During the period 1951–61 the total population of the region increased by 27·76 per cent, a percentage increase above the national figure of 24·46 per cent, the cities and boroughs of the region increasing at a rate more than twice the county rate. The population of Palmerston North city increased by 32·70 per cent during the decade, but Feilding with a 40·39 per cent and Levin with 67·52 per cent displayed the largest increases. In the pastoral sector the number of sheep and lambs shorn has shown a satisfactory rate of development, but an increase in cows in milk has been registered only in the three southern counties. The estimated labour force of the Palmerston North employment district (covering an area somewhat larger than the region) increased from 32,400 in 1953 (April) to 37,600 in 1961 (April). Significantly, the labour force engaged in manufacturing increased by 28·35 per cent during this period, a rate well above the increase of 16·04 per cent in the total labour force. Nevertheless, the importance of the primary industries in the economic life of the region is stressed by the fact that they employ 22·87 per cent of the total labour force, compared with the national percentage of 16·05 per cent.

by Samuel Harvey Franklin, B.COM.GEOG., M.A.(BIRMINGHAM), Senior Lecturer, Geography Department, Victoria University of Wellington.

The strong influence exerted by the Wellington metropolitan area upon the Horowhenua stems from a number of causes. An important part of the capital's milk and fresh-vegetable supplies are drawn from the Otaki and Levin districts. Unfortunately the area of market-garden land at Otaki has been severely reduced during the last decade with the expansion of housing in the borough, the competition between non-agricultural and agricultural land uses being an unwelcome characteristic of increasing metropolitan penetration. Between Paekakariki and Waikanae the poor sand-dune and peat country has been adopted by the beach settlements. Originally they were composed largely of weekend baches, but now they are acquiring a more permanent (part retired, part commuter) population. Evidence of this can be seen in the establishment of a post-primary school, the appearance of a few small factories, and the growing retail centres. The impulses behind the development have been the need for recreational areas on the part of the city dwellers, the attractions of beach and sunshine, and the increasing mobility of the population. Significantly, a greater degree of commercialisation is entering the recreational activities of the settlements, especially with the establishment of motels. Undoubtedly, during the next decade the developments on the Golden Coast, as it is figuratively named, will serve to integrate more closely the future of the southern Horowhenua with that of the Wellington region. Because of the fundamental duality of the Manawatu-Horowhenua, one can reasonably expect the polarisation of the region around the two centres of Wellington and Palmerston North.

The appearance of these affiliated manufacturing plants in the villages around Palmerston North is illustrative of a recent trend associated with the motorisation of society, a trend which, once again, emphasises the distinction between the Manawatu and Horowhenua. As a commercial, industrial, and transport centre, and with the establishment of a university which absorbed the Massey Agricultural College, as an educational and cultural centre, Palmerston North is becoming the focus of the Manawatu, and indeed its expansion as a commercial centre is the principal reason for the stagnation of commercial life in the many townships of the surrounding districts. The increasing daily flow of commuters from Feilding, Bunnythorpe, and Ashhurst is a sign of its expanding influence. The development of Himatangi as a weekend beach settlement is a reflection of the city dwellers' need for recreation. Because of its strategic position on the Main Trunk and in relation to the Manawatu Gorge, Palmerston North is extending its influence beyond the immediate region over a much wider zone. Population figures bear out the increasing significance of the city in regional and national affairs. In 1911 Palmerston North ranked tenth amongst the urban areas of New Zealand; in 1961 it ranked seventh. Outside of the four main centres it is second only to Hamilton.

Much of the commercial activity and some of the industrial establishments of the region are closely related to farming life: the large freezing works at Longburn and at Feilding, which has also important weekly stock sales; the dairy factories at Otaki, Kuku, Levin, and Bunnythorpe; in particular, the retailing in Palmerston North's Rangitikei Street, which is occupied largely by stock and station firms and the suppliers of agricultural machinery and farm-building materials. The industrial activity of the region displays the increasing interdependence of agriculture and manufacturing, with the production of stainless-steel tanks, machine parts and repair work, wire netting, and concrete products; and at the same time it displays the general trend towards the diversification of secondary manufacturing. Both at Palmerston North and at Levin, textiles and clothing factories are important, metal manufacturing has developed considerably at Palmerston North, while such small boroughs as Shannon, Foxton, and Otaki have attracted industry, and in townships such as Rongotea, Tokomaru, Halcombe, small manufacturing plants have been established.

The “downland” areas give an impression of trim, close-cropped prosperity, an impression supported by the density of sheep and breeding ewes per acre of occupied land. Fat-lamb production and the breeding of stud sheep are the main activities. By contrast, the flat plain of the Manawatu and Oroua Rivers is favoured for dairy cattle, though sheep are not excluded. South of the Manawatu River it is rash to speak of sheep or dairying areas. The lower slopes of the ranges and the piedmont fans carry sheep, as does much of the Otaki Sandstone country; but near Levin dairying is found, while on the Otaki fan and to the south, the production of milk for the Wellington market becomes the predominant activity. The tendency is for sheep to be more important to the north, and dairy cattle to the south. The statistics support this statement; in Kiwitea, Pohangina, and Oroua Counties the proportion of dairy cows in milk per 100 sheep shorn does not rise above four, in Manawatu and Kairanga Counties it lies between 11 and 12; in Horowhenua County it reaches 16. The extensive belt of sand-dune country poses the greatest difficulties for farming, much of it being extensively or even poorly farmed. Other parts, however, have been well developed, and some areas have been afforested, especially at Waitarere. To improve this land it is necessary to stabilise those dunes close to the strand, to raise the humus content of the soil, and to maintain an adequate supply of moisture and fertilisers for the new pastures which are built around subterranean and strawberry clovers.

The physiography of the region serves to emphasise and, in part, explain the distinction between the northern (Manawatu) and southern (Horowhenua) parts which has been evident from the earliest period of settlement. Immediately south of Paekakariki the ranges rise boldly from the sea rendering access from the Wellington region difficult. In the vicinity of Queen Elizabeth Park (Paekakariki) the coastal plain has developed sufficiently to display the characteristic morphological features which lie parallel to the coast in bands that widen to the north. Behind the strand is the sand-dune country which intermingles with the adjacent peat area and dams the small streams. At Levin, consequently, dunes of considerable height (288 ft) rise above Lakes Horowhenua, Waitawa, and Papaitonga. Between the peat areas and the foothills of the range, which display cliffing associated with the earlier coastline, are small areas of sedimentary deposits (Otaki Sandstone) and piedmont fans which are preferred as the sites for farmhouses and buildings. Further north these two elements dominate the landscape. In the vicinity of Otaki, for example, the large fan of the Otaki River provides an extensive area of level country underlain by gravels, and at Levin an expanse of Otaki Sandstone gives rise to a landscape distinctive for its square-sided valleys which are hidden in the apparently flat surface, and to soils which are noted for their greater fertility.

All of these land forms are found to the north of the Manawatu River. At Himatangi the sand-dune region obtains a width of approximately 10 miles, the dunes lying like long fingers laid in the direction of the prevailing north-west wind. At Moutoa the peat and swamp zone attains its greatest extent, while the gravels of the Manawatu underlie most of the Oroua-Kairanga districts. At the Manawatu Gorge the ranges descend to a low saddle where Tertiary sediments overlie the basement of older greywackes. Between the ranges (which continue beyond the gorge and form the Ruahines) and the Rangitikei River, a new morphological element appears in the form of three low anticlinal domes, composed of sedimentary sandstones of the Hawera Series, pitching to the south-west, their axes arranged parallel to the main ranges. They give rise to the lovely “downland” associated with the Halcombe, Feilding, and Kimbolton districts. This is sheep country par excellence, for which the Manawatu is justly famous, and which serves to distinguish it again from the Horowhenua.

Manawatu-Horowhenua is an extensive area of low land situated on the western side of the southern part of the North Island. It extends some 90 miles north-south but is little more than 25 miles at its greatest width. It is bounded on the east and south by the Tararuas and on the west by the Tasman Sea; its northern limit is less distinct, but the line of the Rangitikei River has been chosen for present purposes. Included within these limits are the counties of Kiwitea, Pohangina, Oroua, Manawatu, Kairanga, and Horowhenua, which, with their boroughs and cities, form the basic units for the collection of statistics. Palmerston North (urban area population 1961, 43,185) is the principal town of the region which in 1961 registered a total population of 96,225 (3·98 per cent of the national total), 4·44 per cent of which was classified as Maori.

The Manawatu-Horowhenua region has a certain duality evident in most aspects of its geography. Although Waikanae and, especially, Otaki were important Maori settlements where European influences soon penetrated (the church of Rangiatea is 110 years old), the Horowhenua remained largely unsettled until the opening of the Wellington-Manawatu Railway in 1886. To the north of the Manawatu River European settlement was much earlier and sooner completed. Foxton was an important river-mouth port by the 1840s and by the 1850s some of the scrub country of the lower Rangitikei had been occupied by graziers. Most of the land, however, was covered with bush or swamp and its settlement was organised either by the Government, as at Palmerston North, or, more commonly, by settlement companies and associations such as the Manchester Co. (Feilding, Halcombe, Ashhurst), the Douglas Co. (Rongotea), and the Hutt Small Farms Association (Sanson). By 1880 the majority of the new settlements were linked by rail with Foxton and Wanganui and a basis for their prosperity had been laid.

Lake Manapouri is the deepest of the southern glacial lakes with a depth of 1,468 ft; the lake is 600 ft above sea level which means that the bed is 870 ft below sea level. Lake Manapouri is smaller than Te Anau, being 59 sq. miles in area and 18 miles long, but with its extremely irregular shoreline, countless islands, and steep forested mountain ranges, often snow capped, it has earned the description “the loveliest lake in New Zealand.” The shoreline is indented by the South, West, North, and Hope Arms, and except for a few miles along the eastern side is entirely bush clad. A small village and accommodation house near the outlet at the east end of the lake caters for tourist needs, and there are launch trips, boating, fishing, hunting, and other out-door sports. Some very fine launch trips are available, commencing from a natural boat anchorage in Pearl Harbour on the Waiau River at the outlet (1,363 cusec discharge). The most impressive trip is that to the head of the lake, past Channel Islands, Hope Arm, and Pomona Island, and finally to the mouth of the Spey River where an 11-mile walking track leads to Doubtful Sound. Occasionally charter flights can be made from Manapouri and these reveal a wealth of impressive and beautiful mountain scenery.

The concluding stages of a hydro-electric scheme, whereby the lake waters will be diverted through a tunnel to Doubtful Sound to generate power for an aluminium industry, have now been reached. Future development may involve the raising of the level of Manapouri and, possibly, of Te Anau to a considerable height and this will undoubtedly cause great changes in the appearance of these lakes.

The first Europeans to reach Lake Manapouri (in 1852) were C. J. Nairn and W. H. Stephen. Exploration was carried out intermittently after 1888, in which year Professor Mainwaring Brown, of the University of Otago, lost his life in the ranges west of the lake. Toward the end of last century, the Government cut tracks and built huts between Manapouri and some of the western fiords, but through lack of interest these were neglected for many years. In 1921 Leslie Murrell reopened the track through Wilmot Pass (2,100 ft) to Deep Cove at the head of Malaspina Sound and for many years he conducted tourist walking trips from Manapouri to a lodge on the Sound. In recent years this track has been improved and further huts have been built by the Manapouri-Doubtful Sound Tourist Company. This route was originally discovered by R. Murrell when searching for Mainwaring Brown in December 1888, and its possibilities were confirmed in 1897 by E. H. Wilmot who surveyed much of the surrounding country.

The ancient name for the lake was Moturau, “Hundred Islands”. The present name is a variation of Manawapouri, which is usually translated as “Lake of the Sorrowing Heart”.

by Alexander Russell Mutch, B.SC., A.O.S.M., New Zealand Geological Survey, Dunedin.

Mana Island, some 14 miles south-west of Kapiti and 2 miles off the coast of Titahi Bay, covers an area of about 2,000 acres. Sometimes known as Table Island because of its formation, the island is said to have got its name from Kupe who, to commemorate his safe crossing from Rarotonga to New Zealand, named it “Te Mana-o-Kupe-ki-Aotearoa” (the ability of Kupe to cross the ocean to Aotearoa). In early days the island was also called Warspite Island by the Pakeha, presumably after HMS Warspite, which passed through Cook Strait in 1827. Captain Cook noted the island but gave it no name in his Journal.

Mana was bought from the Ngati Toa in 1832 by Alexander Davidson, John Bell, and Archibald Mossman. In the same year George Ross was sent from Sydney to take possession of this property on behalf of the three partners. Bell arrived in person to live on the island in 1834 and died there some three to five years later. Under its three Pakeha owners, Mana was stocked and cultivated – there was even an attempt to grow tobacco. By this time certain whalers and traders seem also to have obtained access to the island and were staying there.

By deed dated 11 May 1841, Bell and Peterson transferred their interests to Henry Moreing and although his right was questioned by the Fraser brothers, he continued in possession until 1865 when the island was conveyed to the Wellington Provincial Government.

J. F. E. Wright obtained a 21-year lease of Mana in 1873 for an annual rental of £52 and, in 1886, the Vella family commenced a 70-year association when a sublease was granted Mariano Vella. For some years a lighthouse was maintained on the island. In 1893 Mana was first temporarily, and, later, permanently reserved for defence purposes, except for 10 acres which comprised the landing place reserve. In 1948 the island was declared Crown land and ceased to be a defence reserve. Five years later the Gault family purchased the lease.

by Judith Sidney Hornabrook, M.A., National Archives, Wellington.

The following domestic animals became wild at one time or another: dogs, cats, goats, cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs. Polynesian dogs reached New Zealand with the Maori Great Migration in A.D. 1350 but became extinct with white settlement; feral European dogs were later common in some areas, but have since been exterminated.

Feral cats are probably the descendants of those left by sealers and whalers early in the settlement of New Zealand. At a later stage the spread of rabbits from the early seventies onwards was accompanied by an increase of wild cats, which appear to be more numerous where rabbits are plentiful. At present feral cats are found throughout the country, both in forested areas and on farmlands of the North and South Islands and on some of the outlying islands, including Little Barrier and Kermadec Islands. The value of feral cats in controlling rabbits and rodents is probably outweighed by the effect they have had on some native birds: such rare birds as the Stephen Island wren or the Chatham Island fernbird are reputed to have been exterminated by them. On Little Barrier Island, however, a fairly constant relationship has been established between cats and their main prey – petrels in spring, and kiore or native rats throughout the year. Cats seem to have had little effect on the native-bird population of that island. There is no organised control of wild cats in New Zealand, but a number are destroyed by the wildlife rangers of national parks, reserves, and acclimatisation societies.

The first goats were put ashore by Captain Cook, and since then they have been repeatedly liberated on various islands for emergency food or kept on marginal farming country to control noxious weeds (mainly blackberry). Some of these animals have escaped into the forests, become feral and built up into large populations in both islands. Some goats are kept in a semi-domestic state, but most are truly wild. Goats eat all palatable plants and can live in varied environments. They can change the original vegetation completely, thus causing depletion of soils and accelerated erosion. On Three Kings and on Cuvier Island, goats were long established and induced a completely new goat-proof flora; they have now been exterminated there. Control of wild goats was begun in 1932 by the Department of Internal Affairs, but in 1956 the duties were taken over by the New Zealand Forest Service. The total of 332,121 goats destroyed by official shooters between 1951 and 1958 illustrates the huge job of control.

Feral cattle, horses, and sheep have a similar origin. Most of these are the progeny of stock in marginal farming areas that were inadequately fenced or subsequently abandoned. A few feral cattle are still reported in forests in remote parts of the North Island and in the north-eastern and north-western parts of the South Island. Few feral horses are still to be found in openings in the exotic forests on the Central Plateau of the North Island. There are many more small bands of feral sheep, found mainly in the high country of the South Island; 15,687 of these animals were destroyed by official hunters alone in “critical” areas between 1951 and 1958.

Pigs were liberated by Captain Cook and, later, by sealers and early settlers, both to supply the Maoris with a new domestic animal and to provide stranded voyagers with food on outlying islands. By 1840 feral pigs were well established throughout the main islands and on several outlying islands. The distribution of feral pigs is limited by the existing supply of food and cover; pigs are more numerous in the North Island than in the South. Since their liberation pigs have had a considerable effect on plant and animal life. With feral goats and cattle they have often played an important part in rain-forest degradation and its replacement by a new plant community. Pigs are claimed to have destroyed tuatara and ground-nesting birds (such as kakapos) and petrels on outlying islands. In marginal farming districts they kill lambs and cast sheep. Wild pigs give sport to some hunters and also establish seedbeds for trees in dense strands of fern. They are listed as noxious animals and are controlled mainly by private shooters under a bounty scheme or by poisoning. Between 1951 and 1958, 212,382 pigs were “officially” killed.

by Kazimierz Antoni Wodzicki, B.AGR.SC., M.SC.(N.Z.), PH.D.(CRACOW), Director, Animal Ecology Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt.

• Tutira, Guthrie-Smith, H. (1963 ed.)
• The Naturalisation of Animals and Plants in New Zealand, Thomson, G. M. (1922)
• Introduced Mammals of New Zealand, Wodzicki, K. A. (1950).