The rows of hills are 7 ft apart with 1,000 hills to an acre. The overhead wire trellis is generally 14 to 16 ft above the ground with the wires directly over plant rows. Four bines from each hill are selected and trained up double strings from the hill to the wire. The two strings are about 5 ft apart at the wire. Harvesting is spread over four weeks in late February and early March. There are 15 picking machines in the district, but as these belong to the larger growers a fair amount of the total area is picked by machine. It appears that imported machines need improvements in order to pick clean without breaking the hops. Hops are dried in kilns on the farms. Kilns are up to 20 ft square and with a bed depth of up to 2 ft. From five to 10 hours drying is needed, depending on the rate of air flow through the hops. After the time on the cooling floor the dried hops are pressed into bales of about 300 lb. The hops are graded after they are delivered to the brokers' store.

There has been a steady change from the European varieties to the Californian. The Californian hop was brought to the district about 40 years ago and is the only one now grown commercially. New varieties bred by the Hop Research Station are now being released and may replace some of the Californian. The new varieties resist root rot (Phytophthora cactorum), are heavy cropping, and are of high alpharesin content. All hops grown are seeded. The area has been steadily decreasing (750 acres in 1948 to 530 in 1963) as export markets for seeded hops become increasingly difficult to find. The yield per acre has been decreasing lately and is now approximately 1,250 lb of dried hops, with a total yield of approximately 660,000 lb.

Hops have been grown in various parts of New Zealand in the past, but all commercial plantings are now in the Waimea County of Nelson Province. Hops are grown on the heavier silt loams and clay loams of river valleys. The high annual sunshine plays a large part in producing heavy crops. Moreover, a fairly evenly distributed rainfall of approximately 40 in. a year requires only occasional supplementary irrigation.

The more important grass and clover seeds saved for pasture sowings are:

Over 60 per cent of the area harvested is in the Canterbury Land District, and 20 per cent in the Otago and Southland Land Districts. The North Island contributes under 15 per cent.

Areas most suited to grain harvesting are also preferred for the saving of grass and clover seed. The two activities are integrated in the arable-farming programme. The acreage closed for seed each year is governed both by seasonal conditions and by likely prices.

Ryegrass Seed: Similar practices apply to the saving of the three ryegrass species – perennial, short-rotation, and Italian. As these may all interpollinate, and as mechanical separation of the seeds is impossible it is important for seed production that only one species be sown in one area. Pastures for seed are established by the sowing of from 15 to 25 lb of ryegrass seed and 2 to 3 lb of white clover seed per acre. It is usual to sow rather more perennial seed than that of the other ryegrass species. Montgomery red clover or cowgrass seed may be used as an alternative to the white clover, particularly when Italian or short-rotation ryegrass seed is being sown. The grass benefits from the nitrogen-fixing habits of the clover and a higher producing and more palatable pasture results. It is usual to broadcast the seed on a moist, well consolidated seedbed after a fallow, but in dry districts it may be better to sow the seed through a 3½ in. centre-disc coulter drill. In the North Island sowings may be delayed until April or even May. In Hawke's Bay it is more usual not to sow any clover seed with ryegrass, as clover comes in strongly as a volunteer. In Canterbury February or March sowings are preferred; in Otago and Southland sowings are still earlier. It is usual, especially in the South Island, to apply a ton of lime to an acre just before sowing and a hundredweight of phosphatic fertiliser with the seed. The resulting pasture is stocked to control the growth and to allow white clover and ryegrass to become established. But unreasonably severe grazing may adversely affect the ryegrass. The final grazing before closing usually takes place in October, though strong-growing pastures on fertile soil are often not closed until November. After the final grazing the pasture may need topping with the mower to cut unevenly grazed patches and to even up the sward. At this stage nitrogenous fertiliser will stimulate the ryegrass and benefit the seed crop. Ryegrass is ready to harvest usually in early January, when the first seeds have begun to shake. The best method of harvesting, particularly in heavy crops, is to cut the crop with the reaper and binder and tie it into fairly small sheaves, which are then stooked for 10 to 14 days before threshing. The more common practice, however, is to windrow the crop either with the mower (or with a reaper with its binding mechanism removed) and to use the header to thresh the crop out of the windrow. Light crops may be directly headed, but the seed then needs to be spread out evenly for drying before it is bagged tightly. This is a more useful practice in second-year crops which have been managed primarily for white-clover seed, but contain some ryegrass seed which matures earlier.

White Clover Seed: Pastures saved for ryegrass seed in the first harvest season are often managed to produce white clover seed in the second, though other pastures which have become white clover dominant may also be used for that purpose. White clover is slower to establish than ryegrass but comes away after the ryegrass seed crop has been harvested. During the following winter and spring heavy grazing keeps the ryegrass in check and encourages the development of a clover-dominant sward. The best management entails even and reasonably close grazing alternating with spelling until the first flower heads begin to appear. The paddock is then closed for a seed crop, usually in late October, or later on naturally moist land or land which can be irrigated. At that stage, if the weather is dry, the plants are ready to expend their energy in producing seeds rather than leaves, though in a wet district or season the improved strains of white clover will continue to produce leaf growth which smothers the flower heads. White clover crops flower for a long period. Experience alone tells when a crop is at the best stage to harvest. The number of heads containing ripe seed is the main guide, but weather and the amount of clover-leaf growth can influence the decision. The crop is harvested by cutting it with a mower, leaving it to dry until the heads are brittle, and then threshing with a header harvester fitted with a pickup. If second growth develops before the crop can be threshed it may be necessary to undercut the windrow with the mower to facilitate drying.

Red Clover Seed: Cowgrass, an early or double-cut type of red clover, is grown mostly in Marlborough and Nelson. Montgomery red clover, a late or single-cut type, is more often grown in Canterbury and North Otago. If cowgrass and ryegrass are sown together the area is managed for a ryegrass-seed crop in the first harvest. More often the ryegrass is omitted and the cowgrass seed is sown either in autumn or spring immediately after the drilling of a cereal crop, or in spring with a rape crop. In either method 5–6 lb of cowgrass seed per acre are sown. Some growers sow up to 10 lb when ryegrass is not included. Phosphatic fertiliser and lime are applied as for ryegrass and white clover crops. After the ryegrass seed or the cereal crop has been harvested, or the rape crop fed off, the stand may be lightly and intermittently grazed until early spring, or it may be treated solely for hay and seed production without grazing. It is usual to take a hay crop in the second half of November or in early December. The second growth is saved for a seed crop the following autumn. Cowgrass seed ripens unevenly but the crop may be mown when the majority of the heads contain mature reddish-purple seeds and, depending on the weather, left in the swath for a fortnight before threshing. Most crops are ready for harvesting in March or early April. Seasonal management can be repeated to obtain a second crop in the subsequent season, but the areas are seldom retained longer for seed.

Although Montgomery red clover seed looks like cowgrass seed, the plants are slower to come away in the spring and do not usually put on enough growth for a hay crop before the area is closed for seed. Montgomery red clover seed is seldom sown without ryegrass (even in the spring under cover of a cereal, linseed, or rape crop) as it is difficult to control the following season's growth when pure sowings are made. Montgomery red clover is seeded rather more lightly than cowgrass, but other establishment practices are similar. Montgomery red clover stands may be saved longer than cowgrass for seed crops. They benefit from a phosphate topdressing before closing for seed each year. Older stands usually yield less seed.

It is sometimes practicable, on heavy land, to take a hay crop before saving for seed. More often the area is grazed with sheep until the end of October or November. Grazing is light and intermittent until vigorous growth begins, when heavy grazing is maintained until the area is closed for seed. In a dry season Montgomery red clover seed may be ready to harvest in late March or April, as there is little second growth of leaf to hinder operations. But in wet seasons harvesting may be delayed until frosts have cut back the leaf growth. Seed may be harvested in the same way as cowgrass seed, but it is more usual to wait until the leaf growth is dead and then to direct head the crop. More recently it has become common, when the seed is mature enough, to spray the crop with a leaf-defoliant or crop-desiccant chemical, which reduces leaf growth and hastens maturity. Direct heading can begin within a few days of treatment.

Cocksfoot Seed: Cocksfoot seed growing, once centred on Banks Peninsula, is now carried out in suitable districts in Mid and South Canterbury and in Southland on land where harvesting can be mechanised. Open-textured soils of reasonable fertility, in good heart and as free as possible from grassy weeds, are most suitable. It is usual to make a pure sowing of cocksfoot seed in December or January after a fallow. Stands so established produce a seed crop in the following season. The seed is drilled through every coulter, or broadcast, though English practice suggests that better yields are obtained if the stand is sown in 21-in. or 28-in. drills and the rows intercultivated. Phosphatic fertiliser is applied when the seed is sown. Where annual weed growth is a problem it may be better to sow the seed in spring under cover of a cereal crop. Seeding rates vary from 5 to 8 lb an acre or more when broadcast. Widely spaced rows are more lightly seeded. There seems no advantage from including white clover seed in the sowing.

Cocksfoot seed stands are harvested for many seasons, though yields tend to become lighter as the age increases. Annual applications of a nitrogen fertiliser increase the yield of seed. In the first season from 1 to 3 cwt an acre may be used, and twice that amount in later seasons, either in one application in the spring or in two applications in autumn and spring. Light grazing of a cocksfoot seed stand by cattle in the autumn may be beneficial, perhaps more through the trampling in of the dead residues after harvest than from any direct benefit from the grazing itself. Heavy or uncontrolled grazing harms seed production; some growers prefer not to graze at all.

Cocksfoot seed ripens unevenly and it is difficult to judge the best stage for harvesting. Most crops are cut when some seed can be knocked out of the riper heads when these are hit on the hand. Cutting is best done with a reaper and binder set high to avoid as much leafage as possible. The sheaves are then stocked for a fortnight before threshing. Mowing the crop and threshing it with a header harvester from the windrow gives indifferent results unless the farmer is favoured with good weather from cutting to threshing.

Timothy Seed: Timothy seed requires soil conditions similar to those for cocksfoot seed. Timothy establishes itself best on a firm seedbed which has been fallowed and well limed. The seed is sown at 3–5 lb an acre, either broadcast or (preferably) drilled. It is better not to sow any white clover with the timothy, as white clover seed is an impurity that is very difficult to separate. The seed is usually sown without a cover crop in December or January after a fallow; but in Southland, where considerable seed is produced, it is commonly sown earlier with rape as a cover crop. Timothy seed stands may be lightly grazed in the first autumn to help to establish the young plants, but they are best closed to stock during the first winter. The spring growth may be grazed by sheep from August to about the middle of October, when the area is closed for a seed crop and topdressed with 1 cwt of superphosphate and 5 cwt of lime an acre. Management for subsequent seed crops is similar, except that once the crop is established heavy stocking during winter aids seed production and the feeding out of the threshed straw on the area returns most of the nutrient taken up by the seed crop. Timothy seed is not ready for harvesting until about March, the crop being fit to cut when the seed head can be stripped from the stalk when it is pulled between the thumb and the forefinger. The trend in harvesting is to cut with the reaper and binder with the knotting mechanism removed, leaving a fairly high stubble. The cut crop forms a windrow on this stubble, where it is left to dry out for up to three weeks or more before it is picked up and threshed with a header harvester. Some growers still prefer to tie the cut crop into sheaves and stook or even stack it until the seed is ready for threshing with a mill. This method is undoubtedly the best if labour and machinery are available.

Seed Quality: Several factors determine quality in agricultural seeds. Purity is important and, especially, freedom from harmful weed seeds. Machine dressing of all seeds is standard practice and much progress has been made in the design of machines for this work. The separation of some impurities is almost impossible, but seed growers can materially assist by cutting or spraying serious weeds in the seed crop before harvesting.

Seed must be able to germinate, but little can be done to preserve this capacity other than by seeing that the seed is mature, does not heat when harvested, is stored under good conditions, and is used before it ages. Almost all lines of seed are tested for purity and germination at the Seed Testing Station of the Department of Agriculture, and a satisfactory certificate of analysis of a recent test is the buyer's assurance of quality.

Reselected or pedigree strains of all the main pasture and crop plants have been produced by the Grasslands and the Crop Research Divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Nucleus lots of each kind are supplied regularly to the Department of Agriculture, which multiplies them and distributes them to seed growers. Further increase is made on a commercial basis, the product being certified under the seed certification scheme operated by the Department of Agriculture.

Varietal or strain purity must be maintained to get the best out of new varieties and strains. Buying certified seed protects the buyer, but much can be done by seed growers to see that varieties or strains are not mixed. It is always wise for seed growers to sow certified seed of the highest class to see that different varieties or strains which interpollinate or cannot easily be separated at dressing are not sown together, and that drills and harvesting equipment are properly cleaned. Seed-cleaning operators also need to take care so that seed is not contaminated or mixed during seed dressing.

by Jack Hean Claridge, B.AGR., DIP.AGR., Chief Advisory Officer (Agronomy), Department of Agriculture, Wellington.

• Arable Farm Crops of New Zealand, Hadfield, J. W. (1952)
• Crop Production, New Zealand Department of Agriculture, Extension Division (1953).

The cereals (wheat, oats, barley, maize) and peas, potatoes, and linseed are the main cash crops grown in New Zealand. These crops are usually grown in a rotation, which includes fodder crops and a period in pasture, to make use of the fertility of the soil which is built up by growing of pasture and fodder crops to be eaten in the field. It is not the practice, as in some overseas countries, to grow cash crops exclusively without an intervening period in pasture. Unless soil is very fertile it is unusual to grow two cash crops (at least of the same kind) in succession; they are usually interspersed with a fodder crop. The number and kind of crops grown before the land is returned to pasture almost entails a separate decision for each paddock, based mainly on the fertility of the soil and the need for supplementary fodder crops.

Wheat: The area in wheat declined steadily for many years until 1958, which was the lowest recorded for 75 years. But the area has since more than doubled to about 200,000 acres, all of which is harvested for grain. Nearly 10 million bushels of wheat are used in New Zealand each year for flour, and similar uses, and 4 million bushels for feeding to stock and to poultry. The crop at present is about 8 million bushels and the balance is imported from Australia. Improved varieties recently introduced and the build up of soil fertility in recent years are now enabling wheat to yield an average of over 50 bushels per acre. Farmers generally aim to grow wheat after the breaking up of a pasture, or after a fed-off fodder crop or a crop of peas; they seldom grow wheat immediately after a previous grain crop. About three-quarters of the wheat crop is grown in Canterbury and North Otago. The crop there is sown in the autumn (April to June) and the summers are usually dry enough for easy harvesting. In South Otago, Southland, and the North Island it is usual to sow wheat in August or September. In these districts it is often difficult to harvest the grain in good condition. The usual method of harvesting is to head the crop directly with header harvester and bag the grain. In the drier districts handling of the grain in bulk, both at harvest and for storage, is becoming more popular. In bulk handling more care must be taken to see that the grain is dry enough to prevent heating in storage. In districts where weather is less favourable for harvesting much grain may be spoilt because it can not be harvested in dry condition, and thus grain driers are being increasingly used to dry the wheat after harvest and before storage.

Rapid changes are taking place in the preferences being shown for different wheat varieties. Aotea, which was released in 1958, was being grown on 80 per cent of the wheat area by 1961 and had almost entirely replaced Cross 7, the standard variety for many years. Aotea is heavier yielding than Cross 7, but, like it, resists lodging and produces flour satisfactory for baking. Other South Island varieties in 1961 included Arawa, a wheat of poorer baking quality but very suitable for the heavier wheat lands of South Canterbury and North Otago, and Hilgendorf, of high baking quality but generally poor yield. Gabo and Tainui were the main North Island varieties.

Since 1961 Aotea has waned in popularity in favour of two mildew-resistant selections of Cross 7 (1961) and Hilgendorf (1961) – which were made from the earlier susceptible selections – now known as Cross 7 (1935) and Hilgendorf (1947). The new releases yet retain the good qualities of those varieties. Rust-resistant selections of Gabo, known as Mengave and Gamenya, are replacing the former variety in the North Island. These three varieties were tried in Australia, but all the others have been produced for local conditions by the Crop Research Division of the Department of Scientific and Indusrial Research.

Oats: The growing of oats for chaff and grain is much less common now that tractors have almost entirely replaced horses. The chaff acreage has dropped in 20 years from 200,000 to under 20,000, and the grain acreage from 70,000 to 35,000. About 500,000 bushels of threshed grain are processed each year for breakfast foods and a little more than half that quantity is used for seed. The balance, of some 750,000 bushels, depending on the size of the harvest, is used for stock feed. Oats do not demand the same soil fertility as wheat. They may be grown on soils of lower fertility or after wheat in the rotation. Spring sowing of the crop is common in Otago and Southland, where nearly half the oats, both for chaff and for grain, are grown. Most of the grain from this area is used for processing, and the varieties are mainly Onward and Abundance. Canterbury grows almost half the grain and one-third the chaff. In this district autumn sowing is usual and the crops may be grazed in winter. The Algerian and Dun varieties are better suited to autumn sowing and winter grazing than Onward and Abundance. They have a finer straw and a coloured grain and are preferred for horse feeding as either grain or chaff. Algerian is preferred for sowing for green feed. The crop for grain may be harvested with the header either direct or out of the windrow, whereas the crop for chaff must be cut with the reaper and binder, stocked, and stacked for later chaffing. Some farmers stook and stack the crop in case it is needed for chaff in the winter, but if it is not required for that purpose they thresh it for grain in the spring. In a mild winter when feed is not scarce many crops sown for green feed may not be heavily grazed; they may then be kept for either chaff or grain. This practice can have a serious effect on the grain market in the following year.

Barley: Barley for grain is almost entirely spring sown and, because most of the grain is needed for malting, the crops tend to be concentrated in those districts known to produce grain of good malting quality. Barley for malting must be capable of high and rapid germination and those types are preferred which are of low nitrogen content, plump, and undamaged by threshing. About 2 million bushels of barley are needed each year for malting. The rest of the crop, apart from seed, is used in stock foods. As barley for grain is spring sown it can follow potatoes or a winter-feed crop in the rotation. Land which is fertile, but not too rich in nitrogen, and moist enough during the season, is preferred for this crop. Almost three-quarters of the barley-grain crop is grown in Canterbury with a relatively heavy concentration in the Ellesmere and Ashley Counties. The Waimea County in Nelson and the Manawatu County in the Wellington Land District are also favoured localities. As barley grown in the North Island is used entirely for stock feeding its malting quality is of no moment. Though the best malting barley is obtained by cutting and stooking the crop to allow it to condition before threshing, the header harvester is now widely used. It is better to thresh the barley out of the windrow rather than to head it directly. A selection from the Australian variety, Research, made by the Crop Research Division, takes up two-thirds of the acreage, the balance being made up mainly of the Danish variety, Kenia. Another Danish variety, Carlsberg, is being grown for feed grain because of its higher yield, but it is not acceptable for malting and brewing. A small area of Cape and Black Skinless varieties is grown, as seed of these varieties is in demand for sowing green-feed crops.

Maize: Maize demands a frost-free growing period. Thus maize for grain is concentrated in the northern parts of the North Island, mainly in the Gisborne and, to a lesser extent, the Bay of Plenty districts. Most of the grain is fed to poultry, though some, mainly home grown, is fed to pigs. The maize crop is a gross feeder and needs a well drained, highly fertile soil. River flats are generally well suited to maize growing. To obtain high yields maize needs to be sheltered from heavy wind, and should not be sown until the soil has warmed up in the spring. Mid-October is quite early enough. Unlike other cereals, which are sown moderately thickly in 7-in. drills, maize is sown thinly spaced in rows usually 36 in. apart, the aim being to have one plant established in each 8–10 in. of row. The crop does not mature until late autumn, when mechanical pickers are used to pull the cobs from the plants and strip the husk. The cobs are then stored over winter in long cribs open to the air to dry out and mature before the grain is shelled from them. With the introduction of grain driers, an increasing proportion of the maize crop is being harvested and shelled in one operation, and the grain then artificially dried until it is of a sufficiently low moisture content for safe storage. Easily pollinated varieties were once widely grown, but today only one of these – Marigold – is grown to any extent. Doublehybrid seed is now widely used, much of it grown by the Department of Agriculture from parent material imported each year from the United States. The present hybrids are W575, W643, W647, and W690.

Peas: Garden varieties account for about three-quarters of the peas grown for threshing as ripe seeds. This seed is resown to produce green peas to be used fresh or preserved by canning or quick freezing. The rest of the crop is made up of field varieties, which are used dry for split peas and soup powders, for boiling, or for pigeon feeding. The inferior peas of both groups may be used in stock foods.

The pea crop is rather risky. As it will not withstand extremes of moisture it is best grown in a mild and dry climate and in a moisture-retentive soil. Garden varieties are affected by adverse conditions more than the field varieties. Nearly two-thirds of the peas for threshing are grown in Canterbury, and the balance in Marlborough and Wellington. Most of the crop is exported, mainly to Britain and Australia where it is used for seed. The garden varieties are usually grown by farmers under contract to merchants, who themselves are under contract to supply overseas buyers. A small portion of the crop is used locally.

Quality is important in all threshed peas. Contracting merchants take particular care to maintain a high standard of purity in their seed stocks, and most farmers rogue out off-type plants from their growing crops. The colour of the threshed peas is also important. This is generally best if the crop is cut when the top pods are just past their best for table use and left to condition in the windrow before threshing. Because of the risk of damage by rain and loss by wind, most growers, however, prefer to wait until the crop is fully ripe before cutting it, and then to pick it up immediately with the header harvester. Any shrivelled, cracked, discoloured, or off-type peas are removed in the subsequent machine dressing. The varieties Greenfeast, Onward, Victory Freezer, and William Massey are most widely grown for the garden-pea-seed trade. For boiling peas, soup powders, and sometimes for splitting, the Blue Prussian variety is used. Partridge is used for splitting and by pigeon fanciers overseas.

Linseed and Linen Flax: These two crops, used for widely different purposes, are of the same botanical species. By selection varieties of linseed are now grown which return heavy yields, rich in good quality oil, used mainly in the paint industry. The residue left from the extraction of oil makes a valuable concentrate for stock feeding. Linen-flax varieties have been selected on the basis of the yield and quality of the linen fibre contained in the straw, though the seed of these varieties can also be used for oil and stock feed. Linseed does not require special soils, though it succeeds best with a well distributed rainfall during growth, followed by dry conditions at ripening. For linen flax, uniformity, both of soil and of growing conditions, is essential to produce even, high-grade fibre. High soil fertility, though not harmful to linseed, produces in linen flax a coarse, harsh fibre. At present from 15,000 to 20,000 acres of linseed are grown each year, most of it under contract to an oil factory. The crop is grown mainly in Canterbury with a little also in Southland and Otago. Better soil fertility and higher yielding varieties have doubled the yields of linseed over those of 20 years ago. It is usual to direct-head linseed, but weedy or uneven crops are better windrowed and allowed to condition before threshing.

Linen flax was not grown in New Zealand until the early years of the Second World War when, within two seasons, the acreage increased to 20,000 and 17 processing factories were built. Since then the acreage has steadily declined, until now only about 700 acres are grown each year near the only remaining factory, at Geraldine, in South Canterbury. The crop is harvested at a rather earlier stage of growth than linseed, a special machine pulling the plants from the ground to obtain greater straw and fibre length. After the seed is removed the straw is retted and scutched to extract the fibre.

Potatoes: The growing of potatoes is more widely distributed than that of other cash crops because the product is perishable, and also there is the advantage of the considerable differences in harvesting periods in various districts. These differences in time are determined largely by the most risk in a district, as potatoes will not withstand frosting. Many householders grow some potatoes for their own needs. A little over 20,000 acres produce each year for marketing an average of 100,000 tons of table potatoes and 20,000 tons of seed potatoes. Many commercial growers produce their own seed. The average yield of potato crops varies considerably from season to season, so that, even with a constant planting, surpluses and shortages are likely from time to time. About two-fifths of the commercial crop is grown in Canterbury, about one-fifth in each – Auckland and Wellington, and smaller amounts in Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Otago, and Southland. Potatoes are grown in many types of soil, but they prefer a well drained, fertile silt loam which does not dry out unduly. The soil and its yield potential influence the choice of variety. Main-crop potatoes are usually planted in a rotation with other cash crops. They can follow almost any other crop, but are often planted after grass and before wheat. Crops for early marketing are often planted in rotation with vegetable crops, rather than with the recognised field crops.

In frost-free areas, like the Pukekohe district south of Auckland, the earliest plantings are made in April or May and harvesting of new potatoes for immediate sale begins in August. In the South Island, however, main crop potatoes are usually planted in October and harvested about May to provide potatoes until new ones are plentiful again. Other districts observe intermediate planting and harvesting dates. Many of these crops are dug at an immature stage for sale without storing. Spraying or dusting to prevent potato blight is a feature of the Pukekohe district where potato growing would otherwise be uneconomic. Commercial potato crops are almost all planted by mechanical planters. Mechanical diggers are used, but the tubers are usually picked up and bagged by hand. Crops for immediate sale may be dug immature, the state of the market often influencing the time of digging. Main-crop potatoes which are to be stored are left in the ground until the skins have hardened. They are stored in sacks in darkened sheds or in the open under a protective cover of straw, or loose in long clamps with a good straw cover. If potatoes are to be delivered for sale direct from the paddock they are sorted to size and grade as they are picked up. But if they are to be stored sorting may be left until the potatoes are being prepared for sale. Seed potatoes may be stored in more light than eating potatoes as greening of the tubers spoils table potatoes but benefits seed potatoes and checks excessive sprouting. Only a few of the many varieties of potatoes planted in New Zealand are grown commercially. Arran Banner and Ilam Hardy are the most widely used for early crops; Aucklander Short Top, Katahdin, and King Edward for mid-season harvesting; and Glen Ilam, Dakota, Sebago, and Arran Chief for late harvesting.

Nearly 750,000 acres of brassicas and some 50,000 acres of cereals are grown for supplementary feed crops each year. There is also some winter and early spring grazing from much of the area of autumn-sown wheat and oats (perhaps 125,000 acres), which is grown primarily as a grain crop.

Turnips and Swedes: These two crops, similarly managed and used, are fairly widely grown throughout New Zealand. Swedes and yellow-fleshed turnips do best under cool, moist conditions, as they make most of their growth in the later part of the season. They are used almost entirely for winter feeding.

These crops are more commonly grown in the southern districts, particularly Southland, and to some extent in the cooler and moister districts in the North Island. White-fleshed turnips can be grown more successfully during the warmer seasons of the year, as they are more tolerant of dry and sunny weather. They are used not only for winter feeding (for which they are widely grown in Canterbury) but also for late-summer feeding, particularly in dairying districts where pasture growth suffers in dry summers. Turnips and swedes yield heavy crops on well drained soils containing ample organic matter and having an even supply of moisture. But they are so valuable for supplementary feeding that they are often grown under less suitable conditions where yields may be only a quarter of those grown under ideal conditions.

Some crops may be used by pulling roots and carrying them out to stock. The more common method is to turn the cattle or sheep on to the area to feed off the growing crop in “breaks”. These are made by fencing off a large enough part of the crop to maintain the stock for 10 days to a fortnight. This method entails less labour than feeding out and is far less wasteful than allowing the stock to wander through the whole crop. In some districts the swede tops are used for fattening late lambs, after which the bulbous roots are eaten by adult sheep.

At one time all turnip and swede seed was imported from England, but during the Second World War seed was harvested locally and sufficient seed to meet local requirements has since been produced in New Zealand. Most of the varieties grown are similar to the main English ones, but two have been developed in New Zealand to meet local conditions. One, named “Calder”, resists attack by the mosaic virus; the other, “Wye”, resists attack by clubroot diseases. These diseases, with dry rot, are the main diseases of turnips and swedes. Work is being done to develop resistance to dry rot also.

Rape: This crop was once regarded as the best feed for fattening lambs, but the acreage is declining for two reasons: improved pastures have now made it possible to fatten many more lambs without any special fattening crop; and rape is so easily attacked by pests and disease that other crops are being grown instead. Rape is required primarily in lamb-fattening districts where summer grass production is low. Half the total acreage is in Canterbury and a quarter in Otago. In Hawke's Bay, once a big rape-growing area, it has been largely replaced by chou moellier. It is usual to feed rape in breaks to avoid waste. Grazed portions of the crop are closed to stock to conserve second growth for winter feeding. It was once common practice to provide a grass run-off to lambs grazing on rape, but now it is usual to confine them on rape entirely. White butterfly, diamond-backed moth, and cabbage aphid seriously infest rape, which is also subject to club-root disease. New Zealand produces enough rape seed for its needs. Two new varieties have been developed, one is resistant to clubroot, and the other to aphid infestation.

Chou Moellier and Kale: The green crops grown under these names are both members of the kale family; chou moellier is known in England as marrow-stemmed kale. The crop grown as kale in New Zealand is known in England as thousand-headed kale. Stock relish the stems of chou moellier, but this plant tends to drop its leaves during winter. Kale, while having a fibrous, unpalatable stem, is more hardy and carries its leaves well throughout the winter. Two-thirds of the total chou moellier crop is grown in the North Island. Kale (about only a tenth of the total chou moellier crop), is grown mostly in Southland and Otago. These crops are grown mainly for winter feeding, though chou moellier has come into favour recently as an alternative to rape for lamb fattening and as a cattle feed in late summer. Kale may be used similarly. Crops of chou moellier and kale which are not needed for late-autumn feeding can be reserved for use in winter. Crops lightly grazed in early summer will recover to provide winter feed. Kale and chou moellier crops are more resistant than other brassica crops to clubroot and dry rot and are not so subject to insect attack. Heavy crops of chou moellier are best cut and fed out as required, though less labour is needed if the cut crop is left to be eaten where it falls and the standing portion protected by an electric fence. If it is intended to feed the crop in breaks, fencing is made easier if swedes are drilled in the lines where the fences will later be placed.

Cereals: The area of cereals grown specifically for green feed is small compared with the area sown for a grain crop which is grazed at some stage as part of its management for grain. Oats are the main cereal grown specifically for green feed; some maize and barley are also grown, but very little wheat or rye. Maize, being frost tender, is grown almost entirely in the North Island, mainly in South Auckland. It is used as a supplementary feed in late summer, chiefly for dairy cows. The other cereals are used as additional feed during late autumn, winter, or early spring. They are sown in early autumn, frequently after the harvest of a grain crop. Half the acreage of green-feed cereals is grown in Canterbury and a quarter in Otago and Southland. If winter feed is plentiful, green-feed cereal crops (other than barley) which have been lightly grazed may be allowed to grow on for a chaff or grain crop in the following harvest. Autumn-sown cereal-grain crops are commonly grazed in early spring either to control rank growth and prevent later lodging, or because there is little other late-winter feed to keep stock in reasonable condition. Wheat and oats are the cereals most commonly managed in this way. Overgrazing of the crops at this stage may prejudice a satisfactory grain harvest later. A small acreage of cereals is grown for grain for feeding on the farm and about 20,000 acres of oats are grown for chaff, some of which will be home fed and some sold.

Of the 21 million acres of improved land in New Zealand, only about 1¼ million acres are used each year for the growing of crops. More than two-thirds of these crops provide supplementary feeding on the farm and under 400,000 acres produce crops for sale. Grass and clover seeds for sale are taken from less than 200,000 acres of land used during most of the year for grazing.

The importance of the cropping programme cannot be measured by the relatively small area of land used for it. This programme supplies valuable human foodstuffs and a large pasture-renewal programme is maintained almost entirely on the grass and clover seeds harvested. At the same time a large quantity of these seeds, as well as garden-pea seeds, is available for export. In the recognised arable-farming districts where the life of pastures is limited by climate, cropping is a means of renewing pastures effectively and economically.

Of far greater importance are supplementary feed crops in maintaining stock-carrying capacity at critical times when pasture growth is insufficient. Where rainfall is high and the season for pasture growth is longer it is possible to manage with the use of hay and silage made during times of surplus pasture growth. In the drier and colder areas, however, the necessity for other feed is more evident, and arable farming becomes important. Over half a million acres of crops are grown in Canterbury each year and almost 200,000 acres each in Otago and Southland. In contrast, under 300,000 acres of crops are grown in the whole of the North Island.

Introduction

Although New Zealand is a small country and the area of first-class land within its boundaries is limited, its importance in the world lies in the fact that it is an efficient producer of animal products, the greater part of which are exported. With an annual production of over 750,000 tons of meat, over 6,000 million pounds of wool, over 200,000 tons of butter, and about 90,000 tons of cheese and 80,000 tons of processed milk, New Zealand is one of the world's major exporters of these products. It is also a low-cost exporter, being able to ship meat and dairy products to the other side of the world and to compete successfully.

The area of the whole country is approximately 66 million acres, of which about 44 million are occupied. Of this, about 20 million acres have been improved, but only about 10–12 million acres can be classed as ploughable land. On the whole, New Zealand is not well endowed with fertile soils, the area of really first-class land being fairly limited. The capacity of large areas to sustain meat- and milk-producing pastures is the result of the building up of fertility by careful management and regular topdressing.

New Zealand's principal natural advantage in livestock production is its climate. Over most of the country rainfall varies from 25 to 60 in. a year. The distribution is remarkably even, though spells of dry weather in the late summer are not uncommon. At the same time sunshine is plentiful, the combination providing unusually favourable opportunities for pasture growth. As the winters are not too rigorous, animals can be left out of doors all the year, a factor of considerable importance in making possible the high level of labour productivity. It also means that the period when pasture growth is dormant is relatively short.

New Zealand can produce a wide range of crops, but experience has shown that the most efficient use of soil and climate is obtained by a concentration on livestock products. Dairy farming generally gives the highest net return per acre of better-class land where the rainfall is over 40 in. per year, is well distributed, and where the winters are fairly mild. Where pasture growth is inhibited for a longer period in winter, or where there is a greater likelihood of a dry period in summer, dairy farming usually gives way to fatlamb production. In those parts of the South Island where the rainfall is between 25 to 30 in., fat-lamb production is associated with cereals and other cash crops. In the South Island, too, it is generally necessary to grow a larger area of fodder crops – rape for fattening lambs in summer and swedes and turnips for winter feed.

A broad classification of the occupied land in New Zealand divides into the following categories:

1. Steep and mountainous land – much of this is not occupied at all, being either protective forests, national parks, or unsuitable for pastoral purposes. The steeper tussock country has been occupied for about 100 years, although during that time little has been done to improve it with the result that frequently it has deteriorated. In the last decade, however, aerial topdressing has shown its worth, and useful responses are being obtained from trace elements such as sulphur and molybdenum. This class of country produces practically all the fine wool. The management of the high-country sheep run is fairly specialised, the carrying capacity of any individual property being determined by the number of stock that can be carried through the winter, which means that much of the alpine pasture growth in summer cannot be utilised. Cattle do not have an important place in the system of management, but their numbers are increasing.

2. The hill country: This covers an extensive area in both islands, that in the North Island having in general been covered in bush which was probably cleared in the last 30 years of the nineteenth century, and that in the South Island in tussock. When the bush was first cleared, reasonable pastures were established, but these gradually deteriorated, and there were also the constant threats of encroachment by fern or second growth. The dominant components of the pastures were low-fertility demanding species, with the result that the carrying capacity was little more than one sheep to the acre. In the South Island, brown top dominant pastures were the characteristic feature, these merging into tussock country where little attempt had been made at development. For many years the improvement of the hill country presented an intractable problem as, although there was clear-cut evidence that it would respond to topdressing, the cost made it uneconomic.

   With the development of aerial topdressing about 1950 and the generally higher returns for wool, farmers were able to undertake the task more effectively, with the result that the carrying capacity of the hill country has been in some cases doubled. Many hill-country farmers are now able to fatten a proportion of their lambs. Apart from the fact that it produces a large proportion of the country's wool, the hill country provides the breeding stock for the fat-lamb farmer on the more productive country. A large proportion of the cattle are also run on hill-country properties where they have had the function of keeping down rank pasture growth and on the less-developed properties of crushing fern and second growth. In the South Island the improvement in the carrying capacity of the hill country has been somewhat less marked as limits are imposed by the likelihood of dry summers and the longer period of dormant pasture growth in winter. South Island fat-lamb farmers also breed a higher proportion of their own replacements.

3. Ploughable land: Although there is probably over 10 million - 12 million acres of ploughable land in New Zealand, not all of it is highly productive and some is of very limited value. Nevertheless, farmers on this land are responsible for all the dairy produce, the major part of the fat lamb and beef and a fair proportion of the wool. On some of the land of this type the fertility has been built up from rather unpromising beginnings – much of the Waikato and North Auckland fall into this category.

Again, several hundred thousand acres in the South Island cannot reach the maximum level of production without irrigation water. Taken as a whole, however, the easy ploughable country will carry about one dairy cow to every 1½ to 2 acres, four to six ewes to the acre, and where climatic conditions are suitable will produce up to 50 bushels of wheat per acre. A limited portion of it, not more than 2 million acres can be classed as having “versatile soils” i.e., those that are naturally of high fertility and can produce a wide variety of different products – butterfat, lamb, beef, cereals, vegetables, or fruit. The proportion of such land in New Zealand is not high and in consequence land use planning is concerned with ensuring that such soils are kept for agricultural purposes.

In the 40 to 50 years after European settlement in 1840, the New Zealand farm economy was based on the export of wool with tallow and, for a more limited period, cereals as supplements. With the introduction of refrigeration in 1882 a greater diversity of enterprise was possible. The development of the export trade in mutton and lamb gave the sheep industry a broader base and brought about a considerable change in management methods. At the same time the infant dairy industry was able to expand from the stage where it was concerned entirely with the very limited local demand to where it was serving an international market.

Following the First World War the dairy industry expanded even more rapidly as topdressing came to be more widely adopted and with it more scientific ideas on pasture management. Fat-lamb production also increased, the British housewife having indicated a preference for a lightweight succulent lamb. Up until 1914 the greater part of the fat lamb exported had come from Canterbury, but during the 1920s there was a rapid increase throughout the North Island and in Southland. The adoption of the system of intensive grassland farming represented a major revolution in techniques, there being no overseas models which New Zealand could follow. A system of farming which largely dispensed with the plough and aimed to make the maximum use of rapid and sustained pasture growth, came into being in the 1920s, largely as a result of the efforts of many farsighted individual farmers assisted by the newly established research and advisory services. Since the 1920s there has been no basic change in the pattern of production and apart from the checks received during the depression of the 1930s and during the Second World War, production has expanded steadily. Over the same period there has been a marked increase in the production per man engaged in agriculture. At the present time the farm labour force is markedly less than it was in the late 1920s although production has risen by at least 100 per cent. During the same period there has also been a very great reduction in the drudgery associated with much farm work and it is likely that part of the advances in productivity have been absorbed by more leisure.

Though there are many technical and management problems facing New Zealand farmers today, the major issue before them is the availability of markets for an expanding output. From the outbreak of the war until the mid 1950s the demand for agricultural products was such that it was possible to sell all that could be produced. With the recovery of agriculture in those countries affected by the war and the generally higher levels of production attained in recent years, combined with the intensification of agricultural protection, the market outlook is less favourable.

by Patrick Russell Stephens, M.A., Economics Section, Department of Agriculture, Wellington.

Introduction

In a broad sense the history of New Zealand is essentially the history of agricultural development, as a country which has always been so dependent upon its primary industries must evolve policies which encourage their expansion. Moreover, the rate at which the economy as a whole can grow is tied to the capacity of agriculture to expand. Today pastoral products account for about 90 per cent of New Zealand's export income, a proportion as high as at any time in the past and, although forest products and aluminium may make a greater contribution in the future, the livestock industries are unlikely to be displaced from their premier position.

The establishment of settlement in New Zealand and the subsequent expansion of agriculture coincided with the large-scale changes following the industrial revolution which resulted in world markets being created for all the major agricultural products and raw materials. The construction of railways in Europe, North America and, later, in other parts of the world, the cheapening of ocean transport brought about by the substitution of steam for sail, the introduction of refrigeration and the generally higher levels of purchasing power in the latter half of the nineteenth century, all helped to change the agricultural scene. The British adoption of free trade in the 1840s, even if it had few complete imitators, made possible an expanding market for everything a country such as New Zealand could produce, although prices often fluctuated sharply and the market remained a highly competitive one.

The Importance of Wool

Apart from the stimulus given by the gold discoveries of the sixties and the return, during the last decade or so in the century, from frozen meat and, to a lesser extent, dairy produce, the New Zealand economy depended in the latter half of the nineteenth century on wool receipts. Sheep had been brought to the early mission stations prior to 1840, but they were few in numbers, and large-scale sheep farming in New Zealand did not get under way until 1843 when the first flock of 300 Merinos were driven from Wellington to the Wairarapa after having been brought from Australia. Within 10 years there were over 500,000 sheep in the country; within 20 years over 3,000,000.

Large-scale sheep farming, on the Australian model, began in the Wairarapa, but from 1846, when the first large flock was taken up near the Awatere River and for the next 30 years or so, progress was most rapid in the South Island. In the North Island the Maori Wars and the need for more capital in order to clear the bush hindered progress. The bush-burn technique, brought from Australia and North America, proved most effective, but the major task of breaking in the North Island bush country did not begin until the 1870s, although the open country in the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay was fully taken up by the 1850s. In the South Island the open, tussock-covered country offered ideal conditions to the “squatter”, and by 1860 there was very little open country left. The land was taken up under a variety of conditions – the only claim that the first run holders had in the Wairarapa was a loose arrangement with the local Maori chiefs. Later the Government promulgated regulations regarding pastoral leases and, following Sir George Grey's cheap land ordinance in 1853, some large freehold blocks were purchased. Most of the expertise on extensive sheep farming came from Australia, based in the main on some rule-of-thumb methods that had worked reasonably well. Practically all the sheep, and a fair proportion of the capital, came from Australia, as did the terms and expressions which have passed into common usage.

Australian experience had shown that sheep did quite well when left to themselves, and under conditions where feed was adequate. With the freedom from disease, the Merino sheep imported from Australia increased steadily in numbers. For those sheep farmers established a little earlier, the sale of breeding stock to the late comers was a most lucrative part of the business. In the South Island, however, by the mid 1860s the demand for sheep for stocking up new runs had been largely met, and prices fell away.

The late 1860s and the 1870s brought fairly marked changes in the South Island landscape as the ploughable land was broken up and, after a crop of wheat or oats had been taken off, was sown down in exotic grasses. With the availability of cheaper fencing wire, boundary fencing, followed by the subdivision of individual properties, began. These changes were associated with the construction of railways and the more modest improvement in roads, which in turn brought about a rush to freehold as much land as possible. In some places a speculative boom was the result, the effects of which made themselves felt when prices declined in the eighties and nineties. At the same time the rapid appreciation in land values attracted capital which in turn helped to promote development.

The growth of the sheep industry can be seen from the following table of sheep numbers:

The Frozen Meat Trade

The rapid growth in sheep numbers and the complete dependence of the whole country on fluctuating wool prices meant that a keen interest was displayed in the experiments in meat preservation that were going ahead in the sixties and seventies. Although the successful voyage of the Frigorifique from Buenos Aires to Le Havre took place only in 1877, proposals were being made in New Zealand for a similar venture within a year or more. By February 1882, when the Dunedin left Port Chalmers, works had been established at Burnside, near Dunedin, and plans were under way for the establishment of works near Christchurch and at Petone. Capital for the new industry came mainly from the larger runholders and in the first four years most of the stock supplied to the works also came from such men.

The frozen meat trade rescued the pastoral industries from the economic stagnation they were facing, but the industry was established at a time when the general course of prices for primary products was downward. Although the exports of frozen meat built up rapidly after 1882, over one million carcasses being shipped in 1890, the sheep farmers' return was frequently a very modest one as initially freight charges were high and there was a large element of prejudice against imported frozen meat on the British market which took time to overcome. Perhaps it is a tribute to the quality of New Zealand mutton that a character in Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga should have expressed a preference for it. From an early stage in the development of the export trade in meat, serious obstacles were encountered, a combination of high tariffs in Europe and harassing veterinary regulations effectively preventing its growth, and establishing a pattern of restrictions which has persisted to the present day.

Besides introducing a greater degree of diversification into the economy, the frozen meat industry made possible a different pattern of farm management in the arable farming districts. In the North Island, where so much of the country was still undeveloped, there were fewer obvious changes in the first 20 or 30 years.

On mixed arable farms the increase in the area of fodder crops made possible a more satisfactory croprotation system. The fat-lamb trade really developed in Canterbury where the lambs could be finished off on rape. In the North Island, on the other hand, the inadequacy of the pastures over much of the country made fattening more difficult. Even as late as the years immediately before 1914, a reasonably well developed North Island farm carrying more than three ewes to the acre was the exception.

The Dairy Industry

The expansion of dairy farming, after the voyage of the Dunedin had shown that dairy produce could be successfully shipped to the United Kingdom, proceeded at a more modest pace. In the first place the industry was at a more rudimentary stage of development and, secondly, the smaller farmers possessed very little capital to invest in the construction of dairy factories. Circumstances thus forced them to cooperate, and in several districts in the 1880s small cooperative dairy factories were established, the fore-runners of the cooperatively owned industry today. The maintenance of quality was a serious problem from the beginning and much had to be done by a process of trial and error. The dairy industry is of interest, too, as the Government was closely concerned in fostering it. A bounty had been offered at the beginning of the 1880s for the first successful shipment of butter and of cheese. The first Government dairy expert was engaged in the 1889s, and in the early 90s the first legislation providing for a system of compulsory branding and then grading was introduced. This represented a significant break with laissez faire tradition and was carried through in the face of some scornful criticism. Compulsory inspection of meat, which came a few years later, also encountered strong opposition. By 1900 nearly 9,000 tons of butter and over 5,000 tons of cheese were being exported to a total value of over £1 million, and statistics showed that there were 335,000 dairy cows in the country.

Closer settlement was in the forefront of the Liberal Party's programme and the growth of the dairy industry provided a sound economic basis for this policy in that the occupier of a property of moderate size would be assured of a regular income. The process was also speeded up by the system established in 1894 of Government advances to settlers. This was basically of much more importance than the compulsory purchase and subdivision of large estates. This latter policy, however, was in effect a forthright assertion that the community was opposed to obstacles to settlement and would take whatever steps were necessary to ensure that they were removed.

Intensive Grassland Farming

In the 80s and 90s the more farsighted of the farmers settled in the higher rainfall areas of the North Island began to perceive that the prospects of establishing a system of mixed farming on the pattern of that already existing in Canterbury was slight. When closer settlement had not proceeded very far, a system of fairly extensive farming, with modest areas to devote to oats and to turnips, met the immediate needs; but such a system of farming was not particularly profitable in itself, especially during the prolonged period of depressed prices in the 80s and 90s.

Under conditions of closer settlement, this system of farming was hardly practicable and yet in the face of the strong pressures to subdivide, the large estates could not remain in being. Farmers established on smaller units had to look at every possible means whereby they could raise the carrying capacity of the land. In effect, this meant the replacement of sheep, which included a high proportion of wethers, by dairy cows. On the better-class land the dairy farmer could get by with a limited amount of cropping, but elsewhere the small dairy farmer endeavoured to do the same with limited success, partly because he usually lacked the machinery to break up an area for fodder crops each year. Necessity compelled him to utilise what little resources he possessed, and the principal one of these was grass. The lack of equipment even made it expensive for him to save more than a small quantity of hay, and his cows were usually badly fed during the winter.

The steady rise in prices after 1900 did a great deal to raise the dairy farmers' standard of life. The advent of home separation and of machine milking, despite some official misgivings, also enabled him to handle more cows which in turn gave him the income to improve his property generally and his cowshed in particular. Higher prices also gave new confidence to the sheep industry, although the advance in wool prices was very slow. Meat prices picked up more rapidly, but the overseas market remained a highly competitive one. Farmers frequently expressed criticism of the gap between their return and the retail price for mutton and lamb in the United Kingdom. New capital was also invested in meat export works and, with the clear indication of the success of the industry before them, overseas companies took a greater interest in it. The possibility of representatives of the Chicago meat packing companies establishing themselves in New Zealand roused heated opposition and the Government ultimately took action to prevent it.

The growth of production in the 1920s, especially between the years 1925 and 1930, is of special importance in the history of New Zealand agriculture, as it was brought about in the main by the more intensive utilisation of the better-class ploughable country in the North Island. The principal agent in bringing about this change was superphosphate. Production expanded most rapidly in the Waikato and it was in this district that the increase in the usage of superphosphate was most marked. The importance of adequate supplies of super being available cannot be overemphasised, and the fact that its price was both absolutely and relatively lower than it was prior to 1914 gave an impetus to its use.

The 1920s also saw the beginnings of organised agricultural research in New Zealand and its application to immediate practical problems. There were a few devoted workers in the field before 1914, but they worked in isolation and were able to have little impact on farming techniques.

The pioneering work study of pasture ecology is associated with the names of Cockayne and Levy, their investigation in this field was followed by those into soil fertility, fertiliser responses, and plant selection and breeding. In 1923 the Department of Agriculture established the Fields Division, the officers attached to which were engaged full time on advisory work and were not required to perform any regulatory duties. This was a major step forward as it enabled those engaged on advisory work to gain the farmers' confidence just at a time when the benefits of a more scientific approach to pasture management were becoming more apparent.

Progress in New Zealand farming has been associated with refinements of the fertility-building cycle, i.e., topdressing stimulating clover growth which in turn raises the nitrogen status of the soil with an even greater pasture growth. The droppings from the increased number of animals that can be carried, raise fertility still further and carry the cycle to another stage. In the 1920s research workers were successful in discovering longer lasting strains of perennial ryegrass and white clover. Until then much of the seed available in the market was of poor quality, thus making it impossible for longer lasting pastures to be established. The identification of superior strains was followed by the establishment in the late 1920s of the seed certification system, and this enabled farmers to obtain, through commercial channels, better quality seed.

Superior pasture strains led to the improvement of large areas of problem country, the productive value of which up until then had been very low. In the late 1920s the improvement of the gumland soils in North Auckland began, followed in the early 1930s of the first serious attempt to develop the pumice soils in the centre of the North Island. In this latter area, the discovery in 1935 that cobalt deficiency was responsible for the characteristic wasting disease in cattle and sheep called “bush sickness” made progress much more rapid. In the South Island, longer lasting pastures were also made possible in the better-class country, but sustained improvement of the rolling downland areas had to await the introduction of molybdenum in the decade after 1945.

Apart from the scientific advances, farmers over the last 30 or 40 years have also introduced many improvements into their systems of management, and the attainment of higher productivity has been made easier by the improvement in roads and the provision of electric power at a reasonable cost. The efficiency of the New Zealand milking shed is largely dependent on the availability of electric power and, unless water can be pumped to all parts of the farm, there can be no subdivision into small paddocks, a practice which has made possible much more effective utilisation of feed.

Apart from the scientific advances made during the 1920s and 1930s, there were considerable changes in the organisation of marketing. During the First World War both meat and dairy produce had been sold to the British Government at fixed prices and, after a brief experience of conventional marketing methods after the war, producers of both meat and dairy produce indicated to the Government their desire for some form of producer control over the marketing of these products. The establishment of the Meat Producers' Board in 1922 and the Dairy Export Control Board in 1924 met these demands, the aim being to set up organisations which would supervise the rate at which supplies were shipped to the United Kingdom market, arrange freight and insurance contracts, and engage in promotional work. The drastic fall in prices during the 1930s made necessary more elaborate measures, especially for dairy farmers whose resources were often very limited. The guaranteed price for butter and cheese introduced in 1936 and the various enactments designed to reduce the weight of the farmers' mortgage indebtedness were all part of this policy.

Recent Developments

Although the post-war period in New Zealand has seen a steady increase in production and the wide adoption of more scientific aids and mechanised equipment, there have been no fundamental changes of any consequence in the organisation of agriculture, the relative importance of the principal products, or in the methods of management.

Until the late 1950s the gradually rising price level meant that farm incomes were generally increasing, with a greater surplus available for reinvestment in the improvement of farmers' properties. This has led to both higher productivity and a reduction in the drudgery associated with farm work. Technological advances have been conspicuous. Aerial topdressing has greatly improved the carrying capacity of the New Zealand hill country and in this field New Zealand has led the world. With other technical advances such as the utilisation of hormone weed killers, the adoption of more efficient machines, and improvements in the treatment of animal diseases, New Zealand farmers have taken advantage of the progress that has been made overseas.

“Floor” prices have now been established for all New Zealand's principal exports, their operation being based on the idea of accumulating reserves during favourable periods, thereby putting a “floor”, by various methods, under prices when overseas markets are less favourable. It is generally accepted, however, that over any period of time the price paid to the producer cannot diverge very far from that obtained on the market.

In the last few years the need to expand markets has been uppermost in the minds of those concerned with the future of New Zealand's primary industries. During the decade after 1945, the immediate post-war dislocation of agriculture in so many countries and the time needed for recovery meant that there was a strong demand for all types of farm produce. Thus the need for competitive selling did not really arise. Although it was clear to the more far-sighted that such a situation would not be permanent, the return to conditions of free marketing in 1954 did represent an abrupt departure from conditions which many farmers had become accustomed to over a period of 15 years.

Since 1955 the prices received for New Zealand's principal exports have fluctuated fairly sharply and, with some qualifications, the terms of trade have moved in an adverse direction. There are a number of reasons for this state of affairs, the most fundamental being of course the fact that agricultural production has fully recovered from the effects of war. Moreover, technological changes that have come about in the post-war period, together with the strongly protectionist policies in the agricultural field pursued by the major industrial countries of the world, have also caused concern. The problem of protection is the most serious for New Zealand as profitable markets for relatively high-cost animal products can be found only amongst communities with a high level of real income.

The United Kingdom has long been the market for the greater part of New Zealand's exportable surplus, but there are obvious limits to its capacity to absorb additional food products. In any case the United Kingdom's own production has been greatly stimulated. To cope with these conditions New Zealand has endeavoured to seek a liberalisation of trade policies and to develop new markets wherever possibilities exist. Many obstacles have to be overcome. Concessional sales of surplus commodities may disrupt markets, shipping services may be inadequate, consumer tastes may have to be modified, and various limitations on imports may have to be overcome.

(1838–1903).

Journalist, novelist, and minor playwright.

A new biography of Farjeon, Benjamin Leopold appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Benjamin Leopold Farjeon was the second son of Jacob Farjeon, of a London Jewish family, and broughtup, principally by himself, in the purlieus of Whitechapel. He was a bird of passage as far as New Zealand was concerned, but he left an impression on the early literary scene in Otago. He was a printer's devil at 13, a budding poet at the same time, and an earnest seeker after knowledge and books in the night schools of London. At 16, religious differences with his parents sent him abroad and he arrived in Melbourne in 1854. He followed varied pursuits but always within the smell of printer's ink. He was responsible for a variety of short-lived newspaper publications in different parts of Victoria, but by 1861 he was on the move again, and turned up in Dunedin at the gold-rush era where he attached himself to the Otago Daily Times as manager and subeditor for Vogel, later Sir Julius Vogel. By 1864 he was in partnership with Vogel and had managed to collect a circle of artistic and literary friends who assisted him to introduce a Bohemian atmosphere into the staid and conservative Free Church settlement of Dunedin. He found a kindred spirit in Vogel at that time, and between them they built up a form of indigenous theatre that, surprisingly enough, flourished. He had several of his own plays produced and was instrumental in the formation of the Garrick Club in Dunedin. But his commercial journalism was always a kind of bread-and-butter business. He had a prolific pen, and a highly developed passion for Dickens. His first novels, Shadows on the Snow and Grif, were written with an eye on Dickens in London, and few of his friends were surprised when, having received some encouragement from Dickens, he decided to abandon newspaper management and return to London. He left Dunedin in 1867. Grif was published in 1870, and is credited with total sales of 300,000, which put it in the best-seller class. Whatever its actual success, it persuaded Farjeon that opportunity lay not in New Zealand but in London. He wrote a full score of novels, none of which ever achieved the popularity of Grif, and his plays included two or three that pleased the London critics. Actually most of them never saw London. Farjeon was a gregarious soul with a dramatic passion considerably in excess of his capabilities, but he was a keen observer of his times, and the best of his novels were faithful documentaries of the period with always a pungent flavour of the colonies.

In 1877 Farjeon married Margaret, daughter of Joseph Jefferson, the famous American comedian. Four of his children have also made names for thenselves in the London cultural world: Eleanor as a playwright; Herbert as a novelist; Joseph Jefferson as a writer of crime novels; and Harry (died 1948) as a composer. Farjeon died at 11 Lancaster Road, Belsize Park, Hampstead, on 23 July 1903.

by Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington.

• The Times (London), 24 Jul 1903 (Obit).