PLAN FOR DUTCH SETTLEMENT

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28104, 20 October 1956, Page 9

PLAN FOR DUTCH SETTLEMENT

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PROJECT

A striking example of the manner in which primary producers in Australia are welcoming new settlers is afforded by the plan by which the road board at Denmark, a rural settlement in Western Australia, is honing to settle several hundred Dutch farmers in the area, if the Commonwealth and Netherlands Governments will help The scheme, suggested by Mr F. Stahl, chairman of the road board, would use land considered worthless until recently. The Government Research Station at Denmark has used trace elements to grow crops on poor lands and has changed the whole potential of the district. Mr Stahl envisages settling 200 Dutch families with Government assistance, preferring them to others because they have had experience on the type of land found at Denmark.

He says that with trace elements the land could become some of the best pasture in the State, the swampy country around the area could also be farmed by the Dutch settlers, and the growing population of the nearby port of Albany would provide a big market for vegetables. A Dutch immigration official told Mr Stahl that he hoped that disci ssions would take place between the State and Federal Governments and the Netherlands Government, as there would be no difficulty in finding the settlers to come from overcrowded Holland. The Western Australian Government has shown interest in the scheme, but has no money for migrant land settlement.

Deaths in sheep after shearing may be due to infection of cuts or bruises with the blackleg germ. This disease can be prevented by vaccinating at least three weeks before shearing. Sheep which have bdbn vaccinated previously may not require revaccination. and a veterinarian or livestock instructor of the Department of Agriculture should be consulted about the best procedure.