Experiment Farm Cottage

From Freepedia

Experiment Farm Cottage is a tourist attraction in Harris Park, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. It is based at the site of Experiment Farm, Australia's first European farmstead, which was itself created by Australia's first land grant.

In 1789 James Ruse was chosen by Governor Arthur Phillip to run an experiment to see how long it would take a man to support himself. Ruse was granted one and a half cleared acres (0.6 hectare) of land, as well as being assisted in the clearance of a further five acres (2 ha), and provided with two sows and six hens. He was fed and clothed from the public store for fifteen months, after which time, as he had become successfully self-sufficient, he was granted a further thirty acres (12 ha).

In October 1793 Ruse sold his farm to surgeon John Harris, builder of the substantial colonial cottage which exists today. Doctor Harris was a prominent citizen in the rapidly emerging colony, and was also friends with John and Elizabeth MacArthur of Elizabeth Farm, another celebrated early agricultural venture only a short walk away.