LEADING FEATURES OP THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 187 



the total crop has been produced outside these areas. 

 Consequently, I have confined my investigations of con- 

 ditions in New Zealand to Canterbury and Otago.* 

 It will be well to remember again that on account 

 of the great diversity of industries, which the varying 

 conditions in different parts of the Dominion favour, 

 it is extremely unlikely that the land will again be 

 subjected to the pursuit of one industry alone, such as 

 was the case in the late ' ' seventies ' ' and early ' ' eighties. ' ' 

 Three main pursuits are open to our farmers dairying, 

 pastoral farming, and cereal growing. In the North 

 Island the superiority of the land for dairying and sheep 

 grazing has led to the rapid development of these 

 industries in recent years. The conditions are eminently 

 favourable for these industries, for the fertility of the 

 soil and the abundance of the rainfall provide pastures 

 second to none in the world. There is every prospect 

 that this tendency towards pastoral and dairy farming 

 will be maintained, and that cereal growing, which has 

 never attracted the attention of farmers to any great 

 extent, will be almost abandoned as far as production 

 for the market is concerned. Moreover, of the cereals 

 commonly grown in New Zealand, it is likely that least 

 attention will be given to wheat, because the rainfall in 

 most places is in excess of the upper limit for profitable 

 wheat production.! Conditions in the South Island 

 differ greatly from these in the North Island. This is 

 due chiefly to the effect of the high western mountain 

 ranges on the climate of the East Coast, and secondly 

 to the geological formation of the land. The mountains 



*See graph showing area for Canterbury and Otago com- 

 pared with that for New Zealand, page 32. 



f These remarks must be accepted with slight reservation 

 in regard to the area around Palmerston North, known as the 

 Manawatu Plains. Here wheat production is still practised to 

 a small degree, and the elements seem favourable for its 

 continuation. 



