Longbeach Estate. A portion of this well-known property was taken up as early as 1857 by Messrs Fitzgerald, Cox, Hunter Brown, and Draper, but nothing was done towards reclaiming and cultivating any part of it till eight or ten years later. During the year 1864 Mr. John Grigg, in partnership with Mr. Thomas Russell, of Auckland, began to buy up portions of the country, and continued doing so till 1871, by which time he had acquired a block of 30,000 acres. The land was then a tract of peaty swamp, and no one, looking upon its wild state, would have thought that such an uninviting piece of country could be turned into one of the most productive areas in the colony, or come to be termed “the finest farm in the world.” The draining of Longbeach was a long, labourious and costly undertaking, but it was carried out with the energy and indomitable perseverance which distinguished the character of its founder, Mr. Grigg. While the original property of 30,000 acres was being brought under cultivation, portions on the outskirts were gradually sold, and passed into the hands of farmers, many of whom had gained their early experience at contract and other work on Longbeach, and afterwards built for themselves well appointed and comfortable homesteads. By this process the area of the estate was reduced until it was only half of its original acreage. The sales then ceased, however, and the area remained till recent years at 15,000 acres. In the year 1882 the partnership between Mr. Grigg and Mr. Russell was dissolved, and lead to a memorable sale of stock, which lasted for five days, and realist a total sum of £35,037 12s 8d. Previous to this sale mixed farming had been carried on to a very considerable extent, but the breeding of cattle and sheep had formed the principal feature in each year's operations. Mr. Grigg's long experience, remarkable energy, and almost unerring judgment, were devoted to the selection and breeding of choice stock, and he was, consequently, a large and highly successful exhibitor, and one of the principal prize-takers at the Canterbury metropolitan and other important agricultural and pastoral shows. Large numbers of sheep and cattle were annually reared, and Mr. Grigg did much to found and promote the frozen meat trade. Dairying was also an important branch of page 855 farming on Longbeach. And now between the past and the present of Longbeach there is a vast difference. The “impenetrable bog,” as the estate was once termed, has been gradually developed, and the once wild waste is now a great area of highly cultivated fields, with scarcely an acre over which a traction engine and complete thrashing plant cannot be taken with perfect safety. The breeding and fattening of sheep and roaring of cattle and horses is still carried on on an extensive scale, but of late years the growing of cereals and root crops, which are unsurpassed in any part of the colony, has been a prominent feature in the working of the estate. An area varying from 4000 to 5000 acres, is annually put under crop, and during the height of the ingathering of the grain the estate frequently employs as many as 350 hands. The number of men permanently engaged on the estate varies from 170 to 180. As to the fertility of the land, it may be stated that, in the season of 1901, a total of 1,982 acres of wheat yielded 99,186 bushels, being an average of over fifty bushels per acre. One paddock of 247 acres yielded an average of fifty-eight bushels per acre. The total average yield of oats was from fifty to ninety-nine bushels per acre. The yield of peas was similarly good. On the death of Mr. John Grigg, in November, 1901, 2,500 acres of the original property passed into the hands of his second son, Mr. E. F. J. Grigg, so that Longbeach proper now consists of about 10,000 acres of freehold, and a Government reserve of 900 acres. This large and valuable estate is now the property of Mr. J. C. N. Grigg, the eldest son of its late founder.