Steroy
Below is a simple summary of the history of Steroy. Click here for a more detailed story of this property.
In about 1949, Joe and Madge White took up 450 acres of hill country on the Darling Scarp next to “Torch” Offers’ farm. The farm was located on what was then known as White’s Road but is now Henty Road. At the time, this area was regarded as Ferguson but is currently in the locality of Henty.
Joe had served in the 2/28 Battalion of the AIF in Tobruk and El Alamein and upon demobbing after the war, he worked in Albany for a short period before taking advantage of the War Service Land Resettlement Scheme.
This allowed the farm to be established to supply cream to a factory to be processed, a house and the necessary buildings to be built and a milking machine to be installed.
Joe and Madge had three children, Royce who was about three when they moved into an old trapper’s house on Mr Offer’s property while their house was completed, Stephen and Ruth were born during the family’s time on Steroy.
Joe milked about 30 cows and the cream was sent to Peters Creamery in Brunswick. The dairy was equipped with several milking bails with a Petters 4 HP diesel driving a vacuum pump which supplied the pulsing milking cups. The whole milk was then fed into a vat in the cream room where it was separated into cream and skim milk via a belt driven separator.
Originally the Petters engine drove a 32 volt generator feeding a bank of batteries. This was okay for lights, but not enough for Madge’s electric iron or for the family’s 240 volt inverter which supplied the black and white TV. So they ran the diesel whenever they used those appliances.
The farm was originally milled for the jarrah so that when the Whites arrived, there was a lot of marri regrowth which Royce spent many hours ringbarking so as to allow pasture to grow.
The property had several soaks which ran all year round and so obviated the need for water troughs for the animals.
The Whites bought a Ferguson TEA20 tractor (commonly called a “Grey Fergie”) and several matching implements such as carryall, mower, buck rake, crane and eventually a post hole digger. The two furrow mould board plough was modified to penetrate much deeper in to rabbit warrens.
Rabbits at that time were a big problem as they multiplied quickly and ate grass so low that the cows could not feed easily. Farmers dealt with them by breaking up the warrens and later using oats soaked in 1080 poison then laid in furrows. Joe White was also involved in spreading the myxomatosis virus, that was also used to control rabbits, by setting up an enclosed area near the river and infecting some rabbits.
The Whites decided to switch to sheep which involved sheep yards, ring lock fencing (as the fence wires for cattle were too widely spaced), and a 240 volt shearing machine. Royce learnt to shear and crutch sheep and the Whites also built a plunge sheep dip to control lice, mites, ticks etc. This was an arsenic based dip which is now illegal.
The White family sold Steroy (named after Stephen and Royce) in about 1968.
Dardanup Heritage Collective 