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a—9.

of from fourteen to twenty-one years, and contain provisions for payment of compensation for improvements to tenants, as provided by " The Public Bodies' Leaseholds Act, 1886." W. G. Murray, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

No. 7. The Commissioner of Crown Lands, Marlborough, to the Under-Secretary for Lands. Department of Lands and Survey, District Office, Blenheim, 11th November, 1903. The Under-Secretary for Lands, Wellington. Re Circular No. 597. In reply to the above circular, I am informed by the Secretary of the School Commissioners of Marlborough that " In the majority of cases there are no formal leases executed by the School Commissioners of Marlborough. The payment of the rent half-yearly in advance, and a written promise that the value of improvements that have been made with the sanction of the Commissioners shall be added as a loading when the section is again submitted to public competition, are the only covenants existing. In a few cases, where the lease of a section has been renewed for a term of years, the tenant has been required to execute certain improvements during the currency of the extended term." C. W. Adams, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

No. 8. The Commissioner of Crown Lands, Canterbury, to the Under-Secretary for Lands. Department of Lands and Survey, District Office, Christchurch, 27th October, 1903. The Under-Secretary for Lands, Wellington. Leases granted by School Commissioners. In reply to your Circular Memo. No. 597 of the 21st instant, asking for particulars as to the terms and conditions regarding improvements and covenants inserted in leases granted by the School Commissioners in this district, I think that the attached printed "Terms and Conditions" will supply all the information needed. The leases have as a rule been let by tender, subject to valuation for buildings erected by the outgoing tenant. The Board renews the leases to good tenants, under section 244 of " The Land Act, 1892." Where tenants have proved unsatisfactory, the farms are submitted to public tender; but before doing so the possibility of further subdivision is considered, and, where deemed advisable, residence is made compulsory. Thos. Humphries, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

Terms and Conditions of Leases of Education Reserves. Covenants. 1. Term of lease, fourteen years. 2. The rent to be paid in advance without demand half-yearly in Christchurch. 3. The School Commissioners reserve to themselves the right to take any portion of the demised land, not being land on which homestead or buildings are erected, not exceeding five per cent, of the acreage of the land, for school or planting purposes at any time during the term, and after such taking the rent is to be reduced at the rate of per acre for the residue of the term, and the Commissioners are to forthwith fence off the land so taken. 4. The lessee must once a year properly cut, trim, and dress all live fences now on the land or which may be planted upon the land during the term, and stub out all gorse and broom not growing as fences, and also all gorse and broom growing upon the roads abutting the land to the extent of one half-chain. 5. The lessee must not take more than three crops, one of which must be a root-crop, from the same land in succession, and either with or immediately after a third crop of any kind the land must be sown down with good permanent English grasses and clovers, and be allowed to remain as pasture for at least three years from the harvesting of last crop before being again cropped. The lessee must sow for each acre the following proportion of seeds — namely, 201b. ryegrass, 61b. clover, and 4 lb. of other grass-seed. 6. At all times during the lease the land must be so farmed that not less than one-third of the farm be maintained in permanent pasture. 7. The lessee must properly sow and lay down at least one-half of the acreage of the farm with good permanent English grasses and clovers three years before the expiry of the lease, and maintain the same as permanent pasture for the residue of the term, yielding it up in good condition. 8. The lessee shall at all times during the term manage and cultivate the land in a careful, proper, and husbandlike manner, and shall not suffer the same to become exhausted or impoverished, and shall keep the same clear and free from Californian thistle, twitch, and other noxious weeds to the satisfaction of the lessors. 9. The lessee must not cut the English grass for hay or seed more than once during the period any portion may be down in grass.