TEMPERATE SURPLUS-PRODUCING REGIONS 79 



Thus in 1905 the ratio of sheep and lambs slaughtered for food 

 purposes was about 25% of the number enumerated, while in 1913 

 it was about 30%, and in 1914 about 35%. The production of 

 mutton and lamb for export has developed into a thoroughly in- 

 tensive industry, utilising high-priced land with fodder and root 

 crops for fattening purposes. In this respect New Zealand is 

 exceptional among sheep-farming countries. 1 In point of fact, in 

 recent years intensive sheep farming has been invading arable land, 

 formerly used for wheat production on the Canterbury Plains. 2 



In New Zealand pigs show a distinct downward ratio. Owing to 

 the absence of large supplies of feedstuffs for pigs (maize, barley, 

 potatoes, etc.) as compared with certain other countries, pigs are 

 in competition with calves for the skim milk by-product from 

 butter factories, and as it is now profitable to raise the latter, the 

 number of pigs is thereby limited. The recent great expansion 

 of cheese manufacture has further reduced the quantity of pig- 

 feed available. It is extremely doubtful whether pig-raising for 

 export will reach any considerable proportions for some time to 

 come, for a number of reasons. 3 



With the change to more intensive forms of animal industries, 

 New Zealand is faced with a shortage of agricultural labour and its 

 high cost. A number of witnesses before the Dominions Commission 

 in New Zealand emphasised this point. 4 The labour difficulty is 

 increased by the fact that experienced workers tend to settle on 

 the new holdings created by the cutting up of estates and the opening 

 up of new land. The progress of meat production and of dairying 

 depends largely upon an increase in agricultural hands and settlers. 

 The fact that the milking machine is proving satisfactory will help 

 to relieve the situation in dairying, but not for long, because female, 

 and even child labour, has hitherto been freely used for milking. 

 The European War has temporarily withdrawn a body of mobile 

 labour from the country, and it remains to be seen whether immigra- 

 tion of the right kind will be sufficient after its close to enable the 

 New Zealand animal industries to reach their full productive power. 

 The figures in the table above for gold exports show that a con- 



1 U.S. Year Book of Agriculture, 1914, pp. 335, 336. 



2 Dominions Commission, Minutes of Evidence, New Zealand. Evidence of 

 G. R. Marshall and E. Hall. 



3 In addition to shortage of feed materials for pigs, further disadvantages 

 are : 



(1) The scattered nature of the pig-raising industry, making con- 



centration for slaughtering difficult. 



(2) The high cost of labour required for feeding and cunng. 



(3) Widespread tuberculosis among the animals, because they are 



fed on mixed skim-milk. 



(4) The distance of New Zealand from European markets as com- 



pared with other competing areas. 



* See Dominions Commission, Minutes of Evidence, New Zealand. Evidence 

 of G. R. Marshall and Edwin Hall. " There is no doubt that the fear of labour 

 difficulty defers many farmers from doing a good deal of productive work 

 which otherwise would be undertaken " (Q. 2788, p. 166). 



