GENERAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND 51 



(e) Winds. The greatest disadvantage which our 

 wheat producing area suffers in respect of climatic 

 conditions is the prevalence of very strong winds coming 

 from the West Coast. They bring plentiful supplies 

 of moisture; but this is deposited before they cross the 

 Mountain Banges, after which they blow with the 

 strength of a gale, at times, across the Canterbury 

 Plains as hot dry winds commonly known as the "Nor* 

 "Westers. ' ' Their strength, however, is now much abated 

 by the growth of plantations over the country, and it 

 is only occasionally that they do any very serious damage 

 to the crops. At Lincoln, which occupies a fairly central 

 position in the area of these winds, the average velocity 

 of the wind per day, over 13 years, was 135 miles, while 

 the maximum velocity registered in any one day was 

 693 miles. 



But the very causes which are responsible for these 

 winds are themselves highly beneficial to the agricultural 

 community of the area over which the winds blow. The 

 nor' wester of Canterbury is a continuation of a wind 

 which blows across the Tasman Sea, and reaches the 

 West Coast of New Zealand laden with moisture. 

 Fortunately for Canterbury the Southern Alps intervene 

 and cause the wind to deposit its moisture on the slopes 

 of the mountains, after which it comes across the plains 

 as a hot dry wind. Were it not for these intervening 

 mountains wheat production in Canterbury and Otago 

 would be almost non-existent, on account of the increased 

 rainfall which would result. 



The nor' wester is further beneficial to wheat pro- 

 duction on account of the influence it exerts during the 

 ripening period, because it is then that it is at its 

 maximum frequency and velocity. It is doubtful, how- 

 ever, whether this beneficial influence is not off set by 

 the detrimental effects that wind has in "shaking out" 

 the crops.* 



*This wind is also of extreme importance in the pastoral 

 industry, as it largely accounts for the character of the dry 

 pasture which produces a high quality mutton. 



