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NELSON. (A. F. Waters, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) General— The winter of 1931 was unusually cold, with much snow in the back country. The following spring was very dry with 110 rain to speak of until December. Since then there have been frequent showers with corresponding benefit to farmers : 111 fact if it were not for the prevailing low prices of most classes of farm produce this district would have experienced quite a good season. Dairying.—ln point of production this has been an excellent season, the late rains extending the spring growth well into summer. Prices of butterfat, however, are down about 4(3 per cent, and the dairy-farmer is having difficulty in making ends meet. Fruitgrowers. The volume of export fruit shows a steady increase. This year the district will probably export close on a million cases of apples. This is no doubt due to the trees approaching maturity and the land gradually mellowing under suitable treatment. Small fruits : There has been difficulty in disposing of the raspberry crop owing to the local jamfactories curtailing their requirements. Growers sent their fruit as far afield as Christchurch in an endeavour to find a market for their produce. Owing to favourable climatic conditions, there has been an exceptionally heavy crop of tomatoes, the market being so glutted that many growers allowed their crops to rot, £is prices would not cover packing and freight. Hops. Prices for hops have been poor for several years, yielding little profit to the grower over and above cost of production. Quite a number of growers are utilizing part of their gardens for tobacco-culture. Tobacco. —The cultivation of tobacco is making great progress both in quantity and in quality of leaf. No doubt the latter is due to greater experience in the technique of growing and curing the leaf. This last season the gross returns from tobacco were £110,000 which was distributed among 530 growers. Mining. The present depression and the unusually high price of gold is bringing about a striking revival of prospecting and alluvial mining in this district, which is going a long way towards alleviating unemployment.

MARLBOROUGH. (P. R. Wilkinson, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) The weather conditions during the past year have again been rather unfavourable to the farming community. The period commenced with a dry autumn and several heavy falls of snow were experienced on the high country during the winter. On two occasions snow was further down the foothills than has been observed for many years. A dry spring followed, and a very severe frost, which had a disastrous effect in the orchards, was experienced at the end of October. The Wairau Valley and northern districts had the benefit of good rains in mid-December, but the Awatere and southern districts did not receive a good soaking until February. In spite of the conditions, the crops in the Wairau Plains were generally satisfactory; but the yields in the Awatere and Flaxbourne districts were poor. The season again demonstrated the necessity for thorough cultivation of the soil to enable crops to stand up to drought conditions, and, although the weather throughout the district was quite favourable for this work, it was apparent that many farmers had neglected to attend to it thoroughly, and their crops suffered. The dry spell and shortage of feed prevented many farmers from being able to preserve the usual paddocks of clover and lucerne for seed. There was a marked decrease in the yield, and, as the market was bare, those who were able to harvest, received a substantial increase 111 prices over those ruling previously. In the dairying industry it was anticipated that the prevailing low prices would be reflected in an increase in production, but the unfavourable season, together with the lack of money for fertilizers, has had a detrimental effect on the output; and it is expected that very little increase, if any, will be seen as a result of the past year s operations. A regrettable feature of the lack of money has been a decrease in the number of cows under test during the past season, the decrease being about 1\ per cent. The long dry spell has been responsible for a big increase in the rabbit pest, and the lack of finance is preventing farmers, especially those holding the larger pastoral areas, from dealing with the pest effectually. Two Rabbit Boards are in operation, and the formation of a third Board is being considered ; but none of the larger pastoral areas are included in these districts. It is evident that the district will have a most serious problem to face shortly if the rabbits are allowed to keep on increasing at the present rate. The past year has been a most difficult one, financially, for the Crown tenants, but the bulk of them appear to realize their obligations to the Crown, and although unable, in most cases, to meet their payments in full they are paying what they can. In those cases where the stock firms and banks are handling all the proceeds an endeavour has been made to come to a working arrangement whereby the net profit from the season's operations will be divided pro rata between the different interests which are entitled to participate.

WESTLAND. (T. Cagney, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) General Conditions and Progress of Settlement.—The past year generally from a production point of view has more than reached expectations, notwithstanding a winter probably more rigorous than usual, followed by changeable spring weather ; and with better prices for produce the year would have been a very satisfactory one from all aspects. The effects of a hard winter were mainly reflected

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