The Better Farming Train was an

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

demonstration train which toured

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

in the 1920s and 1930s to promote better farming practices. It was the first of two agricultural demonstration trains to run in Australia.

Background

The idea of special trains to promote better agricultural practices was developed in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the early years of the 20th century. In 1904, special trains brought farmers to the

Dominion Experimental Farm A dominion was any of several largely self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of colonial self-governance increased (and, in ...

Indian Head, Saskatchewan Indian Head is a town in southeast Saskatchewan, Canada, east of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina on the Trans-Canada Highway. It "had its beginnings in 1882 as the first settlers, mainly of Scottish origin, pushed into the area in advance of the ...

, Canada to demonstrate farming techniques. From 1914 to 1922, a Better Farming Train ran throughout Saskatchewan. The Victorian train was devised by

Harold Clapp Sir Harold Winthrop Clapp KBE (7 May 1875 – 21 October 1952) was a transport administrator who over the course of thirty years had a profound effect on Australia's railway network. In two decades as its Chairman of Commissioners, he revolution ...

, Chairman of Commissioners of the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

, and Dr Samuel Cameron, the Victorian Director of Agriculture. It was operated jointly by the Victorian Departments of Agriculture, Railways, Education and Public Health. The agricultural content of the train was devised by Hubert Mullett, an agricultural scientist with the Department of Agriculture and later Director of Agriculture.

The train

The Department of Agriculture described the train as an "agricultural college on wheels". Fifteen carriages were fitted out with displays covering livestock, dairy, crop production, pasture, farm machinery, cooking and infant welfare. The train was painted bright yellow to attract attention and included sleeping accommodation for the 80 staff. A typical composition, taken from the May 1925 tour, was: * Car 1: Special car ''Victoria'' for staff accommodation * Car 2: Louvre van with electric generator and live stock fodder * Cars 3-5: Cattle trucks, each with three padded compartments. * Car 6: An open truck with six compartments for pigs. * Car 7: A flat car used as a lecture platform. * Car 8: A corridor carriage fitted with display tables of agricultural utensils. * Car 9: A carriage with a display of veterinary exhibits. * Car 10: A carriage of potato exhibits. * Car 11: A carriage displaying wool production techniques, various types of weeds and grasses and soil analysis techniques. * Car 12: A carriage of fruit production techniques.

Tours

The full train made 38 tours of regional Victoria and into southern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and eastern

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The displays were varied depending on the area visited, for example

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

in the

Wimmera The Victorian government's Wimmera Southern Mallee subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria. It includes most of what is considered the Wimmera, and part of the southern Mallee region. The subregion is based on the social ...

. In addition, the "Domestic" and "Women's" sections of the train, featuring baby health, needlework and cookery, made independent tours to some locations and a Wool Demonstration Train ran in 1934. The first tour departed Melbourne on 13 October 1924 and toured

with the first stop at

Bunyip The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. Name The origin of the word ''bunyip'' has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia ...

. The response from the public was beyond expectations, with some people travelling to see the train, and lecture cars proved to be too small. There were also criticisms of some of the arrangements for the visiting public. Between 500 and 2,000 people visited the train at each location and the tour was so successful that a second tour was planned before the first one had returned to Melbourne. At the end of the 6th tour, Dr Cameron wrote "I have no hesitation whatever in saying that the Better Farming Train ... has made a greater appeal to the practical farmer and the younger generation of agriculturalists than anything that has hitherto been attained in Australia". Tours became less frequent during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and a temporary suspension was considered in 1930, however the Minister for Agriculture

William Slater William, Bill, Billy or Willie Slater may refer to: * William Slater (architect) (1819–1872), English architect * William Slater (cricketer) (1790–1852), English cricketer * William Slater (swimmer) (born 1940), Canadian swimmer * William Slat ...

said it had been of inestimable value. With state finances becoming tight, in May 1932 the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

made a grant of £600 to finance the next tour. The final tour was in 1935 when funding was withdrawn. Reviving the train was considered in July 1939 if assistance was available from the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

, however this was prevented by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Interest from other states

In December 1924, the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state government, state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the h ...

made enquiries about borrowing the train for a tour of that state. Experts from South Australia visited Victoria in 1926 to examine the train, and there was interest from

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The train eventually toured South Australia in 1929. New South Wales operated its own Better Farming Train between 1927 and 1929.

Tour locations

Gallery

References

External links

Honey and egg car of the Better Farming Train
Victorian Department of Agriculture, taken in 1924 or 1925 (via

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

)
The Better Farming Train
Department of Environment and Primary Industries {{Named trains of the Victorian Railways 1924 establishments in Australia 1935 disestablishments in Australia Rail transport in Victoria (state) History of agriculture in Australia Agriculture in Victoria (state) Economic history of Victoria (state)