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to sell. The Maori Land Boards have this power, and there will be no additional cost to be provided in salaries for Land-purchase Agents. Land for Landless Natives in the South Island. Under the provisions of " The South Island Landless Natives Act, 1906," an area of 128,617 acres has been reserved and gazetted during the year for the purpose of granting the same to landless Natives in the South Island. The area is distributed as follows :— Westland Land District . . .. .. . . 4 475 Otago Land District . . . . . . . 7176 Southland Land District .. .. .. .. ..116 966 Total •• ■■ •• •- .. .. 128,617 These areas have been subdivided into suitable allotments, varying generally from twenty to fifty acres, and thirteen warrants for the issue of certificates of title to 295 Natives have been executed during the year by His Excellency the Governor. Regulations as to the leasing of the lands and for the disposal of timber were gazetted on the 4th March, 1909. Forests generally and State Forests. In addition to the usual report dealing with reafforestation and the progress of State forest plantations, an exhaustive report dealing with forestry in New Zealand is also being prepared, and will be laid before Parliament as a separate paper. Its object is to show exactly how much forest now exists in this country, how much of it is available for milling and commercial purposes, and how much it is necessary to retain in a state of nature for climatic, scenery, and soilprotection purposes. The report will also indicate the various uses to which the classes of timber in New Zealand are at present, and may in the future, be put; the countries and localities from which timbers outside the Dominion may be procured; and, finally, what is being done by the Government to reforest the denuded areas in New Zealand and provide future supplies. Roughly speaking, the report will be divided and dealt with under five heads, with a general summary and conclusions. It may be interesting to note that in 1907 the estimated amount of milling-timber in New Zealand was set down as thirty-six thousand million superficial feet (36,000,000,000), but now, at the close of March, 1909, it is estimated at thirty-four thousand million superficial feet (34,000,000,000). This is, however! without taking into account the milling-timber within the area of 2,485,900 acres in the Sounds National Park. Botanical and Descriptive Paper on Stewart Island. A very comprehensive paper upon the plant-life of Stewart Island and other matters by Dr. Cockayne appears as a separate paper. Dr. Cockayne was officially engaged to furnish this report, and it has been given with his usual thoroughness and carefulness of detail. Botanical Report on Waimarino Forest and District. A botanical report upon the Waimarino Forest and district by Mr. E. Phillips Turner appears as a separate paper. It has been dealt with in a most painstaking manner, and it also contains a list of all the indigenous plants in the forest and their botanical names. As this report has been written without interfering with Mr. Turner's inspection and survey of scenic reserves, he deserves all the more credit for its production. Report on Sand-dunes by Dr. Cockayne. During the summer Dr. Cockayne was engaged officially in making an examination of the sanddune area on the Wellington coast from Foxton towards Patea, with a view to suggestions as to the best method of dealing with sand-encroachment. It was only intended as a preliminary report, with a view to more complete investigations at a future date. His report will be printed as a separate paper. Kapiti Island. The Crown portion of Kapiti Island, in the Wellington District, is now under the charge of Mr. Henry, -formerly of Resolution Island. In order to secure more regular communication with the mainland, an oil-launch was built for Mr. Henry's use, and is now in working-order. If the island is to be kept strictly as a sanctuary for Native fauna, further action in the shape of acquiring the remaining Maori interests will be necessary, though no trouble has arisen as yet, the Maoris themselves, being most anxious to further the Government's views,

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