Title: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Author: Cyclopedia Company Limited

Publication details: The Cyclopedia Company, Limited, 1897, Wellington

Part of: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence

Agricultural And Pastoral.

A good evidence of the progress of settlement in the Colony is furnished by the return of the number of persons holding property over an acre in extent, either freehold or rented. In February, 1893, the number in New Zealand was 42,768, which had increased to 46,647 in the same month of 1895, and of this number over 7,000 were in Wellington District, representing a total of some three-and-a-half millions of acres. The number of acres under crop, exclusive of land under grasses, for the same year, was 58,983. Of lands sown down in grass, which had not been previously ploughed, there were 1,684,119 acres, an increase of nearly 35,000 acres on the previous year. Besides this large total, over 224,000 acres of grassed land had previously been broken up. The area in turnips and rape was 23,115 acres; and in potatoes, 2713 acres. In wheat, oats, and barley there were page 206 31,437 acres, which produced over 582,000 bushels, in addition to which, cocksfoot and rye grass to the total of 17,698 bushels were grown in the district.

The increase in the number of horses, cattle, and sheep affords striking evidence of the progress of the district. In 1858 there were 3199 horses, while in 1891 the total was 30,542, thus showing an increase of nearly ten-fold in thirty-three years. Comparing the returns of cattle for the same years, the figures are 35,799 and 152,724 respectively,

Horowhenua Lake And Stream, Manawatu.

showing a substantial advance. Satisfactory as these results are, they appear almost insignificant when compared with the totals of sheep. These increased from 155,994 in the year 1858 to 3,062,966 in 1891, an advance of almost twenty-fold.