Salt land reclaimed by contour banking

During the past 18 years, Harry Whittington of 'Allendale', near Brookton has rehabilitated nearly 150 acres of his property of which was useless salt land. The first signs appeared in the valley of the property in 1935, and by late in the 1940's salt damage or waterlogging was affecting approximately 150 acres. The authorities said that damage to a rising water table brought about by land clearing and that the salt made the land useless. Mr Whittington was convinced that the damage was not caused by a rising water table and and that waterlogging was the reason and the surface salt was the result. A series of remedial projects on the salt affected area were started in 1946, including subsoiling on the contour, planting paspalum and tamarisk trees. The projects proved to be unsuccessful and by 1949 it was determined that the salt problem would need to be treated at its source. Contour banks were established in 1952 and proved successful. This article contains two images: Harry Whittington standing in a paddock of barley; and a view of a paddock with deep contours. PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to provide a public view of this newspaper article as the copyright is held by the publisher of Our Land. If you would like to obtain a copy of this newspaper article for research purposes, please ‘request a copy'. This article is part of the WISALTS (Whittington Interceptor Sustainable Agriculture Land Treatment Society Incorporated) Collection