From the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of November 14, 1912.
This is interesting for a number of reasons - firstly we have had too much rain in the area over the past eighteen months or so and potato farmers especially have suffered.
Secondly, I don't believe peas are grown around here any more. [I wrote this in 2012, but I can tell you that in 2024 there was a large pea crop in Bennett Road, Catani and also one on the 13-Mile Road at Vervale]
Thirdly, the second paragraph is a reminder to us how devastating diseases such as measles and influenza could be before immunisation and antibiotics. For instance, in 1912, the Infant Death rate in Victoria was 74; that is for every 1,000 babies born, 74 would die before they turned one. This was down from 108 in 1902. The rate is now a bit less than five. (Source: Australians: Historical Statistics (Fairfax, Syme and Weldon, 1978)
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