July 6.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1277

4. The first claimant who proves to the satisfaction of the Government that he has fulfilled all the conditions to be the recipient of the bonus.

5. The other conditions—as to quantity, priority, quality, and value—to be fulfilled to the satisfaction of an officer appointed for the purpose by the Government.

J. CARROLL.

Bonuses for Encouragement of New Zealand Hemp (Phormium tenax) Industry.—Notice No. 535.

Department of Agriculture,
Wellington, 13th February, 1899.

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, 1900. 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.

Crown Lands Notices.

Village-homestead Allotments, Southland, open for Selection.

District Lands and Survey Office,
Invercargill, 22nd May, 1899.

THE under-mentioned village-homestead allotments will be open for selection on lease in perpetuity, at this office, on Thursday, the 13th July, 1899.

SCHEDULE.

SOUTHLAND LAND DISTRICT.—SOUTHLAND COUNTY.—ACKERS VILLAGE.

First-class Land.

Locality and Description of Land.

Ackers Village is situated in Otatara Bush, some seven miles from Invercargill by road. Land flat and of fair quality, covered with mixed bush; tapped for most part by gravelled road. Limit, 50 acres.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

1. The lands enumerated above are first-class lands, and are village-homestead allotments, open for selection on lease in perpetuity under the provisions of “The Land Act, 1892” (hereinafter referred to as “the said Act”).

2. The day on which the lands shall be open for selection shall be Thursday, the 13th day of July, 1899.

3. The rental stated above shall be the price at which the land shall be open for selection.

4. Applications for leases shall be made in manner as provided in Part I. of the said Act; and all such applications shall be made to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Invercargill; and leases will be issued in accordance with the provisions of Part I. aforesaid.

5. Each applicant shall state his or her residence, occupation, and condition in life (namely, whether married or single), and will be required to make the declaration prescribed in Schedule C of the said Act.

6. Each applicant shall pay the first half-year’s rent, together with the lease- and registration-fee, immediately the application has been approved or declared successful at the ballot.

7. All rents must be paid half-yearly in advance, on the 1st days of January and July in each year, as provided in section 157 of the said Act; and the first half-year’s rent is payable as before provided. The next payment will become due on 1st January, 1900.

8. Improvements and residence on the land comprised in each lease shall be as provided in Part III. of the said Act. The provisions of section 144, and all other provisions of the said Act with respect to substantial improvements, shall apply accordingly to lessees under these regulations. The provisions of section 141, and all other provisions of the said Act in respect of compulsory residence, shall apply accordingly to lessees under these regulations.

9. No lessee shall subdivide, sublet, or transfer the land held by him under these regulations, except under and subject to the provisions of Part I. of the said Act.

10. No lessee shall hold more than the limit prescribed above, and all allotments shall be held for his or her sole use and benefit, and not for the use or benefit of any other person whomsoever. No married woman shall be eligible as a selector; but this provision shall not apply to any married woman who may become a transferee under a will or by virtue of an intestacy.

11. All the provisions of the said Act, so far as applicable, shall extend and apply to the lands affected by these regulations, and to the applications and leases to be made and issued thereunder, and generally to the interests created, and the persons whose rights, liabilities, or interests are thereby affected; and the mention of any particular provision of the said Act shall not be deemed to exclude any other provision of the said Act applicable to the particular case.

D. BARRON,
Commissioner of Crown Lands,

B