130 



WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



price that New Zealand has been affected. The price for 

 New Zealand is determined, as we shall see in the follow- 

 ing chapter, for the most part by English prices, and 

 on account of the great distance at which New Zealand 

 is situated from the market, price here, when there are 

 considerable quantities for export, at times falls below 

 the English level by the amount of the cost of carriage. 

 Hence in times of low prices in England, when 

 production in New Zealand is large, prices in the 

 Dominion reach a very low level. It was this state of 

 affairs which existed during the closing two decades of 

 last century, and this accentuated the already existing 

 tendency in favour of pastoral pursuits at the expense 

 of wheat growing. As illustrative of this movement the 

 following table showing average prices of English and 

 New Zealand wheat for the years 1881-1900 is given : 



TABLE XXI. 



NEW ZEALAND AND ENGLISH PRICES. 

 1881-1900. 



the nearest penny. 



