: WAN NA EONA2N2. ANN+ 3 4240/ (No. 17) 370samaria farm, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, tatong, benalla, black pigs, large black, traditional breed, heritage breed, pigs, lop ears, free range pork production, early victorian farming

Wooragee Landcare Group took a bus trip Sunday 5th September to Samaria, Tatong area (near Benalla) to look at land use on small farms. Around this time, Wooragee Landcare were looking into how small land holders could run some enterprises. This photo was taken at Tatong Tavern where the group had lunch. The Tatong Tavern is an old English style pub situated in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range the small community of Tatong 23km south-east of Benalla. The original weatherboard hotel was originally built in the 1880s by William Worrall who was listed as Hotel Keeper from 1886 to 1910. It was destroyed by fire in 1923 and replaced by the current building, which has undergone many changes over the past 100 years. The name has also changed from the Tatong Hotel or ‘Pub’ to the current name of Tatong Tavern.Tatong is a rural village in north-east Victoria, set in undulating country that rises southwards to the Tolmie ranges. The name is thought to derive from an Aboriginal expression, possibly referring to something unseen. The Tatong pastoral run was taken up in 1847 and farm selections began in the 1870s. A school opened in 1890 (closed in 2006). Dairy herds were grazed on the Tatong flats and a cooperative creamery operated from 1892 until 1918. In 1914 a branch railway line was opened from Benalla to Tatong that carried farm produce and timber to Tatong, which had two sawmills in the 1920s. There was also a general store, a police station, and a livestock trucking yard. St Albans Church of England was built in 1921. Most of those buildings have now disappeared. The Tatong Tavern along with the Hall built in 1904 are the only remaining buildings. The Tatong Tavern is a significant tangible and visual representation of the area’s cultural and social history over the past 100 years. Coloured rectangular photograph printed on paperReverse: WAN NA E0NA2N2. NNN- 14240/ (No. 20) 373/ tatong, tatong pub, tatong tavern, tolmie ranges, tatong flats, benalla, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, bus trip, samaria, land use, william worrall, 1800s, 2004, mount samaria

Wooragee Landcare was formed in 1989 to promote sustainable conservation and land-use practices in the North-East region of Victoria. The organisation's work has included public awareness and education campaigns to control invasive, introduced species and protect native wildlife, such as campaigns to replant native plant species to improve soil integrity and restore habitat for flora and fauna. The organisation has drawn on the work of a variety of Government and academic experts to ensure best practice approaches are utilised. This photograph was taken at Riverview Farm, Victoria on Sunday the 5th of September as part of a day trip by the Wooragee Landcare Group. The event was about looking at land use on small farms and as a social get-together for the Group. Wooragee was also researching how small landholders could run some enterprises around the time of the trip. This photograph is a great example of the type of events that Wooragee Landcare Group has organized, while educating the public about the importance of land use management.Landscape colour photograph printed on gloss paper. Reverse: WAN NA E0NA2N2. NNN+ 4 4240/ [PRINTED] (No. 24) / 377wooragee, wooragee landcare group, wooragee landcare's collection, land use, social, riverview farm, animals, pests, indigo shire, tatong, samaria, north-east victoria