Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 4 October 1930, page 9


FERTILE GREENBANK.

LAND OF RICH HILLS AND DALES.

KYOGLE LINE STIMULUS.

By THOS. J. McMAHON.

Now that Queensland's capital is linked with the North-

ern Rivers of New South Wales by the Kyogle line no doubt the development of the agricultural and dairying districts bor-dering the route will proceed apace. One of these districts, to

which a stimulus has been given by the building of the line, is the picturesque stretch of country known as Greenbank, with fertile hills and dales, It is situated only 22 miles from Bris-bane, and is a thriving dairying and fruit district, other rural activities being carried on as adjuncts.

GREENBANK derives its name

from the fact that a cattle station of that name was taken up by W. Slack, one of the early pioneers. The old homestead still stands, being occupied by Mr. S. Smith. The district has the Logan and Beaudesert district on the eastern side and the Ipswich district on the west-ern side. It forms portion of the Oxley electorate, and is within the jurisdic-tion of the Waterford Shire Council Mr. Geo. Johnson a well-known set-tler, represents the district on the counci. Fifty years ago the district was better known as the Teviot. The old Teviot Hotel a carriers' rendez-vous, is still intact though unoccupied. To-day Teviot and another area New-beith are comprised in the Green-bank district

SETTLED 60 YEARS AGO.

Settlement took place ovei 60 years ago a handful of settlers taking up dairying, mixed farming, timber-get-ting, and the grazing of a few head of cattle. Among the old pion-eers are Mrs. J. Crump who still resides in the district, and Mr. R. T. Wynne, who now lives at Manly. Members of his family are settlers of the district. Quite a number of the present settlers were born in or near the settlement. For some years the district prospered, but hard times came when the number of settlers declined. About 20 years ago there was an influx of new settlers, and pro-gress within the district has been ever

Greenbank State School.

since steady and permanent. Just now, with the stimulation given them by the completion of the Kyogle line, the settlers are showing much energy and enterprise.

Many of the settlers are ready to admit that they came to the dis-trict with only a few shillings as cap-ital. One of them oven con-fessed that he began with noth-ing more than a bag of flour. All to-day are in more or less comfortable circumstances. In the early period of the dairying industry, when the herds were being gradually built up, the butter manufactured on the farm was sold to customers in Brisbane, or in the nearby districts.

MR. J. CRUMP.

MRS. J. CRUMP.

Then came a time when large quan-tities of cream were sent into Spring all's Ice-works — now the Zero Ice-cream factory of Stanley-street, and which was there made into butter and sold to various storekeepers To-day the settlers are sending over a ton of cream each week to the Kingston Butter Factory.

DAIRYING AND GRAZING.

There are in the district to-day be-tween 50 and 60 settlers, owning farms ranging in area from 160 to 1500 acres The majority of the settlers are en-

Motor waggons loaded with log timber at Greenbank.

gaged in dairying, having herds of mixed breeds of dairy stock, from 20 to 60 head. Two setters, Messrs. J. A. Strow and J. Edwards, have pure-bred Jersey herds. In conjunction with dairying, many of the settlers raise pigs, and also graze a few head of cattle. Settlers holding farms of over 1,000 acres are doing well. One enterprising grazier turns off good condition cattle every year up to as many as 600 head. The district has a great asset in its water supply from the Logan River, several creeks, the most important being Oxley Creek, and a large number of deep lagoons. Settlers speak of the supply as being

almost inexhaustible The natural pastures are varied, and classed as good for dairying, but to these Pas-palum and Rhodes grass are being

added

THE TIMBER INDUSTRY.

Practically all the settlers are in some way or another concerned In timber-getting. Some 2000 to 3000 feet of timber leave the district every day, with large numbers of pole-timber, some of the poles being up to 70 feet in length. These are mostly to the order of the Electric Light and Tram-way Companies It is estimated that there is a sufficient supply of timber

— all hardwoods — to last for several years to come. Bullock waggons and motor trucks are in general use for the hauling of logs and sawn timber, the latter coming from Mr. R. Tully's mill. Large quantities of fire-wood are available, and the best class of house stump is to be found readily any-where in the district

RICH FRUIT DISTRICT

With the abundance of water in the distiict irrigation is very generally employed in the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, which grow amazingly well. It Is the general opinion of the settlers that eventually the district will become notable for its fruits and vegetables and now with the open-ing of the Kyogle line efforts are to be made to seek trade in the South-ern States. Pineapples, passion-fruit, bananas, strawberries, tomatoes, and

especially citrus fruits of excellent

size and flavour, are grown. Vege-tables of all kinds do well. Cabbages of good size and good quality are to be seen in the gardens, and the same can be said of potatoes, beetroot, pea nuts, and rhubarb. Several settlers run poultry farms with "flocks" of White Leghorns to the number of several hundreds. Messrs. C. W. and C. A. Edwards, father and son, are successful bee-farmers, owning 250 colonies of bees. Resources of the district that have not been worked for some years, but which offer good inducement to enterprise, are coal and granite. The coal is said to be a con-tinuation of the Bundamba beds.

A FINE PROPERTY.

"The Meadows," a grazing area of 1500 acres, owned by Mr. H. T. Shep-pard, is a fine property. Mr. Shep-pard may claim to be one of the lead-ing breeders of blood horse stock in the Commonwealth. He owns a very handsome blood sire, "Leopolis," which was purchased in England from the famous stud of the late Lord Dewar. Mr. Sheppard hails from North New South Wales, and bought "The Meadows" within the last few years. Thirty years ago Mr. Sheppard ad-vocated the construction of the Kyogle Line, and he is a proud man to-day that his hopes have materialised. His son, Mr. H. M. Sheppard, is foremost in all matters promoting the advance of the Greenbank district.

DISTRICT OUTLETS.

With the completion of the railway some activity in road construction is being manifested, and a shorter and better route from the district to Bris-bane is now completed. There is no township in connection with the settlement, all postal and other busi-ness being done at Kingston. There is a public hall and a State school, which 15 children attend daily, under Miss

G. Gredden. The settlers are now agitating for a siding on the line. It is expected that when this objective has been achieved a township will quickly spring into being, there being ample trade and business for both siding and township.

Well-known settlers of the district are Messrs. A. J. Edwards, E. A. Jones, S. S. Beatty, T. Begley, G. A. Loder, J. Crump, J. Cowan, J. P. Colbrook, A. D. Russell, W. Lyons, A. Lyons, G. B. Wilson, M. Begley, C. Wynne, P. Brennan, C. C. Edwards, W. Humphrey, H. Wynne, T. C. Tilling. W. Eaton, P. Coonan, J. Wearing, A. S. Robertson,

and J. Crostin.