Preface.

The object of the following pages has not been so much the supplying of a detailed account of the various towns of the Provincial district, as to bring forward in strong relief, the marked progress, that by energetic perseverance has been crowded into the lapse of a few years; and at the same time to convey, by inference, an idea as to the requirements of those who wish to form a home, through the aid of the peculiar specialities of Taranaki. These may simply be enumerated as Thrift, Business tact, Persevering energy, and above all a certain amount of practical knowledge of the work to be undertaken.

A little consideration will convey to thinking minds the folly of entering upon farming operations without first having calculated both the cost and available means.

There is no room to doubt but that every district of New Zealand could tell its own tale of gradual advancement similar to that which an endeavour has been made in the following pages to depict.

The stability of all countries is in direct proportion to that of the smaller ones which collectively form the whole.

The figures representing population; and exports, are for 1884; at the end of the work those of the present time will be given.