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Waikawa Station This farm includes the freehold areas of Waikawa 2b and 3 (7,193 acres) with Waikawa 2a 2, a leasehold of 81 acres. The Waiariki District Maori Land Board first advanced money to this scheme in 1930, when it was brought under the provisions of section 23 of the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act, 1929, as a salvage measure. The station can be fairly classed, as hard, rough country which is purely a place for dry sheep and unsuitable for breeding. Four thousand acres of the property is in bush, mostly in the back area, while the front portion near the sea and the road access is in fair pasture. Ragwort is a serious menace on the property and the Department is fully alive to the consequences which would ensue if this were allowed to seed the large area farmed in the vicinity of the infected areas. The future working of this property is at present under consideration by the Board of Native Affairs. Waiorongomai Station This sheep and cattle station farmed by the Tairawhiti District Maori Land Board is situated in the high country near Ruatoria, on the east coast. The area, 13,845 acres, varies from light hills and river terraces in the front to steep and stony ground forming the headwaters of two swift-flowing rivers, the Waiorongomai and Mangaoporo, at the back. The height above sea-level is for the most part between 500 ft and 800 ft., while the rainfall is well over 100 in. per annum. Owing to its steepness and the rough stream-beds, the hill country is exceedingly difficult to work, especially during the winter, when the track up the Waiorongomai Stream is out of use for days at a time. The land had been leased to a successful farmer from 1907 until the expiry of the lease in -1942, when the incorporated owners decided to seek the assistance of the Board in farming it themselves, and accordingly the Maori Land Board was authorized, under section 523 of the Native Land Act, 1931, to manage the land and carry on agricultural and pastoral pursuits on behalf of and for the benefit of the beneficial owners. There is considerable scope for development and improvement of the front area when fertilizers are again available, and when sufficient work has been done it will be possible to establish two further small dairy-farms in addition to the two already leased to Maoris without cramping the area required for the sheep.

DISTRICT MAORI LAND BOARDS: ADVANCES TO MAORI SETTLERS The following' table indicates the measures of assistance granted to individual Maori farmers for the purpose of developing their lands as at 31st March, 1946:

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Maori Land Board. Total Advances to Maori Settlers under Mortgage. Number of Mortgages. Farming Purposes. Other Purposes. Tokerau Waikato-Maniapoto Waiariki Tairawhiti Aotea Ikaroa South Island .. .. .. Totals £ 2,543 4,380 6,637 66,952 24,691 2,124 3,472 1 13 10 201 12 20 3 4 3 9 34 44 110,799 260 114