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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 14

Pastoral Exports

Pastoral Exports.

Wool.—Timber and the other indigenous exports to which I have referred are not properly speaking the offsprings of colonization—they belong to the class of page 11 products that nature has provided ready made in every country. The first fruits of settlement in New Zealand are the wool exports.

The first direct shipment to England took place in 1846, the port of departure being Wellington. In 1853 the exports had increased to £66,508, and it is curious to observe that of this amount only £300 was credited to Otago and nothing whatever to Canterbury. The northern districts of the Middle Island and the southeastern districts of the North Island produced the great bulk of the wool in the early days. But the position was soon reversed, for in 1861 the two southern Provinces exported two-thirds of the total for the Colony, and the proportion remains much the same to this day.

In dealing with the progress of the pastoral industries a correct result is not obtained by taking the values only of the exports, as the price of wool fluctuates so much. For instance: 59,853,454 pounds exported in 1876 were valued at £3,395,816, whereas 86,507,431 pounds in 1885 were only valued at £3,205,275. Although the value is the main point in interchange, as it determines our buying power, it does not shew correctly the progress of pastoral settlement. With the exception of a few slight fluctuations the export of wool has gone steadily up from 1,071,340 pounds in 1853 to 86,507,431 in 1885, and this is exclusive of 2,000,000 pounds worked up in our cloth factories. We now grow practically as much wool per head of the population as we did in 1877. When we consider the rapid spread of agricultural settlement and the destruction of the natural pastures by rabbits, the figures I have given shew that the Colonists of New Zealand are zealously carrying out the laudable policy of "making two blades of grass grow where one only had grown before."

Tallow, Hides, and Sheep Skins.—Although the principal one, wool is by no means the only product of our flocks and herds, tallow, hides, and sheep skins have long figured largely in our exports, and meat of all kinds, together with dairy produce, are of considerable proportions.

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Notwithstanding the large quantities used up in soap and candle works the export of tallow was at its highest both in quantity and value in 1884, the amount being £234,829.

The export of hides and sheepskins is not increasing in proportion to the stock killed for leather is now largely manufactured both for home consumption and export. In 1885 the figures stood at £74,845.

Meats.—The low price of beef and mutton in 1870 and 1871 caused the establishment of six meat-preserving works in Canterbury and Otago, and in the three following years the value of their manufactures ranged from £161,840 to £100.245. The great tide of immigration brought consumers for the meat in its natural state, so in 1875 the exports fell suddenly to £7,180. Since then they have ranged from £21,953 to £81,401, the latter being the figures for 1885.

The export of meat cured in the ordinary way is now at the highest. Last year it reached £47,609, when we consider the short time that has elapsed since all our hams and bacon were imported it is satisfactory to find that our annual exports of these articles now amount to nearly £20,000.

Frozen meat, on which at present hangs the hopes of pastoral New Zealand, appears in the 1882 returns for the first time, the amount of the exports being £15,244. Since that time the industry has progressed steadily, the value of the exports for 1885 having reached £373,857.

Dairy Produce.—The exports of dairy produce are also in an equally satisfactory state. Last year they stood at £138,129, which is more than double what they were in 1882, and about £30,000 more than the total for the five years ending in 1882. This result is mainly due to the successful establishment of butter and cheese factories throughout the Colony.

Rabbit Skins.—Under the pastoral exports there has of late years appeared an item which might with advantage page 13 be absent, viz., rabbit skins. It increased without a single intermission from £1,263 in 1873 to £107,514 in 1884, then there is a drop to £85,574 last year. The returns from this export is the only entry on the credit side in the doleful records of the rabbit plague.