At the census of 1886 there were in New Zealand 65,178 persons engaged in agricultura! and pastoral pursuits, of whom 22,699 were farmers, 10,984 relatives assisting on farms, 13,996 farm labourers, 828 runholders, and 4,577 station hands. The acreage and produce for each of the principal crops are given as follows: : 1886 173,891: 4,242 24:40||323,483 45,818 1-13 79,103 1:37 1:48 8,603 26:11|| 34,603 897 25-92 40,304 1887 253,025 6,297 24-89 337,228 11,973 30-92 21,535 558 25-94 57,938 1888 357,359 9,424 26-37 335,474 10,512 31-24 27,912 761 27 26 67,812 1889 362,153 8,770 24-22 367,225 10,977 29-89 45,027 1,402 31-15 50,656 1890 335,861 8,448 25-15|426,071 13,673 32-10|| 42,402 1,342 3167 45,889 65,476 1:43 100,507 71,296 1:41 The production of butter for the year 1885 amounted to 12,170,964 lbs., and that of cheese to 4,594,795 lbs., since which time there has been a great increase, The live stock of the colony consisted in March 1886 of 187,382 horses, 853,358 cattle, 16,580,388 sheep, 278,669 pigs, and 1,679,021 head of poultry. The greatest increase of live stock in recent years has been in sheep. They numbered in 1858, 1,523,324; 1864, 4,937,273; 1871, 9,700,629 1874, 11,704,853; 1886, 16,580,388. The following table shows the statistics of the leading manufactories and works in the colony : The woollen mill industry is extending. The quantity of wool used at the mills was 3,556,004 lbs. in 1889, 4,079,563 lbs. in 1888, and 2,001,155 Ibs. in the previous year. The meat freezing has largely developed (see Exports). PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRY-COMMERCE 257 II. MINES AND MINERALS. The following table shows the quantity and value of minerals produced for ten years ending December 31, 1889. 1880 20,005 4,500 188118,885 4,236 1883 16,826 3,785 31 1884 24.914 5,125 612 2,611 10,423299,923 149,961 4,725 242,817 | 305,248 1,227,252 2 24 1,271 3,283 337,262 168,631 5,461 253,788 270,561 1,080,790 1882 5,694 1,286 30 900 2,181 6,963 378,272 189,136 5,533 260,369 251,204 1,002.720 804 384 1,155 421,764 210,882 6,518 336,606 248,374 318 809 480,831 240,416 6,393 | 342,151 | 229,946 602 1,716 511,063 255,531 5,876 299,770 237,371 1,316 531,353 267,176 4,920 | 257,653 227,079 895 558,620 279,310 6,791 362,449 203,869 2,404 613,895 306,947 8,482 389,933 201.219 2,569 586,445 293,222 7,519 329,590 203,211 328 188516,624 3,169 666 5,289 993,352 921,797 918,615 903,569 811,100 801.066 808,549 Commerce. Only a small proportion of the imports are admitted duty. free. Nearly all classes of imports are taxed. Luxuries, such as spirits, wine, and tobacco, are highly rated. For a very large number of dutiable articles (including clothing) other than these the rates of duty are 25, 20, and 15 per cent. There is a primage duty of 1 per cent. on all imports besides these charges. The value of the trade is shown in the accompanying table : The values of the principal imports and exports in 1889 are shown in the following table : The expansion of the export trade in wool, grain, frozen meat, kauri gum, and timber, in the last four decennial periods, and in 1889, for the first three items, has been very considerable, as shown in the following table :— It In 1857 the export of gold was 10,436 oz., valued at 40.4421. rose to 628,450 oz., value 2,431,7237., in 1863. In 1881 the export had fallen to 250,683 oz, value 996,8677.; and in 1889, to 197,492 oz., value 785,4901. The total value of gold entered for export from the colony to December 31, 1889, was 45,652,1911. Most of the mining is done on Government land. The following table shows the value of trade with the leading countries, 1885-89 : United Kingdom 4,481,101 4,173,497 5,725,624 4,126,311| |4,587,434 4,847,413 5,708,517 6,559,682 Australian Colonies 1,317,376 1,030,094 1,218,593 1,107,132 1,705,834 1,457,782 1,563,130 2,145,671 Pacific Islands. India China Mauritius United States 85,882 141,704 142,175 153,344 121,580 107,453 172,306 204,373, 170,044 156,623 183,049 111,621 118,758 100,464 90,496 129,943 337,322 298,736 323,069 342,436 126,950 236,944 86,588 121,937| 104,749 93,528 120,881 144,564 16,394 12,973 15,423 19,907 46,717 18,479 74,852 The commercial intercourse between New Zealand and the United Kingdom is shown in the following table according to the Board of Trade Returns for each of the five years 1885–89 : N. Zealand 5,137,300 4,717,465 5,737,364 5,920,774 6,752,260 Imports of British produce. 3,901,070 3,306,806 3,054,849 2,992,006 3,194,587 The principal exports to the United Kingdom in 1889 were: wheat 277,3501., fresh mutton 1,206,3267., wool 3,910,4927., gum 138,2107., hemp 249,5257.; the chief imports from the United Kingdom were apparel and haberdashery 362,0857., cottons 400,2847., iron (wrought and unwrought) 412,9197., woollens 293,8371. The total trade (imports and exports) for five years at each of the principal ports is given as follows: Shipping and Navigation. The following statistics show the shipping inwards and outwards for five years: 1887 597 489,754 467,387 653 1888 570 456,237 683 526,435 687 524,874 701 1889 627 501,004 781 602,634 734 577,087 762 593,252 605 455,787 675 493.583 531,478 Of the vessels entered inwards in 1889, 158 of 206,825 tons were British; 547 of 319,131 tons colonial; and 76 of 76,678 tons foreign. Of vessels outwards, 160 of 211,872 tons were British; 527 of 307,083 tons colonial; and 75 of 74,297 tons foreign. For the year 1889, the shipping at five principal ports was as under : In 1889 the registered vessels of the colony engaged in both foreign and coasting trade numbered 448 of 62,758 tons, manned by 3,418 men and boys. Internal Communications. RAILWAYS. On March 31, 1890, there were 672 miles of Government railways open for traffic in the North Island, and 1,137 in the Middle Island, besides 103 miles of private lines-1,912 miles in all. For that year the revenue from Government railways was 1,095,5697., and the expenditure 682,7871., surplus 412,7827., the expenditure being 62.32 per cent. of revenue. The total expenditure on construction of all the Government lines to March 31, 1890, had amounted to 15,085,000l. In 1889-90 the tonnage of goods carried answered to 2,073,955, and the passengers numbered 3,376,459. The private line of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company is 84 miles long. It cost 737,3777. The gross earnings from traffic are 67,1671., and traffic working expenses 23,3397. All the chief towns of the colony are provided with tramway systems worked by horses, steam-motors, or cables. |