ABSTRACT
The climatic and disease environments of the colonies, in particular, were rarely anticipated and the limitations which they placed upon European-style farming regimes were only evaluated through an extended process of trial and error. The basic building block of British overseas rural settlement schemes was the family farm, held on freehold or other inheritable tenure. European farmers who settled in the colonies attempted almost universally to recreate the rural landscapes and economies of Europe. A significant departure from the colonial pattern was the evolution of the extensive grazing farm. The main objectives of Australian, and indeed most commercial pastoral farmers, were the raising of cattle and sheep for the meat trade and the production of wool, mohair and other by-products for the textile trade. Southern African frontier farmers retained only tenuous links with the colonial economy, and limited trade, owing to the distances and difficulties in communication.
