File:Water tank on Mr Hudd's farm, Bletchley, near Strathalbyn(GN01752).jpg

J M (John Mossman) Hudd (1871-1954) was a well known farmer at Bletchley, near Strathalbyn, in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1916, he was described as 'one of the most progressive' of the 'many grand go-ahead farmers in the vicinity.' Originally a mixed farmer on a 550 acre block he purchased from the state government in 1904, he built up a Jersey Shorthorn dairy herd from 1916 following the disastrous 1914 drought. His cows and dairying practices quickly won the praise of the Government Dairy Expert. Hudd was active in the agricultural community and a keen supporter of the local and statewide Agricultural Bureaus. (Observer, 14 August 1915, p.11; Journal, 22 August 1916, p2; Chronicle, 23 February 1933, p6).

Previously reliant on dams for water and severely affected by the 1914 drought, Hudd found water in a bore on his property in 1916. 'Water is pumped into a 9000 gallon single brick and concrete tank, reinforced by pig-netting, and reticulated down to two tanks of similar size at the homestead' (Chronicle, 23 February 1933, p6). The image shows a man, very likely John Hudd, beside one of his new domestic tanks with a glass of water in his hand.