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agricultural lands, particularly those of the west coast of the North Island, with the result that the matter is now receiving the close attention of the Department of Agriculture and the State Forest Service, and. it is trusted that their combined efforts will result in a practical and efficient modus operandi being evolved. As it was reported that a good deal of the trouble was due to the injudicious manner in which some settlers were farming their lands, the Director-General, at the request of the Board, has arranged for an officer to visit the district and investigate and advise on this particular aspect of the question. Experimental Farms. Although the Government did not see its way clear to give effect to the Board's recommendations in connection with the Tauranga Horticultural Station and the Moa Seed-farm, it is satisfactory to know that it has been found, possible to make suitable arrangements with the lessee of the citrus portion of the Tauranga Farm for the continuation of the experimental work inaugurated by the Department in connection with citrus-growing. It was also with satisfaction that the Board learned that arrangements had been made for the continuation of the work of seed-raising which had been started at the Moa Seed-farm.. The district in which this farm is situated is regarded by the Board as being eminently suited for the production of pure seeds of the best quality, an ample supply and the use of which are of paramount importance to the Dominion. Good farming is impossible without good seeds. The members of the Moa Seed-farm Association are to be commended for their public-spirited action in continuing the important work which this farm has been doing, and the Board sincerely hopes that success will attend, their efforts. Agricultural Education. The question of rural education wa.s again considered by the Board at several meetings. Members view with alarm the increased tendency in secondary education to give more prominence to the professional and commercial side to the neglect of the training of country boys in agriculture. The early establishment of a farm school at the Ruakura Farm of Instruction is therefore viewed with much satisfaction, and it is sincerely trusted that it will not be long before schools of a similar character are established in other parts of the Dominion. The urgent necessity which exists for the establishment of such schools is beyond question. Agricultural education is, of course, recognized to some extent in our high schools, but it is questionable whether the best use is made of the students when they leave. Many boys are anxious to proceed to the University to further their studies in the sciences relating to agriculture, but are precluded from sitting for the Matriculation Examination as they have not studied a foreign language. The usual high-school course comprises agricultural work, agricultural botany, agricultural chemistry, agricultural zoology, agricultural physics, woodwork, and perhaps ironwork, short course in electricity, dairy science, surveying, mathematics, English, history, geography, and book-keeping. These subjects are of greater importance to the farmer than French, Latin, or German, yet no matter how proficient the student may be in agricultural subjects he cannot matriculate, and pursue his studies further at the University owing to his having to take a language. The University Senate was approached and asked if it could see its way to allow a student who wished to go on to higher education in the agricultural sciences to take up other subjects than languages for the purpose of qualifying for the Matriculation Examination, but I regret having to state that a reply in the negative was received. Considering the large amount spent on education in the Dominion, the Board hopes that you will be able to induce the Cabinet to further increase the amount devoted to agricultural education. Especially is this desirable when there is every prospect, through the generosity of Sir Walter Buchanan, that a Chair of Agriculture will be established at Victoria College ; but some provision must be made for available land where the students can take their practical work and, under the Professor of Agriculture, experiments may be made in conjunction with the course of agriculture. There is every hope that the sum which Sir John Logan Campbell bequeathed for the purpose of establishing a Chair of Agriculture in Auckland will soon be available. There is no direction in which development is so much needed in New Zealand as further rural education and economics. Disposal of New Zealand Produce in United Kingdom. The Board, availed itself of the opportunity afforded by tho presence in New Zealand of Mr. A. Crabb, M.R.C.V.S., Trade and Produce Officer on the staff of the High Commissioner, to discuss with him marketing possibilities and methods of handling and disposing of our produce in the United Kingdom, and secured a great deal of information which will be extremely useful whenever these questions are under consideration in future. This matter is being well attended to now by the Meat Control Board. Subsidy for Lincoln Agricultural College towards Seed-selection Work. During the year the Board received a communication from the Director of the Lincoln College advising it that the Government proposed to discontinue the subsidy granted in the past towards the ■cost of seed-selection work carried out by the institution. As the continuance and extension of work of this nature is regarded by the Board as of paramount importance to the farming community, it considered that the withdrawal of the subsidy would be false economy. The Board requested that I should make personal representations to you on the subject, and was gratified, to subsequently learn that the subsidy was to be continued, thus enabling this most useful work to be proceeded with. The need for pure selected seed is now recognized in Canterbury by the wheat-growers, and the demand for College seed greatly increased. The Board considers that, to enable the College to extend this work, the subsidy might well be increased.