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[C. BRUNBKILL.

('.- 11.

27. The pei son employing you had to pay the charge/ The company may have put it on to then- charges of cartage from Auckland. 28. You do not know that it exists at the present time?— No. 29. Are you carting still/—Yes. 30. Do ii,,, the willow-trees form a stoppage to the sill /—Yes. 31. Do you suggest any remedy for the trouble/—You want me to find a remedy and still allow the silt' to go into the river—without revoking the Proclamation. 32. Do you suggest that the Proclamation should lx- revoked/ -1 should not like to say that. 3.-',. You bay,- not gone into that? —No. 34. Suppose you (dosed the Ohinemuri as a sludge-channel to-morrow, have you considered whether it would make any difference lo the flooding of the country?—lt would not make the floods any greater than they have been recently. 35 So that the closing of the river as a sludge-channel would not do any good? —Yes, it would. Supposing the amount of silt now in the river were put into the river between here and the Junction Wharf there would Ik- very little opening left; it would (ill the river-lied from bank to bank. 30 Do you suggest that the slimes now going into the river are causing any silting-up?—l have heard a good deal as to the difference between slimes and silt. Ido not think there is any difference between the two. Close to the Criterion Bote! Thee is a large deposit of fine silt. 37, Have you examined it?— Yes, this morning; and I thought it could not be liner than it is. T. M. Robinson examined. (No. 12.) 1 Mr. Mueller.] Your name is T. M. Robinson, and you own 234 acres of freehold land on tl„. bank of the Waihou River, at Netherton—Komata North No. l.\ No. 4?— Yes. 2 How much of that is subject to floods/—I might say that when I went to the place first, ten years ago, it was Blightly flooded—the front portion. At low water, if there was a flood, it did not interfere with me to any extent. The last flood flooded some 40 to 50 acres. 3 Was that area affected by tailings?— Yes, the whole lot of it. From a chain to two or three chains back the deposit was 3 in. or 4 in. deep, and at 7 chains back it is too bad for the vegetation. |, is there now The water stayed on the land for two days. It came and went with the tides 4. In the 1007 flood did it stay on your land for a considerable time?—lt was there about 5 You had a falling-off in your milk cheque: was that caused by the loss of feed?— Yes. 6 You noticed the grass being covered with a sticky slimy white stuff?— Yes. 1. Have you noticed whether that is hard to wash off/—I think you have to wait for a young gr ° B.How many cows were you milking last January and February'—About fifty-five or fifty- ' '(,' And after the March flood of this year your milk cheque dropped considerably?— Yes. 10 \nd after the 1907 flood there was even a further drop?— Yes. IK Do you know the river as regards navigation ?—Since the creamery started I have been on the river one.- a day at all times of the tide. 12 You g,, from your place to the Netherton creamery in a launch with your milk !— 13. How far is that, roughly, by river?— About three miles and a half. 14 What does your launch draw, loaded with milk?— Two feet 15 Can you state whether the navigation of the river has altered in the last two years /-Yes very much. Formerly 1 used never to -shallow." but that happens now. that has happened for the last two or three seasons. I am speaking of low water. lb. D„ you consider that the river has shallowed during the last two or three seasons from your place to the creamery?— Yes. 17. You really do not know anything about shmes?—No. is. Mr. MeVeagh.] You are a member of the Silting Association ?—Yes, I think 1 was the hrst "'"' of Ihe Waihou, is there any draining going on up there/-I have no personal ''""lo' Was that considered at the meeting of the Silting Association ?-No doubt the whole thing WM X any attempt made to discover how much of the floods was due to the denudation of the country?—As far as I can remember, the association laid no weight on that. _ 22. What weight did they attach to the natural detritus earned down by the rivers/- Acm httl< '->3 l ' l Tlad you or any other member of the association any information as to the quantity of natural dibril that is carried down by riversJ-It all depends on the nature of the country the iv , flows Lough. The Silting Committee is of opinion thai had no silting been going on further ' „ if the water in the river had not. been affected by artificial means, there would be practically down, or it would have been so minute as not to be noticeable tor very many yeftrS 24 Vo„ know that the Ohinemuri River is of a torrential character?— Yes. 25 There is consequently a great deal of friction in its descent?--Ye S :,n the Karangahake Gorge, where the river has bin cutting its way through for thousands of years, the debris has been association consider the question of the placing of railway dtbris in the river? -I am aware there was a lot of stuff throw, out in the making of the tunnel. There might have been some cuttings, but T do not think a great deal came down. 27. Where has it gone to?— There are boulders 111 the rtver.