PREFACE. 
In 1915 I presented the results of an investigation into ‘‘The 
Progress and Importance of Wheat Production in New Zealand’’ 
as a thesis being part of the work required for Honours in Eco- 
nomics at the annual examinations conducted by the University 
of New Zealand. I was subsequently encouraged to publish the 
work. After much delay, occasioned by the pressure of other 
interests, I have revised it, and I now present it for consider- 
ation (and criticism) to all who are interested in the rural 
industries of New Zealand. 
Dr. Hilgendorf has greatly added to the value of the work 
by contributing a chapter on ‘‘The Improvement of Wheat by 
Selection in New Zealand,’’ which contains an account of his 
work in this problem at the Canterbury Agricultural College. 
An Introduction by Dr. Hight, explanatory of the nature and 
purpose of the work, completes the volume. 
It is indeed fitting that the wheat industry in New Zealand 
should receive attention at this particular time. A stage has 
been reached in the rural industries of the Dominion which 
is causing some anxiety. The present tendency towards pastoral 
farming, it is said, is causing such an efflux of labour and 
capital from purely agricultural pursuits that these are becoming 
endangered. The persistent decline in wheat production during 
the past decade has occasioned much apprehension in the 
community generally, and it is thought that our home supply 
will not satisfy the demands of local consumers. The expec- 
tation of a large permanent importation has brought the 
problems connected with the wheat industry prominently before 
the public mind, and has recently induced much discussion by 
all classes of the community. But there is need of reliable 
information and general principles to assist discussion, and the 
hope that this work may do something towards achieving this 
end, is the main motive for presenting it to the public. It 
may be claimed that the investigation is not merely of partic- 
ular interest to the individual industry in which it is under- 
taken; for although the opportunity and necessity for research 
work are equally great, very little has been done in the sphere 
of scientific economic research in New Zealand. ‘‘We have 
no sufficient means of forming a precise estimate of our 
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