The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 14
Preliminary
Preliminary.
In considering the resources of New Zealand I shall first refer to a subject to which I have previously directed attention—the necessity for a thorough investigation into the resources of the Colony and the want of a systematic arrangement of the information already collected. Although several excellent sketches have appeared, a comprehensive treatise on the Economic Geology and Botany of New Zealand, like Buller's "Book of Birds," or Hector's "Grasses," has never been attempted, and the large amount of valuable information we have on the subject is so mixed up with the general literature of the country as to be comparatively useless.
I believe the want will now be supplied through the labors of the Mines, Forests, and Agricultural Departments.