D.—l

XII

Mental Hospitals. The expenditure on Mental Hospitals during the year has been £19,838. At Auckland the rooms formerly occupied by the Medical Superintendent have been altered for the reception of female patients, and a contract for the Wolfe Bequest Reception House has been let, and the work nearly completed. At Porirua additions have been erected for the accommodation of patients from Mount View, and the main building painted throughout. Additions to the Mental Hospital at Nelson have been completed and furnished. At Christchurch sanitary arrangements on the female side have been completed, hot-water pipes insulated, and various improvements carried out. Additions to the male side have been completed and furnished at Seacliff. The proposed vote for the current year provides at Auckland for the completion and furnishing of the Wolfe Bequest Reception House and the installation of laundry machinery and additional boiler power; at Christchurch for a reception-house, for a boiler-house, boiler, and brick chimney-shaft, and for a cottage for the Farm Manager; at Seacliff for alterations and additions to the Upper Building Block and Simla, also additional accommodation for nurses and additions to workshops ; for the erection of additions at Waitati, and for the reclamation of the Tidal Flat; at Porirua for a meat-house and chilling-plant, extension of carpenter's shop, and the construction of airing-courts for the new additions. Provision is also made for the purchase of land, preparing site, and erection of buildings for the new Mental Hospital at Tokanui, and for the erection of rooms in connection with the general hospitals in which mental patients may be examined instead of at the police-cells. Schools. The sum of £98,108 was expended out of the Public Works Fund last year on school buildings. Most of this amount was paid to Education and High School Boards and other governing bodies for the erection of new buildings and additions, and the purchase of sites and equipment, &c, for public schools (including teachers' residences), training colleges, technical and secondary schools, and university colleges. The principal works carried out directly under the control of the Government were as follow: Erection of principal's residence and a classification cottage at the Special School for Boys, Otekaike ; completion of the additional buildings for the boys' and girls' reformatories at Burnham and Burwood (Te Oranga Home) respectively; Native schools and residences at Whangape and Pawarenga; a residence at Matihetihe; and additions to the Waima Native School. Provision is made on the current year's estimates for works similar in character to those mentioned above, estimated to cost £125,878, on account of which a vote of £110,000 is asked for. Other Buildings. ' Hospitals. —Under the heading of " Hospitals and Charitable Institutions " there was an expenditure of £7,259 on new buildings and improvements, the chief items being the completion of a wing at the Hokitika Hospital and additions to St. Helens Hospital, Dunedin. The items on this year's estimates total to £25,004, on account of which a vote of £10,000 is proposed. The principal item is £13,000, to provide for the purchase of a site and a building for a new St. Helens Hospital at Wellington, the present one being simply a rented building, and unsuitable for the purpose. The vote also provides for substantial additions to the St. Helens Hospital, Christchurch. Agriculture. —Last year the most important work in hand was the erection of lads' training quarters at the Ruakura Experimental Farm. This, with conveniences, is nearly completed. The purchase of a piece of land at Wallaceville was completed, and this addition consolidates the block surrounding the pathological and experimental laboratory conducted by the Live-stock and Meat Division of the Department. A much-needed stable has been erected at the Weraroa Experimental Farm.