And in 1872 the following report appeared in the
Town & Country Journal:
'
A Tour to the South
' was a series of articles written by an anonymous correspondent
Benerembah has an area of 140,000 acres, and a frontage of nine miles to the Murrumbidgee.The run carries about 54,000 sheep.I have before had occasion to speak of the spirit and enterprise displayed by the large number of Victorian capitalists who have bought station property in Riverina during the past ten years.Mr. Baillie is another Victorian, and a few solid facts will speak for him in laudatory terms.The station has been in his hands about six years.There are now 150 miles of wire fencing erected, and the run is entirely enclosed, and subdivided into twelve large and seventeen smaller paddocks.To secure a sufficient supply of water, without which it would have been impossible to keep stock on the station except on the river frontage, three dams, one of immense size, and four wells have been constructed, and the books show the improvements on the station during the past six years to have cost £15,000.These are remarkable facts, as showing how the resources of Riverina are being developed.
Thanking Mr. Munro for his hospitality and assistance, I proceed on my journey “own the river.” canter over the plains for six miles brought me into some splendid salt-bush country, and then I found myself at Bringagee, the beginning of the leviathan station of Groongal, the property of Mr. Thomas Learmonth, of Ercildoun.
The name of Mr. Thomas Learmonth of Ercildoun, is a household word among the sheep-farmers and squatters of Victoria and Riverina.Mr. Learmonth is the Bayley of Victoria, and divides the honours in Riverina with the latter gentleman.The Riverina station is an immense one, and is carried on in conjunction with Ercildoun by Mr. Learmonth.The flocks and herds occupy different parts of the run. That part higher up the Murrumbidgee is called Bringagee, and is a cattle station. Sheep are run on the lower parts of the river, and back blocks. The top, or cattle station, Bringagee, is under the charge of Mr. John Buckley. The paddocks, enclosed by first- class post and rail fences, contain splendid salt bush, some of the best that I have seen on the river.The cattle are a fine breed –all Durhams from imported stock, and among their ancestors were Royal Charley, Sir Robert Clan Campbell, and other well- known names.The number on the run varies from 2000 to 6000 head; about 3000 head are now on Bringagee.