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Attached to this statement are reports on Maori land-development schemes on Maori Land Board and Native Trust farming operations, on activities under the Maori housing schemes, and upon the work of the Maori Rehabilitation Finance Committee and the enterprises of the East Coast Commissioner. Chairman.

PART I.—STATE DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES This section includes reports upon lands subject to the provisions of Part I of the .Native Land Amendment Act, 1936, which authorized the Board of Native Affairs to advance State funds for the purpose of developing and settling the lands of the Maori people and for general assistance in farming and allied enterprises. Further particulars are included in Table 1 (see statistical tables). The lands mentioned in this section include individual farms which are in the ultimate stage of development where it has been possible to settle a farmer with the necessary buildings and farm implements on a fully stocked holding. Also included in the total are the development schemes, which have for their object the breaking-in or development of compact areas of Maori-owned lands ; base farms, which have been established for demonstration purposes and breeding, assembling, holding, or distributing live-stock; and bulk schemes, which are facilities for holding and distributing bulk purchases of farm requirements. TOKERAU NATIVE LAND COURT DISTRICT This district embraces the whole of the North Auckland Peninsula. In the main the Maori-owned lands of the North are of poor to medium quality only, and soil types vary greatly. The Maori farmers of the district are engaged mainly in dairying, but, in view of the poor class of soil in some areas, many properties are unsuitable for this type of farming. Within the boundaries of the Tokerau District the Maori population is 25,345 and forms a very considerable proportion of the total population of 70,000 in the North Auckland district. The Maoris own, in this district, nearly 500,000 acres of ancestral land, but a large percentage of this area is unsuitable for economic development. A large part could, however, be planted in trees and become an asset to its owners and to the nation. Much of the remaining Maori land is in very remote and isolated areas and lacks adequate roading and other transport facilities. In some cases the Native Department assists in the provision of roading requirements by subsidizing the Qounty Councils and the Public Works Department to keep roads in repair and for the construction of new roads. The Government's ten-year plan for the North Auckland region envisages a considerable programme of work in improving, draining, planting, building, subdividing, and roading Maori lands. It has been suggested that an area of 5,000 acres of dune country be planted to consolidate the surface and to prevent the spread of the sand over productive country. Other areas suitable for afforestation purposes are being considered.

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