In 1891 and 1892 there were newspapers reports on the largest hog farm in Australia - at Monomeith. The enterprise was started by James Murphy, and in February, 1890 sold to the Waters - Thomas Beaumont Waters and his son of the same name; with young Thomas managing the business at Monomeith.
The Waters' purchase the Monomeith Estate from James Murphy
The Waters' main property was Gravels Plains at Corryong, which was purchased in 1876. Thomas junior was a widower during his time at Monomeith, his first wife Agnes (nee Whitehead) having died in 1888. As his obituary noted - For some years after this, Mr Waters was away from this part of the country and resided in the Monomeith district and also at Whorouly. In 1904, after his return to Corryong, he married Catherine Nugent and they had seven sons and one daughter. (1).
The property was 606 acres,on the Yallock Creek, allotments 5 & 6, Parish of Yallock, part of Old Monomeith, the property once owned by John Mickle. In October 1892 the Waters held a clearing sale on their property; the Cranbourne Shire Rate Books of 1893/94 note that James Murphy re-purchased the property. Murphy had originally purchased the land when the 4,425 acre Monomeith Estate was subdivided and put up for auction on December 17, 1886. (2)
The Monomeith property, lots 5 & 6, the Yallock Creek is the border on the left. You can see J. Murphy noted as the purchaser of lots 5 & 6.
Detail from - Plan of subdivision of the Monomeith Estate in the Western Port district. Surveyed by Walter Madden & J. F. Waltham; Lithographer: J. Batten 1886.
The plan was drawn up for the December 1886 sub-division sale.
For James Murphy the property was a hobby, he lived at Marina, Beaconsfield Parade, in St Kilda. Marina was listed in the St Kilda Rate Books as being of 17 rooms. James died in London on May 1, 1896, aged 53 and his probate papers included real estate valued at £37,500, including the Monomeith land valued at £4215 and the Marina property at £5000. There is more information about James Murphy and his family in the footnote (3)
The Monomeith property as listed in James Murphy's 1896 Probate papers.
Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 28/P0002, 61/232
The pig farm was an interesting enterprise, and these are examples of the many stories of agriculture which used to appear in the newspapers, even the Melbourne dailies. until the 1950s and 1960s. The first part of the story was published in The
Warragul Guardian, June 12, 1891 (see
here) having been first published in
The Leader.
The Largest Hog Farm in Australia, part 1
(From The Leader)
The largest pig breeding establishment in Australia is situated about a couple of miles from the Monomeith railway station in Gippsland, and is only 48 miles from Melbourne. Pig breeding and fattening on an extensive scale was started here some four years ago by Mr. Murphy, who continued long enough in the business to discover that the handsome profits which he had worked out on paper were not so easily realised in practice. Mr. Murphy was possessed of independent means, however, and although the neighbors alleged that he was more theoretical than practical in his knowledge of pigs, he must be credited with having formulated a system for breeding and fattening them on a large scale that may be taken as a model and guide in many respects by even the most experienced farmers.
He certainly spared no expense in adapting the farm to the purpose required, and if he found the system less profitable than he anticipated, the fault must have been in the management and not in the scheme itself. In any case Mr. Murphy, who from the first went into pig keeping as a hobby more than mere profit, and never gave the business the close personal attention it required, sold out after two years' experience to Messrs. Waters and Son, from the Wodonga district. These gentlemen bought the farm chiefly for the purpose of fattening bullocks to be drafted from their cattle station on the Murray. But they determined before disposing of the pigs to give them a trial, and have been so well satisfied with the result that they have not only largely, increased the number of pigs, but erected far more spacious pens and conveniences than even the former owner contemplated.
At the present time Messrs. Waters and Son have about 800 head of pigs on the farm. The breeding sows number 160, which they intend to intend to increase next year to 250 head. Two litters are taken from each sow in the year. The litters average about six pigs, which number is considered more profitable than larger litters. The 160 sows produce annually nearly 2,000 pigs, which are all fattened and sold as porkers at from six to seven months old. This then is the extent of the business carried on, which, so far as we are aware, is the largest of the kind in Australia.
On an average one sow farrows every day, and from 40 to 50 porkers are sent to market every week. Mr. Waters, jun., who has the sole management of the farm, estimates that the total cost of producing six months old porkers, weighing from 60lb to 701b, is about 7s 6d per head. The average price of these fat pigs ranges from 25s to 80s, so that the margin of profit is about £1 per head. These figures were furnished by Mr. Waters himself, so that anyone who doubts their accuracy may know whom to hold responsible.
The second part of the story was published in The
Warragul Guardian, June 19, 1891 (see
here) having been first published in
The Leader.
The Largest Hog Farm in Australia, part 2
(From The Leader)
A week ago we reproduced an extract from an article in the "Leader" under the above heading. This was apparently read with great interest by many of our farming friends, as we have had several inquiries since as to the mode of feeding and rearing on this farm, and in order to furnish this information, we feel that it cannot be better explained than by giving the remaining portion of the article which appeared in the "Leader" as follows :
In the first place it may be stated that the farm consists of 602 acres of rich level land. About 400 acres are devoted to the pigs and for cultivation purposes, the remainder being kept for cattle grazing. There are 10 securely fenced paddocks, eight of which severally contain 37 acres, the two remaining paddocks being 9 acres each in extent. The fences are all thoroughly pig proof, and their total length is about 10 miles. They are constructed in rather a costly fashion. The fence is erected on the post and wire style to commence with, the top and bottom wires being barbed, and against this is placed a wire netting of 4-inch mesh and 3 feet high. The wire netting alone costs about £33 per mile in Melbourne, so that when this is added to posts and strand wire the fences are obviously substantial. But they are good, if expensive, and give greater satisfaction than could be obtained from a less costly erection.
The paddocks are all well supplied with water by means of windmills. There are four windmills on the place, two of which are placed so that the water troughs project into the corners of four paddocks. A great deal of water is also used about the feeding yards, and for this purpose pipes are laid down connecting the tanks of two of the windmills. The object in connecting two of the tanks is to provide against accident to either of the windmills, when the supply of water at the feeding pens would be cut short, causing no end of inconvenience and loss.
Pasture is solely relied upon for maintaining the sows through pregnancy, and also for bringing forward the growing pigs. The grasses usually grown are clover, ryegrass and cocksfoot. A great deal of other food is provided in the shape of mangels, turnips, peas and rape. One hundred acres of peas, 20 acres of turnips and 15 acres of mangels are grown, besides rape, which is sown with the grass seed in the paddock that is annually laid down to pasture.
The land being of excellent quality heavy crops of roots are always obtained without extra manuring. The system of feeding adopted varies according to the object in view. The sows, after being served by the boar, are turned out to grass, and no other food is supplied them, unless in cases of urgency, until they farrow, when they are brought in from the paddock and fed in the pens on raw mangels and turnips, with a ration of pollard scalded with boiling water. A bag of pollard, 8 bushels, is allowed to 60 sows per day. At six weeks old the pigs are weaned, when they are put into fresh pens, and supplied with cooked roots and pollard prepared as before. After being weaned for some days the pigs are turned out to graze in the paddock for about four months, after which period they are again brought in and fattened off on cooked roots, barley meal, or peas, scalded with boiling water.
Mr. Waters considers that there is no food equal to peasmeal for topping off the porkers. The peas that are grown on the farm are harvested and built on raised platforms, from which they are pitched on the ground in small quantities to the pigs as required. The pollard, barley and other meals used are necessarily all purchased, and as the quantity consumed during the year is enormous, the bill for such foods must be a very heavy one to meet. Mr. Waters has an idea that milk would be about the cheapest food for fattening the porkers upon, as well as maintaining the breeding sows when nursing. He regrets that he did not bring cows instead of bullocks from the northern station last season to stock the other portion of the farm.
There is no doubt that milk would be much more wholesome for the pigs than water in conjunction with other foods, but the cost of the milk would not be light however high its feeding value might be. The breeding and fattening pens, as may he imagined, are very extensive. They are built in two long rows, of about 200 yards in length, but some distance apart. One row of pens, which was constructed by Mr. Murphy, is built solely of wood; the other has been erected by the present owners, and is built chiefly of corrugated iron. The old pens are all 14 x 7 feet in size, but the new ones are only 11 x 6 feet. These are the sizes of the breeding pens. The fattening pens are 18 x 14 feet, not including the sleeping berths, the dimensions of which are 10 x 11 feet. The breeding pens are floored with wood ; while the fattening pens are floored with concrete, which is made of 1 part cement to 5 of sand.
Again, the troughs in the breeding pens are made of wood, while those in the fattening yards are solid iron. A feed tramway runs the whole length immediately in front of the pens, and at various points there are water taps and large feed boxes for mixing and preparing the feed. The boiling water required for scalding the meal is obtained from a large kettle or boiler adjoining the boxes used for mixing the feed. All the arrangements for feeding are very complete, and planned so that the feed can be handled with
as little labor as possible. The help employed consists of four men, two of whom only are solely engaged in attending to the pigs, the others being required for field work.
Berkshire Sow
The breed of pigs maintained is the Berkshire chiefly, although there are a few of the Middle Yorkshire variety. All round, the pigs are good sorts, but they would stand some improvement, in our opinion, particularly in regard to size. Many of the Berkshires appeared to be smaller than we usually find them in well bred herds. Four boars are kept. They are not allowed to run with the sows, but are taken out for service as required. The sows come around their pens when they want anything. Breeding goes on every day in the year. When the boars are rung they are quiet and easily handled, but without the snout ring they are simply unmanageable. All the sows are rung as well, but the fatteningpigs are allowed to root.
The general health of the herd is excellent, as a rule, only a small percentage of loss occurs from disease of any kind. When any of the pigs show symptoms of ill-health or appear dirty or peevish the mother is given a pint of linseed oil in her feed, which has a wonderful effect in making the youngsters bright and sleek in the coat in a few days. The older pigs in need of treatment for general debility are also supplied with oil, and sulphur is frequently given in their food as well. These medicines are found to be effective in all common complains of dietetic origin. Cleanliness and careful feeding are parts of the management which receive strict attention, and as a consequence very little doctoring is required. Some of the pigs are remarkably cleanly in their habits, and quiet in disposition, while others are just the reverse, preferring to wallow in their own filth, and always bent on mischief of some kind. Needless to say, the former fatten much more rapidly. Independent of all other qualities, a breed of pigs of a sleepy, contented disposition is invariably the most profitable, and breeders should therefore aim at producing animals possessed of this valuable characteristic.
Mr. Waters sells all his fat pigs at, Dandenong. Formerly he used to send them to Melbourne, but he finds the local market more convenient, and attended with less expense. From the success achieved at Monomeith, it is to be hoped that other farmers in Victoria may be induced to commence pig breeding and fattening on an equally large scale. We might then expect to see more bacon factories established throughout the colony, which would afford the farmer the means of disposing of this class of stock at a remunerative rate. The demand for bacon is practically unlimited, and there is no reason why such an establishment should not pay well in every district. Victoria ought to export bacon instead of importing it in large quantities ; but even as things are, the farmer who makes pig breeding and bacon curing an important part of his business will have an immense advantage over one who ignores or despises the benefits the humble animal in question is able to confer.
In 1892, Bruni, the agricultural writer for
The Australasian, also visited the farm and his report was in
The Australasian, April 2, 1892 (see
here). He mistakenly listed the Water's surname as Walters in the article.
On Westernport Bay: Pigs at Old Monomeith.
By Bruni
About two miles inland from the main South Gippsland road, and almost midway between the two blocks of land owned by the Glasscock family, is Old Monomeith, the property of Mr. M. Walters. It is, I believe, the largest pig-raising and fattening property in Victoria. This special feature was given to the place by a former proprietor, Mr. Murphey, who spent large sums of money in erecting all the works necessary for the carrying on of the business of hog-raising on a large scale. Mr. Walters purchased the property as a going concern, and he continues the business, but on a less expensive scale than that on which it was initiated. The steading is, evidently, a very ancient one for Victoria, the house being apparently the oldest in this district, and it has the air of having seen better times in the good old squatting days. At that time it was doubtless a residence of some pretensions.
I found Mr. Walters at home, and after cooling down in the rambling old house, for the day was extremely hot, we started for a ramble over the place. Mr. Murphey, besides erecting miles of pig-proof fencing, built many substantial pig-sties, with the necessary offices for storing and cooking the food for the pigs. An abundance of water is obtained from a well, and raised by a wind-mill pump to tanks, whence it is distributed to where it is required. The sties are situated on rather a low piece of ground, and in winter they were very wet. Mr. Walters has made some fine sties for the sows to farrow in, care being taken to give them a sound flooring. He has also put up a number of fattening sties, each of which will accommodate comfortably 15 pigs. As fattening bacon hogs for the Melbourne market is not a profitable occupation at present, these sties are not likely to be used for some time to come.
Large numbers of fat hogs used to be sent from Old Monomeith to Melbourne, but the market price fell so low that Mr. Walters has for some time past sold his stock in store condition. Shortly before Christmas he reduced his stock greatly, but be has still 150 breeding sows on the place. In going over this property what strikes a visitor most is the extreme flatness of the surface. The soil is of excellent quality, but it requires draining to do it justice. I fancy this farm would benefit as much by being tile-drained as any of the land I saw at Kyneton. During a long spell of wet weather in winter some or the old sows sink deeply into the saturated soil.
I had good proofs furnished me that the land is quite as fertile as it appears to be. In a small field we passed, Mr. Walters told me that he had gathered a crop of hay that went four tons to the acre. This crop was weighed when taken away. After the hay was taken off the field was ploughed and sown with turnips, the result being an exceptionally heavy crop. The plough was put in again and a very heavy crop of peas followed. For growing hay, roots, oats and peas or any fodder crop, this soil is equal to any we have in Victoria. The drawback is that it is liable to inundation, when the Koo-wee-rup Swamp overflows, when some of the surplus water finds its way across this flat piece of country to the bay. The late floods have been caused by some interference with the natural outfall of the great swamp, but when the main drain is made available for carrying of the surplus water, it is confidently expected that such a thing as a flooding from the swamp will be impossible even in the wettest winters.
I found the pigs everywhere, and noticed that the Berkshire was the type throughout. The sows were large, roomy animals, good breeders, and able to rustle for their living, such as a farm pig should be. It does not answer, I found, to keep a large number of sows in the paddock. The stronger of the young pigs get the lion's share of the milk, and the weakly ones consequently grow up puny. The sows do not, or are unable to, distinguish their own young in the lot, and with them it is first come first served in the way of supplying milk. It is, therefore, considered advisable to keep only a few sows together, and to do this necessitates many small enclosures.
All the fences I saw on Old Monomeith were made pig-proof by the addition of a strong wire netting with a 4in. mesh. Of this netting there are 10 miles put up on the property. It was imported by Mr. Murphey for the purpose of making pig-proof fences, and cost, landed in Melbourne, £33 per ton.This mode of making pig-proof fences is much approved by those who keep pigs in the neighbourhood. The surplus netting has been bought up by them for the purpose of making small pig paddocks. I was surprised to learn that bacon hogs fattened on good wholesome food realise such a very low price in Melbourne. Mr. Walters told me that he seldom got over 2d. per lb. for his fat hogs, a price which leaves no margin of profit. Rather than sell at that rate it would pay well to start a bacon-curing factory in the district. It is always difficult to buy really fine bacon in Melbourne, and the prices charged range from 7d. to 1s. per lb. retail.
Raising porkers for the market pays fairly well, and most pigbreeders about here have gone into the business. A great many porkers are raised and fattened on Old Monomeith. I happened to pass through a paddock in which 150 porkers, all under four months old, were grazed. It was feeding-time, and they had just received their ration of peas cut from the stack. The youngsters were expected to do their own thrashing and gristing, and they did it thoroughly. The sound of all their jaws being busily employed grinding up the peas was a most peculiar one. There was no grunting or squealing, the work was done in silence, for to indulge in any expression of opinion would be to lose valuable time. They were fed twice a day, and were rapidly becoming fit subjects for the butcher. Doubtless ere this a considerable proportion of them have appeared in metropolitan butchers'shops.
This district is well adapted to pig farming, as the grazing is of the finest. Any quantity of wholesome fattening food can be grown, and an ample supply of water can be obtained at a short distance from the surface.
On October 14, 1892 the Waters held a clearing sale on their property and relocated their enterprise back to Corryong.
Water's clearing sale at Monomeith
Footnotes(1) Thomas Beaumont Waters obituary -
Wodonga & Towong Sentinel, January 10, 1913, see
here;
Upper Murray & Mitta Herald, January 16, 1913, see
here. Thomas Beaumont Waters, junior, obituary -
Border Morning Mail, January 26, 1950, see
here.
(2) Clearing sale -
Great Southern Advocate September 29, 1892, see here; Original purchase - The Argus, December 18, 1886, see here. (3) James Murphy was born in 1843 in Victoria to John Robert and Elizabeth (nee Terry) Murphy. On May 22, 1867 he married 18 year-old Margaret Fraser at her parent’s house at Tallygaroopna. She was the daughter of William and Mary (nee McIntosh) Fraser and William’s occupation on the couple’s wedding certificate was Squatter. James’ address at the time of his marriage was Kotupna Station, which is east of Echuca. Thomas and Margaret had a son, James Kotupna Murphy, born in St Kilda in 1868, obviously named in honour of the family property, who died in June 1910 in England. There were two other sons John Robert (died 1925, aged 55) and William (died 1928, aged 57) and a daughter Margaret May. Margaret married George Wilson Paxton in March 1899 and she died in 1960, aged 87.
James died in London on May 1, 1896, aged 53 and he is buried in the Murphy family grave at Brighton General Cemetery, along with his parents John and Elizabeth Murphy; two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, and his sons William and Alexander.
Sadly, his wife Margaret died on March 11, 1874 in Sydney and James married for the second time on August 22 1878 to 30 year-old Jane Emma Balcombe. Jane was a Balcombe from The Briars, in Mornington, the daughter of Alexander and Emma (nee Reid) Balcombe. Her father, Alexander, was born on the island of St Helena, and his father William was a purveyor to Napoleon’s household, when he was in exile on the Island. Alexander was one of the earliest European land-owners on the Mornington Peninsula. Jane and James had the one son - Alexander Balcombe Murphy who was born in St Kilda in 1880. Jane Emma Murphy died September 23, 1924, aged 79, at her childhood home, The Briars. She is buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery. The Briars was inherited by her son Alexander, who died at the property in 1935, aged 55. Alexander's ashes are interred in the Murphy family grave at Brighton.
Sources - Obituary of James' father, John Robert Murphy -
The Argus, November 28, 1891, see
here; Murphy/Fraser wedding notice -
The Argus, May 27, 1867, see
here; James' death notice -
Prahran Telegraph, May 9, 1896, see
here; Margaret Murphy death notice -
North Eastern Ensign, March 24 1874, see
here; Murphy/Balcombe wedding notice -
The Argus, August 26, 1878, see
here; Murphy/Paxton marriage notice
Prahran Telegraph, April 22 1899, see
here; Jane Emma Murphy death notice - The Argus, September 24, 1924, see
here and Obituary
Frankston & Somerville Standard, September 26, 1924, see
here; Alexander Murphy obituary
https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/murphy-alexander-balcombe-17069; Murphy/Fraser and Murphy/Balcombe wedding certificates; Alexander Balcombe entry –
Australian Dictionary of Biography; St Kilda Rate Books on Ancestry.com; Will at the Public Records Office of Victoria; Family and Estate information -
The Australian Star, December 26, 1896, see
here
