agricultural

Nice picture but would a threshing machine be used to make hay?

Neil M Cross An excellent point Neil C, thanks for pointing this out. We've amended the title. Do you have any thoughts on what is actually going on in this picture?

It does look like they are threshing corn, and there is a finished straw stack in the background so it's probably in the stackyard of the farm. Some of the men on the ground would have been forking the sheaves up to the men on the top of the threshing machine, which was driven by belt from the traction engine in the background. The men on the top would have been feeding the corn into the machine where the grain was separated from the straw, and the straw fed out of the chute to the ground where it was collected and then made into a stack. My dad was born in 1903 and worked on several farms in North Cave, Drewton and Everthorpe. He said the best job at threshing time was to be on top of the machine, and the hardest job was afterwards carrying the grain to the granary, the bags were incredible weights, I believe he said up to 18 stones, depending on the type of grain. He said the best thing once the bag was on the shoulders was to keep walking!

Neil M Cross That sounds like very heavy work indeed! Neil, many thanks for this, I'm sure our other Flickr Followers will find this useful too.

Allora, a rural town on the Dalrymple Creek, is 20 km north of Warwick and 125 km south-west of Brisbane. The area was part of the Goomburra pastoral run (1841) occupied under licence by Ernest Dalrymple. A shepherds' crossing on Dalrymple Creek became a regular stopping place, and by the mid-1840s a blacksmith's shop was opened there, later carrying stores and expanding to become an inn. A subsequent owner of Goomburra, Patrick Leslie, surrendered one square mile for a township at the crossing. Surveyed in 1859, it was named Allora, believed to be based on an Aboriginal word meaning swampy place. The rich black soil around Allora was ideal for agriculture, and wheat growing led to a steam flour mill opening in 1871. The courthouse was moved to other premises and the building was given to a school of arts in 1873. The Central Downs Agriculture and Horticulture Association had its first show in Allora in 1878. Allora promised to be a leading township on the Downs but was bypassed by the Toowoomba to Warwick railway line (1867). It was not until 1897 that a branch line connected the town to the regional rail network. Although not on the main railway, the Australian handbook nevertheless described a well-appointed township in 1903. Source: queenslandplaces.com.au/allora

Amazing portrait !! Thank you for sharing !! Have a nice day !!

This is a photo of William Roy Dunne (correct name spelling), who, acording to his headstone in Blackall Cemetary, was riding Nugget during the record hurdle of 3.5ft while the rider weighed 7 stone, and would have been aged approx. 14yrs at the time.

Thanks Anne. I will get our records updated.