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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

Flemington

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Flemington.

Flemington was formerly part of the Longbeach estate, but is now all under cultivation in moderately-sized farms. The land is very fertile, and there is a cheese and butter factory in the settlement, which lies between Tinwald and Longbeach. It is sixty-three miles from Christchurh, with which it is connected by a daily mail service. The nearest telegraph office is at Tinwald, distant six miles.

Flemington is eminently adapted for grazing cattle, and should, therefore, be one of the best dairying centres in New Zealand. Owing to the dampness of the soil, it is not profitable to keep sheep, unless there be a tract of dry land in the neighbourhood, to which they can be removed at intervals. Those farmers who patronise the cheese factory, and make their living by dairying, say that it pays remarkably well. The great drawback to dairying at Flemington, as elsewhere, is the tie which it entails upon those who engage in it. Week in and week out, Sunday as well as Saturday, they have to be at it, and the young people are apt to become weary of what they consider a bondage. But the Flemington farmers have to study their own interests and adapt their mode of farming to the particular locality in which they are situated, and to the production of what will fairly remunerate them. With land sometimes reaching as high as £26 per acre, and with wheat sometimes as low as 2s 2d per bushel, and oats barely so much, it will not pay to grow grain.

The breeding of horses is intelligently carried on in the Flemington district. Messrs Taylor, Shearer and Small are well known in the showyard; and not only do they take a prominent place at the local shows, but even at Christchurch their horses carry off a very large proportion of the honours. This kind of farming pays handsomely, and when a man gets name for such stock he is generally on the way to a fortune.

The late Mr. John Grigg was reckoned as one of the shrewdest men in New Zealand, and he gave evidence of his talent when he selected what is now Longbeach and Flemington. In the early days the whole district was a swamp, but now, thanks to the energy of Mr. Grigg and his neighbours, it has become a veritable land of Goshen. As the capital of the settlers increases, improvements will go on, and it may reasonably be expected that in the near future, Flemington will rank as one of the finest farming districts in the whole of New Zealand.

Mitchell, photo. See page 852.Mr. T. White.

Mitchell, photo. See page 852.
Mr. T. White.

Flemington Dairy Factory (Mr. W. E. Bond, proprietor), Flemington. This factory was originally started by a company which competed for the Government bonus of £500 for the first fifty tons of cheese exported from the colony. The Edendale Factory in Southland, however, was awarded the bonus through a priority of ten days. Mr. Bond bought the factory in 1894, and has since then very successfully conducted it. The only difficulty experienced is in connection with milk, as the factory has a capacity for treating 3000 gallons per day, and cannot get a sufficient daily supply. The whole of the milk supplied is made into cheese and butter. The factory is considered to be one of the best built in the colony; the machinery is driven by a twelve-horse power steam engine, and the vats, presses and appliances are of the latest patterns. There are two large cheese-curing rooms in the building, page 852 and the factory is so situated that it could be used as a centre to work the whole of the Longbeach district.

Flemington Dairy Factory.

Flemington Dairy Factory.

Mr. William Edwards Bond, Proprietor, is a son of Mr. William Bond, of Callington, Cornwall, England. He was born in Dartmouth, Devon, in 1860, and brought up to farming. In 1878 he arrived in New Zealand by the ship “Hydaspes.” For about seven years he owned the mail coach running from Ashburton to Longbeach, and was for eight years subsequently owner of a store at Wheatstone. Mr. Bond is a man of untiring energy, and has lately been extensively engaged in the breeding of poultry and pigs. He married a daughter of Mr. Joshua Fergusson, of Belfast, and has two daughters.

White, Thomas, Farmer, Flemington. Mr. White was born and brought up in Lincolnshire, England, and came to Lyttelton in 1871 by the ship “Charlotte Gladstone.” He shortly after joined his brother, Mr. John White—who had arrived three years previously—in farming at Templeton; after which he went to Prebbleton, and remained there until June, 1874, when he removed to the Longbeach district, and bought 187 acres. He has since added to this area, and has now 450 acres of land, chiefly rich swampy soil. Mr. White resides on his farm at Dells's Road. He is married, and has four sons and six daughters.