8.—6

XVIII

A block containing 2,817 acres was selected near Taihape, in the Awarua country, for improvement, prior to being offered for selection. The block is onw being felled, and part of it will be burned and grassed in the coming summer. Next year it will be seen whether the land so improved will be taken up at a price which will recoup the interest on the expenditure. A beginning has been made in the formation of nurseries for the propagation of trees to afforest the treeless interiors of Otago, Canterbury, and Auckland, and a small amount of planting has been done with trees grown in the Kailway Nursery at Sockburn, in Canterbury. This good work should be steadily carried on until planting and cutting balance each other. The expenditure on roads and other works in connection with the opening up of Crown lands and the maintenance of communication through the country has been £210,432. During the year, 509 miles of new roads and 442 miles of horse-roads have been constructed., while 1,122 miles of main road and 647 miles of horse-roads have been maintained fit for traffic. The comfort and convenience of travellers and tourists have been promoted by considerable improvements at Te Aroha, Eotorua, Hanmer, and Mount Cook. New baths and rooms for Te Aroha are arranged for, and a contract let. A tender for a system of drainage at Kotorua has been accepted, and other improvements have been made at the Sanatorium and at Whakarewarewa. A new road from Rotorua via Waiotapu and Wairakei will be opened as soon as the bridge over the Waikato is constructed. At Hanmer a new house close to the baths has been built for the accommodation of those invalids to whom the daily journey of two or three miles to the nearest hotel was inconvenient. The Hermitage at Mount Cook has been improved, and is now a very comfortable house for visitors; the roads have been maintained in good order, and a regular bi-weekly coach-service arranged for. LAND-FOB-SETTLEMENTS OPERATIONS. Since the Acts came into operation in 1894, 86,106 acres have been leased, and the annual rental is £22,292, paid by 770 farmers, of whom about one-half are already resident. This gives 4-99 per cent, as the interest obtained on the investment. These results do not include the transactions of the Cheviot Estate, the purchase of which was really the beginning of the successful operations of the land-for-settlements system, and which at present pays 5*2 per cent, on its cost. During 1896-97 thirteen estates, containing 39,151 acres, divided into 362 farms, were opened for selection, and only 637 acres now remain unselected. Since the 31st March last five other estates have been opened for selection, and, with trifling exceptions, were promptly applied for and disposed of. The only failure is the Wharenui Hamlet, near Christchurch, purchased at a high price, and intended for workmen's homes, but which failed to attract those for whose benefit it was designed. The Board constituted under the Land for Settlements Act dealt with 148 estates; and, of these, thirty-one were recommended for purchase, and seventeen owners accepted the offers made, representing 51,536 acres, of a value of £251,571. The'actual purchases completed during the year were fifteen estates containing 61,333 acres, and the cost thereof was £300,159. The total negotiations completed up to the 31st March, 1897, since the commencement of the system are represented by thirty-eight estates, containing 118,553 acres, the purchase-money being £520,541 ; and an agreement has been made to purchase a further area of 19,902 acres, in seven estates, at a cost of £103,584, so that the total purchase-money actually paid, and the liabilities incurred, amount to £624,125. Besides this, of course, there are the expenses of administration and survey, and construction of roads, some of which have yet to be paid. The compulsory powers of the Act have been exercised up to the present time only in one case, that of Ardgowan, but steps are now being taken to refer to the Compensation Court a proposal to purchase the Woburn Estate, containing 27,000 acres. The owner being resident in Great Britain, it is a very tedious process to put the law in motion.