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Plate 1.

   Aerial view of portion of our first farm near Richmond, New South Wales.

   The road left, through the picture follows along the line of a main ridge. The dams in sight, except two, are in primary valleys which fall from the main ridge to the creek below. The dam on the creek supplies, via pump and pipe-line, the horse-shoe shaped dam on a primary ridge. Out of sight there is a smaller dam on the creek where it enters the property, which diverts creek flow to fill four interconnected dams. Keyline pattern is the system of irrigation used. (See Chapter 6, Design for Environment.)

   Started in 1943, the Richmond farm was the principal site where the landscape design concepts originated. Many soil and irrigation experiments and the dam construction techniques--called double vibration--were developed on this area. The site of first successful forest plantings are out of the picture to the West,--right.

 

Plate 2.

   Looking north-east from the main ridge of Vaucluse (Sydney eastern suburb); the skyline is the main ridge and water-divide line between the ocean and Sydney harbour. South Head lighthouse is on the left. Old South Head Road winds from right to left. The primary valleys and primary ridges are disguised by the buildings. The low grassed area is Rose Bay Golf Course. The higher land is sandstone shelf country.

Plate 3.

   View from the main ridge of Bellevue Hill (Sydney eastern suburb) near a primary valley, right, which falls towards Bondi and the ocean. The Keypoint is near the lowest building on the right. The shapes of the land have been ignored and are now disguised.

Plate 4.

   Son Ken, and tallow-woods (E.microcorys) planted 1955. The subsoil and yellow shale of this formerly eroded land was prepared and sown as for a pasture of clovers and grass and chisel plowed when dry enough after each fall of rain for one year. Then the trees were planted. Vide Chapter II, Soil and Trees.

Plate 5.

   A spotted gum E. maculata in a strip of forest of tallow-woods (E. microcorys) planted 1953. Pictures in "The Keyline Plan" and "The Challenge of Landscape" taken shortly after various tree plantings include Ken as a young boy.

   These belts of trees are located along water lines well up on the landscape, whereas the strip forests referred to in the text are generally lower down and occupy a strip of land which has a fall directly down the slope.

 

Plate 6.

   Picture taken from inside a water-field of a Keyline flood-flo irrigation project looking toward the irrigation channel with two water gates open. 60 points of rain supplied the water for the storage dam, (100 points equals one inch). The rate of flow is in excess of 70 cu-secs (1,600,000 gallons per hour). Vide Chapter 13, The Desert Rain Forest.

 

Plate 7.

   Reverse aspect of Plate 6 photographed from the irrigation channel looking down the water field. The uniformity of the spread and the movement of the flood-flo water is a result of placing the steering banks precisely on the line of the maximum fall of the flattish land.

   The largest and lowest costing dams and the fastest rates of one-man irrigation, are features of such drought prone landscapes.

 

Plate 8.

   After the irrigation is completed all the water gates are opened until closed again for the next watering. Gates are six feet wide and two feet deep.

 

Plate 9.

   Looking westward over the primary valley above Parsley Bay to the main ridge of Vaucluse with Sydney skyline in the background. More frequently now the Vaucluse ridge is the skyline as the city disappears in smog.

 

Plate 10.

   The ocean and sandstone cliffs at South Head Lighthouse: the land slopes from near the cliffs to Sydney harbour--(Port Jackson). The ridges terminate as points jutting into the harbour; the valleys fall to bays in the harbour.

   The impression of planning in this suburban scene is more apparent than real.

 

Plate 11.

   A three day Keyline school held for 80 members in pouring rain. Every item of the design for complete water control operated with the run-off water. The diversion channel flowing in the foreground connects up and fills four irrigation dams. Vide Chapter 6, Design for Environment.

 

Plate 12.

   A dry weather scene. Between the dog on the irrigated primary ridge and the primary ridge in the background, a primary valley falls to a water course below and to the left. The dam which supplies the water via a lock-pipe system is filled with the water which usually flows without use to the rivers. Irrigation is by Keyline pattern.

 

Plate 13.

   The group are walking across a primary ridge above new pattern irrigation land not yet fenced. The saddle on the right skyline shows where a primary valley starts. Across the land there are two primary valleys and three primary ridges. The hill is on a main ridge. The distant skyline is also a main ridge.

 

Plate 14.

   Pattern irrigation on a primary ridge. The dam for water supply is in the primary valley above the trees and the car on the left. These trees, planted many years earlier in the primary valley, are in the wrong position. Many had to be removed from the dam site. New trees have been planted above the irrigation land.

 

Plate 15.

   The steep primordial vista where the rocks below appear to have thrust through the landscape. Vide Chapter 5, The Fragment Between.

 

Plate 16.

   The flatter lands, which appear to have little shape, have many excellent sites for water storage. Vide Chapter 13, The Desert Rain Forest.

 

Plate 17.

   The steep heads of three primary valleys fall from the main ridge on the right to flatten near the fence which divides the dry from the green area. The dark background is forest country.

   The land has deteriorated greatly, but remains richly endowed for landscape design which is to be applied shortly.