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grading and formation of about 60 chains of Junction Boad beyond Tarata (by the unemployed). The road-felling was 1 chain wide, the cartway being grabbed 15ft. wide on the Junction Boad and 12ft. wide on the other roads. The formation was all 15ft. wide, and included drains and the necessary culverts. Waitara Bridge (£250). —A contract was let in March last for the erection of this bridge, at a cost of £939 15s. Progress payments have been made on material and work to £250. The total length of the bridge will be 161 ft., the main span will be 100 ft. Owing to the lateness of the season when the contract was let, the contractors have great difficulty in getting the timber to the site, as, after it has been brought to Inglewood from Palmerston (150 miles), it has to be carted 11 miles along a mud-road, which is now in a very bad state. The work consequently progresses but slowly, and the contract time will be exceeded. The bridge when completed will give access to over 20,000 acres of Crown lands eastward of Waitara-Ngatimaru, which would otherwise have been inaccessible for settlement purposes, but which is now being rapidly taken up, and will be quickly settled after the bridge is completed. Roads east of Midhirst (£1.83 10s. 3d.). —Opens up about 2,000 acres in Block X., Huiroa District. The work includes the felling of over a mile of the Croydon Eoad, and the clearing, grading, culverting, and forming of If miles of the same road; also the excavation of two tunnels and some formation on the Cross Eoad. r The felling was done 1 chain wide, and the cartway was grubbed and levelled 12ft. wide. The formation was of a width of 12ft. The tunnels were excavated through rock, and were 7ft. high by sft. wide, and were made to obviate the necessity of building a small bridge. Egviont Road (£92 155.).' —This was the final payment for completing the formation of the road from Egmont Village to Mount Egmont Forest Eeserve. The work was completed prior to the 30th June, 1887, but the final payment was not made until the 16th July. Roads east of Stratford (£l5l 6s. 5d.). —This was for the felling of 1-J miles of the Campbell Eoad and about ly miles of the Mangawhero Eoad, both in Block XIV., Ngairo District. The road in each case was felled 1 chain wide, and the cartway was cleared and stumped 12ft. wide. The work gave access to about 1,000 acres in Blocks X. and XIV., Ngaire District, and also benefited the kinds- eastward of Mangimangi Stream, and which have recently been sold. Native Trust Blocks (£634 13s. Id.). —This includes the felling and clearing of about 60 chains, and the draining and formation of about 25 chains, Nauru Eoad, Opunake; also the formation, draining, and culverting of 3-J- miles of Waiteika Eoad, Opunake ; the formation in each case being 12ft. wide ; also the completion of the grading, culverting, and formation 20ft. wide of the Kahui Eoad, Opunake. The latter road leads to about 8,000 acres of Crown lands lying between the back line of the Parihaka Native Eeserve and the Mount Egmont Forest Eeserve, the land being of fair quality. Eltham Road (£436 3s. 10d.). —This expenditure includes part of the cost of the erection of the Mangahumi and. Taungatara Bridges (of a total length of 124 ft.) and the screwing up and painting the bridges about ten months after their erection; also the completion of 1 mile 35 chains of Eltham Eoad between Taungatara Stream and Punehu Village Settlement; also the maintenance of the metalled road from the Main South Eoad, Opunake, to Punehu Village Settlement, over 6 miles. Bush Land inland of Patea (£94 65.). —This payment was for the completion of the felling of Kawaiti Eoad, Opaku District. The felling was done the usual width of 1 chain, and the cartway cleared and stumped 12ft. wide. The total cost of roadwork for the year, including sundries, material, day labour, overseer, &c, was £3,479 15s. Bd., for which a comparatively large amount of work has been done, as the contracts have invariably been taken at very low rates. The works at present in hand are the formation, culverting, and draining of about 3-J miles of Eltham Eoad (five contracts), from Punehu Village Settlement to AuroaEoad; the erection of a cart-bridge over the Otiri Stream, Eltham Eoad ; the felling a portion of Arawhata Eoad, Opunake ; the grading and formation of part of Waiteika Eoad, Opunake; the formation of about 3 miles of Junction Eoad, Ngatimaru (nine contracts) ; the felling of portions of the Eotokare, Mangawhero, Meremere, and Allen Eoads (ten contracts), in the Ngaire and Hawera Districts ; and the erection of the bridge over the Waitara Eiver at Tarata. The survey of the block of land lying eastwards of Blocks IV., Huiroa, and XVI., Waitara, being now completed, I would strongly recommend the felling of the main road, Junction Eoad, through the block, about 7 miles, before the land is offered for sale. It gives intending purchasers a better opportunity of finding the various sections, and enables them to form a more correct idea of the features of the country. G. S. Eobinson.

WELLINGTON. Maungaharetu.— -The road party, under Mr. A. D. Wilson's supervision, formed about 5 miles of Hale's Line as a horse-road sft. wide, felling the bush 66ft. wide, and stumping and clearing the central part; the whole length of the road, about 7 miles, was also maintained, the total cost being £850. With the exception of a gap now being completed, this carries the road to beyond Trig. Station E, Bun No. 41. The area of Crown lands immediately benefited is estimated at 24,000 acres. The Wangaehu Eoad Board, having completed the road as far as Mangamaku, were paid the balance (£5O) due to them. Feild's Wanganui-Murimotu Road. —Mr. John Annabell reports that the road party cleared scrub on 6 miles of this road, maintained the whole length of 30 miles as well as such a small party could, besides felling 35 chains 66ft. wide, forming 5 chains 4ft. wide, and constructing six small bridges and ten culverts. Two contracts, Nos. 50 and 53, have been let for the felling, stumping, and clearing of 240 chains of this road next the completed work at the Murimotu end, to cost