2

C—-A

RBPOET.

The work for the. past year has been, I am pleased to testify, a very favourable one indeed, and, taken as a whole, the area surveyed shows an excess over that of the previous year. Both the field and office staffs have worked in such a manner as to reflect great credit on themselves and to be productive of results which are extremely gratifying. Especially so is this the case when we consider the many disabilities at times under which some of their duties have to be carried out. The number of surveyors employed were sixty-three staff, twelve temporary, and seventythree contract, .while apart from these there were, as usual, a number of cadets and surveyors' unlicensed assistants, all of whom were in full work during the year. The total cost of the surveyors and their parties amounted to £113,661 65., which is £24,131 in excess of that of the previous year. This is easily accounted for, in the first place, by the greater output consequent on the employment of additional surveyors, along with the difficulty in obtaining suitable hands for field parties, to meet the still great demand for settlement lands. There is also the coping with special and urgent survey work brought about by the acquisition of land under the Land for Settlements Act, which has to be attended to with special promptness so as to prevent loss of interest to the State. It must also be borne in mind that as settlement advances at its present rate the surveyors are driven back into more difficult country. This necessitates greater expense and brings about hardships that have to be endured and overcome—-in fact, every year makes the life of the field surveyor on this account harder. This in many cases is intensified in the rough bush districts, where wet conditions so frequently prevail. Taking these facts into consideration. I think a perusal of the report will suffice to show that the staff has given a good account of itself for the season that has closed.

The following table gives a summary of the principal work completed during the year :— Table A.

Class of Work. Area. Cost per Acre. Total Cost. Acres. Triangulation, by stall surveyors .. .. .. 155,858 Topographical, by staff surveyors .. .. 50,657 Rural, by staff surveyors .. .. .. 337,521 Rural, by licensed surveyors .. .. .. 64,095 Rural, by licensed surveyors (costs not available) . . 8,299 Village and suburban, by staff surveyors . . .. 2,647 Village and suburban, by licensed surveyors .. 31 Town, by staff surveyors .. .. .. 294 \ (in 527 sections) Town, by licensed surveyors .. .. .. 37 s (in 112 sections) Native Land Court, by staff surveyors .. ., I 44,600 Native Land Court, .by licensed surveyors .. .. 608,090 Native Land Court, by licensed surveyors (costs not 927 available) Maori Land Board, by staff surveyors .. . . 15,792 Maori Land Board, by licensed surveyors .. .. 1,934 Gold-mining, by staff surveyors .. .. .. 206 Gold-mining, by licensed surveyors (costs not available) 1,706 Roads and railways, by staff surveyors .. .. f 221-84 miles Roads, by licensed surveyors .. .. .. 1-50 ,, Roads, by licensed surveyors (costs not available) .. 7-00 ,, i i £ s. d. 1.43d. 927 4 5 2-13d. 450 0 2 2-OOs. j 33,600 14 6 2-27s. 7.304 3 0 6-57 s. 869 11. 3 14-60s. 22 16 3 34-60s. 911 7 10 per section 24-21s. 135 12 0 per section 23-90d. 4.442 9 10 *16-70d. 42,336 8 1 22-86d. 1,504 1 3 30-77d. 247 19 10 4-04s. 41 13 6 £24-29 5,387 16 9 per mile £16-25 24 7 6 per mile * The cost per acre is necessarily a low one when compared with the staff surveyors' work. This is due to sublivisional surveys of many blocks, where a large proportion of the outside boundaries of earlier surveys have been idopted without resurvey. -j- Includes 18 miles of railway.