CONCLUSION 287 



which intensive cultivation, the application of science, 

 and the beneficial reactions from pastoral farming, will 

 raise our yield and diminish our unitary cost of pro- 

 duction which we have already shown in Chapter IX., 

 is even now low enough to provide a good profit in 

 normal seasons. 



Wheat production is likely to remain confined to the 

 provinces in which it is now carried on. Throughout 

 the North Island an abundant rainfall provides excellent 

 pastures, and the rise of the dairying and freezing 

 industries has caused unprecedented development in 

 many places. With a minimum of cultivation these vast 

 tracts provide excellent forage for fattening, though not 

 as good as that in Canterbury, while on the mountain 

 ranges thousands of sheep are grazed yearly for the wool 

 they produce. Even greater developments have taken 

 place in the dairying industry, for a rich soil, with a 

 heavy rainfall, provides an abundance of pasture, and 

 the industry has proved a highly profitable one. In the 

 southern portions of the South Island, the late growing 

 season causes harvest operations to be rather late in the 

 autumn, when unfavourable weather conditions often 

 prevail. Moreover, in these districts, wheat gives way 

 to oats, a crop which has been found to be relatively 

 more profitable. Therefore, while the other rural 

 pursuits in the North Island continue to offer a higher 

 profit, it is unlikely that wheat growing will progress 

 to any great extent outside the provinces of Canterbury 

 and North Otago. 



3. Some Subjects for Further Treatment. 



In the investigation of the main problems of the wheat 

 industry, many problems of minor importance to the 

 research have suggested themselves. Some of these have 

 received partial solution, while others have been passed 

 by, with bare mention. 



