CONCLUSION 289 
rivers traverse these plains from the mountains, for some 
time great inconvenience was experienced, owing to the 
lack of water in the districts lying between the rivers. 
Since the country has been intersected with innumerable 
water-races this difficulty has been largely surmounted, 
but there are still many problems of irrigation which 
remain unsolved. 
The experiments carried out at the Agricultural 
Colleges, and in particular at the Canterbury Agricul- 
tural College, should prove an interesting chapter in a 
work on Agriculture in New Zealand. Not only has it 
been demonstrated that our lands yield between 30 and 
50 bushels of wheat per acre if farmed on scientific 
principles, thus proving the efficacy of intensive culture, 
but many other questions,—such as the endeavour to 
discover a variety for New Zealand which will adjust 
itself to the peculiar conditions of the country, or, again, 
the prevention of smut and other pests in wheat, and 
the processes by which noxious weeds can best be exter- 
minated,— are receiving the closest attention on the 
farms connected with these Colleges. Much good might 
be done by a treatise which would bring this work under 
the notice of farmers even more than it is at present. 
Dr. Hilgendorf has done this for the problem of wheat 
selection by his contribution in Chapter V. of this work. 
Among other problems which provide ample scope for 
future research work is one, the probable solution of 
which I had anticipated at the outset. In Australia, 
where the conditions of successful study are more closely 
realised, the problem has received a fairly definite 
solution. 
It was my intention to discover the connection, if any, 
between the yield per acre and the rainfall for New 
Zealand. The steps taken to discover this connection 
need not be described again here; they are set out in 
Chapter III. The chief difficulty has been lack of 
K 
