Those of us who get annoyed by white butterfly caterpillars on our cabbages or broccoli may want to spare a thought for pastoral or crop farmers of the late 19th and early 20th century in New Zealand. Some caterpillars were of such plague proportions that on occasion, trains were brought to a screaming (or perhaps more squishy) halt by armies of caterpillars with their sights on a particularly tasty-looking field of wheat or oats. (more…)
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Archived Posts from this Category
March 27, 2013
Caterpillars stop train!
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: biological control, DSIR, farming, pests, Ross Galbreath, science history |Leave a Comment
March 25, 2013
How a beach stroll can be a journey of archaeological discovery
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: archaeology, G.L. Adkin, Kapiti Coast, Maori, Peter Beckett, Raumati South, sand dunes, shellfish |Leave a Comment
A view of the beach at Raumati South, looking north-west towards Kapiti Island
Generally, when we go for a stroll on the beach, our gaze tends to fall towards the sea, rather than inland. But sometimes it pays to turn our gaze towards the dune landscape too, as dunes sometimes harbour treasure troves of environmental history – in the form of middens. (more…)
March 10, 2013
Review: Home in the Howling Wilderness
Posted by envirohistorynz under book review, commentary | Tags: book review, Environmental History, historical geograhphy, Home in the Howling Wilderness, Peter Holland, Ron Johnston, South Island |Leave a Comment
Peter Holland’s recently published Home in the Howling Wilderness is a valuable addition to the repository of literature and knowledge relating to New Zealand’s environmental history.
Holland, Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Otago, focuses on the first half century of organised settlement (1840 to 1890) of the lower South Island of New Zealand.
He has meticulously researched the ways in which early settlers learned about, and responded to the challenges of this unfamiliar environment, drawing on farmers’ dairies, letter books, ledgers, newspaper articles and other available sources. (more…)
February 16, 2013
Hay-making on the Horowhenua terracelands
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: farming, flaxmilling, Horowhenua, river terraces, Shannon |Leave a Comment
Hay bales in fields just south of Shannon, Horowhenua. Photo: C. Knight
This shot, taken just south of Shannon, looks west across the terracelands above the Manawatu River as it meanders out to the Tasman Sea. Click here for map. (more…)
February 10, 2013
Upper Pohangina Valley farmscape
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: Apiti, Environmental History, farming, Manawatu, Piripiri, Pohangina Valley |[2] Comments
Farmscape near Piripiri in the upper Pohangina Valley. Photo: C. Knight
On the same trip on which we met the “horse for sale” (see previous post), we also passed through the Pohangina Valley, travelling from north to south.
Like Apiti, the upper Pohangina Valley is characterised by small settlements which are often more evident on the map than they are in reality: places such as Utuwai, Umutoi and Komako. Looking at early survey plans, it appears that the vision for these places was somewhat more substantial than what eventuated. (more…)
February 6, 2013
Horse anyone? – Exploring the upper limits of the Manawatu
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: Ahuaturanga Block, Apiti, horses, Manawatu, Rangitane, sawmill |1 Comment
It was actually the Apiti shack, rather than the horse, for sale. Judging from the state of both the shack and this sign itself, it had been for sale for quite a while. (The horse proved very congenial, so would not have made a bad purchase in itself). Photo: C. Knight
I know Apiti as the small settlement located at the upper limit of the Ahuaturanga (or Upper Manawatu) block, purchased from its Rangitane owners by the government in 1864.
While I had read about it, until today, I had never been to Apiti [click here to view location]. (more…)
February 5, 2013
Cameron Blockhouse: a strategic view of the landscape
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: Cameron Blockhouse, New Zealand Land Wars, Rangitane, Wanganui |1 Comment
Cameron Blockhouse, overlooking the valley to the north. Photo: C. Knight
Anyone with even a passing interest in Maori history will have recognised the ability of Maori to select sites in the landscape that afforded them both a defensive and strategic advantage over any advancing enemy tribes. Often sites were at the top of cliffs, with sweeping views over plains and down river valleys, frequently bordered on at least one side by a river, which acted as a natural moat. Within the Manawatu, for example, the Rangitane pa sites Otangaki (Ashhurst) and Te Motu o Poutoa (Anzac Park) were examples of sites that took advantage of such geographical features. (more…)
January 18, 2013
Ashhurst wetland: the restoration of the wetland that wasn’t
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: archaeological site, Ashhurst, J. T. Stewart, Manawatu, Manawatu River, Otangaki, pa, Pohangina River, Rangitane |1 Comment
Wetlands below Ashhurst Domain, on a site that was once the course of the Pohangina River
Though we often hear about wetland restoration projects, the Ashhurst wetland, on the river flats below the Ashhurst Domain [click here to view location] is not a case of “restoration” in the normal sense. (more…)
January 17, 2013
Dear’s Bush – a rare relic of Manawatu swamp forest
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: kahikatea, Manawatu, Rangitikei River, Rongotea, swamp forest |[3] Comments
George Dear standing on the “bridge” across Maire stream, which runs through one block of the bush preserved by his grandfather in the 1870s.
A few days ago, I had the privilege of visiting a piece of remnant forest on the plains between Manawatu and Rangitikei Rivers [click here to view location]. The bush was set aside by George Dear, an immigrant from Bedfordshire, England, who became one of the first settlers in the Rongotea district. (more…)
May 11, 2013
The effect of personal memory on environmental consciousness
Posted by envirohistorynz under commentary | Tags: afforestation, Cyclone Bola, deforestation, Environmental History, erosion, farming, floods, hill-country, New Zealand, storm |[2] Comments
One of many scenes of devastation in the aftermath of Cyclone Bola.
I have often wondered why I am so interested in the link between deforestation, flooding and erosion. I put it down to my love of forested environments, and therefore my interest in the history of these environments. But it has occurred to me that it is perhaps more than this – that it relates also to personal memory, of an event in the environmental history of my lifetime.
That event was Cyclone Bola, which hit the east coast of the North Island in March 1988, when I was a teenager. (more…)
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