Notes On The A.M.P. Society'S Land Development Scheme In South Australia

Land development in the so-called "Ninety-Mile Desert" area of South Australia can now be regarded as having passed the experimental stage. This, of course, is not to infer that the land brought into production by the A.M.P. Society, or by others undertaking development in this region, is insulated against all likely risks, nor that all land in the area is suitable for and capable of development. Like other components of the rural sector this area can be expected to experience from time to time climatic variations, stock and plant diseases, and product price fluctuations which may materially affect its well-being. But, subject to this reservation, it can fairly be claimed that the A.M.P. Society's work has substantially vindicated on a wide front the findings made in recent years by scientists working on necessarily small-scale experiments. In this transition from experiment to accomplishment the main barriers which had long inhibited the development of much of this area have been demolished and this successful example is now being emulated independently by many private individuals. The basic features of the A.M.P. Society's Scheme have already been described elsewhere and no useful purpose would be served by going over these general data again here. However, there are many other interesting questions, historical, sociological, economic, etc., which are sure to occur to the inquiring social scientist. This paper sets out in note form some information on a selection of these questions.