Page:Ashburton•Scotter•1972.pdf/21

I welcome this opportunity to express to Dr. Scotter our appreciation of the time, energy and research that he has put into this work.

I feel sure that this publication will provide a worthy addition to the many local histories published over the years. Above all it will preserve for future generations a record of the hopes, the courage, the fortitude and the planning of the early settlers.

Ashburton has been readily described as Canterbury’s leading agricultural county. It is a district capable of wide diversification in its farming pursuits, and even at this date new horizons open with the prospect of large scale irrigation projects.

Much has been done and much remains to be done, and I am grateful to Dr. Scotter for his accurate history of that which has been accomplished.