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50. Camp Equipment. At Tauherenikau and. Featherston' Camps the tents have been attacked by a mould —in fact, the whole of the 1916 tents are infected with this mould, although in some cases not apparent to the naked eye. Professor Kirk, after making a microscopical examination, found that this mould was still doing its destructive work on tents that looked quite sound. He is now endeavouring to discover a solution which will destroy this mould without injury to material. A good stock of camp-kettles and hardware in general, such as boilers, basins, buckets, &c, are on hand, sufficient to. meet all requirements. Electrical appliances, however, are very hard to obtain. 51. Clothing, Expeditionary Force. The supply of clothing has been well maintained. In addition to equipping Reinforcements, a 20-per-cent. reserve has been maintained. Also, we have shipped to England 37,802 work-shirts, 37,127 undershirts, 37,057 underpants, 37,838 pairs socks, 7,696 jerseys, and 13,126 leather jerkins : total value, £5.1,423 lis. 6d. To Egypt we have shipped 1,800 S.D. jackets ; value, £2,700. During the year 80,606 garments have been renovated and reissued, at a total cost of £9,221 4s. 7d. These garments are laundered and thoroughly disinfected and repaired before issue. Uniform clothing is sorted in grades 1 and 2, underclothing, denims, &c, into grades 1, 2, and 3. Grade lis issued to all Home Service men ; grade 2 is issued to Cl men ; grade 3 underclothing and denims are issued to YD. patients, detention prisoners, religious objectors, and prisoners of war : the result being a saving of £48,918 4s. sd. as against cost of new articles. It is proposed this year to issue grade 1 greatcoats to Territorial Force. Blankets are laundered, disinfected, and graded into grades 1 and 2 at a cost of 6d. each. Grade 1, 11/4, is issued to Expeditionary Force ; grade 2, 10/4 and 9/4, is issued to Home Service in camps, detention prisoners, religious objectors, V.D. patients, and prisoners of war. Territorial 1917 postings and Senior Cadets have been supplied, sufficient stocks being on hand to meet this year's requirements During the year definite instructions were issued that clothing belonging to Senior Cadets who become non-effective for any cause whatever, or clothing which has become too small, must be returned to Ordnance. This clothing is washed, disinfected, and renovated for reissue, at a cost of 55., as against 245. new outfit. 52. Boots. Since the improvement mentioned in my report last year, with the addition of the block toe, which is now in use, the boots arc giving every satisfaction. \\\ addition to maintaining the supply of boots for the New Zealand. Expeditionary Force, we have forwarded overseas to tho G.0.C., N.Z.E.F., United Kingdom, 14,300 pairs of boots, valued at £15,015. The question of forwarding boots to London arose principally owing to invalids returning to New Zealand with a very inferior boot which' cost about tho same as the superior New Zealand boot delivered in London, During the year 30,426 pairs of boots have been repaired, at a cost of ss. Id. per pair, against the contract price of 6s. 6d. After allowing for cost of material, wages, depreciation of machinery, and overhead expenses, a saving of £2,155 3s. 6d. Was thereby effected. Satisfactory contracts for the repair of boots at Narrow Neck and Awapuni Camps have been arranged. The all-leather deck-shoes, mentioned in my previous report, have given every satisfaction. 53. Miscellaneous Stores. Miscellaneous stores, such as hardware, cleaning-material, cooking-utensils, stable gear, picks and shovels, messing-gear, soaps, sodas, &c, have all been arranged for under annual contracts, thereby enabling the Department to purchase in the best market. There are a few minor lines for which annual contracts have not been arranged, as those, responsible for estimating their requirements have not yet been educated up to looking in advance of their present wants, but it is hoped to overcome this during the present year. 54. Ordnance Store Workshops, Trentham. The following machinery has been installed during the year : One 13 horse-power Tangye engine, one circular-saw bench, one chain mortising and boring machine, one band, saw, one shaping-machine, one planing-maehine, one emery grinding-machine, one chain cutter sharpening-machine, one vertical boring-machine, one sandpapering-machine (manufactured in workshops). The cost of upkeep of engine and machinery has been practically nil— i.e., only material to the value of 12s. 6d. being required for repairs. The workshops have, handled 92,670 superficial feet of timber and 57,000 superficial feet of 3-ply. In addition to this, 10,890 running feet of timber was dressed, and 8,301 running feet was sawn ; also, 26,003 running feet electric-light capping, 20,377 running feet electric-light casing, and 814 running feet rebating door-jambs, &c, were done for the Director of Railways and Works Branch. 22,075 articles of furniture, targets, &c, have been manufactured, and 187 articles repaired. After allowing for cost of material, wages, including clothing and rations, separation allowances, depreciation of machinery, and overhead charges, the cost of manufacturing was from 25 per cent, to 35 per cent., below outside competitive prices. It is found that the present workshop store is too small and congested, which adds to the cost of production through excessive handling during manufacture and with manufactured articles. Increased