Story: Farming in the economy

The Edendale Dairy Factory, shown here in 1895, was bult in Southland in 1882. It was the first large-scale plant of its type in New Zealand. In the early 1880s the government offered prizes for producers who developed new products for the export market, to reduce dependence on a single product: wool. In 1884 the Edendale factory won bonuses for exporting of 25 tons of cheese and 50 tons of butter.