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SURVEYS. The operations of the department for the year are summarised in the following table :— Average T , Acres. Cost par Acre. £ s. d. Minor triangulation, with topography... ... ... 804,476 OB2d. 2,762 17 0 Topographical survey only ... ' 170,642 2-39 d. 1,698 19 7 Eural and suburban section surveys (1,243 sections) ... 354,461 l'33s. 24,648 010 Town section surveys (657 sections), cost per section ... 687 21-345. 700 19 9 Native Land Court surveys (323 divisions) ... ... 232,073 8-21 d. 7,941 2 6 Mining surveys (738 sections) ... ... ... 41,901 5-01s. 10,49112 1 Eoad surveys (597-43 miles), per mile ... ... ... £13-85 8,273 10 0 Miscellaneous surveys, inspections, &c. ... ... ... ... 10,952 16 2 Total cost of the field-work finished during the year ... ... £66,469 17 11 The work performed is rather less than last year, and the cost is consequently £2,924 13s. 9d. lower. / Trigonometbical and Topographical Surveys. The largest area done this year is in the District of Auckland, where 548,570 acres were triangulated and mapped, at a cost of a little over fd. per acre, chiefly in the Drewera country, by Messrs. Creagh and Simpson for the Drewera Commission. Southland comes next with 148,000 acres, by Mr. John Eobertson, in the south-west, between the Waiau and Preservation Inlet, at about H&. per acre. In Hawke's Bay, 56,100 acres in the Moeangiangi and Tongoio districts were executed by Mr. James Hay at a little over Id. per acre. Mr. H. M. Skeet finished the topographical survey of Mount Bgmont, 72,400 acres, at a cost of nearly 3d. per acre. This rather high cost is due to the minuteness of the topography. In Otago, Mr. W. T. Neill's survey of the country around Dunedin for the Intelligence Office embraced 85,000 acres, and was most minutely and carefully done, at a cost of only l-7d. per acre. The close settlement of the country and the growth of plantations, requires that standard traverse points along roads and streets must, in the older-settled districts, for the purpose of establishing boundaries, take the place of trigonometrical stations. In seasons of slackness of other work, and in the winter months, the staff will take up this kind of survey. So far as Crown lands are concerned, having been disposed of, it might be said that the Government has no great interest in assisting settlers to restore lost land-marks carelessly destroyed ; but, as in many other things, it will, I think, be considered the duty of the Government to promote peaceful occupation of the country in this way also. Bubal and Suburban Section Subvby. This kind of survey is the last part of the process of designing and marking the future homestead. During the year 1,243 sections were surveyed, taking up 354,461 acres, at a cost of Is. 4d. per acre or, say, £19 for every farm—the average size of the sections being 250 acres. The principal output was in the Land District of Auckland, where 72,307 acres, in 367 sections, were surveyed by thirty-four surveyors, the main part, 54,306 acres, being done by six staff and five surveyors temporarily employed, the rest being done in small areas by surveyors in private practice; the average size of section being 197 acres, and the cost Is. sd. per acre. Marlborough comes next with an out-turn of 58,729 acres, in seventy-three sections of an average size of 804 acres, executed at a cost of a little less than Is. per acre. Taranaki has surveyed 55,919 acres, in 130 sections of an average size of 430 acres, done at a cost of Is. 6d. per acre nearly. In Hawke's Bay 48,857 acres were defined into sixty sections of an average size of 814 acres, at a cost of Is. per acre nearly. In Wellington 35,019 acres were surveyed into 124 sections of an average size of 282 acres, at Is. 9d. per acre nearly. In Nelson 20,908 acres were divided into 141 sections of an average size of 148 acres, at Is. sd. per acre nearly. In Westland 29,990 acres were laid out into 146 sections of an average size of 205 acres, at a cost of Is. 6d. per acre. In Canterbury 21,664 acres were surveyed into fifty sections of an average area of 433 acres, at per acre. In Otago and Southland only 11,005 acres were surveyed into 152 sections, which cost about 2s. B£d. per acre, the average area of each section being 72 acres. Town Surveys. These operations are now confined mostly to the extension of existing townships. There were laid off 657 allotments, containing an area of 687 acres, in eight townships, at a cost averaging £1 Is. 4d. per allotment, in the Land Districts of Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Wellington, and Otago. Native Land Court Surveys. These were executed in the Provinces of Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, and Marlborough, and comprised 232,073 acres, which were surveyed in 323 divisions at an average cost of B£d. nearly, the average size of blocks being about 720 acres. Gold-mining Subveys. There were 41,901 acres of this class surveyed during the year, of an average size of 57 acres, at a cost of ss. per acre. These were situated in the Land Districts of Auckland, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland, Otago, and Southland, the largest area being in Otago, and the next largest in Nelson.

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