C.—B

for flax-growing than any other purpose. Here the flax grows naturally where it is not destroyed by fires or stock. There are to-day areas of several hundred acres of millable flax, and these areas could be economically extended by drainage and fire-prevention. The rainfall at Kerepeehi in 1936 was below the average for the district. Rain fell on 150 days, well distributed throughout the year, and there were no flood-producing storms'. The rainfall records for Kerepeehi since 1916 are as follows : —

Records of Daily Precipitation, Kerepeehi, Hauraki Plains.

Average annua] rainfall over twenty-one years is 44-03 in. The Departmental construction forces have completed a great deal of valuable work during the year, and more is in progress. Maintenance activities have been more or less normal, calling for no special mention, with the exception of the acquisition of a weed-cutting launch which will apparently be a means of reducing the cost of cleaning growth from the canals and larger drains. Construction activities have been resumed on several undertakings abandoned during the years when all available funds were conserved for the relief of unemployment or continuation of essential services. A brief description of the principal works carried out during the year is given hereunder — Dredges. No. 15 Bucyrus drag-line excavator has been enlarging the Reservoir Canal, which is the main drainage channel for the Kerepeehi Block. Working first on one side of the canal and then on the other, this machine during the year traversed 138 chains of canal-bank, and, using a half-yard Page bucket and 50 ft. boom, excavated 54,716 cubic yards, at a unit cost of 8-Bd. No. 16 Bucyrus drag-line excavator was at the end of March, 1936, shipped by barge from Patetonga to Kerepeehi. The opportunity was taken to overhaul the machine while it was at Kerepeehi depot, and it was used to dredge metal and silt from the wharf berthage and slipway. On 28th April the machine was transported by barge to Waitakaruru and commenced work enlarging the Waitakaruru-Maukoro Canal. Working from the left bank of the canal, the machine has traversed 247 chains of canal-bank. At a point 3 miles 74 chains up-stream from the junction of the Maukoro Canal and Waitakaruru Stream, the machine will cross the canal at a temporary dam and work down-stream on the right bank, building a new roadway and widening the canal. The year's output from this machine was 54,638 cubic yards, and the unit cost 9-37 d. No. 19 Dredge completed widening the Piako River between the 13 miles 5 chains peg and 14 miles 45 chains (Kaihere Landing) and was laid up in November, 1936, after the 100 ft. boom had been dismantled. This machine has now completed the work for which it was specially designed and reconstructed on the works —that is, enlarging the river-channel to a width of 170 feet. Working from the river-bank, the machine in one operation excavated and transported the material 200 feet. The total volume of material handled by the plant was 294,012 cubic yards, and the cost was 11-2 d. per cubic yard. This figure includes, in addition to the usual operating and overhead charges, the cost of a costly reconstruction of the superstructure after the machine had been idle for over two years, and also the cost of moving the dredge by barge from Ngatea to Kaihere. Between March and November, 1936, the machine handled 14,137 cubic yards, at a unit cost of 8-63 d. No. 23 Steam Dipper Dredge, after being laid up in the Elst.ow Canal since May, 1934, was recommissioned after an extensive overhaul in January, 1937, when the crew from No. 19 Dredge were transferred to this plant. After the dredge had been working seven weeks removing silt from

2

Number of Days, with given Daily Precipitation in Inches. Ol oi oi ■ .a | ® C> .0» oi Ol © rn„±.. 1 Year. | g g 2 2 S 2 S ! S S S ! Pays! Fall! Wettest Month. Driest Month, o ooooooooooo|o +3 +3+3+3+3+3+3+3 +3+3 +3+3+3 © OlOOiOOiOpOOOOO O O l> O (M .» p O © p Oj p 6 6 © rH ,H rH tH <& CM .W Ô & 1916 .. 109 12 9 7 2 3 .. 1 .. .. 1 .. .. 144 52-19 Nov. 6-65 Feb. 1-05 1917 131 11 4 4 3 1 1 1 156 45-61 Feb. 6-26 Jan. 0-65 1918 .. 145 14 6 4 1 .. .. 1 171 44-06 Oct. 7-47 May 2-24 1919 .. 122 9 1 3 2 137 27-36 July 4-52 Dec. 0-89 1920 .. 85 7 10 3 1 1 3 2 112 43-16 Feb. 6-10 July 1-73 1921 .. 93 12 5 3 2 .. .. 1 116 34-41 Oct. 5-89 Feb. 0-72 1922 .. 101 17 9 3 .. 1 1 ... 1 133 42-81 Feb. 6-62 April 1-73 1923 ..151 6 5 4 1 1 1 169 47-04 April 9-76 Mar. 1-72 1924 ..132 8 10 5 2 5 1 1 .. 2 166 60-37 April 8-55 July 1-87 1925 .. 142 15 4 2 1 164 37-64 June 6-67 April 0-84 1926 .. 149 15 6 4 5 2 2 183 55-53 May 8-86 Feb. 1-79 1927 .. 159 10 6 5 .. 4 184 45-33 July 6-29 April 2-01 1928 ..125 7 9 2 3 2 2 1 151 47-30 May 7-52 Jan. 0-01 1929 .. 124 19 8 3 1 155 41-05 April 5-09 Feb. 0-74 1930 .. 131 4 2 2 3 2 2 146 37-72 Jan. 6-87 Dec. 0-80 1931 .. 144 10 7 4 2 167 43-23 July 7-80 Mar. 0-98 1932 .. 126 7 5 4 .. 1 143 32-05 Feb. 4-95 Nov. 0-93 1933 .. 152 13 1 4 3 .. .. 1 174 38-93 Feb. 6-54 Mar. 1-20 1934 .. 138 11 6 5 2 2 .. 1 .. 1 166 43-23 June 6-15 Oct. 2-05 1935 .. 163 15 6 4 2 2 .. 1 .. 1 194 53-42 July 9-56 Jan. 0-93 1936 .. 127 11 6 3 .. 1 2 150 40-62 Feb. 5-83 May 1-63 1937* .. 16 3 2 3 .. .. 1 25 11-71 Jan. 5-84 Feb. 0-51 * First three months of year only.