THE CANTERBURY PLAINS, with the surrounding downs, contain considerable areas of fertile soil which constitute the chief agri cultural districts of New Zealand. With the aid of irrigation from the rivers, large returns can be obtained, and over two-thirds of the wheat and more than one-half of the total grain crop of the Dominion are produced here. The wheat is softer than that of Australia, and not so suitable for milling purposes ; but the yield per acre is much higher and averages about thirty bushels, while it is said that one hundred bushels can sometimes be obtained under the most favourable conditions.
Pastoral farming is of great importance and large areas are kept under grass, but much of the native tussock has been mixed with, or replaced by, English forage plants. Until the early 'eighties, the production of wool was here, as elsewhere in New Zealand, the chief object of the pastoralist, but about that time the develop ment of refrigerating apparatus brought into existence the trade in frozen mutton. This has led to an important change in the
character of the flocks. The merino sheep, which had hitherto been almost exclusively raised, proved unacceptable on the British market, and its place was taken, on the richer lowlying hills and plains, by crosses between it and Leicesters, Lincoln, Romney Marshes, and other breeds, to serve the double object of producing a good wool and providing fat mutton. On the higher lands, where the native grass is not suitable for fattening purposes, the merino is still supreme.
Banks Peninsula, a volcanic region with rich fertile soil, is devoted to dairy-farming, and produces large quantities of butter and cheese. Christchurch is the chief town on the Canterbury Plains, and Lyttelton, eight miles distant, is its port.