190 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



purposes.* But the conclusion that we could produce 

 annually 18,750,000 bushels of wheat without disturbing 

 the normal course of agriculture to any great extent, is 

 of far-reaching importance. Moreover, the transference 

 of areas from pastoral and other pursuits to wheat 

 production would be a matter of comparative ease in 

 many parts of the country, notably Central Otago, which 

 could quickly be turned to a cereal growing district by 

 the adoption of irrigation and improved methods of 

 cultivation, as is being done in similar regions in 

 Australia and California. 



The actual supply of land, however, is not an import- 

 ant consideration in arriving at a conclusion as to the 

 merits and de-merits of a system of cultivation. Of more 

 importance is the size of the farms, which will be studied 

 after considering briefly the systems of land occupation. 



(c) Occupation of Land. (i) Relation of Freehold 

 and Leasehold. "In the earlier years of the settlement 

 of New Zealand there were opportunities for men of 

 capital and judgment to acquire large estates at reason- 

 able prices, especially when money was needed for 

 administration and roads and bridges. As the best land 

 in the course of years passed from the Crown, the country 

 became a series of agricultural communities interspersed 

 with large properties, and as time went on, those in 

 search of lands urged that they should be allowed to 

 occupy these large estates instead of being compelled 

 to go into inaccessible back country without roads and 

 railway s."t This latter movement became so strong that 

 in 1892 was passed the Land for Settlements Act, already 

 referred to, whereby the Crown undertook to buy up 



*It is by no means certain that wheat supplies will be in 

 abundance after the War. Should there be a continuation of 

 the present scarcity considerable quantities may again be ex- 

 ported from New Zealand. The matter is discussed in the 

 concluding chapter. 



f'New Zealand Official Year Book" (1914). Page 521. 



