Agricultural Education Commons^™

Introducing The Western Australian Department Of Agriculture, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

District offices and Research stations

Any big organisation, Government or private, needs an effective Directorate and 'back-up' staff to make full use of its potential. In the Department of Agriculture, the organisational structure has been up-dated to cope with the changing and increasing demands of the State's growing agricultural industries.

Farmers' Use Of Agricultural Information 1983, P W. Fry, K F. Goss

All other publications

The Western Australian Department of Agriculture produces information for farmers which is disseminated through various mass media, The Australian Broadcasting Commission and commercial media outlets provide further agricultural information, In 1983 a telephone survey of cereal-sheep farmers was undertaken to determine what information sources were used by farmers, and how farmers used that information.

A number of information processing factors were taken from communication research literature, These were accessibility and availability; surveillance and exposure; selection; storage and retrieval. From within this theoretical framework, information sources such as farming magazines, radio and television programmes were examined.

Special attention was given to …

Bulletin 3967 - Cyanogenetic Plants Of Western Australia, T E H Aplin

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

This article deals with those native, naturalized and cultivated plants, which by virtue of contained cyanogenetic glycosides, are known to be poisonous or potentially poisonous to livestock in Western Australia.

Cyanogenetic glycosides are chemical compounds which contain a cyanogen (cyanide) radical combined with a sugar molecule. The sugar moiety may differ in glycosides obtained from different plants, and as a consequence glycosides from different plants, containing different sugar moieties, may be given different names.

When a cyanogenetic glycoside is broken down by enzyme action, through injury to the plant or by microbial action in the digestive system of the animal, …

Bulletin 3992 - Nitrogenous Fertilisers For Cereal Production, M. G. Mason

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

Because fertiliser prices continue to rise, it is becoming increasingly important to understand what affects the response to fertilisers by crops.

Among the many factors influencing crop response to nitrogen applications, the most important are the season, soil type, paddock history, time of application and source of nitrogen. Before deciding whether to use nitrogen on a cereal crop, which source to use and at what rate, the farmer needs some understanding of how these factors work.

Avondale Research Station : Representing 150 Years Of Western Australian Farming, D A C Johnson

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

Avondale Research Station is open to the public as a 1979 Anniversary Year contribution by the Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Primary Industries Committee of W.A.Y. 1979

Bulletin 3108 - An Introduction To Beekeeping In Western Australia, Western Australian Department Of Agriculture

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide those wishing to keep bees, or to become commercial honey producers, with background information about beekeeping in Western Australia. This bulletin does not pretend to teach you how to keep bees or produce honey. This subject is covered adequately in the various text books on beekeeping and in articles in the bee journals.

Bulletin No 4007 - Grasses In South Western Australia, J G. Paterson

Bulletins 4000 -

IThe grasses comprise one of the world's largest families of flowering plants, with over 500 groups or genera containing well over 5000 individual types or species distributed throughout the world. About 125 groups have been recorded in Western Australia but it is probable that the list is far from complete. About one third of these have ° been introduced from overseas.

The purpose of this bulletin is to describe those grasses which are more commonly found in the south-west of Western Australia. Also, as many people are interested in knowing the name and nature of a grass when they find …

Bulletin No 3966 - Vitamin A And Animal Health, J. Johnson

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

Vitamin A is one of the essential vitamins for animal health. Grazing animals obtain their vitamin A requirements mostly from the carotene in green feed. This carotene is converted to Vitamin A in the intestinal wall and is passed to the liver and to a less extent the kidneys for storage. Some carotene also passes direct to the liver where it is stored before it is converted to vitamin A.

When dry pastures, hay and grains (except maize) are low in carotene content this ability of the animals to store vitamin A means that they usually have enough when there …

Skeleton Weed : The 1974 Narembeen Campaign, C R. Chambers

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

Skeleton weed took an alarming, historic turn in Western Australia at the 1974 New Year.

After a decade of an almost complacent pattern—control of one or two small outbreaks annually by the Agriculture Protection Board— general alarm erupted with the discovery of big areas at Pithara and mainly Narembeen.

What followed was a massive movement and engagement of not only Department staff but also the farming community in an attempt to beat this outbreak.

Bulletin No 3768 - Submitting Plants For Disease Identification, M D. Marcley

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

THERE are several important points to remember when submitting plant material for disease identification by the Department of Agriculture's Plant Pathology Branch.

Firstly it is very important to collect a suitable sample because it is very difficult to determine the cause of a plant disease by looking at a completely dead plant. The sample should include the entire plant (before it is completely dead) including roots and soil. Then all the effects of the disease can be seen. For example leaf yellowing, dead areas of the stem, collar rot, root rot, eelworm damage, and disease of the water and food …

Opinion Survey On Farmer Education, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

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

The Advisory Committee on Agricultural Education is conducting a survey to collect farmers' ideas about the educational needs of young men who will own or manage farms in the future and experienced farmers who are already managing farms. All farmers are invited to complete the questionnaire below.

Answers received will help to influence the type of agricultural education that may become available in Western Australia in the future. Further comments will be gladly received.

Report On Overseas Study Tour June/July 1970, S T. Smith

All other publications

The above tour was organized by the Department of Primary Industry from monies allocated from CESG funds. The objects of study were stated as including basic extension philosophy and objectives, organizational aspects, roles of Universities and colleges in extension training and extension research, staff recruitment and development and roles of staff trained at different levels, research extension liaison, far management extension and extension methods, programme development and evaluation. The group included a representative from each State and from the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industry.

The New Course At Muresk Agricultural College, D K. Bartels

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

THE original aim of all the agricultural colleges in Australia was to train young men to be farmers.

Over the years, and particularly in recent years, the colleges in the Eastern States found that less and less of their students were coming from the farming community, and a diminishing number were returning to farming.

This Could Happen Here : If Foot-And-Mouth Disease Came To Western Australia, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

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

THE first outbreak would probably be on a piggery not far from a major port. But it might also appear among cattle or sheep in a similar area, or even on a cattle station in the North.

Bulletin No 3547 - Kimberley Research Station - Progress Report 1968, Western Australian Department Of Agriculture

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

Rivers flowing to the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Timor Sea have been estimated by hydrologists to carry about three times the water transported annually over the Murray drainage system and the South Eastern slopes which, together, comprise the highly settled agricultural areas of South Eastern Australia.

In 1945, the North Australian Development Committee recommended research in the Ord-Victoria rivers region as a first step toward ultimate agricultural development of this Northern potential and, in 1946, the Kim- berley Research Station commenced operations under the joint control of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and the Western Australian Department …

Special Field Days For Merino Breeders, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

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

More than 200 Merino stud breeders attended special stud breeding and fertility field days arranged for them by the Department of Agriculture recently.

Breeders attending represented some 40 per cent of the State's Merino studs.

List Of Department Of Agriculture Publications, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

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

THE following publications are available on application from the Department of Agriculture.

Most of the bulletins listed are reprints from the Journal of Agriculture and are free of charge (except where a price is stated).

The date of original publication of reprints is stated to facilitate reference to bound volumes of the Journal.

A History Of The War Service Land Settlement Scheme Western Australia, A, R. Barrett

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

In writing a history of the Western Australian War Service Land Settlement Scheme, it is pertinent to remark that land settlement projects have ever been difficult and, in fact, to date very few have been really successful. However, there has always been the necessity to accede to the desire of returning men to go on the land, also in States such as Western Australia there was and still is the need for further land development. Therefore, when the Commonwealth Government offered to provide the funds for servicemen's rehabilitation on the land the State gladly accepted and agreed to take responsibility …

List Of Department Of Agriculture Publications, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

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

THE following publications are available on application from the Department of Agriculture.

Most of the bulletins listed are reprints from the Journal of Agriculture and are free of charge (except where a price is stated).

The date of original publication of reprints is stated to facilitate reference to bound volumes of the Journal.

Helping With Homework, O. Evans Scott

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

Although actually helping a child with homework is rarely recommended there are many ways in which parents can help young children to cope with their school work.

Some of them are outlined in this article.

Muresk Agricultural College, W Southern

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

M URESK Agricultural College was established by the West Australian Government in 1926, on one of the earliest settled properties in the Northam district.

Structure Of Extension Services Wa, Extension Conference 1962., J P. Eckersley

All other publications

Prepared for the Australian Agricultural Extension Conference, Hawkesbury, N.S.W.

Collecting Plant Specimens. 1. Specimens For Identification, Robert Dunlop Royce

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

PLANT NAMES and the naming of plant specimens are of fundamental importance in many branches of science, including agriculture.

To the farmer, too, accuracy in naming poisonous plants and weeds, as well as fodder and pasture species, can save much trouble and expense, and may be responsible for avoiding heavy stock losses.

Bulletin No 3410 - Design Of Dairy Premises, A. L. Hamilton, F. J. Fielder

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

CONDITIONS in the dairy industry are changing rapidly.

There is a trend towards larger and more convenient milking sheds. Farmers have accepted that economic production is possible only with relatively large herds; they are thinking bigger than before. The aim is for herds of 100 or more, instead of the earlier objective of 40 to 50 cows.

To enable herds of this size to be milked quickly, premises must be designed for convenience and to enable cows to be handled without unnecessary movement on the part of the operators.

Also of the greatest importance is the need for the design …

Schools For Farmers - Muresk Winter Courses Resumed

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 3

THE short instructional courses for farmers which were a popular feature of the Muresk Agricultural College in pre-war years will be recommenced during July next.

Two three-day courses have been arranged, one on sheep and wool extending from the evening of July 21, to the afternoon of July 24, and another dealing with pig husbandry lasting from the evening of July 28 to the afternoon of July 31. Farmers desiring to enroll in these courses should obtain an application form from the Principal of the Muresk Agricultural College, Muresk, W.A., or from the Department of Agriculture, St. George's Terrace, Perth.

Muresk Agricultural College

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 3

The Muresk Agricultural College was founded in 1926 and is situated at Muresk, near Spencers Brook. The standard for admission is the Junior Certificate or its equivalent, and students with suitable advanced qualifications may be exempted from the first year classes of either of the following Diploma Courses:—

Leaflet No 1003 - The Salt Problem In The Wheat Belt, G. H. Burvill

Bulletins 1 - 2999

IN the wheat belt of Western Australian bare patches in farm paddocks are often seen. Many are bare, or almost bare, because of too much salt in the soil. The excess of salt prevents the germination of seeds, or kills living plants, because it causes the water supply for germination or growth to be cut off. This salt problem is so serious in places that single farms or groups of farms have been ruined; wheat growing on them has become unprofitable.

Guide To The Experiments In Cropping Now Running At The State Farms Of Narrogin, Merredin, Chapman, Geo L. Sutton

Grain and other field crops published reports

The publication of this Guide to experiments conducted at the State Farms is deemed desirable, in order that farmers may be made acquainted with the nature of the work and the progressive results obtained, The purpose of the alteration of practice initiated at the State Farms during the past three years is to carry on an original and definite plan for the improvement of agricultural methods, and to this end a series of experiments have been undertaken which would entail too much expense on the individual farmer, or involve a departure from his routine practice before the value of the …

Bulletin No 32 - Noxious Weeds And Poison Plants, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Bulletins 1 - 2999

Many settlers, new to this State, find some difficulty in distinguishing those vegetable pests which are classed as noxious weeds, the eradication of which is made compulsory under the Noxious Weeds Act of 1904.

In order to facilitate the ready recognition of the plants which are the least familiar, the Department of Agriculture has prepared this Bulletin, giving illustrations of the several varieties which have been gazetted as noxious. these are: - Stinkwort, Bathurst Burr, Noogoorn Burr, Nut Bramble, Spanish Radish, Prickly Pear, Apple of Sodom, sweet Briar, Wild Bramble, Star Thistle (purple), Double Gee and Water hyacinth.