GENERAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND 31 



natural encumbrances. Except for certain portions 

 of the Southern part of the Island the climate enjoyed 

 is second to none in the temperate zone, mild winters 

 and warm summers being the chief characteristics. 

 While stock raising is the main rural industry, grain 

 growing is pursued on a considerable scale. The chief 

 grain growing areas are Marlborough in the North, 

 Otago in the South, while the Canterbury Plains, 

 extending over an area of 3,000,000 acres, produce large 

 quantities of wheat annually. Such is the character 

 of this area for wheat production that yields often 

 average 35 bushels per acre, while between 80 and 90 

 bushels per acre have been registered on individual 

 fields at times. From such a general survey it is at once 

 obvious that our Dominion possesses qualifications for 

 agriculture of no mean importance. 



(c) The Producing Area. In considering in detail 

 the general conditions under which wheat is produced 

 in New Zealand attention for the most part will be 

 confined to Canterbury and North Otago. I have chosen 

 this area for the centre of my investigation because, in 

 reference to wheat production, no other area in New 

 Zealand is of immediate importance, though there is no 

 doubt that were wheat growing to become relatively more 

 lucrative than pastoral farming, in many parts of the 

 Dominion there would be found conditions very well 

 suited for profitable production. This area, composed 

 of the Canterbury Plains, the Downs of South Canter- 

 bury, and those of North Otago, is our present wheat 

 producing area, and I propose to confine my attention 

 mainly to these districts. 



In order to illustrate the relative importance of this 

 area, I have prepared a graph comparing the sum of 

 the areas in cultivation for Canterbury and Otago with 

 the total area for New Zealand, and the result is both 

 remarkable and illustrative. It is remarkable in that 

 it shows to full advantage the predominance of this area 

 in the total area for New Zealand, and illustrative 

 because of the advantage to be obtained from the graph 



