THE FARMER’S CUTTING EDGE IN SOUTHERN NEW ZEALAND, 1864–19141

Abstract

As a local node in an expanding global network, the agricultural implement makers Reid & Gray played a pivotal role in collaborations between 2 sets of actors: farmers and iron workers. Order books and correspondence identify suppliers of the Dunedin foundry and their strategies for adapting the horse‑drawn plough to the requirements of a farming frontier. Between the colonial frontier and metropolitan centres, the firm relayed observations of ploughmen, landowners, blacksmiths, moulders and mechanical engineers. The flow of information back and forth across this network was essential to the rapid increase of agro‑pastoral productivity in the region. The environmental challenge stimulated innovations that accelerated irreversible changes in the landscape.