Small family dairy farms used to be the predominant farm on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp until the 1970s or so. In the 1920s, for instance, it was estimated that there were close to 12,000 dairy cattle in the Parishes of Koo Wee Rup, Koo Wee Rup East and Yallock (approximately Koo Wee Rup to Bunyip and south to Bayles, Caldermeade and Catani) at the same time the human population would have been maybe 4,500.
My father, Frank Rouse (born December 1933) grew up on a small dairy farm on Murray Road at Cora Lynn and this is his story. Family farms relied on the (generally unpaid) labour of family members and Dad, his brother Jim (born November 1931) and their two older sisters, Nancy and Dorothy, were expected to take part in the daily chores on the farm.
The family milked cows and separated the cream which they sold to the Drouin factory to make butter; the rest was fed to the pigs, which when they were fat enough were sold at the Dandenong Market. This wasn’t especially profitable and around 1949 when Jim was 18 and Dad was 16, Jim got the family a milk contract. This meant they no longer had to separate the milk; it was sold as whole milk for the Melbourne market for a much higher price and thus the family income increased by 250 per cent. Jim had arranged the contract through Campbell Buchanan, of Cora Lynn, who was also the carrier.
Lucy Rouse (Dad's aunty) and the little girl is Daphne Rouse (Dad's sister), c. 1938.
When they got the milk contract the family began the change from Jersey cows, which produced less milk but more cream to Friesians, they were bigger cows, had less trouble calving and produced more milk.
However, this contract meant that they had to build a new cow shed. The original cow shed had been built by Frank and Jim’s grandfather when he took up the block in 1903. It had six single bails, 25-30 cows were milked daily by hand, before school and after school. Neighbours, including Joe Storey and Johnny King, had milking machines. Maybe not everyone did but Dad feels fairly sure that they were the last dairy to become mechanised.
Rouse family farm, 1928. Dad remembers it as 'acres of mud'
The new cow shed was built by Frank and Jim and, because of the conditions of the milk contract, the shed needed concrete floors and walls. For the concrete they needed sand, so they had to take the horses and dray up to the end of Dessent Road to the Main Drain. There was no levee bank then so they walked the horses, attached to a scoop, down into the drain where they pulled the scoop along, filled it up with sand and pulled it up the bank where Dad and Jim shovelled it onto a flat section then later shovelled it all into the dray, which belonged to their neighbour the aforementioned Johnny King, take it home and shovel it out.
They had purchased a second hand 2hp Rosebery petrol engine which powered the concrete mixer, thus the floor and lower wall (five feet high) were built (using formwork, not bricks) and the rest of the walls were timber, with a corrugated iron roof. The dairy, connected by a 6 ft wide breezeway also needed to be concreted. Once the shed was built, Joe (Jim and Frank’s dad) purchased a second hand Mitchell milking machine plant from a farm in Koo Wee Rup. It took 90 minutes to get to Koo Wee Rup with a wagon and three horses – then Frank and Jim had to take the plant apart, load it and then they had to put it back together and install the machines. The plant was powered by the Rosebery engine. After this, the family milked 45-50 cows. The Rouse family had four horses, which Dad describes as ‘3 reasonable and one mongrel’ – the best two were called Ned and Rats.
Dad had been used to working with horses as when he was 15 he worked a team of horses for Sandy Priest who lived near Bayles. He used to plant crops, scuffle potatoes etc. Sandy was also a top cattle breeder and often topped the sales at Newmarket. Dad was actually paid for this work which was a bonus as they never got paid at home. Sandy Priest, who lived somewhere on the Bayles - Longwarry Road had hundreds of acres, his land backed up to the Railway Line, but he lived in a small shed. His bed was two spud bags stretched over poles, there was a stove in the shed and a windmill outside which filled a trough for water. When Dad was about 16 he grew some potatoes on Sandy’s land and which he rented and then paid the rent in labour.
Rouse farm at Cora Lynn, early 1950s.
Around the time of the construction of the cow shed, Jim and Frank also began growing potatoes together at home. Initially, all the work was done by horses but it wasn’t long before they purchased a brand new grey Fergie tractor - it was petrol, 16 hp and even though they were only aged 19 and 17, the Company financed them.
In 1955, Jim and Frank purchased 60 acres of land from Johnny King, in Sinclair (now Bennetts) Road at Cora Lynn. It was, we believe, about £6,000 but he allowed them to pay it back a certain amount per year – he had always been a good support to them. Jim and Frank milked cows for a year or two after that, then other family members took over and the Rouse dairy farming came to an end on June 22, 1960 when all the cattle and plant were sold at a clearing sale. Jim and Frank by then were concentrating on growing potatoes.
Rouse Clearing sale held June 22, 1960. There was also some machinery sold at the sale from another owner. The advertisement is transcribed below.
Pakenham Gazette, June 10, 1960 p.7
CLEARING SALE
MURRAY'S ROAD
CORA LYNN
Wednesday, June 22nd
AT 12 NOON
80 DAIRY CATTLE AND PLANT 80
GIPPSLAND & NORTHERN CO-OP CO LTD.
to sell on the property, situated on Murray’s Road 2½
from Cora Lynn, 2½ miles from Vervale, her Cattle and Plant,
as under –
Cattle:
45 MILKERS, mainly Friesian and Friesian Cross Cows,
a good percentage freshly calves, balance rejoined.
21 SPRINGERS, Friesian and Jersey, calving August,
September.
2 FRIESIAN HEIFERS, well grown, joined to Short-
horn bull.
9 HEIFER PODDIES, Friesian and Jersey.
1 SHORTHORN BULL, 2 years.
Approximately 700 Bales Grass Hay.
Plant:
4-unit Mitchell Milking Plant, Cooler, Vat and Stand;
Braemar 55-gallon Hot Water Service; Brook 2 h.p. Electric
Motor: Lister 2 h.p. Stationary Engine; 15 Milk Cans; Smith
Spin-type Broadcaster (truck-mounted); ¾” Centrifugal
Water Pump; Dehorners; Kebrol Branding Outfit; Rubber-
tyred Trolley; Milk Trolley and Lines; 50-gallon tank;
quantity of Old Milk Cans; Buckets and Sundries
A/C Another Owner:
1954 Ferguson 18 h.p. Petrol Tractor (good order);
New Holland Hayliner 68 bailer (1600 bales); International
G.L. Hay rake (good order); Lundell Economy 60 Forage
Harvester, with Fordson Attachments (as New).
The herd is in great condition and consists of mainly
young cows which show type and quality. They are proven
producers, having maintained a large contract, and are regu-
lated for round-the-year calving. Mrs. Rouse is retiring
from dairying and buyers can attend with confidence.
LIGHT LUNCHEON AVAILABLE.
NOTE DATE.- WEDNESDAY, 22nd JUNE, at 12 noon.
Gippsland & Northern Co-Op. Co. Ltd.
35 THOMAS STREET, DANDENONG.
Phone 2-0401, 2-0402 and 2-0403.
J. HUNTINGFORD, District Representative. Ph. Cora Lynn 42
