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WE ARE CELEBRATING OUR 100TH EDITION BY TAKING A LOOK AT WHAT WAS HAPPENING 100 YEARS AGO HERE IN NZ formed their own group, the Māori Women’s Institute, in 1929. They were associated with the Country Women's Institute and focused on welfare and social concerns. Māori knowledge was disseminated in Home and Country magazine, which regularly published articles on traditional arts and crafts, and the medicinal properties of plants. By 1937 there were 40 Māori Women's institutes.
EDUCATION -
The Department of Education widened the primary school curriculum between 1899 and 1915 to include practical courses, such as science and agriculture. However, by 1920 the teaching of agriculture had declined. To try and encourage interest in farming among children, boys' and girls’ agricultural clubs were established in schools and some stayed active until the 1950’s. Prior to 1900 most children did not progress beyond primary school. In rural areas there were often few local secondary schools but the development of district high schools made secondary education more accessible. The first school in New Zealand to teach practical agriculture was Rangiora High, following their purchase of a school farm in 1920. In 1922 the Department of Education established Feilding Agricultural High School, which also had a farm attached. By the 1950s a number of secondary schools ran agricultural courses and had farms of varying sizes, but these were a minority.
Do you think that agriculture should be taught in NZ primary schools now? Why or why not?
NZ WOMEN'S INSTITUTE The New Zealand Country Women's Institute was largely the work of Bessie Spencer, who farmed fruit and honey in Napier. She was introduced to the Women's Institute movement at a handcraft fair in London. She formed the Rissington Women’s Institute in 1921. In 1922 a second institute was founded at Norsewood. Māori women
Tomoana freezing works in Hawkes Bay had a daily kill capacity of four thousand head of sheep plus one hundred cattle.
Can you find out what the daily capacity is at your local processing plant? (at usual levels and currently with staff absenteeism at high levels due to restrictions related to omicron)
TRADE -
By contrast, Britain took more than 80% of New Zealand exports in 1920. Of the country’s four main exports – frozen meat, butter, cheese and wool – only wool went to a variety of markets.
In 1929 white clover trials were conducted in Palmerston North.
In 1922 there was a major rebuild at Tomoana. A new four-storey slaughter house block was built using reinforced concrete, and the new block was completed in 1924. And upon completion of that work a number of other things happened around the plant, for example, the Works Fire Brigade was formed. Railway sidings were put in right around the plant, not only to receive
Crown became the sole buyer and seller of New Zealand wool; this was all at a fixed price and became known as the Commandeer. In 1920 the Commandeer ended, the United Kingdom had 800,000 bales of New Zealand wool along with other wool unsold in store. To sell the unsold wool without upsetting the market the British Australian Wool Realisation Association Limited (BAWRA) was created who successfully sold all of the wool between 1921 and 1924. Between World War 1 and World War 2 sheep numbers in New Zealand increased but the wool price decreased significantly. Go to https://teara.govt. nz/en/interactive/16621/ sheep-numbers-innew-zealand-1851-2014 and have a look at the number of sheep in New Zealand from 1851-2014.
How many sheep were in New Zealand in 1922? How many sheep are in New Zealand now (in 2022)?
Why did grassland specialists of the time believe that white clover would be beneficial and work well in NZ? (Hint: The reasons are still why it is widely used today).
Dairy Cattle Numbers
What are our main agricultural exports in the 2020’s?
WOOL - Between 1916 and 1920 the
What processing plant is closest to your school or home? When was your local processing plant built? How is stock transported today?
IMPROVING PASTURES
Do you have a local women’s institute where you live? If so, what is it called? What does your local women’s institute do? From the 1870s until the 1950s New Zealand’s trade focused on Britain, and its economic ties with other countries waned. New Zealand’s trade with Australia and the US shrank. Australia took 20% of New Zealand’s exports in 1880, but by 1920 it had shrunk to 5%. A trade agreement with the new Australian Commonwealth was not signed until 1922.
livestock, but also to consign product to the Napier port. The railway wagons were pushed around the plant … or pulled around the plant … by horses in those days, and the first steam locomotive came to the plant in 1931.
Have a go: 1
How do numbers compare in 2005 to 1905?
2 Do you think numbers have increased further since 2005?
d a ir y c o w s ( mil l i o n s )
The 1920’s were just after the end of the first world war. At the end of the First World War, government policy was to rehabilitate servicemen by settling them on farms. The government bought land for this purpose or gave soldiers cheap loans to buy their own farms. The scheme triggered a sharp increase in land values, and when prices for farm produce fell in the early 1920s, some ‘rehab’ farmers who were unable to cover their mortgage or rent were forced off their land. Improvements in transportation and communication in the early 1920’s helped to reduce the isolation of rural communities and the cost of transporting produce.
MEAT PRODUCTION - By 1917
3 List everything you can think of that may be different in dairy farming today compared to 1920.
year
STRETCH YOURSELF: 1
The number of dairy cattle (including animals not in milk, and bulls for breeding) increased steadily in the early years of the 20th century as mechanisation and transport improved. How/why do you think this increased dairy cattle numbers?
2 Numbers remained relatively static from the depression years of the 1930s through the Second World War, until the mid-1970s. Between 1975 and 2005 increased fertiliser use, better pasture species, and expansion of dairying in the South Island all contributed to a steady increase in dairy cattle numbers. How did fertiliser help increase cattle numbers? 3 By 2005 dairying brought in about 20% of New Zealand’s total export earnings. Do some research, how much does dairying contribute to export earnings now?
Kiwi’s have been leaders in the dairy industry from the very start. Did you know a Kiwi farmer, Norman Daysh, invented the vacuum pump milking machine which revolutionised the industry. In 1913 Norman travelled to New York to find a company to take his concepts further. In 1917, De Laval commercially launched the idea and introduced it to the world. The idea has remained relatively unchanged since! 1
What would the benefits have been from the use of a vacuum pump compared to milking cows by hand?
2 Do some research, when were the concepts of the herringbone and rotary milking sheds invented?