a—ia.

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Marlborough Land District (J. Stevenson, Chief Surveyor). Native Land Court Surveys. —A total of five surveys is returned under this heading, comprising eleven subdivisions from the head of Queen Charlotte Sound to Kaikoura. Other Work. —Under this heading is a return of nineteen surveys, at a total cost of £234 ss. 4d., eight of which were carried out by the office staff, and eleven by Staff Surveyor Clapperton. Inspections. —'Five Land Transfer inspections were carried out during the year, and, generally speaking, the work has been found quite satisfactory. Standard Surveys. —Mr. Staff Surveyor Clapperton has been engaged on the standard survey of Blenheim, total cost to date of his temporary transfer to Wellington being £625 Bs. 6d. Proposed Operations for 1926-27. —Finish standard survey of Borough of Blenheim, and reinstatement of standards in Borough of Picton ; also other Crown and Native surveys as required. Office-work. —The total number of plans received by the Survey Branch for check was 64, of which 24 were Crown Land plans, 10 Native Land Court, and 30 road and other departmental plans. Diagrams were placed on 92 leases, 11 miscellaneous documents, and 18 on Native Land Court Orders. Thirty-six original survey plans were made in the office, 9 road and Land Transfer record maps completed, also new application, index, and land-tenure maps. Sale plans and census maps were prepared, and plans for photo-litho, Crown grant, and other record and index maps kept up to date. Land Transfer Branch. —32 plans were received for checking, 1,027 plans were placed on certificates of title, and 488 deeds and other instruments passed. Nelson Land District (A. F. Waters, Chief Surveyor). Town Surveys.—With one exception, a small survey in the Borough of Richmond, the areas under this heading are situated in the Town of Wesport. They comprise education reserves and sections in Westport Harbour Endowment. Rural Surveys.—The area returned shows a considerable decline on previous years. This is due to the fact that one surveyor, Mr. Cox, is engaged on the survey of a block of 12,000 acres for which no plans have been lodged, and the surveyor's assistant, Mr. Buttress, has been engaged on isolated surveys in different parts of the district for which plans will not be lodged until the winter recess. The high cost is due to the travelling involved. Road Surveys.—-One survey was carried out for Public Works Department, and two for local bodies. Railway Surveys.—A total of 8 miles of the Midland Railway was completed during the year. In addition, the boundaries of Kawatiri station-yard were altered at the request of the Public Works Department. Office-work. —Land Transfer Branch : The year's work shows a considerable increase in number of plans examined : 143 plans were examined, as against 87 for last year. The number of diagrams placed on instruments of title for this branch shows a slight decrease, being 202 for this year, as against 231 for last year. General Office-work : A considerable increase in examined is shown for this year, being a total of 71, as against 44 for last year. The number of diagrams placed on instruments of title also shows a slight increase, being 387, as against 372 for last year. Steady progress has been made with the compilation of road record maps. The most difficult district, Waitapu, has been completed, and another district, Kaiteriteri, is nearly complete. The original drawings of Collingwood, Takaka, and Murchison Counties were revised. These revisions entail a considerable amount of labour, and in some cases it would appear to be more satisfactory to have the counties redrawn. In addition, 4 survey district lithos were redrawn, and 6 revised making a total of 13 standard publications. Westland Land District (VY. T. Morpeth, Chief Surveyor). Field Staff. —During the year 36 plans were handed in by the field staff, representing field-work completed of 5,141 acres rural, 10 acres village and suburban, 45 acres town sections, 1,300 acres topographical, 2J- miles of road and miscellaneous surveys. Of these plans two represented comparatively large areas of Cook's River and La Fontaine Swamp, subdivided for selection ; the remainder, however, were of small settlement and miscellaneous survey, widely scattered over the district, entailing frequent changes of camp and travelling, thus increasing ordinary costs for the work by quite an appreciable amount. The work in hand includes some 200 acres of Rohutu Township Reserve, which it is proposed to subdivide into four lots ; the new Town of Rapahoe, to be subdivided into about eighty sections, and a few small miscellaneous surveys ; also the completion of 12 plans of field-work executed which will be undertaken during the coming winter. Traverse closures were returned for varying distances totalling 21| miles, 116 stations being required, the total error being 4-1 links on the meridian and 8-5 links on the perpendicular, representing a reduced error of 0-19 and 0-40 link per mile respectively. The staff has been kept fully engaged on field operations, and with the work in hand and the usual applications to be expected for surveyed areas the current year promises a continuance of the present activities. Draughting Staff. —Plans approved during the year numbered 81, classified as follows : 33 Land Transfer, 29 settlement, 11 statutory, and 8 miscellaneous, of which total 11 were compiled by the office staff. Also, 751 tracings of various descriptions were prepared, 868 diagrams and 23 Proclamations placed on instruments of title, 6 photo-lithographic tracings prepared for sale poster, 70 tracings and lithos mounted, 115 lithos coloured, and 168 applications for timber licenses were received and dealt with. All the tracings required in connection with the demarcation of settlement land from provisional State forest, together with 80 technical descriptions, were completed and handed to the State Forest Service.