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SUPPLEMENTAEY COMMISSION. Wμ. F. Dbummond Jeevois, Governor. To all to whom these presents shall come, and to David McMillan, Michael Mubphy, and Henby Ovebton, Esquires, greeting. .Wheeeas by a Commission bearing date the twenty-third day of October last you, the said David McMillan, Michael Murphy, and Henry Overtoil, were appointed to be Commissioners for the purposes and with the powers in the said Commission more particularly mentioned : And whereas by the said Commission you were directed and required to report to me on or before the thirty-first day of December then next ensuing your proceedings and your opinion touching the matters mentioned therein : And whereas it is expedient that the said period should be extended as hereinafter provided: Now, therefore, I, William Francis Drummond Jervois, the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council thereof, and in exercise and pursuance of every power and authority enabling me in this behalf, do hereby extend the period within which you shall (using all diligence) report to me as by the said Commission provided to the twenty-eighth day of February next: And with the like advice and consent, and in further pursuance and exercise of the said power and authority, I do hereby confirm the said Commission except as altered by these presents. Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir William Francis Drammond Jervois, Lieutenant-General in Her Majesty's army. Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies and Vice-Admiral of the same, at the Government House at Wellington, this eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eightyeight. FOESTEB GOEING, Clerk of the Executive Council. EEPOET. To His Excellency Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, K.C.M.G., C.8., &c, Governor of New Zealand. May it please youb Excellency,— We, the Commissioners appointed by your Excellency on the twenty-third day of October, 1888, to report upon the School of Agriculture at Lincoln, in the Provincial District of Canterbury, humbly submit to your Excellency the following report:—■ The scope of the inquiry was defined by our Commission as follows : "To inquire whether the said School of Agriculture is so managed as to answer to the fullest extent the purposes for which it was established, . . . generally to make recommendations regarding the future good government of the institution." Through the courtesy of Mr. Baker, Chief Surveyor, we were furnished with the use of an office in the old Provincial Government Buildings at Christchurch. Our first meeting was held on the 19th November, 1888, when we arranged the plans of our future proceedings. Considering the great importance of the task we had before us, entailing a large amount of accountancy work, we deemed it advisable to secure the services of an efficient secretary and accountant, which we did in the person of Mr. William Jameson. For economy of time and greater accuracy, we determined to conduct our inquiry by a series of carefully-prepared questions, supplemented by the oral examination of witnesses. By the adoption of this method a very large amount of useful and suggestive information bearing directly on the question under consideration has been obtained, which information is contained in the minutes, and in the appendices to this OBr report. We have held eleven meetings, and have also paid two official visits to Lincoln for the purpose of inspecting the school, the farm-buildings, and the farm. The number of witnesses we examined has not been very great (eight in all). We endeavoured to avoid all irrelevant matter, preferring to deal as much as possible with the heads of departments. We feel great pleasure in stating that we have met throughout our inquiry with the utmost courtesy and willingness to supply all the information we asked for from all with whom we have had to deal. Finding it necessary to ask for an extension of time, we accordingly did so through the Minister of Education. In pursuance of this application, our powers under the Commission were extended by your Excellency to the 28th February. We beg now to lay before your Excellency, in as brief a manner as possible consistent with the fullest expression of our unanimous opinion, the conclusions we have arrived at after a very careful consideration of the evidence given by the witnesses we examined, and from our own observations. We are unanimous in the opinion that the reserves set apart for founding a school of agriculture were set apart for that purpose only, as clearly shown by the resolution passed by the Provincial Council of Canterbury on the 19th December, 1872—viz., "That His Honour the Superintendent be respectfully requested to reserve 100,000 acres of purely pastoral land, in one or