Home in the howling wilderness : settlers and the environment in Southern New Zealand / Peter Holland.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holland, Peter, 1939-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agriculture--New Zealand--South Island--History--19th century.

Agriculture.

Colonists--New Zealand--South Island.

Colonists.

Human ecology--New Zealand--South Island.

Human ecology.

Nature--Effect of human beings on--New Zealand--South Island.

Nature.

South Island (N.Z.)--Environmental conditions.

South Island (N.Z.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (263 p.)

Place of Publication:

Auckland, New Zealand : Auckland University Press, 2013.

Summary:

During the nineteenth century European settlers transformed the environment of New Zealand's South Island. They diverted streams and drained marshes, burned native vegetation and planted hedges and grasses, stocked farms with sheep and cattle and poured on fertiliser. In Home in the Howling Wilderness Peter Holland undertakes a deep history of that settlement to answer key questions about New Zealand's ecological transformation. Did the settlers pursue farming regardless of the ecological consequences? Did they impose European plants, animals and farming methods on a very different enviro

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Acknowledgements; INTRODUCTION: The New Land: Imagined from Afar, Experienced at First Hand; ONE: Maori Environmental Knowledge: An Imperfectly Realised Resource; TWO: Settlers Learning about Wind, Warmth and Rain; THREE: Exceptional Challenges: Flood and Drought, Ice and Snow; FOUR: Away with the Old: What Place for Native Plants and Animals?; FIVE: In with the New: Introduced Plants and Grazing Animals; SIX: Emerging Environmental Problems: Erosion and Declining Soil Fertility, Pest Animals and Weedy Plants

SEVEN: Opportunities to See, Hear and Compare: Meetings, Sales, Competitions and ExhibitionsEIGHT: Rural People Continuing to Learn about their Environments; APPENDIX: Words about Home: Diaries and Letters, Commercial Transactions, Newspapers and Magazines; Notes; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (page 236-243) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-86940-781-4

1-77558-497-6

OCLC:

863822575