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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 14

Agricultural Exports

Agricultural Exports.

Wheat.—Next to the pastoral industry, and following close in its wake in every respect, comes the various branches of agriculture. Although the trade did not continue long, the Australian gold rush is to be credited with giving this industry a considerable impetus. This is specially pointed out in the first report by the Registrar-General for the four years ending 1856. In 1853 the export of wheat and flour was £6,163; it went up next year to £22,240, and in 1855 to £67,765. Then on to 1861, the New Zealand gold-fields year, it fluctuated from £25,101 in 1856 to £4,531 in 1860. Up to this time the great proportion of the grain exports of every kind was from Auckland, the produce of that province. From 1861 to 1865 the wheat and flour exports were practically nil, and in one of those years, 1863, the only grain export of any kind was 3,238 bushels of barley. The imports of wheat and flour in the non-ex-porting years reached a minimum in 1865, when they amounted to £512,732. The export trade resumed in 1867 with £31,367; went up to £75,966 in 1871, and £263,684 in 1874. Next year there was a fall to £112,793; and then a steady rise to £1,132,236 in 1883. But alas, this was the summit of the ridge, and the fall on the other side has been alarmingly rapid. In 1885 the exports of wheat and flour only amounted to £223,145—£40,539 less than they were in 1874. Although the collapse in our wheat exports has been as complete as it was sudden, the fault does not lie with the country. There has been no diminution in our grain-producing powers. We have simply been swamped in the London market by the cheaper production of America and India.

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There is no more striking circumstance in the industrial history of New Zealand than the rapidity with which its bread-producing resources were developed. In 1867 we imported £145,959 worth of wheat and flour more than we exported, and in 1883, sixteen years afterwards, the exports exceeded the imports by £1,119,307. The first direct exportation of wheat to England was only made in 1868, and in 1883 we dispatched to various parts of the world an amount equal to the full cargoes of a hundred ships. One of the strongest arguments brought by an eminent English economist against the Public Works scheme of Sir Julius Vogel was that New Zealand could not grow its own wheat. How quickly and effectually was that reproach removed. After amply providing for our own wants, we had in 1883, £1,132,236 worth of wheat and flour to send abroad, a contribution of thirty-nine shillings worth from every inhabitant of New Zealand to the hungry of other lands Curiously enough the point at which we became able to grow our own wheat was reached simultaneously with the opening of the first section of railway under the public Works scheme, when the exports became equal to the imports. In 1871 the imports of wheat and flour exceeded the exports by £56,794. The following year there was a balance of £39,397 on the other side; consequently the tide had turned late in 1872, and the first section of Sir Julius Vogel's railways was opened in April of that year. As showing the rapidity of agricultural settlement in Canterbury, I may state that the only "topographical features" on some of the railway plans across the plains were the dogs that kept the boundaries—the only landmarks in a wilderness of tussock. Compare this with the continuous panorama of well cultivated farms and thriving villages seen to-day from the railway trains. I went overland from Christchurch to Dunedin in July, 1872, and none of the rivers between the Selwyn and the Waikouaiti were bridged. In 1882 every river between the Northern Waiau in Nelson and the Southern Waiau page 15 in Southland, a distance of 500 miles, was bridged both for road and railway.

Oats.—After wheat, the most important agricultural product in the Colony is oats, and the history of the industry is somewhat similar, only that the increase has been far less, and that there has been no collapse, but a steady advance. Although there was a slight fall in the values from the previous year, 1885 was the best year of any, so far as quantities are concerned. The exports of oats and oatmeal amounted to £278,251 in 1884, and £277,300 in 1885.

Barley.—The exports of barley and malt together have only ranged from £33,582 to £54,210 for the last four years, but it is satisfactory to find that the export of malt is on the increase; 1885 was the highest year, the figures standing at £20,517.

Potatoes.—The export trade in potatoes is exceedingly fluctuating and uncertain. It was £91,509 in 1855, £827 in 1872, £62,806 in 1882, and £38,625 in 1885 Considerable capital has been made of the lapsus Ungues of a well-known public man who suggested the export of frozen potatoes. While admitting that the popular vegetable would not be palatable as an ice, I have no doubt the exportation of potatoes in a fresh state would be greatly facilitated by sending a current of cold air among them in the ship's hold. One or two shipments of potatoes have been made to Rio de Janerio since the establishment of the direct mail service.

Hops.—Hops have been an item in our exports since 1877, and in 1883 the respectable sum of £62,423 was reached, but like wheat, there has since been a great decline, the amount for 1885 being only £8,346. This is due to exactly the same cause as the collapse in the grain trade—a great fall in the price. Notwithstanding the power of production in the Colony, £1920 worth of hops was imported in 1885.