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Session 11. 1906. NEW ZEALAND.

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS: SURVEYS (ANNUAL REPORT ON).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Acting-Surveyor-Geneeal to the Hon. ths Minister of Lands. g TRi Department of Land;?, Wellington, Ist Juno, 1906. I have the honour to submit herewith the annual report on the survey operations o$ the Department for the twelve months ended the 31st March, 1906. I have, &c, Thos. Humphries, The Hon. T. Y. Duncan, Minister cf Lands. Acting Surveyor-General".

Work done during the Year. The number of surveyors employed during the year ending the 31st March, 1906, was 107, consisting of 35 staff, 40 temporary, and 32 on contract, 76 of whom were employed in the North Island and 31 in the South. The amount of work in the different classes completed during the year, together with the cost, is as follows :—

The completed work returned in each class, with the exception of Native Land Court surveys, greatly exceeds that of the previous year, and the cost of the surveyors and their field parties is only £1,413 greater. The exosss in area is in a measure due to the fact that some of the surveys enumerated above were partially executed during the previous year, but now, having been completed, they appear for the first time with the total cost, which includes that incurred pricr to the Ist April, 1905. A comparison of the figures quoted above under the heads of " Minor triangulation," " Provisional settlement," and " Rural and suburban" surveys with thase of the same classes for the preceding year shows the cost per acre for work returned this year to be considerably less in each case.

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Class of Work. Area. Cost per Acre. Total Cost. Minor triangulation Topographical Topographical provisional settlement .. Rural and suburban Town section Acj'es. 355,072 l'13d. 101,577 2d. 244,093 4-05d. 605,425 l-63s. 939 18-25s. per section 4,191 4-12s. 28,766 l-68s. 307m. £15'6 per mile £ s. 1,666 14 846 9 4,119 3 49,532 10 1,531 1 d. 6 6 7 1 0 Gold-mining surveys Native Land Court Roads and railways Miscellaneous work and other duties .. 863 14 2,413 11 4,789 10 10,419 9 4 5 7 5