C.—lA

2

REPORT. The main parts of this report comprise a summary of the operations of the field parties, grouped under appropriate headings, and a brief account of the office-work performed during the year under review. Of the sixty-seven surveyors employed, thirty were staff and thirty-seven contract surveyors, while apart from these a number of cadets and assistants were employed. The attached Tables A, B, and 1 to 5 inclusive, contain a concise summary of the amount of work completed during the year. Full details are given in the reports by the Chief Surveyors for each land district, which are filed as departmental records. Under the heading of " Rural Surveys " in Table B an area of 90,837 acres is shown as completed work, as compared with 266,308 acres for last year, a decrease of 174,721 acres ; and under the heading of " Native Land Surveys " the area of completed work is shown as 211,747 acres, a decrease of 133,753 acres as compared with last year's return. The average cost per acre of rural and Native land surveys shows an advance of sd. and 6d. respectively on last year's rates. This advance in the cost of the work is principally due to the smaller areas of the blocks that have been subdivided. The work, however, is being done at a. reasonable price.

Table A.

Table B.

Class of Work. j Area, &c. Average Cost. Total Cost. £ s. d. Topographical, by staff surveyors .. .. 68,000 acres 3-78d. 1,071 19 8 Triangulation, by staff surveyors .. .. 15,860 ,, l-98d. 13012 2 „ by private surveyors .. .. 55,000 ,, 0-88d. 200 0 0 Rural, by staff surveyors .. .. .. 90,837 ,, 2-46s. 11,184 6 9 ,, by private surveyors .. . . . . 750 ,, Not available Suburban, by staff surveyors .. .. 2,030 ,, 13-53s. 1,373 2 4 „ by private surveyors .. .. 5 „ 60-00s. 15 0 0 Town, by staff surveyors .. .. .. 633 sections £2-64 1,670 15 9 ,, by private surveyors.. .. .. 1 section £10-00 10 0 0 Native Land Court, by staff surveyors .. , 23,167 acres 2-91s. 3,374 11 7 ,, by private surveyors .. 1 188,580 „ 2-07s. 19,535 2 7 Roads by staff surveyors .. .. .. 131-30 miles £32-93 4,323 1 9 ,, by private surveyors .. .. .. 2-30 ,, £23-04 53 0 0 I

Land District. Rural Survey. Xntive-huiil Acres. Acres. North Auckland .. .. .. 10,995 6,024 Auckland .. .. .. .. 30,296 103,209 Gisborne .. .. .. .. 1,187 8,749 Hawke's Bay .. .. .. .. 42,918 Taranaki .. .. .. .. 11,859 11,778 Wellington .. .. .. .. 3,729 37,262 Marlborough.. .. .. .. .. 148 Nelson .. .. .. .. 2,284 75 Westland .. .. .. .. 3,342 865 Canterbury .. .. .. .. 5,158 400 Otago .. .. .. .. 1,087 319 Southland .. .. .. .. 20,900 Totals .. .. .. 90,837 211,747