232 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



a particular field. The total expenditure has been divided 

 into three main groups as far as possible. These are 

 payments arising from the use of land ; the employment 

 of capital; and the hire of labour and the necessity for 

 managing capabilities. A fourth group of miscellaneous 

 factors is necessary, for it is difficult in some cases to 

 assign any particular item to any of the four main 

 groups, the most noteworthy example being that of 

 threshing. 



The farms from which the estimates are made are 

 certainly representative, in that their areas lie within 

 the range of 250 to 400 acres; the two pursuits, agri- 

 cultural and pastoral, are followed, and as will be seen 

 from a more detailed study, the methods of cultivation 

 are typical of the average farmer. In respect of the 

 quality of the land, and the distance from the railway 

 station, they differ greatly, a difference which makes the 

 estimates all the more representative of the whole area. 

 We shall call the farms A, B, and C, A being situated 

 in North Canterbury, within a mile of the railway 

 station, and B and C being situated in South Canterbury, 

 six and ten miles respectively from a railway station. 

 A is composed of land of first-class quality for the wheat - 

 producing area of New Zealand; the land of B is of 

 good quality, but relative to A, is inferior, occupying a 

 position slightly above second-class land. The structures 

 of these two soils are different, in that the former is 

 loose and very easy to cultivate, while the latter is of 

 a heavy nature, much more difficulty being experienced 

 in culivation. C is composed of fair average second- 

 quality land, with about 3J inches of good black soil, 

 and a very hard clay as subsoil. It is inferior to B both 

 in fertility and the ease with which tillage operations 

 can be performed, but the difference of quality between 

 C and B is not so great as that between B and A. The 

 estimated values per acre of A, B, and C respectively 



