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Settlement on Cheviot Estate. Though there is little or no money here, there is mutton and milk and potatoes—enough apparently to last the winter ; and there is a fair amount of oaten hay to help out the grass for the stock, which, on the whole, are looking well. It may be hoped that if a moderate amount of road work can be given to help the settlers through the winter months, nearly all the villagers who are now here will stop here, and will endeavour to make Cheviot their home. I may state that much hope is being centered in the dairy factory now approaching completion. With regard to settlement generally on Cheviot, all would have been well if only stock and produce had retained their usual values; but, with such prices as have ruled for some time past, some of the settlers may find themselves unable to meet their liabilities. Progress. —l find that a number of dwellings, and some fair-sized houses have been built since December last, and there are signs that the people generally like Cheviot, and will make an effort to remain here. Hurunui Biver-bed. —l have spent two days examining into the value of the Hurunui Eiverbed, and have interviewed most of the settlers having frontages thereto, but I have not yet been able to complete the work. I fear that not more than from £20 to £30 per annum will be realised from this river-bed, and that not without considerable trouble. Village Drains. —Eelative to the sum allocated for expenditure on drainage, I am endeavouring to get the villagers to do the work themselves, to receive a share of the money proportionate to the value and extent of drainage when done; but as yet I can get only about one-half of them to agree to this method of utilising the money. F. Ward.

WESTLAND. Summary of Land taken up and available for Settlement. —The total area available for selection is as follows : Unsurveyed 69,100 acres, surveyed 9,967 acres, making a total area open for the public to select from of 79,067 acres. The area under the various systems disposed of during the year amounted to 1,826 acres, taken up by fourteen selectors. It may be remarked that, of the apparently large area open for settlement, the situation and quality of the land will prevent it from being selected during the next decade. Analysis of Holdings taken up. —This shews that the favourite settlement system in this district is occupation with right to purchase, the ultimate acquisition of the land being looked forward to with considerable interest by those who still think freehold the best title. Some assert that the land held in fee-simple is more easy of transfer than lease in perpetuity, apart from being eventually free from residence and improvement conditions. Cash. —This comprises a very limited area of 358 acres disposed of to four selectors. So long as the conditions of the other systems are so liberal, very few care to invest their capital in the land, when it can be more beneficially employed in its development. Deferred Payment. —The land held under this system is practically the same as last year. I anticipate, during the next year, that the area will be considerably reduced by forfeiture and conversions into freehold. Perpetual Lease. —The area held under this tenure is also at a standstill, and can only be a decreasing quantity on account of the later and more popular forms of settlement. Occupation with Bight of Purchase. —I have already referred to the fact that in the Westland district this system is most favoured. The area taken up during the year was 1,467 acres. It must be recollected that this is all south of the Waiho Eiver —that is, upwards of eighty miles from the nearest market. Lease in Perpetuity. —The area taken up under this is practically nil, the other two settlement systems being most popular. It seems to me that when this is more understood it will take the place of the others, more especially to men with limited means, and also to others with a fair amount of capital. The advantage of having money at command, instead of being locked up in the land, must be greatly appreciated by enterprising men who wish to make the most out of their holdings by agriculture and stock-raising. The land dealings during the year have been necessarily limited on account of the small area of good land available for disposal in this district. The Midland Eailway Eeservation has locked up about one-half of the land in Westland, 35,500 acres of which is fit for agricultural purposes. Of course, there is a certain area south of the Waiho (the southern boundary of what was called the Midland Territory), but at present it is situated at such a distance from a market, that few care to go so far in search of land ; only those accustomed to southern privation and isolation care to select in these localities. During the year these distant settlements have been brought into more constant contact with Hokitika by the subsidized steamer being required to go south every alternate month, and I anticipate that this will not only encourage the present settlers, but also induce them and their families to go in more for stock-raising and the dairy industry. The land from the Waiho north to the district boundary has been reserved under the Midland Eailway Contract, and hopes were entertained, when I wrote my last annual report, that the reservation would have been lifted some time since. Until this has been realized, settlement must, of course, be in the meantime delayed. Inquiries have been received from many parts in the colony in reference to available lands for settlement in this district, but all that can be offered now will not induce outsiders to come. I have, however, great hopes for the future. Farmers are waking up to the fact that they have, in some parts of Westland, as good grass lands as can be found in many of the more favoured districts of New Zealand. This fairly good land, with the equable temperature and rainfall of the coast, keeps up an almost constant supply of grass for the greater part of the year. Were graziers to supplement this a little more than they do with root crops, I have not the least doubt about the future success of stock and dairy-farming here. The saw-milling industry is now an important feature along the Hokitika-Grey and Midland Company's lines to Jackson. Several mills have been erected during the year, and all seem to have been busily employed, the output exceeding that of any other year from this locality. Among the varieties of timber special prominence has been given this season to white-pine. This timber