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A further plot of Administration land (area, about 2 acres) has been placed under the control of the Horticultural Division for experimental purposes. The plot is old plantation land, and will be used for carrying out manurial tests for banana-growing during the coming season. Should a manure prove beneficial and economical, it will enable planters to utilize much of the old plantation land at present producing no income. This manurial test should prove of great interest and, I hope, benefit to local planters. In addition to the actual field-work, the more promising Natives employed on the experimental area receive a training which has already proved of value to local planters. Should a planter wish to have any planting or pruning carried out, on application to the horticultural officer the matter receives prompt attention. I wish this branch of work to prove of practical benefit to planters, and by so doing play a prominent part by increasing our exports. My thanks are due to the agricultural authorities in Ceylon, and the Sibjur Gardens, India, for the collections of seeds kindly forwarded, and also to the Government of Fiji for supply of Gros Michol banana shoots. E. A. Reid, Fruit Inspector.

Report of Assistant Fruit Inspector. Owing to steamer arrangements, I was only- able to visit the Islands of Mauke and Atiu. 1 left Rarotonga, per " Toafa," on the 18th June, 191.4, for Mauke, and arrived there on the 23rd, after touching at Atiu and Mitiaro. At Mauke fruit-fly maggots were found in the oranges ou the trees, and also in those oranges ■presented for inspection before export, but, being very slight, little trouble was experienced. Atiu was visited on the Ist October, and I returned to Rarotonga on the 15th October. The trees on this island are in a bad state, being full of dead wood and requiring a vigorous pruning, this state being caused by the recent hurricane. Owing to bad weather and my short stay at Atiu, I was unable fo instruct the Natives how to renovate their trees by pruning. Fruit was examined in plantations and also when gathered for shipment, and no trace of fruit-fly was discovered. At both Mauke and Atiu the packing was very good, but with the fruit-case at present in use first-class packing cannot be expected ; thus the fruit will never be able to compete successfully with more up-to-date countries. I intend visiting Mangaia this month (March) to locate infection of fly and scale, which is rendering necessary the fumigation, and possibly the destruction, of Mangaia fruit in New Zealand. I hope to visit Aitutaki in September to initiate the fumigation of pines for shipment. E. T. Taylor. Assistant Fruit Inspector.

Report re Cook Islands Education. 1 opened the Arorangi School on the 15th February with an attendance of 113 —sixty-one boys and fifty-two girls. There are now sixty-seven boys and fifty-nine girls—total 126 —on the roll, with an average attendance for the three weeks of 11.6-3. There are fourteen children over the age of fifteen. Four boys and three girls know a few English words, but the remainder know no English at all. Both parents and children are most keen on their school, following persons have been elected as a Committee to assist the teacher in matters appertaining to attendance : (1) Tinomana Ariki (Chairman), (2) Timona, (3) Tauei Napa, (4) Imene, (5) Teariki Maurangi (Secretary and Interpreter). Kindly send Tinomana the usual Chairman's certificate. A young woman named Ngapoko Pirangi, born the 21st July, 1896, the granddaughter and adopted child of the Ariki, has assisted in the school since the commencement. I recommend that she be appointed on the staff of the Arorangi School, the appointment to date from the I.sth February, 1915. At present I know of no other person suitable for an appointment. Each person sending children to school will contribute one shilling per quarter towards the cost of future school material. To avoid as much as possible the greatest heat of the day, which has ranged from 86° to 96° in the shade, the school hours are from 7 a.m. to 12 noon, with two breaks of ten minutes and half an hour respectively. Extra time will later on be devoted to the more promising pupils who wish to be trained as assistant teachers. The school is a one-room coral-and-concrete building, 60 ft. by 40 ft., with a tin roof and an uneven concrete floor. Ventilation is obtained by means of four doors, one at each corner. The windows do not open, and the building falls very short of modern requirements, but it is the only one available or at all suitable. There are fifty old-style dual desks and an old table in the school. A large lock-up cupboard is being made for the safe-keeping of the school records. I have given the Native pastor permission to use the school as a Sunday school as hitherto. The residence, which is about a mile from the school on the Avarua side, has been thoroughly renovated and painted inside and out. A new range, bath, wash-tubs, and other conveniences have been put in, and our comfort has been considered in every possible way. I cannot adequately express my thanks to the Resident Commissioner and also to Mrs. Northcroft for the many kindnesses they have shown us. Our welfare and comfort have been their constant consideration both before and