L. J. Wild 165 



height of the river-terraces is 500 ft.^ near the foothills, and about 50 ft. 

 where the railway crosses them. 



As would be expected from the mode of origin of the plain, every 

 sort of soil is to be found on the surface, from rich loams overlying clay 

 sub-soils, to thin shingly soils on gravel beds. It is not possible, there- 

 fore, to divide such a district in a thoroughly satisfactory way, into 

 even relatively small areas, each of which shall be characterised by a 

 soil of constant physical and chemical properties. 



System of farming. What has been said of Southland under this 

 heading apphes in the main to this district also. The rotations are of 

 the same general type, the chief differences being in the crops taken — 

 differences which are associated with the lower rainfall and higher 

 temperature of the northern district. Southland is noted for its heavy 

 oat yields which sometimes exceed 100 bushels to the acre, though 

 55 to 60 is considered good ; while Canterbury produces over two-thirds 

 of the wheat grown in the Dominion. 



B. The Question of Lime. 



As already mentioned it is easy to find land in Southland that 

 absolutely demands hme ; the farmer will tell one that he cannot farm 

 without it. The advantages to be derived from its use became generally 

 recognised from 20 to 25 years ago, the discovery being in the nature of 

 an accident. It had been the custom of manure merchants to tone 

 down their mixtures with imported gypsum until, recognising that the 

 same purpose might be served by the hmestone occurring abundantly 

 in some parts of the district, they tried this material instead. The 

 manures so mixed were found to give specially good results, hence hming 

 alone was tried, and with such good effects that the practice rapidly 

 spread. The custom until the last few years was to apply "shell" hme 

 in the Autumn at the rate of about 2 tons per acre, allow it to "slack," 

 and cast it with shovels in Spring, preparatory to sowing down to rape 

 and grass. To-day the practice is to sow ground burnt hme, about 

 1 ton to the acre, by means of a distributor of which several types are 

 on the market. In passing, it may be mentioned that a keen discussion 

 is raging at present as to the relative merits of carbonate of hme and 

 burnt hme, but this point is beyond the scope of the present paper. 



In certain areas, however, lime is at least not necessary and no very 

 obvious advantages follow its use. For convenience therefore, we shall 



^ F. W. Hilgendorf : "Influence of the Earth's Rotation on the Course of the Rivers 

 on the Canterbury' Plains," Trans. }\. Z. Institute, Vol. xxxix, 20(3. 



