76 PRODUCTION 



accessibility of all parts of the country to the coastal po 

 These conditions have led to an extreme specialisation in animal 

 industries. In this respect New Zealand resembles Denmark 

 with the difference that it does not require to import animal 

 feedstuffs. The cultivation of cereals (wheat and oats), formerly 

 an important branch of agriculture in the South Island, has declined 

 relatively. The country now, on an average of years, barely pro- 

 duces enough wheat for its own requirements, and has a fluctuating 

 surplus of oats for export. The most marked feature in New 

 Zealand agriculture is the high proportion of the area under 

 sown grasses, 1 as compared with other countries, and this is naturally 

 a great source of strength in animal-rearing industries. 



New Zealand contains 66 million acres of which in 1913, 40 million 

 acres were occupied and 25 million acres untouched. 2 Of the latter 

 10 million acres are useless, consisting of barren, mountainous 

 country and infertile wastes. The remaining 15 million acres are 

 largely covered with forest, which must be cleared before they can 

 be utilised for animal-rearing. However, some allowance must 

 be made for the preservation of standing forests or for re- 

 afforestation for timber supplies in response to the needs of 

 advancing population. 3 It appears, therefore, that the greater part 

 of the available agricultural and grazing land is already occupied 

 in New Zealand, and future developments in animal industries are 

 to be expected in the more intensive utilisation of land already 

 occupied. 4 



Like Australia, New Zealand ranks low among countries ex- 

 porting a surplus of animal feedstuffs. The only important items 

 in this class are pulses and oats ; but the latter, as noted in Chap, i., 

 above, are not used except in small quantities as a feedstuff for 

 meat or milk-producing animals, and the New Zealand exports of 

 this cereal, moreover, have been very fluctuating. 



The most marked features observed in a study of New Zealand 

 exports of animal produce since 1890 is the rapid rise in the values 

 of frozen meat, and still more of dairy produce as compared with 

 those of other exports. 



1 At the beginning of the year 1911 there were 14- 2 million acres 

 under sown grasses, which was more than a third of the occupied land, and 

 much greater than the area under sown grasses in the whole of Australia and 

 Tasmania. New Zealand Official Year Book, 1913, p. 562. 



2 Dominions Commission, Minutes of Evidence, New Zealand (Cd. 7170, 

 p. 166). 



3 A more detailed discussion of the competition upon land made by the 

 demand for timber appears in Chap, xi., below. Grazing is clearly more 

 affected than crop production, especially in New Zealand. 



4 As in Australia, the subdivision of the large sheep runs in the more fertile 

 districts is regarded as an essential step in this direction. The native pastures 

 have lost productivity owing to fires, rabbits, and overstocking, and measures 

 such as those that have been adopted in the United States require to be taken, 

 in order to restore them. 



