350 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 



Mount Egmont. Very important areas of smaller cattle-population density are North 

 Auckland, the Manawatu-Rangitikei region of Wellington, South-western Hawke's 

 Bay and the Wairarapa Valley. In South Island only Southland is really important. 



Controls. — What foUows has special reference to North Island. The geographic 

 controls comprise climate, relief and soUs, and these deiine not merely the distribu- 

 tion but also the methods of farm practice. 



CHmatic characteristics of the great dairying areas follow from the situation, 

 shape and relief of the country, and comprise : — 



1 . Ample rainfall with winter maximum, strongly marked in the north, but with 

 no hint of the characteristic Mediterranean summer drought. 



2. Exceedingly equable temperatures with very mild winters. These character- 

 istics promote all-year growth of luscious grass after the clearing of the original forest, 

 and this incentive to specialised dairying is increased by the suitability of the 

 kahikatea or New Zealand white pine for the manufacture of butter boxes. Inside 

 the area covered by these suitable climatic conditions the intensiveness of production 

 is dictated by relief and soils. Over 80 per cent, of the dairy cattle of the country 

 are found below 650 feet elevation, but even these lowlands contain much rugged, 

 broken country. The flat plains naturally show the greatest density of cattle. Of the 

 soils the two richest types are river silts, which form notably the whole of the flood 

 plains of Thames, Piako and Waikato Rivers, and basaltic soils, which cover the whole 

 of the dairying area of Taranaki and are found in patches throughout North Auckland. 



Methods. — In these specialised dairying areas the ample precipitation, mild 

 temperatures and rich soils produce high cattle-carrying capacity on the natural 

 growth of the grass alone. Hence farms tend to be small, but herds large, and the 

 essence of farming practice is grass farming in the strict sense of the word. Supple- 

 mentary feeding plays a small part, and is directed against the possibility of summer 

 rather than winter shortage. The animals remain out of doors all the year round, 

 the milldng season lasts the whole year, and the labour shortage has been met by the 

 adoption of machine milking, facilitated by the development of the abundant hydro- 

 electric power resources. 



Industrial Aspects. — The physical factors influence the organisation of the industry 

 on its industrial and commercial sides. The speciaUsation of the Auckland Province 

 on butter and of the rest of the dairying areas on cheese production is to be related 

 partly to the milder winters of the north and the consequent greater importance of 

 the Jersey breed, partly to the diificulty of establishing good roads in the soft, wet, 

 stoneiess silt soils of much of the best dairying lands, and the resultant preference 

 for that type of production which makes least demand on transport. The peripheral 

 character of the lowlands minimises land transport to the ports. The very distance 

 of the country from its overseas markets has almost compelled the adoption of farmers' 

 co-operation, under which system most of the dairy produce is manufactured. Finally, 

 the small size of the country rendered easy the task of its unitary government in 

 establishing a national system of regulation, including inspection of factories and 

 grading of product, which has produced a uniform standard of quality. 



The Future. — Great expansion is still possible both by utilising new areas, the 

 most important of which is probably the Westland Plain of the South Island, and by 

 increasing productivity on the lands already in use by further appHcation of the 

 principles of scientific breeding and feeding. 



Prof. P. M. RoxBY. — Expansion of China. 



1. The Chinese as a colonising race. Short resume of Chinese colonisation in the 

 past in relation to geographical conditions. 



2. Factors affecting future expansion : (a) The economic situation in China ; 

 (b) Social barriers to movement ; (c) Outlets. 



3. A regional view of Chinese expansion : (a) Malaysia ; (6) Indo-China and in 

 more detail (c) Manchuria and {d) Iimer Mongolia. 



A final estimate of the prospects of Chinese expansion and its bearing on the 

 future of China and the Far East. 



Mr. R. A. Pelham. — Trade between England and West Africa during the 

 Early Years of the Eighteenth Century. 

 The Royal African Company had been founded in 1672. In 1689 it lost its 

 monopoly, and suffered severely from the competition of interlopers. Detailed 



