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Stratford District. Development-work is being carried out on two schemes in this district. Details of the work done during the year are as follows Okahune Scheme.—Logging and burning, 467 acres ; stumping, 184 acres ; burning (previously stumped and \ogged), 482 acres ; fencing, new, 375 chains ; fencing, repairs, 593 chains ; ploughing, 152 acres ; cultivation, 166 acres ; sowing grass-seed, 182 acres ; stock bridges erected, 7 ; creeks cleared, 114 chains. Raetihi Scheme. —Logging and burning, 218 acres ; stumping, 245 acrus; burning (previously stumped and logged), 98 acres; logging only, 43 acres ; fencing, new, 1,083 chains; fencing, repairs, &c., 400 chains; road formation, 128 chains ; clearing streams of logs, 62 chains ; drains, new, 235 chains ; drains, clearing, 40 chains ; ploughing, 193 acres ; cultivation, 117 acres ; sowing grass-seed, 117 acres; sowing oats, 57 acres ; sowing swedes, 43 acres ; clearing (final) for ploughing, 45 acres ; reaping and stacking oats, 10 acres ; logging hillsides, 103 acres. Napier District. Kumeti Drain. —Plans were prepared for renewing Thorburn's Road Bridge, which had been washed away by flood, and for extending the flood-protective works, such as stone and netting weirs, and groynes, and stop-banks, upstream from the bridge into Section 7, Block XII, Norsewood Survey District. The work completed up to the end of March, 1937, was as follows: Reinforced concrete chute and drop weir 9 ft. deep and 16-| ft. wide and 67 ft. long was constructed at the site of Thorburn's Bridge so as to connect up with the old reinforced concrete chute. The new bridge spans the chute and is 28 ft. long. The approach fillings on each side of the chute were practically finished. 205 cubic yards of stone and netting gabion work was placed in position at the bridgesite to prevent lateral erosion. 3-J ch. upstream from the bridge a stone and netting weir, 35 ft. on the crest and 5 ft. high, was constructed. A second weir of similar dimensions is to be built 7 ch. upstream from the bridge. Two stop-banks up to 6 ft. in height and requiring 1,200 cubic yards of spoil were practically completed. Ngaruroro River-control Scheme.—This scheme, which is being carried out by the Hawke's Bay Rivers Board, was approved of in July, 1936, the estimated cost being £180,000—the Labour Department finding £60,000, the Hawke's Bay Rivers Board finding £60,000, and the Public Works Department finding £60,000. Work was commenced in July, and gangs of men were put on clearing and forming banks. Both sides of the river from Fernhill have been cleared ready for earthwork for a distance of 4 m., and some clearing has been done in the Overflow Channel. Earthwork was commenced in October, 1936, and up to June, 1937, 152,415 cubic yards have been shifted. 96 ch. of drains have been excavated, and 676 ch. of fencing have been erected. 10 ch. of willow groyne have been put in, and four culverts and one temporary spillway constructed. Tutaekuri River-control Scheme.—Work on this scheme, which is also being carried out by the Hawke's Bay Rivers Board, is nearing completion. All stop-banks have been completed, and the groyne at the mouth of the river is now in place. The total quantity of earthwork in the stop-banks is 746,000 cubic yards. For the construction of the groyne and the protection of the stop-banks near the mouth, 1,342 cubic yards of concrete were used. Sixty-one chains of permanent fencing were completed during the year, and 170 chains of planting were done inside the stop-banks. The Brookfields Bridge, a reinforced-concrete structure 920 ft. long, was completed. This new structure spans between the stop-banks of the new flood channel of the river. The total cost of the flood-control scheme to date is £95,000, of which the Public Works Department found £35,700, the Labour Department £22,300, and the Hawke's Bay Rivers Board the balance of about £37,000. Wellington District. Hokio-Manawatu Rivers Sand-dunes Reclamation.—72,7Bo trees have been planted out, covering 82 acres, and 4,400 trees have been planted to blank up last year's work. 4,300 trees have been given in compensation for marram-grass. 332| acres have been planted with marram-grass. Flaxfans have been planted, lupin-seeds sown, and sand-arresting and boundary fences have been erected. Hutt River Estuary Reclamation.—323,243 cubic yards of spoil from quarries and river-bed have been dumped in the reclamation, giving 26 acres of reclaimed land to date. Otaki River Diversion. —At a point about 3 m. upstream from Otaki Borough the river has been successfully diverted back to its old course by means of a groyne constructed with rail piles and netted boulders and boulder gabions. Paraparaumu Camps. —The useful work of draining, clearing, stumping, &c., has been carried out by single men from three camps. Two of the camps closed down during the year; the work is still being carried out by the remaining one (Beach Road Camp). Ruamahanga River Protection.—-At Ahiaruhe and Ti Whiti Settlements protective work has been carried out in the nature of boom groyne construction, bank battering and thatching, and construction of stop-banks. Nelson District. Clarence River Protective "Works.—Repairs to this stop-bank have been carried out during the year.

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