HISTORY OF WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 109 



vation of the soil. And this point is of paramount 

 importance if we are to comprehend clearly the relation 

 of wheat growing to sheep farming. The interaction 

 of sheep farming on wheat growing has undoubtedly 

 operated to increase the yield of wheat, while the culti- 

 vation of the soil for wheat has produced the excellent 

 pastures on which " Prime Canterbury" is fattened. 



5. Cultivation and the Yield. 



So important is the operation of mixed farming in the 

 wheat producing world that it is necessary to consider the 

 subject in further detail. During the " eighties" large 

 scale production was the characteristic feature of wheat 

 growing. Twenty years later our most important pro- 

 ducers are comparatively small farmers whose activities 

 are spread over both agricultural and pastoral pursuits. 

 What factors have been responsible for this change, and 

 why does the latter type afford the greatest advantage 

 to the producer? Some of these factors have been 

 mentioned above. The disadvantages of production on 

 a large scale in agriculture, the economic depression of 

 the ' * eighties, ' ' and the operation of the Graduated Land 

 Tax were the predominant causes of the change. But 

 the methods of farming the land under the system of 

 large scale production were also greatly responsible for 

 the decline of that system. While there was little change 

 in the amount of land used for growing wheat during 

 the decade 1881-90, both the technique and structure 

 of agriculture were changing considerably. This is 

 discernible in the movement in yield per acre throughout 

 the period, and a study of graphs showing yield per acre 

 and acreage in wheat is fruitful on the point. The 

 general trend of yield per acre was upward at first, and 

 then for two decades after 1873 it fell steadily until 

 1895 when it again began to rise, and it has shown a 

 rising tendency since that date. Movements in the 



