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VI

Mr. 11. A. Gordon, of the Mines Department. In a matter pertaining to science it is important to record information from every trustworthy source, and, consequently, every sketch and report deemed worthy has been recorded in the appendix, with the name of the officer or contributor. Roads to open Crown Lands for Sale. During the year which ended on the 30th June the work accomplished has been as follows : — In Auckland 72k miles of cart-road have been constructed, 40| miles of bridle-road, If miles of drains made, besides several hundred culverts and bridges, and 26| miles of road have been graded ready for construction : the total expenditure being ,620,938 2s. Bd. In Taranaki 25| miles of cart-road have been constructed, and 5| miles have been felled and cleared, at a cost of £5,792 Bs. 9d. for the year. In Hawke's Bay 1 mile of road has been metalled, 12| miles of cart-road have been constructed, 51i miles have been felled and cleared, six bridges and seventeen culverts have been erected, and Bjj miles of road have been graded ready for construction : the cost for the year being ,£8,572 9s. 9d. In Wellington 3| miles of cart-road have been constructed, 1\ miles have been felled and cleared, 12i miles of bridle-road have been made, 3g miles of drains dug, and 18| miles of road have been graded ready for construction: the cost to date being £5,451 2s. lid. In Nelson 16| miles of cart-road have been constructed, 3| miles of horse-roads, one bridge built, and 4i miles of road graded ready for construction : the cost for the year being £4,734 16s. 2d. In Westland 9| miles of cart-road have been formed, and 2 miles of bridle-road, at an expense of £2,507 3s. sd. for the year. In Canterbury 21i miles of cart-road have been constructed or improved, at a cost of £2,841 15s. 4d. In Otago 59 miles of cart-road have been formed, at a cost of £10,563 Is. 7d., and 53 miles have been graded ready for formation. In Southland 8| miles of cart-road have been made, and 4i miles felled and cleared, at a cost of £2,403 11s. sd. The totals are 230 miles of cart-road made, 69 miles of cart-road felled and cleared through forest, 58| miles of bridle-road formed, 5 miles of drains and ditches, 111 miles of road graded ready for formation. The total payments to account are £63,804 12s. Future Operations. The main field-work for the ensuing year will be the completion of the trigonometrical surveys now in hand and the extension of the settlement-surveys, more especially in the bushdistricts of the North Island. In the survey-offices there is the usual routine work of reduction and compilation of plans, preparation of leases and certificates of title, with miscellaneous work for Property-tax, Census, Defence, and other departments, which during the past year was done at the cost of delaying the proper work of the department, the office staff not being sufficiently manned to meet all the extra demands made on it. It is to be hoped that in future the highly-trained draughtsmen who are engaged on the preparation of maps for publication will not have to be taken from that work to engage in disposing of the temporary exigencies which may arise in other departments. In roads to open up Crown lands it is proposed to continue to completion the works now in hand, and to extend new road-lines through the various blocks as they are opened up by survey. The progress of settlement very much depends on the amount of this kind of work which can be undertaken; and there should be no remission in its steady prosecution, extending, as it does, to all the districts of the colony, as will be seen by a reference to the Public Works estimates for the current year. I have, &c, J. McKerrow, The Hon. John Ballance, Minister of Lands. Surveyor-General.