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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Ballance

Ballance.

The special settlement of Ballance was named after its originator, the late Hon. John Ballance, who, as Minister of Lands in the Stout Vogel Government, introduced the legislation under which a number of the special settlements have been formed. The township is about eight miles from Pahiatua in a westerly direction, and is reached by a very good but rather narrow road. After crossing the Mangatainoka bridge, and passing the Pahiatua railway station—still in embryo—the road winds over a hill somewhat after the manner of the Wadestown road from Wellington. On descending into the valley of the Mangahao, a fairly large area of level land is met with. The road as far as the Mangahao bridge leads also to a district called Nikau, but at this point the road diverges, Ballance being on the right and Nikau on the left.

With the exception of one or two cottages, the dairy factory gives the first sign of the township. It is not only the first to be seen, but the first and most common topic of conversation, for the Ballance dairy factory and the Ballance butter are renowned throughout the whole district. The manager, Mr. T. J. Broome, takes unusual interest in the conduct of the factory, and it is no exaggeration to say that all classes of the Ballance community are proud of the dairy factory and its popular manager. The prosperity of the settlement is on all sides attributed to the phenomenal success of this dairying venture page 1051
Ballance Central Store and Post-Office.

Ballance Central Store and Post-Office.

About a quarter of a mile from the dairy factory is the township, which consists of a store and post-office. a school and schoolhouse, a Wesleyan church, a public hall, and about a dozen houses.

The settlers of Ballance are a hard-working, go-ahead community. The church and public hall have been built by volunteer labour, and the people are bent on self-improvement. The schoolmaster, Mr. Anderson—a gentleman of wide experience, and possessing exceptional facilities for acquiring a knowledge of the facts—speaks very hopefully of the future of Ballance. The people, he says, are sober, industrious, and intelligent, and their children are being trained to make good settlers.

Tourists and others visiting Pahiatua, and having a day, or even a few hours, at their disposal, should certainly drive over to this progressing settlement, for there is much of interest on every hand. Where but seven years ago the silence of the forest reigned supreme, may now be heard the lowing of cattle, the merry laughter of children, and the friendly ring of the builder's hammer.

The Ballance Public School was established in 1891, and is conducted by Mr. Andrew Anderson, headmaster, assisted by a pupil teacher. The number on the roll in September, 1896, was eighty-two, with an average attendance of sixty-four. All the standards from I. to VII. are taught, and the school is steadily increasing.

Mr. Andrew Anderson, the Headmaster of the Ballance School, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and educated in Geelong, Victoria. He was trained for the profession of teacher at St. Paul's School, Geelong, and matriculated at the Melbourne University in 1871. For some four years Mr. Anderson was second assistant in the Errard Street School, Ballarat, the largest in that fine city, whose schools are its pride. Coming to this Colony in 1874, he was in command of the Waitahuna School for a period of nine years, after which he removed to the North Island and took the care of the Waipukurau School, Hawkes Bay, where he remained for seven years. For the past three or four years Mr. Anderson has been under the Wellington Board of Education, and was appointed to the Ballance School in May, 1896. Mr. Anderson's classification is D2.

The Ballance Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited. Directors: Messrs. J. B. Tait (chairman), A. Cooper (secretary), J. T. Marriott, John Sinclair, H. McLeod, T. F. Reeve, Williamson, J. B. Eaton, F. Groves, and A. Eddie. Manager, Mr. T. J. Broome. The Ballance Dairy Factory has the name of being one of the best, if not the best, in the Colony. It was erected and provided by the page 1052 New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company on a very liberal scale. The present manager, Mr. Broome, was employed from the first by the Company, and the factory was built and furnished under his special supervision. The Company was formed for the purpose of purchasing the property from the original owners, and the manager was transferred with the factory. This was about two years ago, and both factory and manager have given complete satisfaction to all concerned. The friends of the Ballance Factory claim that its produce is certainly not excelled, if equalled, by that of any other factory in the Colony. The shares are held by the dairy farmers as nearly as is convenient in proportion to the milk they can deliver at the factory, and they are paid in proportion to the quantity and quality of milk supplied. The measure of the quantity is, of course, taken at each delivery; and a small fixed proportion of each supplier's milk is set aside in a sample bottle bearing that supplier's number, mixed with five grains of bichromate potassium to keep the milk sweet for the week. A the end of each week a small proportion is taken out of the sample bottle, to which is added a similar proportion of sulphuric acid, and the result is ascertained by the aid of the Babcock tester. Every month the weekly percentages of each supplier are averaged, and the result multiplied by the quantity delivered. The output of the factory is about ten tons per month for the season, which lasts from eight to nine months. Roughly speaking, therefore, a hundred tons of prime butter is turned out of the Ballance Factory every year, all made up into pound pats with the aid of the Eureka Butter Print, introduced into this Colony by Messrs. Finn, Rigg and Co., now known as Messrs. Finn, Chisholm and Co., of Wellington. The machinery of the Ballance
Ballance Dairy Factory.

Ballance Dairy Factory.

page 1053 Factory is all of the latest and best approved kinds, and so well is the place managed that no repairs whatever have been required; and the whole cost of working the freezer, for glycerine and other items, has not yet reached the sum of £5.

Mr. Thomas Joseph Broome, the popular Manager of the Ballance Dairy Factory, was born in Christchurch in 1864, and was educated at Lincoln School. In that district he also learned the art of butter and cheese making, being for some ten years on a farm where the industry was carried out on a large scale. This, however, was by the old methods; and it was chiefly at Dunedin, in the employ of the New Zealand Dairy Supply Company, under the management of Mr W. J. Birch, that Mr Broome became acquainted with the methods now in vogue. After fourteen months engagement, he left to take charge of the Hampden creamery; he was appointed factory manager by the Karamea Co-operative Dairy Company, and when the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company decided to erect the Ballance Factory, Mr. Broome was engaged to superintend its erection and manage it for a period of two years. In this position of trust and responsibility, Mr. Broome gained the good opinion of his employers, an opinion cordially expressed in a special reference by Mr. Hanna, the Wellington manager for the Company. In 1895 Mr. Broome was married to Miss Saywell, daughter of the late Mr. William Saywell, farmer, of Greytown.

Murphy, Thomas, General Storekeeper, Ballance, Mr. Murphy fulfils the duties of postmaster. There are three mails a week, which arrive in the township on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at ten o'clock, and are despatched on the same days, but an hour later. Mr. Murphy was born in Kerry, Ireland, and came to the Colony in 1866. For many years he worked as a miner on the West Coast, and about four years ago took up a holding of 114 acres at Ballance, where he also engages in dairying. One of Mr. Murphy's daughters is a teacher in the local school.

See page 1048. Mr. R. Smith, of “Onslow Park.”

See page 1048.
Mr. R. Smith, of “Onslow Park.”