296 ./(Jiinial nf Afp-iriiUurr. \'irlnri(,. j 10 May, 1910. 



DAIRYING AT BAUCHUS MARSH. 



Bj/ II . C. Churches, Dairy Siipprrisor. 

 Thirty-two miles from Melbourne, on the direct Ballarat railway 

 line, the train, after passing through a cutting, •suddenly brings the 

 passengers in A'iew of that Avonderfully rich alluvial valley land known 

 as Bacchus Marsh, lying between the Werribee Kiver and its tributary, 

 the Lerderderg. The place derives the first portion of its name from 

 the late Captain "VV. H. Bacchus, one of the pioneers of the district, wbo 

 settled there iu 1838. If, however, any " marsh " land existed in the 

 locality in the very early days, there is non.e now; in fact, it would be 

 difficult to find any except w^ell drained, well cultivated, and highly 

 productive land. Some very fine, specimens of red-gum trees still 

 remain in various parts of the district, and their well developed trunks 

 and wide spreading branches indicate that the land on Avhich they grow 

 Avas always favoured with good drainage. 



During the last half-century the dairy farming industry has increased 

 greatly here, and its dairy farm produce and its lucerne hay and chaff 

 have given Bacchus Marsh a reputation, which has made the locality 

 very widely known. The district has rather a light rainfall, generally 

 averaging about 20 inches per annum, and therefore it may be said that 

 On its irrigation scheme largely depends the success of its dairjdng. It 

 has been determined by experiments carried out elsewhere that to produce 

 a ton of dried lucerne hay 7 acre-inches of water has actually to pass 

 through the growing lucerne crop, therefore heavy yields of lucerne hay 

 are only obtainable by the liberal application of water. 



Over most of this alluvial ground a fair supply of underground 

 water is obtainable. This is mineralized, particularly in magnesia, and 

 is very acceptable to stock, and is said to be one of the qualities making 

 the Bacchus Marsh lands so recuperative to racehorses, which are sent 

 here regula/ly to rest between periods of strenuous training. 



Forty years ago water was being pumped from the Werribee River 

 to irrigate lucerne. Later on a Water Trust was formed to bring, by 

 gravitation, sufficient water for irrigation, and, in addition, to arrange 

 for supplies for domestic purposes being pumped direct from the river. 

 The j:) resent water supply is a gravitation scheme, both for irrigation 

 and housdiold purposes, and is controlled by the State Rivers Com- 

 mission, which has erected a large weir on the Pike's Creek, near Ballan. 

 This has a holding caj^acity of 14,850 acre-feet of water, and as the area 

 of irrigablo land at Bacchus Marsh is about 3,200 acres, it would require 

 an exceptionally long ])eriod of drought to seriously interfere with the 

 lucerne growing. 



Lucerne is one of the very best milk-producing fodders, and, being 

 also one of the hardiest, as well as one of the most prolific, crops in 

 cultivation, it is rather surprising that it is not more generally grown 

 by dairy farmers, l^o doubt irrigation greatly increases the growth of 

 this crop; but a lot of feed can bo cut from a lucerne paddock through- 

 out the year even without any artificial watering. 



Several views of the district are given here, showing the extent to 

 vvhicli lucerne is grown around Bacchus Marsh. Every crop illustrated 

 is lucerne, and on all the flat land seen in the pictures this is the crop 



