From the very first, as plans began to develop for use of the 1,450 acres (587 hectares) of the Brettville estate, it was calculated that some of the land would be sold to Adventist families. By July 1895 there was talk of some 120 acres (49 hectares) being used in this way. On Sunday morning, July 7, Ellen White negotiated for the first of such land to be cut off from the estate, 40 acres (16 hectares) on the north side of the tract. For this she paid $1,350. "The reason I purchase now," she wrote, "is that I may furnish money which they [those connected with the school] need so much just now" (Manuscript 61, 1895).
She planned to leave some of the land as woodland, use some for grazing, and some for orchard and garden. Of course, a choice spot would be selected for the homesite (Letter 88a, 1895).
For some time she had felt that she should have her home in a location more conducive to her writing than the large rented house at Granville. There it seemed inevitable that she must run what seemed to be a "free hotel," with people coming and going almost every day. Now she determined to build a little cottage where such demands could not be made upon her. She also determined to develop a portion of her land in such a way as to provide an object lesson of what could be done in agricultural lines in that area. It was mid-July, and on inquiry she learned that whatever was to be done in planting an orchard must be accomplished in the next few weeks.
As the 40 acres (16 hectares) came into her possession, the first step in developing her little farm was clearing land for the orchard. Soon three good-sized tents were pitched on her property. She and her granddaughter Ella lived in one, and also, much of the time, one of her woman helpers. Another of the tents was used for cooking and dining, and the third was occupied by some of the men (8 WCW, p. 31) clearing land and planting trees. As construction of her little home progressed, Ellen White stood by to run errands for the workmen to save their time. She also did a little writing.
Starting almost from scratch, in early August the men made considerable progress on "the farm," and the foundation was in for the house (Letter 156, 1896). Her August 28 description of the little camp at Sunnyside is revealing:
I am seated on the bed writing at half past 3:00 a.m. Have not slept since half past one o'clock. Ella May White and I are the sole occupants of a large, comfortable family tent. Close by is another good-sized tent, used as a dining room. We have a rude shanty for a kitchen, and a small five-by-five [1.5-meter-by-1.5-meter] storeroom. Next is another tent, which accommodates three of my workmen. Next is a room enclosed but not finished, for washhouse and workshop. This is now used as a bedroom by two men, Brother Shannon, my master builder, and Brother Caldwell. These five men we board. Several others are at work on the land who board themselves. Fannie Bolton occupies another tent, well fitted up with her organ and furniture. You see we have quite a village of tents (Letter 42, 1895).
On a quick trip to Granville in late July Ellen White, with Hare, Rousseau, and W. C. White, spent a day driving around seeking information on securing fruit trees and orchard planting. She also had something else in mind.
I went into Sydney to see if I could find anything for the poor families, cheap. Money is so scarce we hardly know what to do and which way to turn to supply the demands in a variety of lines. The calamity of failure of banks has been and still will be keenly felt. We watch our chances where goods are offered for half price and purchase most excellent material to give to those who cannot buy that which they need (Manuscript 61, 1895).
On Wednesday, the last day of July, they were shopping again:
All day W. C. White, Emily, and I spent in Sydney purchasing the things essential for our use in camp life. We thought it wisdom to select an outfit of granite ware [enameled cooking utensils] that will bear transporting and handling (Ibid.).
Royalty income and some borrowing made it possible for Ellen White to do what others could not do in missionary lines.
Monday morning, August 19, 1895, Ellen White was exuberant as she took her pen to write to Edson. Paragraph after paragraph bubbled with good news:
Yesterday, August 18, 1895, the first [fruit] trees were planted on the Avondale tract. Today, August 19, the first trees are to be set out on Mrs. White's farm--an important occasion for us all. This means a great deal to me (Letter 126, 1895).
The reason for her exuberance was that planting had begun.
Planting And Building At Cooranbong
Two things were on Ellen White's mind as she hastened back to Cooranbong from Sydney--planting the orchard and constructing a place to live. Preparation of the land and planting had the priority. Right after she returned, W. C. White learned that J. G. Shannon, a good Adventist builder from Tasmania, was in Sydney looking for work. For the Whites it seemed most fortunate, for they were at a loss to know who to get to put up the home on the land just purchased. For eight shillings ($2) a day, this master builder was employed and dispatched to Cooranbong to begin work on a five-room cottage (8 WCW, p. 46). Ellen White wrote of the activities at her place:
Today [Sunday] I am rushing the workmen on preparing ground for the orchard. We have today captured a part of the students' manual training company to clear the land for fruit trees which must be set this week and next, or give up the matter and lose one year.
Emily and I are driving a span of horses hither and thither and are hunting for cows and gathering all the information possible in regard to planting, growing, et cetera (Letter 125, 1895).
How To Plant A Tree--According To Ellen White
In search for information and guidance in putting in the orchards on her little farm and on the college estate, Ellen White was directed to a Mr. Mosely, a successful fruit grower.
On several occasions Mr. Mosely came over to plant trees and give instruction on orchard planting and care. The virgin land was well prepared. It took six spans of bullocks pulling an immense plow to break up the unworked soil. As she watched, Mrs. White marveled, and wrote that the bullocks were "under discipline, and will move at a word and a crack of the whip, which makes a sharp report, but does not touch them" (Letter 42, 1895). At an early point in the tree planting, she had some input, about which she reminisced a little more than a decade later:
While we were in Australia, we adopted the ... plan ... of digging deep trenches and filling them in with dressing that would create good soil. This we did in the cultivation of tomatoes, oranges, lemons, peaches, and grapes.
The man of whom we purchased our peach trees told me that he would be pleased to have me observe the way they were planted. I then asked him to let me show him how it had been represented in the night season that they should be planted.
I ordered my hired man to dig a deep cavity in the ground, then put in rich dirt, then stones, then rich dirt. After this he put in layers of earth and dressing until the hole was filled.... He [the nurseryman] said to me, "You need no lesson from me to teach you how to plant the trees" (Letter 350, 1907).
Thus from the very start Ellen White was able to accomplish one of her objectives: to teach the people in the community what could be done by employing intelligent agricultural procedures. This was not just her own determined, ambitious plan. "The light given me from the Lord," she told Edson, "is that whatever land we occupy is to have the very best kind of care and to serve as an object lesson to the colonials of what the land will do if properly worked" (Letter 126, 1895).
Rather jubilantly she wrote to Dr. Kellogg in late August of the influence of her work at Cooranbong, and of the appraisal of one expert on the quality of the land, a point her ears were attuned to:
I came to this place and began work on my place so earnestly that it inspired all with fresh zeal, and they have been working with a will, rejoicing that they have the privilege. We have provoked one another to zeal and good works.
The school workers were afraid I would plant the first trees, and now both they and I have the satisfaction of having the first genuine orchards in this vicinity. Some of our trees will yield fruit next year, and the peaches will bear quite a crop in two years. Mr. Mosely, from whom we bought our trees, lives about twenty miles [32 kilometers] from here. He has an extensive and beautiful orchard. He says that we have splendid fruitland.
Well, the school has made an excellent beginning. The students are learning how to plant trees, strawberries, et cetera (Letter 47a, 1895).
Buying Cows
Ellen White also needed cows to provide a supply of milk and cream. In a letter written to friends in the United States she described the venture to supply the needs in this line:
I drive my own two-horse team, visit the lumber mills and order lumber to save the time of the workmen, and go out in search of our cows. I have purchased two good cows--that is, good for this locality (Letter 42, 1895).
The demonstration at Sunnyside was working well.