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been low, but the quality generally good. The year was also not a good one for the dairy industry, owing to cows suffering first from the wet winter and later from the; dry summer, and in some few instances in mid anel south Canterbury settlers had to senel their cows away to be, grazed elsewhere. The prices received for butterfat were; fair, but this is counterbalanced by the lower yie;lei due to the dry weather. The erne bright feature; is the good returns reoeived for wool, and the largo proportional increase in the price of the coarser wools. The excellent prices reoeiveel for the; finer wools should help landholders in the back country to better their positions and make up the leeway left by the slump conditions. Lambing percentages in tho back country generally arc said to have been fair, with uo serious losses. In the Mackenzie country, however, it is stated they were lower than usual. On the pastoral -agricultural farms em the lower lauds, with the mild weather at lambing-time, losses were small and average's good, and the; lambs eliel well considering the severe winter. The; opening of the works earlier than usual enabled farmers to dispose of their fat milk lambs before the dry spell, but the poor quality and meagre results from the rape anel turnip crops prevented many farmers from finishing the;ir later lambs properly, and a good many of second quality will be; eexported. A large number of sheep were; shipped from the e;ast coast of the North Island to bo sold in Canterbury, and a number of sheep from the west coast wore also placed on the Adelington market. Store sheep on the whole have realized high prices, but this has prevented farmers weak financially from stocking up as fully as they should. Overcropped and weedy land still continues to give trouble, and bankruptcies, as a result of paying boom prices for farms, still continue. Orchards suffered from heavy gales, anel in some cases from the, excessive we;t in winter. There is very little, unused Crown land in Canterbury, so that any increase in the number of farmers can only take place by the subdivision of existing properties, many of which em the; lighter lands are now too small, anil subdivision of most of the; pastoral country has been carried far enough for the present. The rabbit pest still gives cause for anxiety, but there are signs that more systematic and simultaneous work to check them will be undertaken. The tenants of education reserves generally are fufilling their conditions, anel lessees, as the old leases fall in, are; being given in most cases fresh leases for twenty-one; years with rights of renewal. Land Board Work. —The usual monthly meetings of the Board have, been held, and have occupied from two to three; days each. The Chief Clerk anel Secretary to the Board, Mr. Munro, a capable and zealous officer, has retired em superannuation, and his place has be-em taken by Mr. Palmer, from the' New Plymouth Office. Revenue. —It is satisfactory to again record a further increase e>f £16,760 of ordinary revenue collected over that of twelve months ago ; but I do not anticipate muoh, if any, further increase next year, on account of the, indifferent season. OTAGO. (R. S. Galbbaith, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) The; season in Otago last year was very unfavourable tor farming operations. The; winter, which was the longest and coldest experienced for many years, was followed by an exceptionally dry spring, summer, and autumn. The ground became very hard, and the various cereals which were sown got no chance to come away. Oat anel wheat crops wore; decidedly poor anel the yields very light. Much of the grain was eaten off by stock in spring and early summer, anel a shortage of chaff has been created. This commodity is likely to be scarce, and dear during the winter now approaching, but, fortunately, many farmers hold over stacks of sheaves from the previous season, and these stacks will help to ease; tho situation arising from the failure; of the past season's oat and wheat crops. Barley crops were up to the average,, anel as the price for this product is steady the growers did well. The area suitable for the purpose is, however, limited, and is situateel around the lakes district. On the subject e>f grain-growing in Otago there are two important aspects that should be mentioned. First, the; tendency in the, past has been to crop land year after year without returning to the; seiil the essential ingredients, and flu; consequence is that too much land is now Hearing the point of exhaustion. This remark applies to a considerable urea in north Otago, and raise;s tin; question whether the; State should permit e;ve;n freehold owners to misuse; their land. The second aspect is that oertain light land which has been cultivated and cropped should never have been turned over at all. After producing perhaps two average crops much e>f this class of lanel has gone; back into a barren anel weed-producing state and has become; almost worthless. Had it not been disturbed at all it would have; remained useful and profitable; grazing-country. Turnip crops have suffered through want of moisture, and stock, especially sheep, will suffer during next spring unless the winter proves to be, a mild one. The dairy-farmer has had a hard time; during the year. The shortage of feed caused by the drought reduced the milk-supply to a point far below the average, anel, although the price of dairy-produce has been payable and steady, the gross returns have, been disappointing, The fruit-farmers of Central Otago had a set-back this year with their apples. The excessive heat of the summer blistered this fruit to sennc extent, and the abnormally high winds caused an excess of windfalls. Stone-fruits, however, yielded well and brought good prices, so that the fruit season terminated satisfactorily. Lucerne is being more extensively grown in Centra] Otago, especially where; water is obtainable; lor irrigation. Lucerne is a very profitable crop, anil particularly valuable in Central Otago, whe;r<; the; winters are long anel cold. The settlers whose; chief means of livelihood is sheep-farming have had a very gooel year. Weiol brought exceedingly high prices, the coarse wools showing a relatively higher increase in value than the fine; wools. But the' total production was probably less than that of the; previous year. Early fat lambs commanded a very good market, but the season was not favourable to a large supply. The;