New Zealand
Webster's Dictionary [1]
A group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
Soil, Climate, and Productions. — Of the whole surface extent of New Zealand (nearly 70,000,000 acres, little short of the combined area of England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland), one fourth is estimated to consist of dense forest tracts, one half of excellent soil, and the remainder of waste lands, scoriae-hills, and rugged mountain regions. The mountains are mostly clothed with evergreen forests of luxuriant growth, interspersed with fern-clad ranges, and occasionally with treeless, grassy plains. Extensive and rich valleys and sheltered dales abound in North Island; and in the east of South Island there are many expansive plains of rich meadowland, and nearly 40,000,000 acres are estimated to be more or less suitable for agriculture and cattle-breeding. The soil, although often clay, has in the volcanic districts more than a medium fertility; but the luxuriant and semi-tropical vegetation is perhaps as much due to excellence of climate as to richness of soil. Owing to the prevalence of light and easily worked soils, all agricultural processes are performed with unusual ease. The climate is one of the finest in the world. The country contains few physical sources of disease; the average temperature is remarkably even at all seasons of the year, and the atmosphere is continually agitated and freshened by winds that blow over an immense expanse of ocean. In North Island the mean annual temperature is 57 ° ; in South Island 52 ° . The mean temperature of the hottest month at Auckland is 68 ° , and at Otago 58 ° ; of the coldest month, 51 ° and 40 ° . The air is very humid, and the fall of rain is greater than in England, but there are more dry days. All the native trees and plants are evergreens. Forests, shrubberies, and plains are clothed in green throughout the year, the results of which are that cattle, as a rule, browse on the herbage and shrubs of the open country all the year round, thus saving great expense to the cattle-breeder; and that the operations of reclaiming and cultivating land can be carried on at all seasons. The seasons in New Zealand are the reverse of ours: January is their hottest month, and June the coldest. The principal products of the soil are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and sown grass. Maize and beans and pease are also raised in great abundance, and any other vegetable, grain, grass, or fruit produced in the United States of America can be cultivated successfully in New Zealand. With the exception of a few harmless lizards, no animals that annoy or hurt are encountered by the invading European. The small species of rat is the only objectionable four-footed inhabitant of New Zealand. Hawks are numerous. Snakes are not to be found at all, nor do insects that worry or hurt abound. The pig, introduced by Cook, runs wild, and the red and fallow deer, the pheasant, partridge, quail, etc., and the common domestic animals introduced by colonists thrive well. Copyright StatementThese files are public domain. Bibliography InformationMcClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'New Zealand'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiast
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [3]
Of which 42 are Maories), a British island colony in the South Pacific, lying wholly within the temperate zone, 1200 m. E. of Australia; comprises North Island (45,000 sq. m.), South or Middle Island (58,000 sq. m.), Stewart Island (much smaller), and a number of islets; total area considerably more than that of Great Britain. The two main islands, separated by Cook Strait, are in no part broader than 150 m., and are traversed from end to end by a great and partly volcanic mountain chain, the range in South Island being known as the Southern Alps (highest peak Mount Cook, 12,350 ft), and that in North Island as the Ruahine Range and the Tararua Mountains; everywhere rivers abound, Waikato (North Island) and Clutha (South Island) being the largest; numerous lakes (Lake Taupo, six times the size of Loch Lomond), fertile valleys, and well-grassed plains, together with the mountains, make up a beautiful and diversified surface, which much resembles that of Scotland, while the climate, temperate and healthy, is warmer and more equable than in Great Britain; almost all the animals have been imported, as well as the grains and fruits; great forests of indigenous kauri pines, however, exist; sheep-farming, agriculture, and mining (gold and coal) are the chief industries, wool being the chief export; Auckland, the largest, and Wellington, the capital, in North Island, and Dunedin and Christchurch in South Island, are the chief towns; Government is vested in a Crown-appointed Governor, an Executive Ministry, and a Parliament of two Chambers; education is free, secular, and compulsory, but no State aid is given to any form of religion; discovered in 1642 by Tasman, the islands were first surveyed by Cook in 1769; their formal cession to the British crown took place in 1840.
