Four generations of Davis men
Source: Jennifer Hogden
JOSHUA JOSIAH DAVIS
Joshua Josiah Davis was born in Petersham on 30 March 1865. He married English-born Teresa Bertha Ballard in Gulgong in 1893. He died in Gulgong on 13 March 1921. Teresa died a year later on 12 March 1922. They had seven children. Two of their daughters married two Campbell brothers. Two of their grand daughters Nella and Madge Jackson, appear elsewhere in this blog.
Joshua Josiah Davis built the Ten Dollar Town Motel in Gulgong (formerly the Royal Hotel)
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JOSH DAVIS
This Josh Davis was the firstborn child of Joshua Josiah and Teresa Davis (above). The Davis family had a long-standing tradition of naming their firstborn "Joshua Josiah". Josh Davis was born in Gulgong in 1894 and died in 1967. He married Thelma Golding in Gulgong in 1923.
Jos Davis Bridge
Jos Davis bridge on Cope Rd was named after my Josh Davis. For many, many years he fought hard with the then Cudgegong Shire to build a bridge over Reedy Creek (as it was known in the 50s and 60s). It was a very wide and dangerous creek in floods. It was also on the main school bus run. Josh was a Shire Councillor who fought hard for all his constituents in his ridings to get them what they needed. Josh was also on the boards of The Wheat & Wool Growers, The Ulan County Council and more. He was also an Oddfellows Lodge member. He was very well known and highly respected locally. He had a reputation all over the state for being a Gun Blade Shearer! Josh used to sit on the gutter in front of Frank Hallaron's shop and meet with many men of the district, talking of the things happening in and around Gulgong and how he could get things done for them! After a couple of years, a seat was built at the wall of Frank's shop for him and his mates to sit comfortably on.
Source: Jennifer Hogden (his daughter)
The following article is about growing wheat in the Gulgong district in 1954. It features Josh Davis and includes his wife Thelma and daughters, Nancy and Jenny. Also named are Tommy, Lewis, Don Lewis and Marie Curry.
IS WHEAT WORTH PLANTING?
Caption 1: FAQ of wheat changes annually. This year it has been fixed at 64lb to the bushel.
Caption 2: JOSH DAVIS, of Gulgong, NSW, typifies the Australian wheatgrower’s anxiety. Overseas markets are bad, there is a world glut. He doesn’t know whether to sow, or not. There are good profits in sheep.
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Lewis, treasurer of the NSW Wheatgrowers’ Union, with as much knowledge of wheat as anyone in Australia and one of the best equipped, most up-to-date farms, has cut his planting from 1500 acres to 100 acres. Davis, with a lifetime of farming experience behind him, isn’t sure what to do.
Both these farmers in the good wheat district of Gulgong have other alternatives. They can run sheep. Mr. Lewis has already planted many acres with lucerne. But other people—the miller wanting to
make flour, bran and pollard, the baker, the housewife, the poultryman, other wheatmen and economists —are all affected and anxious about the outcome.
Overseas markets are bad. The world is full of wheat and doesn’t know what to do with its surplus. A single action of wholesale dumping could wreck many a country’s entire economy—including ours.
The wheatgrower’s former sidelines, sheep and cattle —have become so- much more profitable that he is tending more and more to make them main lines. Prewar there were about 53,000 wheat-farmers in Australia, compared with fewer than 42,000 in 1952 and even fewer today, as more and more farmers
switch from wheat-sheep to sheep-wheat, or just plain sheep.
This year, with the breaking down of international agreements and an acute shortage of storage space added to the world glut, the industry is in one of the trickiest situations in its history. The outcome is impossible to predict. Only time can tell. After last season’s phenomenal yield (NSW harvested 20.68 bushels to the acre), Australia is left with a surplus of more than 85-million bushels.
FAQ of wheat changes annually. This year it has been fixed at 64lb to the bushel.
Growers fear that when crop is harvested there may be nowhere to store it.
The problem causing growers grave concern is where next season’s wheat will go. The silos are jammed full now. One-third of the harvest will be used internally, some will be exported, but another season’s crop plus last year’s surplus will take a lot of storing.
Many sub-terminals, capable of storing thousands of bushels, are needed, but experience shows a sub-terminal takes two years to build. Bulkheads must be put up right through the country—and quickly.
The problem causing growers grave concern is where next season’s wheat will go. The silos are jammed full now. One-third of the harvest will be used internally, some will be exported, but another season’s crop plus last year’s surplus will take a lot of storing.
Many sub-terminals, capable of storing thousands of bushels, are needed, but experience shows a sub-terminal takes two years to build. Bulkheads must be put up right through the country—and quickly.
Farmers are hoping the Silos Board, recently approved by Cabinet to control all the internal handling
of wheat, will clear up storage and other problems.
Farmers strong control
Farmers strong control
The board will consist of two growers, a railways representative, a Treasury official, and a general manager. It will have power to raise funds and loans for wheat storage and handling. The creation of this board means that the farmer now has a strong control of his own industry for the first time. The Wheat Board, also a growers’ board, controls the marketing of wheat. It buys all wheat in Australia, which it stores and sells in pools. Each pool is a separate financial deal. On the whole, farmers are satisfied with the system, because they get a surer return, although a slow one.
[The second payment from Pool 16 for 1952-3 wheat only recently came through—ls months after the first payment on delivery.]
Before the Wheat Board was set up, the farmer sold his wheat through agents, who made good profit on re-sale. Often he was at the mercy of merchants who bought from the paddocks for speculation.
During the past few years wheatgrowers have been drifting more and more away from wheat to sheep and cattle. They claim that wheat has never been a paying proposition in itself, that the farmer always makes his profits from “sidelines”. Although wheat prices seem high, production costs are high, too, and the farmer is lucky to clear them. Many doubt whether they will cover their production costs on
wheat in Pool 16, estimated at 11/11 a bushel, and in No. 17, at 12/7.
Under the International Wheat Agreement certain countries, a few years ago glad to get wheat cheap compared with parity, agreed to buy Australian wheat at a minimum price of 13/10 a bushel and a ceiling price of 18/3.
Internally, Australia pays the grower 14/- a bushel, less freight from siding to port. In NSW the average freight rate is 2/- a bushel.
Payment just received on Pool 16 wheat brings the price to 13/- a bushel, less freight, so after having waited 15 months, the farmer has still not balanced the cost of the crop.
The position from every viewpoint is uncertain, and the wheatgrower, used as he is to taking gambles, is finding the decision to go ahead with his wheat-sowing a tough one to make.
[The second payment from Pool 16 for 1952-3 wheat only recently came through—ls months after the first payment on delivery.]
Before the Wheat Board was set up, the farmer sold his wheat through agents, who made good profit on re-sale. Often he was at the mercy of merchants who bought from the paddocks for speculation.
During the past few years wheatgrowers have been drifting more and more away from wheat to sheep and cattle. They claim that wheat has never been a paying proposition in itself, that the farmer always makes his profits from “sidelines”. Although wheat prices seem high, production costs are high, too, and the farmer is lucky to clear them. Many doubt whether they will cover their production costs on
wheat in Pool 16, estimated at 11/11 a bushel, and in No. 17, at 12/7.
Under the International Wheat Agreement certain countries, a few years ago glad to get wheat cheap compared with parity, agreed to buy Australian wheat at a minimum price of 13/10 a bushel and a ceiling price of 18/3.
Internally, Australia pays the grower 14/- a bushel, less freight from siding to port. In NSW the average freight rate is 2/- a bushel.
Payment just received on Pool 16 wheat brings the price to 13/- a bushel, less freight, so after having waited 15 months, the farmer has still not balanced the cost of the crop.
The position from every viewpoint is uncertain, and the wheatgrower, used as he is to taking gambles, is finding the decision to go ahead with his wheat-sowing a tough one to make.
"Subsidy" paid back
The question of subsidising the wheat farmer is likely to become a political issue. Farmers admit that they were in effect subsidised by the public in the bad years before the war. But they claim that since the war they have more than paid it back.
As late as the 1938-39 season wheat averaged just under 2/6 a bushel. The public helped the farmer through the flour tax, bringing the home price to about 4/-. This cost some millions. Since. 1947-48 export prices averaged 19/4 a bushel, home price 6/3. Farmers say this has subsidised the consumers by tens of millions of pounds.
Caption 1: While decisions are weighed, work must go on, paddocks be prepared. At right, Davis (left) discusses with Tommy Lewis where... next season’s wheat will be stored.
Caption 2: A rat-damaged stack. With silos limited and full, farmers may have to go back to bagging.
____________________________MILLERS WANT FARMERS TO GROW BETTER WHEATAustralian growers ore paid on the basis of weight of wheat harvested, regardless of grain's qualityUNDER the Australian system of wheat payment no consideration is taken of the quality of the grain.It is paid for according to its weight only. Millers say this naturally encourages farmers to grow “bag-filling” rather than good-quality wheat. They would like to see a grading system introduced here similar to Canada’s, where wheat of a certain weight and quality is sent to a particular silo. The grower is paid according to the silo to which his wheat has been graded. Farmers agree our system is bad, but believe we have neither finance nor yield to effect such a change.With no overseas markets now for Australian flour, mills have cut their daily shift from three to one, which is sufficient to handle the internal demand. This will soon have serious repercussions, bringing a shortage of bran and pollard, wheat’s important by-products.Inset Caption 1: UNLESS WHEAT has high gluten content it does not make good flour. Pictures show difference between low-gluten type (1.), which breaks easily, and high-gluten type (r.).Inset Caption 2: CHRONDROMETER, used by Cecil Cook, determines correct weight of a bushel of wheat.Inset Caption 3: THE LABORATORY at Gulgong (NSW) flour mill, Marie Curry weighs samples of wheat before crushing to determine the flour content of the grain. crushing to determine the flour content of the grain.
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Caption 1: DON LEWIS, Tom’s son, looks over his latest-type header. It harvests 80 acres a day. Modern farming requires both wide and specialised knowledge. (Newspaper has "Ron" Lewis, an error).
Caption 2: THE LEWISES are able to repair their own machinery. They have a mobile oxy-welding plant, which they can take out to the paddocks.
Caption 3: JOSH DAVIS with a winnower 70 years old. Implements standing in his paddock demonstrate complete evolution of wheat-farming equipment.
Caption 4: FIRST STRIPPER was invented by South Australian John Ridley. It could harvest four acres a day. This was stage 2 of farm-machine evolution.
Additional information: Thelma and Josh Davis with their daughters Nancy and Jenny out the front of "Wattle Dale", their property about 5 miles out of Gulgong on the old Ulan Road.
At the time of this photo Josh was a member of both the Wheat Growers Association and Wool Producers Association. He was also on the Cudgegong Shire Council.The bridge on the Cope Road was named after him as he lobbied for many years for the bridge after helping many neighbours when the causeway flooded.
Source: Vicki Buchanan (granddaughter of Josh Davis)
Caption 2: McKAY combined the winnower and the stripper and made the first harvester. Equipment since then has been based on this model.
Caption 3: FARMERS Davis and Lewis have a yarn over the combine. They agree the wheat grower is the greatest gambler of all, wonder where they will go from here.
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THOMAS CLYDESDALE DAVIS
Thomas Clydesdale Davis and his wife Rose.
Thomas was born in 1873 in Gulgong. He married Rose Schofield in Moree in 1901 and died 14 September 1933 at Narrabri NSW. Thomas and Rose had 7 children.
