the gold rush of the 1890s had seen tremendous growth in the state in terms of both capital and population. between the discovery of gold at halls creek in 1885 and federation in 1901, the population increased from 35,959 to 184,124, and by 1911 had risen to 282,114—in all, an almost eightfold increase. the gold rush peaked in 1903 and, while gold still represented over 65% of the total exports of western australia, the industry had started to enter a period of decline. with this decline came a recognition by government that continued economic growth depended on the development of agriculture. massive public loans from overseas together with assisted immigration from the united kingdom saw large areas of land opened up—from 1900 to 1910, the area under crop rose from to , while the railway network doubled in size and many public buildings were erected throughout the cultivated areas of the state. in addition, immigrants who had come in search of gold or work increasingly took on jobs as farm workers—the proportion of the population on the goldfields had fallen from 32.2% of the state in 1901 to 22.3% by 1911, while the agricultural population had risen from 28.2% to 35.5% in the same period. land was also given to unemployed labourers and retrenched public servants, which they could gain title on by making it productive. following the pioneering work in 1903 by william farrer in new south wales on marginal-rainfall wheat varieties, wheat became by far the most important agricultural export, with the rate of expansion from 1904 to 1913 in wheat production and export surpassing all other states.