page_title: Avondale Agricultural Research Station
section_title: Research
hierarchical_section_title: Avondale Agricultural Research Station / Department of Agriculture / Research
caption_attribution_description: English: Taken on the Avondale Agricultural Reasearch Station Laboratory built for Harold William Bennetts where he developed the enterotoxaemia vaccine
context_page_description: Avondale Agricultural Research Station or Avondale Discovery Farm is one of thirteen research farms and stations operated by Western Australia's Department of Agriculture and Food. In addition to its research, Avondale has historical buildings, a farming equipment museum and operates as an agriculture education centre specialising in introducing primary school children to farming, and teaching of its history in Western Australia.
  Avondale is situated on land where the Dale River joins the Avon River 10 kilometres northwest of Beverley. It is located on land originally granted to the first Governor of Western Australia, Captain James Stirling and Captain Mark Currie RN in 1836. These grants were combined in 1849 and with additional land purchases they became known as Avondale Estate, expanding to in excess of 13,330 acres.
  On 4 April 1924 the remaining 1,740 acres of Avondale were passed on to the Department of Agriculture and Food. Initially Avondale continued its involvement with the Group Settlement Scheme, it was not until 1926 that research activities commenced. During the 1930s it was to be the laboratory for Dr Harold Bennetts successful research into Bacillus ovitoxicus.
context_section_description: A Braxy-like disease originated in the Beverley-York region in 1915. Over the next 15 years it spread across most of the state's farming districts. Flock losses generally were around 5% though there were reported cases of 30% loss. In 1918 Professor Dakin of the University of Western Australia identified the disease as a toxaemia of bacterial origin but was unable to establish the source.
  Dr Harold Bennetts was appointed the state's first veterinary pathologist in May 1925.  Bennetts commenced an immediate investigation into the disease, using alleyways and open space around the department's city offices to house the sheep needed for the research. In 1930 a field laboratory was built at Avondale; a flock of 1000 sheep were purchased to enable feed experiments. In 1931 Bennetts had identified Bacillus ovitoxicus as the cause of the disease. With this knowledge he was able to develop the infectious enterotoxaemia vaccine; for his efforts Bennetts received a CBE.
  The sheep populations that were required by Bennetts at Avondale also afforded additional research opportunities. From 1931 for several years experiments were conducted with the object of determining how to best produce prime export lambs. This investigated various breeds and cross breeds determining that cross-bred ewes where significantly more productive than pure-bred Merinos.
  In 1934, Bennetts teamed with state botanist Charles Gardner to study the toxic effect of native plants species on sheep. Gardner would collect the plants and supply them fresh to Bennetts who would then feed them to the sheep. They confirmed 24 species of plants as being poisonous, most which were from the native pea genera Gastrolobium and Oxylobium. Based on this and later research, Gardner and Bennetts published The Toxic Plants of Western Australia in 1956. During 1935, investigations into the effects of castrating male lambs with either mechanical pincers compared to using a knife, both of these methods have since been replaced with rubber elastrator rings. The experiment on 499 sheep concluded that no significant differences were observable in respect of mortality, maturity rates and meat quality.
  Dr Eric Underwood began his research at Avondale in the mid-1930s also utilising the sheep flocks. Underwood's initial research was into the effects of sulfur on wool growth, he followed that research with investigations into botulism in sheep during 1935. These experiments were the first of many by Underwood over the next 30 years. During the 1940s he studied the nutritional value of hay and pasture for sheep, the ongoing results from these Studies in Cereal Hay production in Western Australia were published in the Journal of Agriculture.
  During World War II, Avondale farm provided research into farming of linseed and flax in Western Australia, although it was not the most suitable location for growing either. Three varieties of Linseed were trialled: Riga Crown, an early maturing variety, Italian also early maturing and Walsh, a mid-season maturing variety. It was discovered that all were susceptible to cutworm with greater damage occurring later in the season; early trails of the insecticide DDT was said to show promising results in combating this.
caption: The heritage list laboratory built for Dr Bennetts' research
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