Our image this week shows ‘Harvest Time’ at “Rosehill Dairy” at Eglinton in 1915, with the owner Mr. John Henry Stocks sitting with all the reins from the four harnessed horses.
Mr Stocks was well-known, especially for his ability to make haystacks. He had a number on his own property to feed his own dairy cows. The Stocks were also threshing contractors, they owned several of their own steam engines and threshers, and went to different farms, hiring them out to thresh grain. They also had teams cutting chaff.
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Goats were used in Bathurst to provide milk in the very early days. Dr Lang reported first on George Rankin at Kelloshiel making cheese in the 1820s, by 1836 cheese and butter was ‘exported’ to Tasmania. In the 1850s butter was selling at 2/6 to three shillings a pound in Bathurst.
With early colonial authorities and individuals bringing in stud cattle with good dairying qualities for the Australian environment in the 1880s, allowing the average yield of milk to be increased.
There were dairies in Bathurst before this time with Mr. J.B. Stewart operating a dairy at One Tree Fall, at Eglinton, from which he operated his milk delivery run. His fresh milk proved popular and in late 1860 he was able to have two milk carts functional in town. He retired in 1882.
The 1914 – 16 drought caused severe problems for many in the dairying industry, including around the Bathurst area. Whilst Mr. Stocks had his haystacks he too was buying supplementary feed at expensive prices.
Some local herds were severely depleted as they had insufficient fodder, another problem being that of manpower due to The Great War. Mr. Stocks at one time had a couple of cows that were yielding over 340 gallons per month in a good season.
Dairy cows preferred a routine and tended to walk along in some social order. Many dairymen gave each cow a name. The ‘milkers’ would have grazed most of the day to produce their milk.
Milking was initially done with metal baskets and was not a terribly hygienic process based on today’s standard as the bails in the cow shed could be very dusty and the cow’s teat could be lubricated with a bit of milk from the bucket. Most stalls were open on one side meaning conditions were miserable on rainy days. Those milking would sit down to milk the cows.
In May 1915 there was a dairy strike with the attitude among the dairymen in the Bathurst district being over the butter question.
As a result the dairymen collectively refused to hand-feed their cows to get more cream, owing to the high price of feed and the low fixed price for butter. They were just turning their cows out to limited pasture. The local dairy factory was so short of cream that the butter supply had fallen very low. There was little help obtainable from Sydney. One businessman who ordered 100lb of butter could only secure 20lb.
In mid 1908 there were 25 dairies within the Bathurst Municipal area. It was Mr. O.E. Conch, assistant sanitary inspector, whose job it was to make the regular inspections in company with an Inspector from the Board of Health. Mr.
Conch reported to the Bathurst Council meeting that he had found the premises in all cases well kept. However, some improvements were necessary, and the usual instructions were given. Cows to the number of 175 were being milked within and in most cases were only in fair condition. One cow was tested for tuberculosis but did not show the disease.
The Dairy Industry Act of 1915 saw, amongst other things, the introduction of the grading of cream for butter making. This saw great improvements in the quality of butter in stores and to the public.
All dairymen, milk vendors and proprietors of milk factories were required under penalty to be registered. All milk was by law in the 1920s be “fresh and wholesome and not adulterated in any way”.
