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shower when requiring it. Each bath-room has a large ground-glass window, double hung and fitted with blinds; but these are not required, except when the windows are open, as no one can see through the ground glass. There is likewise a circular ventilator in the ceiling of each room, and one side of the room for 2ft. below the ceiling is so fitted that it can be opened or shut at pleasure, in the form of Venetian blinds, so as to allow any steam from the baths to escape, and to prevent the room from being uncomfortably hot or moist. The building is constructed so that four more bath-rooms can at any time be added, if required,.without destroying its symmetrical appearance. A cold-water supply has been brought in a "lead," 34 chains long, from a branch of Dog Creek. It runs partly in two open trenches, having a short tunnel between them of 1^ chains. At the end of this " lead'''' a wofxlen tank is placed as a small reservoir, and from which 2|-in. galvanized-iron pipes are laid to the bathhouse, a further distance of 19 chains. The head of water at the bathhouse is. about 22ft. It is not altogether certain yet whether a sufficient supply of water can be got in dry weather from the present source; but a line of water-race has been laid out to the main branch of Dog Creek, where a permanent supply can be obtained. The length of this additional work will be about 40 chains, and can be carried in an open trench all the way. A substantial galvanized-iron wire fence, with barbed wire on top, has been erected around an enclosure of five acres where the hot #prings and bathhouse are situated, and the ground inside the enclosure is now being broken up and levelled, so that it can be laid down in grass, with a border of ornamental trees all round it. It is proposed to offer sufficient inducement for a commodious accommodation-house to be erected by private enterprise, so that invalids and visitors can receive proper care and attention; but in the meantime, until these arrangements are completed, a four-roomed cottage will be erected inside the enclosure, and a person placed in charge of the baths. The cost of the whole of the works up to the present time is about £1,300, but when those that are in hand have been completed, including the cottage, planting, &c, the total cost will be about £1,700. The Surveyor-General, Wellington. Henry A. Gobdon.

No. 5. Beport of the Canteebuby Plantation Boaed. Sib,— Christchurch, 20th June, 1884. I have much pleasure in reporting that the work of establishing plantations in Canterbury is progressing satisfactorily. Already, the earliest of the plantations formed by the Board have made sufficient growth to afford a pleasing relief to the landscape, which, a few years back, was an almost unbroken expanse of tussock. The area fenced and sown with blue-gum- and wattle-seed during 1883 comprised 250 acres, equally divided between the Counties of Selwyn and Ashburton, in which districts the larger number of the reserves are situated. The total area fenced and sown to the end of 1883, is —in the county of Ashburton, 483 acres ; in the county of Selwyn, 676 acres. Experience has proved that the season most favourable for the sowing of gum-seed, that is, from the middle of September to the middle of November, is too late for the sowing of wattle-seed ; and the Board have decided that the wattle plantations shall in future be sown not later than the end of August, and be restricted to the black and silver wattle, which are the most robust, whilst the bark is much sought after for tanning purposes. During last year the Board took steps to secure the leasing of the reserves under their control upon terms calculated to secure &■ larger revenue. By granting leases for a term of fourteen years, and reserving to the Board the right of re-entry over such portions as they may from time to time desire to plant, they have succeeded in more than doubling their former rent-roll. The rents obtained range from Is. to as much as 2s. 6d. per acre for the grazing of tussock land, and as high as 7s. per acre for portions of the agricultural land, which rents must be considered highly satisfactory, when it is borne in mind that, in order to preserve the land clean for sowing with gum- and wattle-seed, the tenants are precluded from breaking up more than one-half of the total quantity for which they pay rent, and are also subject to other necessary restrictions. The tenders received for some of the reserves which are available only for grazing purposes were as low as 3d., 6d., 7-J-d., 9d., and lOd. per acre. The Board, however, declined all such; and, having fixed upon Is. per acre as the minimum rent which they would receive for any reserve, finally succeeded in obtaining that rental. The nurserymen throughout Canterbury have during the last two or three years raised large quantities of young pine trees, which they are now offering at very low prices, ranging from £2 per thousand upwards, according to age and quality; and the Board intend during the present season to avail themselves of this opportunity, and to plant as large an area as possible with mixed pines, larch, and birch, selecting the sorts most suitable for the soil and situation of the several reserves, from the sandhills at New Brighton to the heavy lands near the foot of the ranges. With the increased revenue now available the Board will be able to plant at least five hundred acre3 annually. Yours, &c, ■■%, Edwaed G. Weight, The Secretary for Crown Lands, Wellington. Chairman,