C— l.

New Zealand Trust and Loan Company (Limited). Part of the block, consisting of 206 acres of very fine plantation, has been reserved as a State Forest. The remainder was opened for application on the 25th June, 1901, as one lease-in-perpetuity allotment of 538f acres, at a rental ot 3s. 2d. per acre per annum. The successful applicant at the first ballot was subsequently found to be disqualified from holding the lease, and the land was therefore reopened on the 13th November 1901, and a suitable tenant was selected by ballot from forty-five applicants The Tarawahi Hamlet, comprising 31| acres of suburban land to the south of Christchurch was acquired from James Freeman, Esq., and opened for application on the 25th June, 1901 in thirtyseven lease-in-perpetuity workmen's homes allotments, varying m size from half an acre to _ acres at rentals from £6 12s. to £7 per acre. There has been very little demand for holdings in this settlement. Up to the end of the year twelve allotments (nearly all the larger areas) had been selected, and twenty-four still remain available for selection. ~,-,, mThe Puhuka Hamlet, comprising 39 acres 2 roods 7 perches of suburban land between limaru and Washdvke, was acquired from Thomas Howley, Esq., and opened for application on the 29th July 1901, in eleven lease-in-perpetuity workmen's homes allotments, varying in size rom 2 to 5 Les, at rentals from £1 10s. Bd. to £1 12s. Bd. per acre per annum There has been only a moderate demand for sections in this settlement; six sections have already been taken up, and" five still remain available for disposal. ~__.< _,;i__ The Kaimahi Settlement, comprising 100J acres of good agricultural land about oui miles north-west of Christchurch, was acquired from Sir W. B. Perceval, and opened for application on the 15th October, 1901, in twelve lease-in-perpetuity allotments, varying in size trom _ to 1U acres, at rentals from £1 18s. 3d. to £2 12s. 3d. per acre per annum There has been a fair demand for the sections in this settlement; up to the end of the year all but one of the sections had been selected, and that has since been taken up. . . The Kapuatohe Hamlet, comprising 49 acres 3 roods 37 perches situated in the Village of Belfast, about five miles and three-quarters northward from Christchureh was purchased from A B Cambridge, Esq., and opened for application on the 15th October, 1901, in eighteen lease-in-perpetuity workmen's homes allotments, varying in size from half an acre to 5 acres, and one [ease in-perpetuitv small farm of 12 acres, the rentals varying from £1 10s. to £4 per acre per annum Up to the end of the year two of the five-acre sections and the twelve-acre farm had been selected There has been no demand for the half-acre allotments, private enterprise haying possibly already furnished a sufficient number of small holdings for the occupation of the workers employed at the Belfast Freezing-works and the allied industries. V lie Rapuwai Settlement, comprising 2,247 acres 2 roods 11 perches of good downs agricultural and pastoral land, about eight and a half miles north-westerly from Pleasant Point, South Serbur?, was acquired from James Sullivan, Esq., and opened for application on the 9th December 1901 In five lease-in-perpetuity allotments, varying in size from 265 to 630 acres a rentals ranking from 3s. 9d. to ss. per acre per annum. Thirty-five persons lodged applications for allotments, and the whole of the settlement was disposed of at the first ballot The miscellaneous allotments offered during the year comprise two allotments of 1 acre each in the Hamlet of Tamai, close to Christchurch ; two allotments, comprising 5 acres 2 roods '35 perches, in the Pawaho Hamlet, at Heathcote Valley ; ten allotments, comprising 8 acres, in the Mo_ven Township, Waikakahi Settlement; one fifty-acre rural allotment in the same settlement and the Takitu Homestead Small Grazing-run Block, comprising 1,494 acres, on the Waitaki Eiver, between Glenarry and Hakataramea. Land for Future Disposal—At the end of the year negotiations had been concluded for the acquisition of the following properties, and the arrangements for placing them ln the market had been nearly completed : (1) The Lyndon No. 2 Settlement, comprising 5,755 acres o th , wes teni portion of the Lyndon Estate, near Waiau, North Canterbury, acquired from Messrs. IX D and A. Macfarlane, to be opened for selection on the 21st April, 1902; 2) the Maytown Settlement, compr shig 391 acres 2 roods 16 perches, close to Waimate, South Canterbury acquired from Messrs. McGoverin and Hardie, to be opened for selection in small areas on the 28th April 1902 (3) the Eccleston Settlement, near Otaio, South Canterbury, comprising 1,246 acres, 1 rood 5 perches, acquired from E. P. Chapman, Esq., to be opened for selection on the 12th May, 1902 P Payments of Bents.-The total amount of revenue collected during the year on land-for-settlement estates under all tenures was £38,772 Is. Id. The total amount of arrears of rent due Tt he 31st March, 1902, was £2,695 19s. lid., owing by 100 tenants, out of a tota annual renta of £41 404 4s. 6d. payable by 787 tenants. About half of these arrears belong to the Waikakahi Settlement on which the arrears appear to be heavier than is warranted by the difficulties ins payable from the establishment ofnew homesteads. The Highbank and Albury Settlements contribute the next largest proportions to the total of arrears. It is more than probable that the unfavourable weather in South Canterbury during the ast two months of he year accounts to some extent for the large amount of arrears, settlers having been seriously delayed in harvesting and realising on their crops. ~, mo „, Transfers, Forfeitures, and Surrenders.-The number of transfers of land-for-settlement holdings competed during the year was fifty, representing an area of 4,914 acres, all underth* lease-_n!perpe P tuity system. The figures quoted in the two preceding paragraphs are also emboded n the figures previously quoted above regarding arrears and transfers, but are referred to again here for °the purposes of further comparison. The forfeitures and surrenders during the year numbered twelv 6 P comprising an area of 1,331 acres 3 roods 37 perches. Out of this an area .Nacres and 7 perches has been reoffered for selection, and 545 acres 1 rood 25 perches of this is &gMn CotdTtion'of Established Settlements. -The following notes will serve to summarise briefly the condition and progress of the established settlements, as disclosed by the Eangers reports at the close of the period under review : —

32