Spraying and spray carts will be the subject of Orange and District Historical Society's next meeting in its popular fruit growing history series at the Gladstone Hotel on Tuesday, September 22 at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Pests have been a problem in orchards from the earliest days and spraying has been a major task for Orange district orchardists for more than 100 years. Spraying was initially carried out by hand-pumps and later motor-driven pumps were introduced using hand wands. Spray pumps were for many years horse-drawn, then merged into tractor-drawn in the 1950s. Booms and air-blast sprayers became the norm in the 1960s and 1970s until the present day. There have been a number of weird and wonderful variations of all of these machines and there is no-one better to tell us the story than Eddie Wilson, of Forest Reefs, who has experimented with many types of sprayers. Eddie won a Land Inventor of the Year award at the Australian National Field Days with a self-propelled, fully enclosed front mounted sprayer, which was developed for commercial production by his brother Don, the latest model of which was rolled out only last year. A number of other "old hands" will be in the audience to add their stories. The meeting takes place at the Gladstone Hotel function room at 7 for 7.30pm. There is a small charge of $3 for members of Orange and District Historical Society and $5 for non-members, to cover costs. Light refreshments will be served. If you have any inquiries or would like to attend the meeting, please RSVP to Phil Stevenson on 6362-3257, mobile 0402 412 188 or email ibiswines@bigpond.com

Forest Reefs is barely more than a crossroads today, with the hotel the one remaining commercial building. Who would have thought that this was once a thriving mining area of more than 500 people, dozens of mines and shafts, wine shanties, hotels, three churches, a school and many shops and other businesses.

Orange and District Historical Society's next mining meeting, to be held at the Gladstone Hotel on Tuesday, August 25, will focus on the mines and the people in this once thriving area. The larger and more famous mines include the Great Extended, the Ballarat of NSW (developed by Henry Newman of Lucknow fame), the Little Emma, the Ironclad, the Austral and the Lumpy Lead. Like the other mining areas east and south of Orange, Forest Reefs went through many ups and downs depending on economic conditions.

Gold was first discovered in the district in the1860s and mining steadily progressed until 1870 when the Lumpy Swamp (Beneree) Goldfield was proclaimed. During the 1870s larger companies were formed and employed expensive machinery to mine and pump on a large scale. The peak of activity was in the late 1800s before declining in the early 1900s. Mining never ceased, however, and as late as the 1950s some gold was still being extracted. Exploration licences over the area have never lapsed and are currently held by the Cadia operator, Newcrest Mining

There will be two speakers at the meeting eminently suited to tell the Forest Reefs story. On the geological side there will be consulting geologist Max Rangott, who was previously involved with exploration in the area. To tell the social history will be historian and teacher Trevor Pascoe, whose family have lived in the area for more than 130 years, some having worked in the Forest Reefs mines.

Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting, which starts at 7 for 7.30pm. Entry is $3 for society members and $5 for non-members to assist in the important work of the society in preserving the district's history. A light supper will be served after the meeting.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Phil Stevenson on 6362-3257, mobile 0402 412 188 or email ibiswines@bigpond.com

The sixth of the Orange and District Historical Society's popular "Orange Fruitgrowing History" meetings will be held at the Gladstone Hotel on Tuesday 23rd September at 7 for 7.30 PM.

This time the subject will be "Early Orchards of the Nashdale and Borenore districts". There will be contributions from Morrie Dally Max Davidson and others from the two areas

It is sure to be an interesting night. Outside contributions welcome and supper is provided.

For further information contact the Society's President, Phil Stevenson on 0402 412 188.