H.—29.

most of the wool shorn at the normal time was free from dust. Very little seedy wool has been in evidence this past season again, with the exception of some of the late-shorn clips from parts of the Wellington District. " Taking it all round, the clip this year has been definitely better than the preceding one, and the improvement has been particularly marked in the case of Hawke's Bay and the Wairarapa. " A method of disposal for certain portions of their clips frequently overlooked by farmers is that of scouring. On investigation they will frequently find that it would pay them to scour such oddments as pieces, bellies, locks, crutchings, dingy fleece wool, dead wool, and sometimes lambs' wool. To obtain full market value for these lines after scouring, it is wise to ship them to London for sale, as much better competition exists there for these scoured lines than at the local auction sales. " Nowadays wool requires all the publicity we can possibly give it, and the International Wool Secretariat continues to do good work in this direction on an income (from the levy of 6d. per bale) which is almost negligible compared with the vast sums spent on advertising by the makers of the synthetic fibres. There is room for more publicity on behalf of wool even in a small country like New Zealand, and if every one interested in the growing of this product would co-operate much might be done to increase our home consumption. " During the year I have dealt with the usual variety of correspondence pertaining to sheep and wool, and have written a number of illustrated articles for the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture. I have attended some seven or eight agricultural and pastoral shows, and arranged, through my assistant, for the staging of wool exhibits at another half-dozen. I have also given some fifteen or sixteen lantern lectures and about two dozen demonstrations on wool to farmers' organizations, young farmers' clubs, &c. I was one of the team of three members of the Department who recently conducted a Farm School on the Chatham Islands, and while there delivered a number of lectures and demonstrations, besides interviews with individual farmers on their own properties. " The results of the experiments which I have been conducting on sheep-rugging in collaboration with Mr. Grant of this Department and several farmers in Canterbury have proved so promising that lam continuing a further series this season. A full review of the results to date, which have been a marked success from the wool point of view, will be found in the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture. " This year I have also dealt with a number of requests for reports on wool samples sent in by farmers, and have supplied a large number of plans of wool-sheds, sheep-yards, and dips. As opportunity permitted during my ordinary travelling, I visited a number of wool-scouring works, so that now I have made personal contact with nearly every works in New Zealand, and this has been of great assistance to me in preparing reports on wool-scouring. I have also prepared and sent out a number of complete sets of wool-sample cards, prepared exhibits for shows, and attended a number of committee meetings. " As my ordinary duties entail a considerable amount of travelling (approximately twenty thousand miles being covered during the course of the year), the appointment of an Assistant Wool Instructor (Mr. H. R. Lusk) last November has helped me a great deal in coping with my duties, and it has been possible in many cases to arrange for one of us to be in Wellington while the other is away. This has meant that we have been able to deal more promptly with correspondence and other matters than was formerly the case, and as Mr. Lusk has been able to assist me in nearly all phases of my work we have been able to undertake very much more in the way of exhibits at agricultural and pastoral shows, &c., than would otherwise have been possible." Rabbit Nuisance. Over the whole of the North Island and the greater proportion of the South Island rabbits are well under control, and this satisfactory position is largely attributable to the work of Rabbit Boards, whose areas now cover a good deal of the farming-lands of the Dominion. The season has been a favourable one for rabbit-breeding in most districts, but in spite of this the improved position of last year has been maintained, and in many instances improved upon. The result is that some pastoral areas have improved their carrying-capacity and show a greater wool-clip owing to reduction of the pest. Vigilance is necessary to maintain this position, and in this connection landowners must realize that spring and early summer poisoning is essential, as it is by this means that the pest can be effectively checked. In many parts of Otago and Southland the rabbit pest is in a different category, for there the commercial aspect has mitigated against rabbit-destruction to a marked degree. The work appears to be spasmodic rather than continuous, and the amount of killing is determined by the price of skins. Under such conditions it would seem to be impossible to exterminate or even control the rabbit pest. It would thus appear that the Department, as the responsible authority for the administration of the Rabbit Nuisance Act, must adopt more coercive measures in southern provinces. As already indicated, the various Rabbit Boards, constituted for the purpose of suppressing rabbits, have achieved considerable success, and as a result of their operations rabbits are now practically non-existent in many places where they were once numerous. Noxious Weeds. In co-operation with County Councils, concentrated efforts on ragwort control were carried out in continuance of the previous two years' control measures. The scheme of operations was on somewhat similar lines to previous years, which was inaugurated in conjunction with the Labour Department (Employment Division) and known as Scheme 13a, with the twofold object (1) of

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