a—i

12

Tho Kai Iwi Block, 3,200 acres, has been held up pending the formation of access and cross roads, and it is hoped to have this block thrown open later in the year. Six sections forming part of the Omahuta Forest, and containing approximately 2,200 acres, recently freed from reservation by the Forest Service, will also be thrown open later in the year when the necessary roading arrangements, &c, have been completed. These sections are, considered to be very suitable for farming purposes, and will no doubt be eagerly sought after. Settlement of Gum Lands. —The increase in the number of gumfield residents who availed themselves of the liberal provisions offered under section 20 of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1912, referred to in last year's report, has been strongly maintained. In the case of the Puheke Gum Reserve, at the entrance to Rangaunu Bay, some fifty or sixty sections, averaging 25 acres, were allotted to persons all over New Zealand, who have been induced to take up the land by one of the local residents. The reports received by the Department with regard to this area were not very encouraging, and the Department insisted on the applicants inspecting the land and furnishing a certificate of their satisfaction before the sections were allotted. A great number of settlers have already taken possession, but it is too early yet to express any opinion as to their probable ultimate success or otherwise. It is proposed by tho Land Board to have several of the large gum reserves which have been worked out surveyed into sections and offered for selection under the same easy terms during the coming year. There would appear to be no question about it that this is the best method of settling these poor gum lands. AUCKLAND. (H. M. Skeet, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) The past year has been one of considerably better conditions for nearly all sections of the farming community than its predecessor. The season has been an exceptionally favourable one, both for pasture and crops, and. the dairy-farmers, who constitute the larger proportion of tin; settlers throughout the district, have benefited both by a large production well maintained throughout the season and by a scale of payment for butterfat considerably in excess of the rate which ruled in the preceding season. For the bush farmer still engaged in developing his holding conditions have not been quite so satisfactory, the dampness of the latter part of the season having prevented settlers from getting good burns. The market for store cattle has .been unsatisfactory, which is a serious matter for the bush farms of the district, since the majority of these holdings cannot be kept in gopd order by sheep alone, but require cattle also to prevent fern from taking possession; and as there has been little or no profit in cattle, many holdings have unavoidably suffered in consequence. There has been a considerable fall in the price of average dairy stock, though cows and heifers of thoroughly good quality command high prices and arc difficult to procure. Many cull cows are now being sold for beef, thus ridding the market of animals which are unpayable to the dairy-farmer ; but there is room for much more to be done in this direction and for more systematic testing of dairy stock. Some of the dairy companies are now providing facilities for their suppliers to carry out periodical testing, and a widespread use of all available facilities would be of great advantage to the dairy industry. Coupled with this there is need for definite prohibition of sale of, or breeding from, cows of less than a reasonable minimum standard of butterfat-production, a standard which should gradually be raised so as to produce a progressive improvement of the dairy herds of the Dominion. In my last report I referred to the need, especially in this district, and notwithstanding its genial climate, for more extensive provision of fodder crops, both for summer and winter use, since even an average type of cow will yield considerably better results by a proper system of feeding, which, while it may entail more labour, will well repay the extra labour and cost. The practice of growing, on every dairy farm, sufficient quantities of lucerne and other fodder crops is one which needs to be more widely impressed on farmers. It has recently been stated that the climate of the Auckland District represents a tangible and substantial addition to the value of farm land, but as many of the present holders appear to have already had to pay for these climatic advantages, there still remains the necessity for making the best possible use of them. There appears also to be still a tendency to neglect, either wholly or partly, the annual top-dressing of pastures, which is essential both to the proper maintenance of the pastures themselves and to the production from them of the best possible returns. Evidence of the effect of the financial conditions of the previous years has been seen in the number of cases in which transfers of Crown leaseholds back to the previous holders have been submitted for the approval of the Land. Board, purchasers at the inflated prices of the boom period having found it impossible to carry on, and therefore been compelled to relinquish the holdings to the former holders as mortgagees, while in other cases transfers have been effected at considerably less than the price paid by the outgoing tenants. There appears to be, still a tendency in some quarters to attempt to justify the inflated prices previously ruling, and to maintain that prices will again rise to similar levels ; but the logic of past events, and, it is to be hoped, the sober common-sense of the farming community is against such contentions. So far as the Auckland District is concerned, too, it must be remembered that the annual top-dressing of pastures which is essential throughout a large portion of the district is a maintenance charge, thai, must; have a, distinct effect on the capital value of the land, and must be reckoned for in the price paid if disaster is to be avoided. As in previous years, the general supervision of Crown tenants' holdings has been to some extent overshadowed by the demands upon the ranging staff in connection with soldier settlement,