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There are practically no Crown lands to be offered for occupation during the ensuing year, except such as may from any causes revert to the Crown, and there are no estates at present in prospect for disposal under the Land for Settlements Acts. Depaetmental. Fifteen ordinary and special meetings of the Land Board have been held during the year; 509 statutory applications for land were received and dealt with, of which 45 were granted, and, in addition to these, very large numbers of applications for approval of transfers and mortgages, Crown Lands Rangers' reports, and other business were considered at each sitting of the Board. The inward and outward recorded correspondence, returns, notices, &c, amounted, in round figures, to about 20,250. and about 1,600 sale plans, posters, &c, were distributed. In the office of the Receiver of Land Revenue, besides the gross revenue for the year, amounting to £131,514 7s. 1 Id., for which 5,676 receipts were issued, a sum of £8,364 Bs. 9d. was paid into the Deposit Account, against which 476 receipts and cheques were issued. A sum of £1,842 17s. lOd. was paid into the Local Bodies' Deposit Account, out of which £1,165 9s. Id. was paid over to the local bodies in respect of proposals which had been approved by the Land Board. In the Accountant's office, 279 vouchers, representing a sum of £3,781 3s. 9d., were drawn against the Imprest Account, and 887 vouchers, representing £12,927 Is. 3d., were passed through for pre-audit and payment. Eeic C. Gold Smith, Commissioner of Crown Lands. OTAGO. I may preface my remarks by a passing allusion to the financial results of the year, which have been remarkably satisfactory, indicative of sound and solid progress and prosperity. The estimates of gross revenue for the year amounted to £88,074 17s. 4d., while the actual receipts were £89,633 14s. 9d., an excess of £1,558 17s. 5d., the principal items of excess being cash lands, perpetual leases made freehold, and land-for-settlements lease in perpetuity. It was at one time feared that owing to the unusually dry period in the early part of the season the settlers would have suffered severely in their returns for the year; and though they have done so to a certain extent, in some places more than others, the timely breaking-up of the drought saved many from what would otherwise have been a disastrous year to them. Settlement of ordinary Crown lands is the first matter claiming attention. The transactions under this head are still comparatively few, in consequence of the limited area of ordinary Crown lands now available for closer settlement. The area opened for sale and selection during the year under the various systems and tenures amounted in all to 114,483 acres. Of this, 49,847 acres was opened for the first time, and the balance, 64,636 acres, had been previously opened. Included in the land opened for the first time were the Steward, Plunket, and Totara Settlements under the Land for Settlements Act, comprising an aggregate area of 30,606 acres, of which 5,871 acres constituted five small grazing-runs in the Steward Settlement. Of the balance opened for the first time, 18,824 acres was ordinary Crown lands under the small-grazing-run system, 274 acres on lease in perpetuity only, 124 acres under the optional system, and 19 acres for cash by auction. The previously opened areas comprised 2,044 acres under the optional system, 156 acres for cash by auction, 60,485 acres pastoral runs, 1,185 acres as small grazing-runs, 145 acres lease in perpetuity only, and 621 acres land for-settlement lease in perpetuity. There is still a steady demand for land of good quality suitable for both agricultural and grazing purposes. Mixed farming seems to be the general desire on the part of intending settlers. As the pastoral licenses over suitable land for closer settlement fall in, it will be the aim and object of the Land Board and the Department to endeavour as far as possible to meet the legitimate demands for land for settlement purposes. For disposal during the year now entered upon the lands at present in view in respect of ordinary Crown lands are, besides certain misce ! laneous areas now open for application, the subdivisions of the Blackstone Hill, Lauder, Home Hills, and Lee Stream Runs, embracing a gross area of 153,000 acres approximately, which, as a matter of fact, have been disposed of before the writing of this report. Several runs expiring in 1909 will also be dealt with about the end of the year. Under the Land for Settlements Act there will be the small Kurow Settlement, Airedale Estate, Otekaike Estate, and Ashley Downs Estate, comprising altogether an aggregate area of, say, 24,000 acres, the survey of which (with the exception of the Kurow Settlement, already surveyed) will be completed as soon as possible. The summary of transactions shows that as compared with the previous year the volume of business has been greater in regard both to area and receipts. The total number of transactions, including leases made freehold, was fifty-three more than in 1905-6, and the acreage dealt with greater by 101,577 acres. The total number of holdings now on the books is, including land for settlements and endowments, 3,604, with an acreage of 5,471,677 acres, at an annual rental of £89,713 2s. 2d., an increase over the previous year of 124 holdings, and £8,624 13s. 9d. annual rental. The receipts of the past year were £7,476 Bs. lid. more than in 1905-6. As a matter of course, the receipts under land for settlements are increasing yearly as further estates are brought into the market. For the ensuing year the estimate of revenue has been fixed at £4,440 above last year's receipts, and there is every prospect that the estimated amount will be realised. Ordinary pastoral runs are, as pointed out last year, gradually diminishing both in area and annual rental, the latter in greater proportion than the former, as a consequence of the best runs being taken