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(4) The tussock belt on the inland hills, some of which provides good grazing, some of which, as in the Wairau Valley and along the tJre, has changed to danthonia, and some of which, as on Molesworth Station, has been very seriously eroded, the result of overstocking and indiscriminate burning. The sheep carried are principally Merinos and halfbreds, and their numbers have declined. (5) The small area of first-class land comprising the flats around Blenheim, Tuamarina, and Kaikoura, where dairying and fatlamb production are the most important industries. Rainfall averages 45 in. over the Sounds County and the inland ranges, and 25 in. around Blenheim and down the east coast. Distribution throughout the year over the latter area is poor, and frequently drought conditions are encountered in the summer and autumn. A relatively static position is evident in the sheep industry. Total sheep increased from 1,041,000 in 1925 to 1,091,000 in 1945. Breeding-ewes increased from 537,000 in 1925 to 592,000 in 1945. In Kaikoura and Marlborough Counties there has been a considerable increase in the number of flocks under 500 and a substantial fall in the number of flocks over 2,500. In the Sounds and Awatere Counties the tendency has been for consolidation, and increases are evident in the number of flocks of 500-2,500, with a large decrease in flocks of 500 and under. Sounds and Awatere have declined, and Kaikoura and Marlborough improved. Subterranean clover has been introduced on the medium-to-light soils of Fairhall, Omaka, Hillersdene, Wairau Valley, and Seddon with good results. Perennial rye-grass is carried with the sub-clover, and these pastures have doubled in stock-carrying capacity. The high price ruling for sub-clover seed in recent years encouraged some farmers to hold their clover for seed. (b) Nelson This region, the Counties of Buller, Collingwood, Inangahua, Murchison, Takaka, and Waimea, comprises the Land District of Nelson, lying to the west of the main mountain chain, and stretches from Cook Strait to the northern boundary of Grey County on the West Coast. The region is generally high and rough, peaks of over 4,000 ft. in height being not uncommon throughout the main range and the many subsidiary spurs. Rainfall over the area varies, the extremes ranging from 100 in. and more per annum in Buller, Murchison, Inangahua, and Collingwood Counties to an average of 36 in. in Takaka and Waimea Counties. The distribution of rainfall is poor in Takaka and Waimea, where summer and autumn droughts are encountered frequently. Three-quarters of the area of the region is unoccupied land and includes the bush-clad Tasman, Brunner, and Lyell Ranges, extending through Collingwood, Takaka, Buller, and Inangahua Counties, and the mountain-tops of the main divide on the eastern border of Waimea and Murchison Counties. Wet pakahi lands on upland terraces in Collingwood and Buller Counties are also in the unoccupied area. On many of the occupied ranges a serious cobalt deficiency militates against the grazing of stock, although licks and top-dressing of holding paddocks and accessible flats are overcoming this to a certain extent. Large areas of bush have been burnt off in the past and some surface sowing attempted, but a great deal of this has been abandoned and allowed to revert to fern and scrub because of mineral deficiencies and consequent