Oct. 8.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1671

Result of Poll for Proposed Loan, Lower Wairau River Board.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Wellington, 5th October, 1896.

THE following notice, received from the Chairman of the Lower Wairau River Board, is published in accordance with the provisions of “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1886.”

J. CARROLL,
Acting Colonial Secretary.

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LOWER WAIRAU RIVER BOARD.

THE following is the result of a poll taken on the 28th September, 1896, on the proposal to raise a loan of three thousand pounds (£3,000) for flood relief-works:—

Number of voters, 586, exercising 810 votes. Voted for proposal, 146 voters, exercising 262 votes; against proposal, 20 voters, exercising 39 votes: total, 166 voters, exercising 301 votes.

As the number of voters and votes recorded in favour of the proposal does not amount to more than one-half of the number that can be exercised by the whole number of ratepayers, I hereby declare the proposal rejected.

ROBERT McARTNEY,
Chairman.

Blenheim, 29th September, 1896.

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Drawing Attention to Provisions regarding the Export of Butter and Cheese.—Notice No. 453.

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“THE DAIRY INDUSTRY ACT, 1894.”—NOTICE TO EXPORTERS OF BUTTER AND CHEESE.

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Department of Agriculture (Dairying Service),
Wellington, 6th October, 1896.

IT is hereby notified that the undernoted subsections of section 21 of the above-mentioned Act are now in force:—

(1.) (a.) Every person exporting butter shall have such butter placed in the cool-store proclaimed by the Governor, at least four clear days prior to shipment, for the purpose of being cooled or frozen.

(c.) On the despatch of any butter or cheese to a cool-store, the sender thereof shall immediately post notice thereof to the officer in charge of the cool-store, giving full particulars of the number of kegs, boxes, or packages, as the case may be, together with the stamps or marks and weights of each keg, box, or package.

(2.) The Governor may appoint persons who—

(a.) Shall, prior to shipment, inspect and grade each lot of butter, and shall stamp or mark each keg, box, or package with the official stamp or mark and the figure denoting the grade;

(d.) Shall, prior to shipment, inspect and grade each lot of cheese, and shall stamp or mark each cheese found to be of inferior quality, and each keg, box, or package containing such cheese, with the official stamp or mark and the figure denoting the grade;

The official stamp is ▲, and the grade-marks 1 for first grade, 2 for second grade, and 3 for third grade.

(3.) That on every keg, box, or package containing butter or cheese, and on every cheese in each lot, the date or dates on which such butter or cheese was manufactured, and the number of the churning or vat, as the case may be, shall be legibly stamped or marked. The date or dates and number as required by this subsection may be removed after grading.

For the purpose of inspecting and grading the quality of any butter or cheese, the grader may open and sample any one or more kegs, boxes, or packages of each lot of such butter or cheese, and affix the official stamp and grade-mark on the lot, or any portion thereof, according to the quality of the sample thereof.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to butter or cheese in hermetically-sealed tins.

The following buildings and places are declared cool-stores for the purposes of the said Act:—

The Bank of New Zealand Estates Company (Limited) (known as the Auckland Freezing Company’s Store), Auckland; C. Edward Halloran’s Egmont Freezing-works, Waitara; the Taranaki Freezing-works, New Plymouth; the Wellington Meat Export Company’s Freezing-works, Wellington; the Lyttelton Harbour Board’s Cold-store, Lyttelton; and the Otago Dock Trust’s Cold-store, Port Chalmers.

The Government undertake no duties in connection with the shipping of produce, and exporters must make their own arrangements for transit to and from store.

On the despatch of any produce full particulars (brands, weights, &c.) of the consignment must be forwarded, addressed to the Grader, at the Government Cool-store.

Books of advice-notes, containing fifty forms, are obtainable from the Government Printer, Wellington, price 1s.

JOHN McKENZIE,
Minister of Agriculture.

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Bonuses for Encouragement of New Zealand Hemp (Phormium tenax) Industry.—Notice No. 430.

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Department of Agriculture,
Wellington, 1st November, 1895.

BONUS No. 1.

A BONUS of £1,750 is offered for a machine or process for dressing New Zealand hemp (Phormium tenax) which shall be an improvement on the machines or processes now in use, and which shall, after trial, be found to materially reduce the cost of production, improve the product, or increase the quantity of dressed fibre.

The following are the conditions:—

1. All applications for the bonus must be sent addressed to the Hon. the Minister for Agriculture, Wellington, and must reach him not later than the 31st March, 1897. Each application must be accompanied by a description of the machine or process, particularly stating improvements on present machines or processes, and also the cost at which the machine or process can be supplied.

2. The applicants must be prepared to submit their machines or processes to examination at such time and place as the Government may direct.

3. The Government shall appoint a committee of three or more experts, to whom all applications shall be submitted. Such committee shall, after perusal, state what machines or processes they deem worthy of consideration, and may inspect the same at any place within the colony; and, having so inspected the whole or any of them, may direct that the whole or any of them be brought for further trial to such place as they may think fit.

The cost of bringing the machines or appliances on to the ground, from within the colony, supplying the necessary shafting, motive-power, and buildings, to be defrayed by the Government. If any machine sent from beyond the colony is awarded the bonus or part thereof, then the cost of bringing such machine shall be borne by the Government.

The following shall be the basis of the test:—

The committee shall supply a sufficient and equal quantity of green hemp to each machine or process as a test.

The committee shall take into consideration—

The time occupied by each machine or process in the operation;

The cost of labour and time required after the fibre has left the machine or process before it is ready for baling;

The percentage of dressed fibre and tow produced by each machine or process;

The cost of producing the same;

The cost of the machine, and the simplicity and durability of the working parts.

On completion of the tests the committee shall furnish a report to the Minister on all the machines or processes which they have examined or tested, and shall state,—

(1.) The machine or process which they consider on the whole the most efficient and economic.

(2.) Whether they consider that any machine or process tested so materially reduces the cost of production, or improves the product, as to be worthy of the whole bonus or of a part only.

(3.) Whether, in the event of no one machine or process being entitled to the whole bonus, they deem any machine or process worthy of a part of the bonus, and, if so, how much.

BONUS No. 2.

A bonus of £250 is offered for a process of utilising the waste products of the hemp.

The first three conditions of Bonus No. 1 to apply to this also.

The committee shall supply a sufficient and equal quantity of the waste products to each process as a test.

On completion of the tests the committee shall report to the Minister, and shall give the following particulars of each process: (a.) The nature of the article made. (b.) The quantity produced, and the cost of production. (c.) The value of the product. (d.) Whether any of the processes are of sufficient importance to warrant the Minister in giving (1) the whole, or (2) any part, of the bonus; (3) if a part only, how much.

JOHN McKENZIE,
Minister for Agriculture.