H.—34a,

8

reason for this is that it does not suit large liners to call at Cardiff unless they desire to take return cargoes of coal. New Zealand meat railed or reshipped from London is liable to suffer deterioration, and because of this, and the extra cost involved, it has little chance of obtaining a large hold of this market. Danish butter to a considerable extent holds the field, but there is no reason why New Zealand should not obtain an increasing share of this trade. I was informed that in July, 1904, the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce made representations to the New Zealand Government, through the High Commissioner, and showed the advantage of steamers in the west-coast service calling at Cardiff to obtain bunker-coal and to discharge produce; but nothing resulted from these representations —probably because the Government was powerless to do anything in the matter. The Port of Cardiff includes the Bute Docks at Cardiff, owned by the Cardiff Railway Company; the Barry Docks, owned by the Barry Railway Company; and the Penarth Dock, owned by the Taff Vale Railway Company. Together, these constitute a safe and spacious port, with all modern appliances for the handling of cargoes of every description, and with excellent facilities for executing repairs to vessels. Cardiff ranks as the third largest port in the United Kingdom for shipping cleared. The clearances at the three chief ports in 1906 were,— Tons Register. London ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8,919,272 Liverpool ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8,870,351 Cardiff ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8,451,050 Cardiff is indeed the premier port in the United Kingdom in the matter of shipping cleared for foreign countries and overseas British possessions. This position she has attained by reason of her coal-export, which equals about seven-eighths of the total trade of the port. In 1906 the trade of the Port of Cardiff was, — Tong Exports ..." ... ... ... ... ... ... 22,760,319 Imports ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,812,885 Total ... ... ... ... . ... 25,573,204 Of the imports, only about 600,000 tons were foodstuffs and general merchandise —the great bulk of the cargoes being represented by iron-ore, pig iron, pit-wood, and other timber. I append some particulars of the different docks :— Bute Docks.

The South Dock, which was opened by the King only a few months ago, has one side of its quayage ,reserved for import trade, and large transit and storage sheds are provided and are equipped with every appliance necessary for the despatch of cargoes. This dock is fitted to receive the largest ocean-going steamers, as it has a sea-lock 800 ft. in length and 90 ft. in breadth, with the same depth of water on sill as the dock itself. The quay-space on this dock alone is 6,700 ft. In«connection with all the docks there is an ample equipment of cranes, including one of 70-ton capacity, as well as a grain-elevator, cold and other stores, cattle-lairs, slaughterhouses, &c. Barry Docks. Barry, which is some eight miles nearer to the sea than Cardiff, has three docks, with a total area of 114 acres. These are accessible in all weathers, and have a deep sea entrance, making them practically independent of tides. Appended are particulars of the docks : —

The depth of water on sill in each case is 37 ft. 8 in. at high water, ordinary spring tides, and 29 ft. 4 in. at high water, ordinary neap tides. The machinery and appliances are all of the most approved type, and include 56 cranes, ranging in capacity from 36 cwt, to 50 tons,

Depth of Water on Sill. Name of Dock. Area in Acres. Spring Tides. Neap Tides. Bute West Dock ... Bute East Dock ... Roath Basin Roath Dock South Dock Timber Floats 19i 46} 12 33 50 24 Ft. 28-9 319 35-9 35-9 41-6 Ft. 18-9 21'9 25-9 25-9 320 6 ft. ;o8ft.

Name of Dock. Area. Length. Width. Quayage. Width of Gates. Dock No. 1 Dock No. 2 Dock No. 3 (Basin) Lady Windsor Lock Timber Float ... Acres. 73 34 7 Ft. 3,100 3,320 600 647 800 Ft. 1,100 400 to 600 550 65 400 Ft. 10 ,500 7,000 2,040 2,000 Ft. 80 80 80 65