Engineering Commons^™

Firebreaks Without Erosion : Hints To Prevent Firebreak Erosion, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

AGRICULTURAL fire risks are now greater than they have been in the past and are steadily increasing with the advance of agriculture in Western Australia.

During the past 20 years the area of cleared arable land and the area under crop have more than doubled.

The area of established pasture is four times as great as it was. Pastures and crops are much more productive —and more liable to carry destructive fires than they were.

A Practical Guide To Building Contour Banks With A Road Grader, J E. Watson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THOUSANDS of miles of contour banks have been built in Western Australia, and most of this earthmoving has been done by tractor and disc plough* or by road grader.

This article describes the technique recommended for bank construction with the road grader.

Farm Dams In The Wheatbelt, J E. Watson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

MANY new farm dams are sunk each year in the wheatbelt and much money is spent on them.

With continued development of new land, and increasing stock carrying capacity of older land under legume pastures, the need for more water supplies will continue for a long time.

Farm Water Storage : Circular Brick Reservoirs, R P. Harington

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A circular brick tank is a cheap and efficient water storage which can be easily built on any farm. The method described below by Kimberley Research Station manager R. P. Harington was used to build a swimming pool—storage on the station.

Flooding And Salt Problems In The Wheatbelt, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

VALUABLE land has become salty in parts of the West Australian agricultural areas because most of the surrounding land has been cleared and developed for agriculture.

This salting of a small proportion of the land is part of the price paid for the development of agriculture in this State.

Drainage is not the answer to the wheatbelt flooding and salt land problems.

A more practical approach is to limit runoff from sloping land, and to make good use of salt-affected land by growing salt tolerant perennial pastures on it, says the Soils Division of the Department of Agriculture.

Water Conservation On The Farm, John W. Lewis

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

SMALL scale conservation of water for agricultural use is becoming increasingly important throughout Australia.

As land development intensifies, it is natural that farmers turn to more dams and earthen tanks for stock water and irrigation.

Adequate water is essential to supply the carrying capacities made possible by improved pastures, and where greater quantities of water can be stored, fodder crops, pastures, orchards and vegetables can be irrigated.

Potatoes Sprinkler Irrigated From The Collie River, John W. Lewis

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE highly productive soils of the flats along the Collie River at Roelands are an important source of many of our summer grown potatoes in this State.

Large areas are planted year after year, the record being held by Mr. Clarry Cox of Roelands, who has planted potatoes on the same seven acres every season since 1922.

Flooding Of Salt Land, C V. Malcolm

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Many farmers have expressed concern and some have gone to considerable expense in trying to alleviate flooding problems on salt affected land.

Some consideration will be given here to flooding, its causes, effects on salt encroachment, methods of prevention and alleviation.

Automatic Waterers For Day Old Chickens, P Smetana, W. Ward

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ONE of the most tedious and time consuming tasks on a poultry farm is the provision of water to chicks from day old up to the age of three or four weeks.

Most poultry farmers use half-gallon glass fonts with metal bases for the first few weeks, until the chicks are old enough to use the automatic watering system usually situated along one wall of the brooder house.

This cumbersome glass font system can be replaced by the cheap and easily installed automatic watering system described below. This system has already been adopted by several local poultry farmers.

Overcoming Stock Watering Problems In The Kimberleys, B Swan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ONE of the ever-present problems of the pastoral areas is that of providing: watering-points in reasonably close proximity to the grazing areas.

All too frequently, the country on the river frontages and that in the vicinity of the water-holes becomes eaten out and although there may be ample feed on other portions of the run, it is too far distant from the available water to be effectively utilised.

Irrigation In Western Australia : Report On Government-Controlled Areas : 1958-59, H K. Gibsone

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IRRIGATION in the south-western portion of Western Australia is mainly confined to the coastal plain west of the Darling Range where the three main irrigation districts of Harvey, Collie and Waroona have been established by the State Government.

The Government-controlled irrigation areas extend southward from Waroona (70 miles from Perth) to Dardanup (120 miles from Perth) and have an average width of about five miles.