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NEW ZEALAND GEOGRAPHIC BOARD The annual meeting of the New Zealand Geographic Board was held on the 9th and 10th September, 1948. The Board considered 176 place-names submitted from various sources, of which 143 were approved, 18 rejected, and 15 deferred for further consideration. During the year Mr. J. W. Heenan retired from the Board as representative of the Department of Internal Affairs, and Mr. A. G. Harper was appointed, on the recommendation of the Hon. the Minister of Lands, to fill the vacancy caused thereby. In order to bring the membership of the Board to full strength as provided by the Act, the Minister also recommended the appointment of Mr. A. H. Bogle. The present members of the Board are: Mr. R. G. Dick (SurveyorGeneral), Chairman; Sir Apirana T. Ngata, Kt., M.A., LL.B.; Messrs. Johannes C. Andersen, M.8.E., K.D., P.R.S.N.Z.; A. P. Harper, 8.A.; Pei te H. Jones; A. H. Bogle; and A. G. Harper. Mr. C. S. "Wood is official secretary. NEW ZEALAND SURVEY BOARD The Survey Board conducted two examinations for the qualification of land surveyors during the year, the results being:—

The number of pupils registered during the year was:— Lands and Survey Department . . . . 13 Private surveyors . . . . . . . . 32 Total . . . . . . . . . . 45 Most of the survey cadets whose training was delayed by war service have practically completed their examinations. There has been an increase in the number of pupils registered during the year. Some benefit is now being derived from the newly qualified surveyors, who are taking up survey work for various .agencies throughout the Dominion. Preparations are being made by the Board for the holding of two conferences in Wellington in November, 1950; the first of the Australian and New Zealand Survey Boards, and the other of British Commonwealth and United States of America survey authorities to discuss reciprocity in the training, examination, and qualification of surveyors. GENERAL Although the returns of work for the year show that the available staff has "been able to deal with normal routine land-title work, very little has been done on such essential works as cadastral records, standard traverses, topographical mapping, and precise levelling. All Departments of State and the general public have become map conscious, the topographical map being an essential tool in the hands of the engineer, the scientist, the farmer, the industrialist, and the planner. The existing 1 in. provisional topographical series covering over 50,000 square miles (half of the

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— September, 1948. March, 1949. Totals. dumber of candidates 84 77 161 Passed full examination . . . . 7 7 14 •Obtained credits in subjects 63 60 123