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among old ewes, the mortality due to all causes was very light. One hundred and thirty cows and heifers were calved with a minimum of trouble, and for the fourth year in succession the herd has been perfectly free from milk-fever; 124 pedigree calves were reared, and of this number sixty-four bulls will be distributed per medium of the annual sale in August next. As these animals are all from very high-producing stock, their distribution should exert a marked influence in increasing production in the herds to which they eventually go. Continuing the policy of recent years, eighteen young cows were placed under C.O.R. test, and the records established by these at the end of the season will be very satisfactory. The annual sale which was held at the farm in August of last year proved highly successful in so far as the demand was concerned, but values showed the same sharp decline which was experienced at all other stud-stock sales during the season, the average prices realized for bulls of the different breeds being as follows : Shorthorns, £34 4s. 2d. ; Ayreshires, £15 155.; and Jerseys, £30 18s. Pedigree pigs were in strong demand, and the large offering realized high prices. The gross proceeds of the sale were £2,205, as against £3,056 for the previous sale, which was easily a record for the farm. The herds of Large White and Berkshire pigs have continued to improve both in quality and breeding-power. Exhibits were made at the last two Auckland Metropolitan Shows, and on each occasion the farm's entries proved highly successful against strong competition from leading breeders in the province. One hundred and fifty breeding-pigs of all ages will be offered for sale at the annual sale in August next. During last winter a consignment of twenty-seven Large White - Berkshire - cross pigs was forwarded to Smithfield for exhibition and sale and to obtain a report as to the suitability of the animals for the English market. The report received was highly satisfactory from every point of view. A further trial shipment of bacon-pigs, consisting of purebred Large Whites and Berkshires, and the first cross between these two breeds, will be forwarded to London at an early date, and the report on the different types should prove interesting and instructive. Farm Training College: The students' accommodation has been fully occupied during the year, and everything connected with the school has proceeded smoothly and efficiently. Fortyeight youths are now in residence. Land-development Work. Excellent progress has been made with the breaking-in of land on behalf of the Lands Department under the provisions of the Land Laws Amendment Act, 1929. Two blocks, known as Ngakuru No. 1 and Ngakuru No. 2, are being dealt with in the Rotorua district, and one at Te Kauwhata. On Ngakuru No. 1 1,213 acres have been cleared, and of this area 1,160 acres have been sown in grass, with plantations, &c. On Ngakuru No. 2an area of 1,975 acres was cleared to the 31st March, and 400 acres cultivated. Only a small area was sown in grass in the autumn of 1931, and the remaining portion of the block, consisting of approximately 3,000 acres, is to be grassed. A very careful record of the cost of development of these pumice lands is being kept. The actual cost of getting the land down in good pasture, based on a minimum wage paid of 14s. per day, works out at £7 15s. per acre. Provided that by suitable management and reasonable top-dressing the pasture can be maintained in a satisfactory manner, such expenditure should be payable. One section on Ngakuru No. 1 has been fully equipped as a demonstrational dairy-farm. Excluding stock the cost will work out at approximately £20 per acre, this including all necessary buildings and subdivision into small paddocks. Dairying will be commenced on this area approximately within twelve months of the burning of the scrub. The progress of this developmental work on waste pumice lands must be watched with great interest. If it proves successful, the potentialities of settlement on a large scale are great; if it does not, it will prove once for all whether the settlement of such land is a sound policy, as the very best and most modern methods of grassing and maintenance of pasture are being adopted. It is interesting to note that the certified ryegrass in the seedmixture used has given outstanding results, and emphasized the necessity of attention to strain in the laying-down of grassland on virgin country. At Te Kauwhata a block of approximately 1,000 acres of wattle plantation is being converted into eight dairy-farms. Practically all the necessary work on three farms has been completed, and the sowing of the fourth should be completed next spring. The remaining area is being cleared of fallen timber, and will be ploughed during the winter and sown next autumn.

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