G.—lo.

Mr. Rangi Royal, the officer in charge of the consolidation schemes in the Bay of Plenty. The combination of farm expert and Native-land title officer produced a comprehensive and detailed survey, which, among other things, tabulated the requirements of the Maori settlers on the Opape Block. It was made clear that before the same measures could be taken, as in the case of Ruatoki, for reconditioning pastures and improving the quality of the herds, existing liabilities of many of the settlers would have to be discharged. Ten accounts, which amounted to £1,765, were selected for payment, but a compromise was arrived at with the creditors for a settlement at £1,559. The expenditure on this part of the scheme to the end of March, 1932, amounted to £2,738, made up of £1,559 for discharge of liabilities as mentioned above, £585 for grass-seed, manure, and fencing material, £205 for the purchase of dairy stock, £150 for a store-shed, £194 for surveys, and £45 for equipment and sundries. The total was reduced by £200, representing repayments by settlers. Towards the end of 1931, as the outcome of representations made by a section of the Whakatohea Tribe, supported by the local unemployment committee and by the local bodies, it was decided to commence work on part of the undeveloped portion of the block at Hinahinanui, a valley which runs across the interior of the block parallel with the sea-coast. The work consisted of roading, scrub-cutting, clearing fern, draining and disking to prepare a surface for pasture. The number of men absorbed was forty-five. The expenditure on this section of the scheme to the 31st March, 1932, was £164. The total expenditure on the Whakatohea scheme to the 31st March, 1932, was £3,525, reduced by repayments of settlers to £3,325. The land grassed or prepared for pasture up to the same date was as follows :—

A total of about 1,100 acres reconditioned, or newly sown down ,or prepared for grass. The number of units who received assistance was 21. There was a great amount of development work in progress when the accounts for the year were closed. The stock possessed by the assisted settlers was as follows : By Opape Units, milkers 275, springers 64, yearlings 36, bulls 20, working horses 32, sheep 800, and dairy equipment and implements ; by Wainui settlers, milkers 38, springers 12, yearlings 16, bulls 4, working horses 4. The gross returns for butterfat supplied by the Opape Units for the year were £2,261, and by Wainui settlers £259. The latter did not possess many implements. Amoamo Te Rieki, himself a dairy-farmer in a large way and one of the most prominent men of the Whakatohea Tribe, was appointed foreman for the Opape section of the scheme. He had charge of the store-shed and was responsible for the issue of stores. (p) Opape Base Farm. As already stated, the land was a portion of the Opape Block, the lease of which was held by Mrs. Ferguson. The acquisition of the lease was strongly recommended by the Supervisors and Consolidation Officers as essential to the proper and effective working of the Opape Block. The area under lease was 1,072 acres, arid the term of the lease forty-two years from the Ist July, 1920. Negotiations for the purchase of the lease began in May, 1931, the lessee's interest in the lease then being valued at £1,895. The purchase was concluded in July, 1931, at £2,000 and possession obtained on the 31st of that month. The property was then carrying 80 dairy cows, and it was estimated that there was sufficient pasture for a herd of one hundred cows. It was decided not to take over the Ferguson herd, but to purchase good Jersey heifers in Taranaki and to make the property a stock-base farm for the district. Nine-six in-calf heifers were bought in Taranaki and transported by rail to Taneat.ua, thence by road to the farm. The expenditure to the 31st March, 1932, was £4,429, the details of which are set out in the schedules, including the cost of the leasehold £2,000. This was reduced by £460, the proceeds of butterfat. It is confidently expected that this farm will serve a very useful purpose in the district in the breeding and supplying of dairy stock of superior quality to the Maori settlers. Care is being exercised in the selection of bulls for the herd, and herd-testing has been carried out from the first season. (iq) Torere. The Torere scheme embraces the lands of the Ngaitai Tribe, which is wedged in between the Whakatohea Tribe on the south and the Whanau-a-Apanui Tribe on the north. The Ngaitai is a small but compact and influential people, descended, according to tradition, from one of the migrants who came over in the Tainui canoe. The Ngaitai lands were included in the scope of the Apanui Consolidation Scheme, and at the moment they were subjected to the provisions of the development legislation the main lines of the consolidation scheme had been decided upon, and settlements in regard to outstanding rates and survey

40

c , ,. . _ , Good to Fair Poor to Rough Pastured by Prepared for Section of Scheme. Pasture. Pasture. Scheme. Pasture. A. B. P. A. R. P. A. B. P. A. B. P. Opape Units .. .. .. 289 3 29 206 0 28 .. 273 0 0 Hinahinanui .. .. .. 20 0 0 .. .. 167 0 0 Wainui .. .. .. .. 47 0 0 106 3 0 Total .. .. .. j 309 3 29 253 0 28 106 3 0 440 0 0 I ■