From the 1840s through World War I, the South Island of New Zealand was transformed as large tracts of land were claimed, native vegetation was burned, and large-scale sheep farming was established for wool and, later, meat production. This record focuses on one case study in particular-John Barton Acland and the Mt Peel Station in South Canterbury, New Zealand-to explain how the pastoralists modified their environment. Providing ample insight into the farmers' world, from the sheep they bred to the rabbits, droughts, and floods they fought, this history is a sweeping portrait of the economic and ecological transformation of New Zealand.
