Pastures Past: 1930s calls to protect native forests from deer
During the same period, several parties in the South Island were actively engaged in shooting wild deer in…
Pastures Past: Kiwi family discovered on Northland farm in 1949
Kiwi chick progresses Young bird doubles its weight “Happy event” expected Hawke’s Bay Herald-Tribune, January 4, 1938 Since…
Pastures Past: The challenges facing New Zealand’s early bee keepers
Like other rural industries, they also faced economic pressures, changing regulations and the occasional natural disaster. These newspaper…
Pastures Past: Moa bone discoveries across New Zealand
Moa were known to Māori long before Europeans arrived, but the first European discoveries of moa bones in…
Pastures Past: NZ woollen mills at full capacity as wartime demand surges
Today, the industry has evolved from large-scale apparel production to highly specialised niche manufacturing and premium artisan yarns.…
Pastures Past: Life in New Zealand’s remote backblocks during the 1920s
Back in the 1920s, life in the backblocks was tough; families were desperately waiting for telephone poles so…
Pastures Past: Shearing pay disputes in New Zealand, 1910
It also introduced a curious note into what was otherwise a serious dispute. At the same time, the…
Pastures Past: When women kept New Zealand’s farms running in wartime
While some farmers were initially reluctant to accept women in these roles, as reported in the NZ Herald…
Pastures Past: Farmers and catchment boards clash over mānuka blight in 1949
They were concerned that eliminating the plant could worsen erosion and negatively affect river systems and surrounding landscapes.…
Year in Review: Pastures Past – Plague rats in New Zealand in 1900
However, New Zealand also had a brush with plague rats in 1900, as seen in the newspapers below.…
Pastures Past: How ticks tormented early farmers, their flocks and herds
In 1894, the New Zealand Mail quoted an Australian expert who said, “It has been said that ‘one…
Pastures Past: Waterwheels in New Zealand – how early mills powered farming life
In 1949, the Gisborne Herald reported on a turbine waterwheel which fell into German hands during World War…