English

Noun

cockatoo farmer ‎(plural cockatoo farmers)

1. (Australia, derogatory, obsolete) A small-scale farmer.
   • 1875, Anthony Trollope, Bradford Allen Booth (editor), The Tireless Traveler: Twenty Letters to the Liverpool Mercury, page 177,

     The cockatoo farmer of South Australia lives a plentiful but not a picturesque life, and unless he gets hopelessly into debt is his own master.

   • 1888, William Gordon Stables, From Squire to Squatter, page 182,

     “ Does it pay to breed cockatoos ?” said Archie innocently.

     “Don′t be the death o′ me, Johnnie. A cockatoo farmer is just a crofter. […] ”

   • 1911, The Academy, Volume 81, page 415,

     This is the dwelling of a cockatoo-farmer, the humble agriculturist who makes the most of his thirty or forty acres of land, […]

Usage notes

The term was used by squatters in disparagement of the small scale of the operations.

References

1. ↑ Australian National Dictionary Centre » Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms » C.
2. ↑ Lentzner Karl, "Dictionary of the slang-english of Australia, and of some mixed languages", 1893.