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WESTLAND. (R. Galbraith, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) There are only two- estates settled in this district. The principal industry is dairying, and all the settlers are doing well. CANTERBURY. (H. D. M. Haszard, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) The total number of estates settled in this district is now 132, comprising an area of 564,744 acres ; annual rent, £153,771. The majority of the settlements are well-established, and prosperous. Settlers on dairyingland particularly have had a very successful year, and the state of the, settlements as a whole is most satisfactory notwithstanding the- high cost of fencing and building material, &c. OTAGO. Robert T. Sadd, Commissioner of Crown Lands. Generally the older-established settlements are in a satisfactory condition, and owing to the high prices of produce of all descriptions these settlers are in a good position. All the lands acquired under this heading are now for the settlement of discharged soldiers. In addition to Teviot, the settlement of which has been held over pending the construction of the necessary access roads, the purchase has been concluded of the adjoining estate (Hill Springs), 9,820 acres, the survey and roading of which are now in progress. There arc 50,000 acres of pastoral Crown lands in natural grasses adjoining these two estates which are being subdivided to form back country for some of the holdings. The Teviot Settlement, with 20,000 acres of this pastoral land, is being prepared for offering next autumn. The following estates —viz., Arnmore, Glenn, Tilverstowe, and Pukenui Settlements —in North Otago, containing 4,975 acres in twenty-one farms, have been acquired and prepared for offering during the next few months. Wairuna Settlement, 9,158 acres, in seventeen subdivisions, has also been acquired and prepared for the ballot. More recently the Dalmain Estate, of nearly 2,000 acres, near Ettrick, has been purchased to form homestead-sites for the back country on the Moa Flat Downs Runs ; also Kirkland's Estate (Poplar Grove), adjoining Gladbrook Settlement and Middlemarch Township, 1,363 acres, already subdivided into twenty-four farms suitable for mixed farming or dairying. Negotiations are in progress for the acquisition of the Ormaglade Estate, consisting of 7,100 acres of freehold and 4,945 acres of Crown leasehold. This freehold will provide homestead-sites and winter country for the back summer country of the Beaumont Runs. SOUTHLAND. Thomas Brook, Commissioner of Crown Lands. There are now twenty-one settlements in this district, and during the next year two more will be ready for disposal—one in the Otautau district being suitable for dairy farms, and the other being small suburban building-sites at Waikiwi, adjacent to Invercargill. During the year Allenby, Teihoka, and Campbell Settlements were- opened for selection by discharged soldiers, and all the sections have been disposed of. The settlers have- made a good start on their new holdings and should do well. The older settlements, with one or two exceptions, are in a prosperous condition, and taken as a whole the position of the several settlements in this district must be regarded as very satisfactory.

APPENDIX lII.—LAND-DRAINAGE OPERATIONS. (J. B. Thompson, Chief Drainage, Engineer.) During the past year the Land Drainage Branch has been actively engaged in drainage and kindred operations. The work has greatly increased, and the operations of this branch are now far-reaching— extending as they do from Kaitaia in the extreme north to Invercargill in the south. Separate, reports —as required by the Acts under which they are administered —have been made on the Hauraki Plains, Rangitaiki Plains, Kaitaia, Waihi, Poukawa, and Hikurangi reclamation areas. During the year the Hikurangi area was proclaimed under the, Swamp Drainage Act. Special inspections and reports over a wide area have been made, including Russell Swamp, Upper and Lower Kawakawa Swamp, Awanui River, Whakaki Swamp, Harihari and La Fontaine, Swamp, Orongo, Tokatoka, and