 Gum-digging was the major source of income for settlers in Northland, and farmers often worked the gumfields in the winter months to subsidise the poor income from their unbroken land. By the 1890s, 20,000 people were engaged in gum-digging, of which 7000 worked full-time. Gum-digging was not restricted to settlers or workers in the rural areas; Auckland families would cross the Waitemata Harbour by ferry at weekends to dig in the fields around Birkenhead, causing damage to public roads and private farms, and leading to local council management of the problem.
