Development of farming. Agricultural Processing Industries. Dairy factories were built from the late 19th century to process milk. Dairy products – butter, cheese and milk powder – would become New Zealand’s most valuable exports from the 1930s. Early dairy processing Before dairy factories, butter was made on the farm. It was used by the family or exchanged in the local general store for other goods. First dairy-processing operation In 1871 John Mathieson and neighbouring farmers at Springfield formed the Otago Peninsula Co-operative Cheese Factory Company. Edendale dairy factory The first purpose-built dairy factory was erected on the New Zealand and Australia Land Company’s Edendale estate near Invercargill. Edendale produced its first cheese in January 1882, and the following year won a £500 bonus offered by the government for the first export of 50 tons of cheese from a commercial operation in New Zealand.
Refrigerated shipping The advent of refrigerated shipping meant New Zealand could develop a dairy export industry. Dairy factories multiply. Primary Source. Sheep farming. A quick, easy summary Read the Full Story Importance of sheep farming Sheep farming has played a huge part in New Zealand’s economy. From 1856 to 1987, it was the most important farming industry. But since then, dairy farming has earned more money. Sheep numbers have fallen, from 70 million in 1982 to about 39 million in 2007.
The first sheep British navigator James Cook brought sheep to New Zealand in 1773 and 1777. Early farms The first farms were set up in the 1840s: Sheep from Australia were driven round the coast from Wellington to the Wairarapa. Merinos and other breeds The Merino, a Spanish breed, was brought to New Zealand in large numbers. South and North islands The dry eastern side of the South Island was ideal for sheep farming. Sheep farming expanded more slowly in the North Island. The refrigerated meat trade In 1882, frozen meat was sent to Britain for the first time.
Cross-breeding From the 19th century, farmers mated different breeds to produce sheep for particular conditions. Small Farms Association. At 7 p.m. on Friday 18 March 1853 a well–attended meeting was held in the Crown and Anchor on the beach at Lambton Quay in Wellington. The meeting, called by a group of Wellington working men, discussed the establishment of a Society to promote the cause of "village settlements," and the establishment of small farms for families with little capital.
The meeting appointed a committee to set up such an organisation. The committee of five contained three who were to have a major impact on the future establishment of the Small Farms Association settlements of the Wairarapa plains - Joseph Masters, Charles Carter and William Allen. Masters had started the ball rolling with a series of letters he had written in 1852, published in the Wellington Independent, under the pseudonym of 'A Working Man,' calling for Wellington settlers to be judicious in the voting for public office.
He urged that voters should only vote for those who supported the concept of small farms. In 1847 Dr. Forestry. Kauri. Starting in about 1830, after three decades of removing small trees, pit sawyers moved into the forests to cut logs into boards for local and export markets. Kauri rapidly became the preferred timber for house construction, furniture, and boatbuilding. The wood is soft, but strong and durable, with an even straight grain free of knots. Kauri is so easy to work that it is possible to plane against the grain. Sawmills were first established in the late 1830's, and soon there were numerous small mills powered initially by water wheels, and then later with steam, cutting logs from kauri forests around the sheltered harbours of Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula.
Industry expansion was in excess of demand in the 1880s causing many mills to declare bankruptcy. The depressed state of the kauri industry continued until 1897, by which time 75 percent of the kauri forests had been cut. New Zealand Kauri. In this gallery you will find a range of historical primary sources relating to New Zealand’s kauri tree -its environment and exploitation. These primary sources range from paintings and photographs to cartoons and posters. Collectively they record the changing face of the kauri forest, timber and gum industry over the last 180 or so years. For more information on this subject check out the following answers and information from ManyAnswers. New Zealand’s tallest and oldest trees Native New Zealand trees Gum diggers (New Zealand) Gum diggers (Yugoslavia) You can also discover more interesting items relating to Kauri in this Digital New Zealand set, New Zealand Kauri.
Short film. Skip to content Register Registering with NZ On Screen means you can: save favourites comment on and discuss titles receive updates via email about what's happening in the site – if you want to Register now We won't share your data with anyone (see our Privacy Policy) and we won't spam you. It's that simple. Close Main navigation You are here: Home › Watch › Short Film › The Kauri The Kauri Short Film, 1978 (Documentary, Nature) In this section <div class='widget_title_videoplayer'><div class='form_messages'><div><div><h2 class='h2'> Video Player </h2><p class='error'> Please enable javascript </p><p> NZ On Screen makes use of JavaScript to present video.
Share this by email High Low Clips (2) The Kauri A full length short film. Synopsis Kauri stand amongst the giants of the tree world, able to grow more than 50m tall and girths of up to 16 metres, and live over 2000 years. Credits (6) Conon Fraser Writer, Director, Editor Derek Wright Producer Lynton Diggle Camera See all credits › Post a comment. Te Ara Article. Before human arrival Before humans arrived, more than 80% of New Zealand was covered in trees. Most of the North Island and nearly all of the South Island – except Central Otago and the Mackenzie Basin – was forested. Throughout the country there were conifer–broadleaf forests. The most common trees within them were kauri, rimu, tōtara, kahikatea and mataī. Kauri forests grew in the north of the North Island. Beech forests were found at high altitudes in the North Island’s mountain ranges, in Nelson and Marlborough, and on the South Island’s West Coast. Sometimes areas of forest were burnt out in fires started by volcanic eruptions or lightning, but they grew again.
A treasured tree Māori valued trees that had many uses. Human impact When Māori began arriving in New Zealand from 1250–1300 AD, they built dwellings, forts, canoes and other structures from native woods. European explorers from the 18th century on soon saw the potential of New Zealand’s forests. Native forest today. Timber Pioneers - Brownlee of Marlborough and Baigent of Nelson. William Brownlee (1828-1917)and Edward Baigent (1813-1892) were two of Marlborough/Nelson's most successful sawmillers. Generations of both families continued to work in the timber and forestry industries until the end of the twentieth century. When William Brownlee, his wife Christina and their family arrived in the Pelorus District in June 1864, they found the area timbered with dense, virgin native forest.1 Brownlee had a sawmilling background in Scotland and brought sawmilling machinery with him.
He arrived in time to supply timber for the Marlborough gold rush and the Vogel public works boom.2 With initial cutting rights for more than 1000 acres, Brownlee was reputed to have made more than £7000 in the first two years. Edward Baigent, who arrived in Nelson in May 1842 with his wife Mary Ann and their children, also had a sawmilling background. The need for money to develop his sawmill saw Baigent working for the New Zealand Company in contract labour gangs. Additional Information. Coal mining in New Zealand. Down the coal mines. Through the eyes of a miner. Brunner Mine. Weekly Review No. 97 - Coal from Westland - Short Film. Primary source. The Gold Rushes. Non Fiction 622 MAH. New Zealand Gold Mining.
In this gallery you will find a range of historical primary sources relating to gold mining in New Zealand. These primary sources range from paintings and photographs to cartoons and posters. Collectively they record the changing face of gold mining and its impact on both society and the environment over the last 160 or so years. Click on the images below to discover more information about the topic of gold mining. For more information on this subject check out the following answers and information from ManyAnswers. The New Zealand Gold Rush Gold mining in the Queenstown and Arrowtown area You can also discover more interesting items in this Digital New Zealand set, New Zealand Gold Mining. Gold and gold mining. A quick, easy summary Read the Full Story Why is gold valuable? Gold is rare and looks attractive. It is used mainly in jewellery. When mined, gold is usually mixed with some silver, and needs to be purified. Where is it found?
Gold is found as very small flecks in the quartz veins of hard rocks. Alluvial gold comes from the rocks once they have been worn down to sand and gravel over many thousands of years by rivers or glaciers. First discoveries The first recorded discovery of gold in New Zealand was by Charles Ring, a Tasmanian who found a small amount at Driving Creek near the town of Coromandel in 1852. Otago Otago’s first gold rush was in 1861, after Gabriel Read found gold in what would be called Gabriels Gully. West Coast There were gold rushes on the West Coast from 1865. Coromandel Peninsula The first big find was near Thames in 1867. Mining today Gold helped make New Zealand’s economy successful because it attracted people, investments and shipping.
You've read the short story, now. Whalers and Sealers. Otago Whaling & Sealing - Dunedin Public Libraries. In the 1800's whale oil was in great demand around the world. It was used to lubricate machinery and as lamp fuel all over Europe. The bones and baleen of the whales were likened to 'the plastic of the 1800's' and every part of the whale was used including its bones.
The early whalers and sealers of New Zealand were tough men. Many died in shipwrecks, accidents, falling off cliffs or drowning. Some were left behind on remote islands or beaches while the lucky ones were rescued by passing ships. Sealers were often left on rugged stormy beaches with very little food for up to a year at a time! Whaling in New Zealand Whaling ships came from Europe, America, and Australia to fish the waters off New Zealand well before the 1790's.
The Southern Right whale and the Sperm Whale were favoured by the whalers as they were slow moving and therefore easier to catch. It's been suggested that at this time the ocean around New Zealand teemed with about 27,000 Southern Right whales. Otago Whalers Otago Sealers. Sealing on Te Ara. Māori sealing It seems likely that before the arrival of Polynesians, between 1250 and 1300 AD, New Zealand fur seals and to a lesser extent sea lions and elephant seals were widespread around the coast. They were an obvious prey for Māori. As the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster recorded, seal meat was ‘a most excellent & palatable food; by far more tender, juicy & delicate than beefstakes’.1 In addition, seal teeth were valuable for fish hooks. In the first two centuries of settlement, Māori were more often seal hunters than moa hunters. There is evidence of extensive sealing in the far north, Coromandel, Taranaki, Cook Strait, the Canterbury coast and the south from Waitaki to Fiordland.
First European sealers It was perhaps bad luck for seals that in 1773 Captain James Cook spent time in Dusky Sound, where numbers of fur seals still survived. Seal rushes Sealing in New Zealand revived after 1803 when the Bass Strait rookeries were exhausted. Decline How to cite this page: Whaling on Te Ara. For the first 40 years of the 19th century whaling was the most significant economic activity for Europeans in New Zealand – with the hunt first for sperm whales from visiting ships and then for right whales by shore-based whalers.
The pursuit had major consequences for Māori society. Some of New Zealand’s most important early European settlers were whalers. Whale products During these years whaling was an important industry worldwide. Whales were caught primarily for their oil, which was used to light city streets and lubricate machines. It was also used by cooks for frying food. The oil of sperm whales, the major prey for ships in the seas around New Zealand, was valued because it was odourless and could therefore be used indoors. The black or right whale, which became an important prey for shore and bay whalers from 1830, also offered whalebone or baleen, a form of keratin (the same material as human fingernails) which hangs in fringes inside its mouth. Grey gold Origins of ship whaling.
New Zealand Flax. Te Ara Article. First encounters European explorers visiting New Zealand in the 1700s quickly saw the possible uses of flax. Rope was then in demand for rigging on sailing ships and many other purposes. Māori demonstrated their skill in ‘dressing’ flax (stripping the fibre from the leaves). They made flax ropes for visiting ships and bartered flax and weaving for European goods. This exchange of products and skills helped bring Māori and Europeans into close contact with each other for the first time. Naming New Zealand flax Father and son botanists Johann and Georg Forster voyaged with explorer Captain James Cook in 1772–73.
Trade with Australia Sydney merchants showed an interest in flax fibre, and by the 1820s a trade began with Australia, peaking in the early 1830s. Effects on Māori society The Māori producers were not paid in cash but in goods – usually muskets. The trade declines The flax trade declined in the 1830s for several reasons. How to cite this page: Nancy Swarbrick. Short Film.
Marlborough's Flax Industry. Marlborough had perfect growing conditions and was noted for the excellent quality of its flax.1 Native flax (Harakeke/Phormium tenax) grew in swampy land and on the low foothills and by the 1870s, the province was a principal exporting district.2 The processed flax fibre was stacked in stooks and dried and bleached in the sun. Marlborough Historical Society - Marlborough Museum Archives . 0000.900.0815Click image to enlarge Native flax (Harakeke/Phormium tenax) grew throughout New Zealand and was used by Maori for a range of purposes. Maori were skilled in ‘dressing' flax (stripping fibre from the leaves) and bartered flax ropes and weaving for European goods.3 In the 1830s, Te Rauparaha and other Maori traded flax for muskets and gunpowder. The flax trade declined in the 1830s and it wasn't until the 1870s, that improved flax stripping technology and a rise in its overseas price, saw the industry revived.5 Gilbert Sixtus at the flax mill at Omaka Valley - part of the Goulter estate.