New Zealand Agriculture. 



221 



land is under continuous cultivation, and, in order to maintain 

 a certain depth at places where the soil is washed away, 

 earth is removed from the " scattald," or common grazing 

 land, and spread over the thinner parts. This is highly 

 beneficial to the arable land, but the process of scalping (as 

 it is called) is detrimental to the scattatds, which are on the 

 whole poor and bleak. Some of them are, however, capable 

 of raising fair stock if they were only grazed more lightly. 

 Over-stocking is very prevalent, and at present there are no 

 adequate means of preventing it. The sheep kept are almost 

 entirely of the native breed. These animals, on account of 

 their small size, are of little value in the ordinary market, but 

 their wool is of great importance in every Shetland home, 

 the natural colours of the animals being very valuable in 

 the preparation of Shetland hosiery, which is a very con 

 siderable source of income to the islands. The cattle kept 

 by the crofters are of the small Shetland breed, the cows of 

 which produce a fair quantity of milk of good quality, but, 

 as is the case also with other kinds of live stock, little 

 attention is paid to the breeding. 



Shetland ponies are bred universally, and almost every 

 crofter has a pony or iwo. It is by no means uncommon 

 for a number of crofters and crofters' sons to subscribe a 

 certain amount of money and invest the same in purchasing 

 a pony, and it often happens that while a man can 

 call no pony his own, he has shares in several. Another 

 occupant of the Shetland scattald is the goose, most crofters 

 having flocks of geese, which roam at large over the common 

 pasture. Birds suitable for the market are sold in the 

 autumn and sent to the south, where they are fed for the 

 Christmas season. 



New Zealand Agriculture, i 885-1900. 



The Registrar-General of New Zealand has published the 

 details shown below respecting the utilisation of lands 

 in the colony of New Zealand at five year intervals. It 

 would appear that the area under grain in the colony has been 

 fluctuating and non-progressive, and that the cultivation of 



