The pastoral and agricultural industries have been hampered by fluctuations in the value of the currency, farm products being sold at a gold value for the equivalent in paper, while labourers are paid in currency.
The constant fluctuations in the value of the currency, then much depreciated, intensified the distress and complicated the situation.
This, however, was not the case, for a fairly uniform decrease in the barley area was accompanied by somewhat irregular fluctuations in the acreage of oats.
The exports dwindled from 3600 bales in 1865 to 946 in 1905; great fluctuations occur, the export in 1904, for example, being only 338 bales.
The level of the lake is subject to seasonal fluctuations, reaching a maximum in midsummer and a minimum in February, as well as to alternating cycles of years of high and low water.
