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An outbreak of fire 'occurred during the drought, and owing to the timber being in a decayed state it was very difficult and costly to bring under •control. A Polled-Hereford stud bull was purchased early in the season. The stock on the scheme are now beginning to show the effects of the drought, but with the normal winter carrying-capacity considerably reduced, heavy losses are not anticipated. Waima Three fairly large dams have been constructed in situations from which water may be reticulated to other areas of the farm when necessary. The hay crop was very disappointing, as only 1,400 bales were obtained from an area which in past seasons has harvested 4,600 bales. Waxma South A No large-scale development has been carried out on this scheme of '1,460 acres owing to the difficulty of obtaining suitable labour and the scarcity of materials. The ragwort problem is fairly serious on portions and it will be difficult to control until the country is cleared. This area is steep and broken and a portion is covered with heavy bush scrub and fern and the remainder is light to heavy bush land. The property is badly watered, so that development costs will be high. Waireia A fairly extensive programme of development has been undertaken this year. On the flat approximately 60 acres have been drained and cleared. A large area of the hill country has also been cleared of scrub and the fences put in order. The sheep generally have shown considerable improvement and, •despite the very serious drought experienced, the live-stock have come through in fair condition. Tewharau On this scheme, situated near Dargaville, no new development work wasi undertaken during the year, although maintenance work has been brought up to date. The property suffered, considerably from the drought conditions •during the year and consequently the dairy and run herds had to be considerably reduced in numbers. The cows were very heavily culled and the lowest conditioned breeding-cows were sold off at reasonable prices, considering their condition owing to shortage of feed. It is anticipated that there will he some losses in the breeding-cows, but the sheep have made a good recovery and are looking well. WAIKATO-MANIAPOTO NATIVE LAND COURT DISTRICT This district embraces the Hauraki and Waikato areas. In the Thames and Waikato areas, units are generally engaged in dairying. In the Kingcountry there are some dairy units and the balance are engaged in mixed farming. Work during the year has been restricted to maintenance, but when fertilizer and other materials become freely available there are large areas of Native land, particularly in the King-country, awaiting development. The district has experienced the same dry and drought conditions experienced elsewhere, but fortunately the succeeding mild and rainy autumn has restored the freshness of the pastures and will take stock into the winter in fair condition.

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