C—lβ

Expenditure. £ s. a. Amount at the 31st March, 1907 ... ... ... ...8,796 18 0 Pitting ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 14 9 Tree-planting ... ... ... ... ... ... 136 9 1 Cartage of trees ... ... ... ... ... ... 15 14 6 General upkeep of plantation ... ... ... ... 645 12 1 „ repairs ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 7 1 Tools, implements, &c. ... ... ... ... ... 16 2 0 Miscellaneous works ... ... ... ... ... 22 14 5 Salaries— Foresters ... ... ... ... ... ... 145 0 0 Supervision of prison labour (wages of relieving officer) ... 2 19 6 „ free labour ... ... ... ... 226 Nurseryman's proportion of, and travelling-expenses ... 30 0 0 Supervision ... ... ... ... .. ... 17 14 0 Total to date ... ... ... ... ...£9,862 7 11 W. G. Morrison, Assistant Forester. W. Cromb, Nurseryman in Charge.

Whakarewarewa Plantation. (Approximate area, 8,912 acres; appioxiinate altitude, 1,200 ft.) During the past season trees to the number of 1,943,990 were dealt with. 1,650,690 were planted on a new area of 650J acres, and the remainder, 293,300, were used to replace failures in former plantings. The total area planted to date in this reserve is 2,319 acres, containing 5,042,126 trees. Prison Labour. The employment of prison labour has again been very successful, and the interest taken in the work by the Prisons Department's officers has been of great assistance in carrying out the work in a creditable and satisfactory manner. The daily average number of men employed was 15 - 05, and their work was valued at £1,103 ss. 2d., or an average for the year of £73 6s. Id. per man, thus showing an increase of £6 19s. lid. per man on the previous year's results. The details of work done by prisoners are as follows: Clearing for tree-planting, 70 acres, at £1 per acre, £70; planting 912,695 trees, at Bs. per 1,000, £365 Is. 7d.; formation of firebreaks, clearing, burning, and stumping 119 chains at 10s. per chain, £59 10s.; road-formation, 30 chains at £1 per chain, and 137 chains at 10s. per chain, £98 10s. ; putting in culverts, £3 55.; draining 12 chains at ss. per chain, £3; making planting-bags, harness, and tents, £38 11s. 6d. ; general upkeep of plantation—planting blanks £151 16s. 4d., improving and repairing roads £139 13s. 3d., grubbing gorse £59 Bs. 9d., general repairs and miscellaneous works £114 Bs. 9d. : total, £1,103 ss. 2d. Free, Labour. An average daily number of 23"92 free men were employed, and the cost of the various works undertaken was as follows: Clearing for tree-planting, 16s. 9Jd. per acre; pitting, 9s. 4Jd. per thousand; planting, 7s. 7fd. per thousand; formation of fire-breaks, 7s. 2id. per chain; roadformation, side cutting, £1 per chain ; and fencing—erecting, clearing line, <tc.—cost 14s. 4Jd. per chain. A considerable difference will be observed in the cost of clearing as compared with the previous year, when the cost per acre was £1 11s. 3Jd., and this is accounted for by the comparatively light nature of the growth on the area cleared during the past season. All fire-breaks have been kept in a very efficient state by ploughing and cultivating, and in many places too steep to use horses, by cutting and burning growth and hand-hoeing. The length of fire-breaks formed and ploughed is as follows: Formed—l 79 chains by chains, 66 chains by \ chain ; ploughed—Bo chains by chains, 70 chains by \ chain: and the total length cultivated, 680 chains. With the permission of the Native owners of the land, a fence was erected along the Wairoa Road from the plantation-boundary to Lake Tikitapu, for the purpose of keeping stock from wandering on the reserve. The length of this fence is 121 chains, and, as the growth of fern and tutu was very heavy along the greater part of its length, it was found necessary, in order to have it burned, to clear all the growth between the line and the road, and this was done at a cost of ss. 3d. per chain, leaving the cost of erecting 9s. ljd. per chain. The strip of land cleared along the fence averages fully \ chain in width, and acts as a serviceable fire-break. Pruning is now being carried on in the older parts of the plantation, and, as a great number of trees now require attention, it will be necessary to keep a small number of men continually at this work. Free labour was occupied for three months keeping down growth amongst the trees, a sum of £346 13s. Id. being spent on this work. Although the summer months have been exceptionally dry, the trees planted during the year have on the whole done very well, larch and Oregon pine in particular having made very good

44