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Story: Farming and the environment

Ditch digging

Image
Ditch digging

Land drainage was an essential early step in land development in many regions. Digging by hand was the only option at the time, as shown here at Whakakī, near Wairoa, in 1889.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, E. R. Williams Collection

Reference: 1/1-025564-G

by William Williams

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Julia Haggerty and Hugh Campbell, Farming and the environment – Early changes, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/17887/ditch-digging (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Julia Haggerty and Hugh Campbell, published 1 March 2009.