NEW ZEALAND YEAR-BOOK.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 February 1932, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND YEAR-BOOK.

FEATURES OF THE 1932 EDITION.

The new form of economic pressure, ■which makes itself severely felt in affairs of government as Avell as of commerce and industry, has exerted some of its force on the Official Year - Book of the Dominion, the 1932 edition of which has about 150 pages less than its immediate predecessor. This curtailment;, however, does not involve an equivalent loss of quality, as careful consideration has been given to condensation, and the value of the publication has not been greatly impaired. The section- dealing with prices Was been revised by the modernising of the base period to which index numbers of retail prices are related, and 'by the application of data derived from the household budget inquiry of 1930. Another section, that treating of employment and unemployment, has been recast. A new contribution to this issue is an article on climate by Dr. E. Kidson, Director of Meterological Services; and very comprehensive and interesting it is. Various features of the weather which are regarded by the layman as vagaries, are here explained, and in easily accepted terms. A climatic sumlmary is -given of 1930, one of the coldest and driest years on record, and comparisons with some previous yqars noted for these characteristics are given. The article on seismology, by Dr. C. E. Adiams, Government Astronomer, and Dr. J. Henderson, Director of the Geological Survey, has been revised, and added to it is' useful information connected Avith the Hawke J s Bay earthquake of February 3rd, 1931, the intensity of Avhich reached R.F. 10 at Napier, Hastings and M-ohaka and only one degree less at Te Ante, WaipaAva and Waipukurau. The descriptive and statistical sections of the Year-Book are all of great worth, and .the volume again contains as a supplement a map of Ncav Zealand, Avhich appeared for the first time last year. As a Dominion Avork of reference, the book is indispensable.