HISTORY OF WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 97 



CHAPTER VI. 



HISTORY OF WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW 

 ZEALAND. 



1. Early History. 



The story of the early history of the colonisation 

 of New Zealand is familiar in these days, but of the 

 habits and activities of the early colonists a great deal 

 has yet to be written. Although there are many 

 pioneers who can relate experiences which throw much 

 light on these there is still wanting a reliable descrip- 

 tion of the economic life of the Dominion during the 

 first half century of its settlement. Necessarily such 

 an account would give prominence to agriculture, for 

 industries such as whaling and sealing, the first 

 to attract visitors to these shores, were for the most 

 part transient. It was indeed during the rise and fall 

 of these industries that the pursuits agricultural and 

 pastoral which were to make New Zealand so pros- 

 perous, and become so largely responsible for the 

 progress of the last four decades were being slowly 

 but surely established. 



During the decade ending in 1850, the conception of 

 New Zealand as an agricultural community rested on 

 the prosperity of a few settlements in the North Island 

 and the progress that had been made in the Nelson 

 district. Few, if any, had realised that Canterbury 

 and Otago, because of their superiority in ease of 



