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1947 NEW ZEALAND

RANGITAIKI LAND DRAINAGE REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1947

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly in pursuance of Section 10 of the RangitaiJci Land Drainage Act, 1910

Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington, 30th June, 1947. Sir, — I have the honour to submit herewith the report of the Chief Drainage Engineer on drainage operations on the Rangitaiki Plains for the year ended 31st March, 1947, pursuant to the provisions of the Rangitaiki Land Drainage Act, 1910. I have, &c., D. M. Greig, Under-Secretary for Lands. The Hon. the Minister of Lands.

REPORT OF THE CHIEF DRAINAGE ENGINEER Sib, — In accordance with the provisions of the Rangitaiki Land Drainage Act, 1910, I have the honour to submit a report of the work carried out during the year ended 31st March, 1947. The rainfall for the year was 53-07 in., which fell on ninety-four days. Owing to continuous high winds, the dry spell in December, January, and February had worse effects in some parts of the Plains than last year's drought. The dairy factory at Edgecumbe, which is supplied by the farms of the district, manufactured 4,873 tons of butter for the year ended 31st March, 1947. This is a substantial increase on the production for last year (4,365 tons), though it is still below the peak year of 1941, when over 5,000 tons were manufactured. The work carried out by the Lands and Survey Department during the year was entirely confined to maintenance of outlet drains and to the rivers and their stop-banks. During the year two more drag-line excavators were put into operation, but this did not make a great increase in plant-production because two of the old plants were idle most of the year. The large Monighan drag-line had to be dismantled to cross the Rangitaiki River, and advantage was taken of the opportunity to repair and renew all parts. These proved so difficult to secure that the plant is not yet in operation. Also the Ruston Bucyrus drag-line hired from the Public Works Department gave a great deal of trouble and was held up for two long periods while the Public Works Department made repairs