The influence of physical factors on the pastoral production of the Manawatu lowland.

Abstract

The area studied in this paper lies between the Manawatu and Oroua Rivers, and is generally referred to as the Manawatu Lowland, or Plain. It is not chosen as a geographic unit with strict boundaries, though it can clain in some cases to be thus defined, Convenience and economy are the factors governing the area cited. Two of its boundaries have been mentioned and the third is the Palmerston North city boundary with its continuation as the main North Trunk railway line through Bunnythorpe. The Oroua River, in its lower reaches divides it off from the coastal sand dune belt, and in its upper reaches, from the marine clays of the Feilding anticline.