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Bible Encyclopedias
Dairy Factories
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or FACTORIES In connexion with co-operative cheese-making the merit of having founded the first "cheesery" or cheese factory is generally credited to Jesse Williams, who lived near Rome, Oneida county, N.Y. The system, therefore, was of American origin. Williams was a skilled cheese-maker, and the produce of his dairy sold so freely, at prices over the average, that he increased his output of cheese by adding to his own supply of milk other quantities which he obtained from his neighbours. His example was so widely followed that by the year 1866 there had been established close upon 500 cheese factories in New York state alone. In 1870 two co-operative cheeseries were at work in England, one in the town of Derby and one at Longford in the same county. There are now thousands of cheeseries in the United States and Canada, and also many "creameries," or butter factories, for the making of high-class butter.
The first creamery was that of Alanson Slaughter, and it was built near Wallkill, Orange county, N.Y., in 1861, or ten years later than the first cheese factory; it dealt daily with the milk of 375 cows. Cheeseries and creameries would almost certainly have become more numerous than they are in England but for the rapidly expanding urban trade in country milk. The development of each, indeed, has been contemporaneous since 1871, and they are found to work well in conjunction one with the other - that is to say, a factory is useful for converting surplus milk into cheese or butter when the milk trade is overstocked, whilst the trade affords a convenient avenue for the sale of milk whenever this may happen to be preferable to the making of cheese or butter. Extensive dealers in milk arrange for its conversion into cheese or butter, as the case may be, at such times as the milk market needs relief, and in this way a cheesery serves as a sort of economic safety-valve to the milk trade. The same cannot always be said of creameries, because the machine-skimmed milk of some of these establishments has been far too much used to the prejudice of the legitimate milk trade in urban districts. Be this as it may, the operations of cheeseries and creameries in conjunction with the milk trade have led to the diminution of home dairying. A rapidly increasing population has maintained, and probably increased, its consumption of milk, which has obviously diminished the farmhouse production of cheese, and also of butter. The foreign competitor has been less successful with cheese than with butter, for he is unable to produce an article qualified to compete with the best that is made in Great Britain. In the case of butter, on the other hand, the imported article, though not ever surpassing the best homemade, is on the average much better, especially as regards uniformity of quality. Colonial and foreign producers, however, send into the British markets as a rule only the best of their butter, as they are aware that their inferior grades would but injure the reputation their products have acquired.
There are no official statistics concerning dairy factories in Great Britain, and such figures relating to Ireland were issued for the first time in 1901. The number of dairy factories in Ireland in 1900 was returned at 506, comprising 333 in Munster, 9 2 in Ulster, 52 in Leinster and 29 in Connaught. Of the total number of factories, 495 received milk only, 9 milk and cream and 2 cream only. As to ownership, 219 were joint-stock concerns, 190 were maintained by co-operative farmers and 97 were proprietary. In the year ended 30th September 1900 these factories used up nearly 121 million gallons of milk, namely, 94 in Munster, 14 in Ulster, 7 in Leinster and 6 in Connaught. The number of centrifugal cream-separators in the factories was 985, of which 889 were worked by steam, 79 by water, 9 by horse-power and 8 by hand-power. The number of hands permanently employed was 3653, made up of 976 in Munster,. 279 in Leinster, 278 in Ulster and 120 in Connaught. The year's output was returned at 401,490 cwt. of butter, 439 cwt. of cheese (made from whole milk) and 46,253 gallons of cream. In most cases the skim-milk is returned to the farmers. A return of the number of separators used in private establishments gave a total of 899, comprising 693 in Munster, 157 in Leinster, 39 in Ulster and io in Connaught. In factories and private establishments together as many as 1884 separators were thus accounted for. Much of the factory butter would be sent into the markets of Great Britain, though some would no doubt be retained for local consumption. A great improvement in the quality of Irish butter has recently been noticeable in the exhibits entered at the London dairy show.
Adulteration Of Dairy Produce The Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1899, which came into operation on the 1st of January 1900, contains several sections relating to the trade in dairy produce in the United Kingdom. Section 1 imposes penalties in the case of the importation of produce insufficiently marked, such as (a) margarine or margarine-cheese, except in passages conspicuously marked "Margarine" or "Margarine-cheese"; (b ) adulterated or impoverished butter (other than margarine) or adulterated or impoverished milk or cream, except in packages or cans conspicuously marked with a name or description indicating that the butter or milk or cream has been so treated; (c ) condensed separated or skimmed milk, except in tins or other receptacles which bear a label whereon the words "machine-skimmed milk" or "skimmed milk" are printed in large and legible type. For the purposes of this section an article of food is deemed to be adulterated or impoverished if it has been mixed with any other substance, or if any part of it has been abstracted, so as in either case to affect injuriously its quality, substance, or nature; provided that an article of food shall not be deemed to be adulterated by reason only of the addition of any preservative or colouring matter of such a nature and in such quantity as not to render the article injurious to health. Section 7 provides that every occupier of a manufactory of margarine or margarine-cheese, and every wholesale dealer in such substances, shall keep a register showing the quantity and destination of each consignment of such substances sent out from his manufactory or place of business, and this register shall be open to the inspection of any officer of the board of agriculture. Any such officer shall have power to enter at all reasonable times any such manufactory, and to inspect any process of manufacture therein, and to take samples for analysis Section 8 is of much practical importance, as it limits the quantity of butter-fat which may be contained in margarine; it states that it shall be unlawful to manufacture, sell, expose for sale or import any margarine the fat of which contains more than io% of butter-fat, and every person who manufactures, sells, exposes for sale or imports any margarine which contains more than that percentage shall be guilty of an offence under the Margarine Act 1887. For the purposes of the act margarinecheese is defined as "any substance, whether compound or otherwise, which is prepared in imitation of cheese, and which contains fat not derived from milk"; whilst cheese is defined as "the substance usually known as cheese, containing no fat derived otherwise than from milk." The so-called "filled" cheese of American origin, in which the butter-fat of the milk is partially or wholly replaced by some other fat, would come under the head of "margarine-cheese." In making such cheese a cheap form of fat, usually of animal origin, but sometimes vegetable, is added to and incorporated with the skim-milk, and thus takes the place previously occupied by the genuine butter-fat. The act is regarded by some as defective in that it does not prohibit the artificial colouring of margarine to imitate butter.
In connexion with this act a departmental committee was appointed in 1900 "to inquire and report as to what regulations, if any, may with advantage be made by the board of agriculture under section 4 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1899, for 1 See also the article Adulteration.
determining what deficiency in any of the normal constituents of genuine milk or cream, or what addition of extraneous matter or proportion of water, in any sample of milk (including condensed milk) or cream, shall for the purposes of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1899, raise a presumption, until the contrary is proved, that the milk or cream is not genuine." Much evidence of the highest interest to dairy-farmers was taken, and subsequently published as a Blue-Book (Cd. 484). The report of the committee (Cd. 491) included the following "recommendations," which were signed by all the members excepting one: - I. That regulations under section 4 of the Food and Drugs Act 1899 be made by the board of agriculture with respect to milk (including condensed milk) and cream.
II. (a) That in the case of any milk (other than skimmed, separated or condensed milk) the total milk-solids in which on being dried at too° C. do not amount to 12% a presumption shall be raised, until the contrary is proved, that the milk is deficient in the normal constituents of genuine milk.
(b) That any milk (other than skimmed, separated or condensed milk) the total milk-solids in which are less than 12%, and in which the amount of milk-fat is less than 3.2 5%, shall be deemed to be deficient in milk-fat as to raise a presumption, until the contrary is proved, that it has been mixed with separated milk or water, or that some portion of its normal content of milk-fat has been removed. In calculating the percentage amount of deficiency of fat the analyst shall have regard to the above-named limit of 3.25 °A of milk-fat.
(c) That any milk (other than skimmed, separated or condensed milk) the total milk-solids in which are less than 12%, and in which the amount of non-fatty milk-solids is less than 8.5%, shall be deemed to be so deficient in normal constituents as to raise a presumption, until the contrary is proved, that it has been mixed with water. In calculating the percentage amount of admixed water the analyst shall have regard to the above-named limit of 8.5% of non-fatty milk-solids, and shall further take into account the extent to which the milk-fat may exceed 3.2 5%
III. That the artificial thickening of cream by any addition of gelatin or other substance shall raise a presumption that the cream is not genuine.
IV. That any skimmed or separated milk in which the total milksolids are less than 9% shall be deemed to be so deficient in normal constituents as to raise a presumption, until the contrary is proved, that it has been mixed with water.
V. That any condensed milk (other than that labelled "machineskimmed milk" or "skimmed milk," in conformity with section 1 t of the Food and Drugs Act 1899) in which either the amount of milk-fat is less than to %, or the amount of non-fatty milk-solids is less than 25%, shall be deemed to be so deficient in some of the normal constituents of milk as to raise a presumption, until the contrary is proved, that it is not genuine.
The committee further submitted the following expressions of opinion on points raised before them in evidence: (a) That it is desirable to call the attention of those engaged in the administration of the Food and Drugs Acts to the necessity of adopting effective measures to prevent any addition of water, separated or condensed milk, or other extraneous matter, for the purpose of reducing the quality of genuine milk to any limits fixed by regulation of the board of agriculture.
(b) That it is desirable that steps should be taken with the view of identifying or "ear-marking" separated milk by the addition of some suitable and innocuous substance, and by the adoption of procedure similar to that provided by section 7 of the Food and Drugs Act 1899, in regard to margarine.
(c) That it is desirable that, so far as may be found practicable, the procedure adopted in collecting, forwarding, and retaining pending examination, samples of milk (including condensed milk) and cream under the Food and Drugs Acts should be uniform.
(d) That it is desirable that, so far as may be found practicable, the methods of analysis used in the examination of samples of milk (including condensed milk) or cream taken under the Food and Drugs Acts should be uniform.
(e) That it is desirable in the case of condensed milk (other than that labelled "machine-skimmed milk" or "skimmed milk," in conformity with section t t of the Food and Drugs Act 1899) that the label should state the amount of dilution required to make the proportion of milk-fat equal to that found in uncondensed milk containing not less than 3.25% of milk-fat.
(f) That it is desirable in the case of condensed whole milk to limit, and in the case of condensed machine-skimmed milk to exclude, the addition of sugar.
(g) That the official standardizing of the measuring vessels commercially used in the testing of milk is desirable.
In the minority report, signed by Mr Geo. Barham, the most important clauses are the following: (a) That in the case of any milk (other than skimmed, separated or condensed milk) the total milk-solids in which are less than 11.75%, and in which, during the months of July to February inclusive, the amount of milk-fat is less than 3%, and in the case of any milk which during the months of March to June inclusive shall fall below the above-named limit for total solids, and at the same time shall contain less than 2.75% of fat, it shall be deemed that such milk is so deficient in its normal constituent of fat as to raise a presumption, for the purposes of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1899, until the contrary is proved, that the milk is not genuine.
(b) That any milk (other than skimmed, separated or condensed milk) the total milk-solids in which are less than 11.75%, and in which the amount of non-fatty solids is less than 8.5%, shall be deemed to be so deficient in its normal constituents as to raise a presumption, for the purposes of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1899, until the contrary is proved, that the milk is not genuine. In calculating the amount of the deficiency the analyst shall take into account the extent to which the milk-fat exceeds the limits above named.
(c) That any skimmed or separated milk in which the total milksolids are less than 8.75% shall be deemed to be so deficient in its normal constituents as to raise a presumption, for the purpose of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1899, until the contrary is proved, that the milk is not genuine.
Much controversy arose out of the publication of these reports, the opinion most freely expressed being that the standard recommended in the majority report was too high. The difficulty of the problem is illustrated by, for example, the diverse legal standards for milk that prevail in the United States, where the prescribed percentage of fat in fresh cows' milk ranges from 2.5 in Rhode Island to 3.5 in Georgia and Minnesota, and 3.7 (in the winter months) in Massachusetts, and the prescribed total solids range from 12 in several states (11.5 in Ohio during May and June) up to 13 in others. Standards are recognized in twentyone of the states, but the remaining states have no laws prescribing standards for dairy products. That the public discussion of the reports of the committee was effective is shown by the following regulations which appeared in the London Gazette on the bth of August 1901, and fixed the limit of fat at 3%: The board of agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 4 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1899, do hereby make the following regulations: 1. Where a sample of milk (not being milk sold as skimmed, or separated or condensed milk) contains less than 3% of milk-fat, it shall be presumed for the purposes of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1899, until the contrary is proved, that the milk is not genuine, by reason of the abstraction therefrom of milk-fat, or the addition thereto of water.
2. Where a sample of milk (not being milk sold as skimmed, or separated or condensed milk) contains less than 8.5% of milk-solids other than milk-fat, it shall be presumed for the purposes of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1899, until the contrary is proved, that the milk is not genuine, by reason of the abstraction therefrom of milk-solids other than milk-fat, or the addition thereto of water.
3. Where a sample of skimmed or separated milk (not being condensed milk) contains less than 9% of milk-solids, it shall be presumed for the purposes of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1899, until the contrary is proved, that the milk is not genuine, by reason of the abstraction therefrom of milk-solids other than milk-fat, or the addition thereto of water.
4. These regulations shall extend to Great Britain.
5. These regulations shall come into operation on the 1st of September 1901.
6. These regulations may be cited as the Sale of Milk Regulations 1901.
In July 1901 another departmental committee was appointed by the board of agriculture to inquire and report as to what regulations, if any, might with advantage be made under section 4 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1899, for determining what deficiency in any of the normal constituents of butter, or what addition of extraneous matter, or proportion of water in any sample of butter should, for the purpose of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, raise a presumption, until the contrary is proved, that the butter is not genuine. As bearing upon this point reference may be made to a report of the dairy division of the United States department of agriculture on experimental exports of butter, in the appendix to which are recorded the results of the analyses of many samples of butter of varied origin. First, as to American butters, 19 samples were analysed in Wisconsin, 17 in Iowa, 5 in Minnesota and 2 in Vermont, at the respective experiment stations of the states named. The amount of moisture throughout was low, and the quantity of fat correspondingly high. In no case was there more than 15% of water, and only 4 samples contained more than 14%. On the other hand, 1 samples had less than Io %, the lowest being a pasteurized butter from Ames, Iowa, with only 6.72% of water. The average amount of water in the total 43 samples was 11.24%. The fat varies almost inversely as the water, small quantities of curd and ash having to be allowed for. The largest quantity of fat was 91.23% in the sample containing only 6.72% of water. The lowest proportion of fat was 80.18%, whilst the average of all the samples shows 85.9%, which is regarded as a good market standard. The curd varied from o. 55 to 1.7%, with an average of o
98. This small amount indicates superior keeping qualities. Theoretically there should be no curd present, but this degree of perfection is never attained in practice. It was desired to have the butter contain about 21% of salt, but the quantity of ash in the 43 samples ranged from o
83 to 4.79%, the average being 1.88. Analyses made at Washington of butters other than American showed a general average of 13.22% of water over 28 samples representing 14 countries. The lowest were 10.25% in a Canadian butter and 10.38 in an Australian sample. The highest was 19.1% in an Irish butter, which also contained the remarkably large quantity of 8.28% of salt. Three samples of Danish butter contained 12.65, 14.27 and 15.14% respectively of water. French and Italian unsalted butter included, the former 15.46 and the latter 14.41% of water, and yet appeared to be unusually dry. In 7 samples of Irish butters the percentages of water ranged from 11.48 to 19.1. Of the 28 foreign butters 15 were found to contain preservatives. All 5 samples from Australia, the 2 from France, the single ones from Italy, New Zealand, Argentina, and England, and 4 out of the 7 from Ireland, contained boric acid.
THE Milk Trade The term "milk trade" has come to signify the great traffic in country milk for the supply of dwellers in urban districts. Prior to 1860 this traffic was comparatively small or in its infancy. Thirty years earlier it could not have been brought into existence, for it is an outcome of the great network of railways which was spread over the face of the country in the latter half of the 19th century. It affords an instructive illustration of the process of commercial evolution which has been fostered by the vast increase of urban population within the period indicated. It is a tribute to the spirit of sanitary reform which - as an example in one special direction - has brought about the disestablishment of urban cow-sheds and the consequent demand for milk produced in the shires. London, in fact, is now being regularly supplied with fresh milk from places anywhere within 150 m., and the milk traffic on the railways, not only to London but to other great centres, is an important item. A factor in the development of the milk trade must no doubt be sought in the outbreak of cattle plague in 1865, for it was then that the dairymen of the metropolis were compelled to seek milk all over England, and the capillary refrigerator being invented soon after, the production of milk has remained ever since in the hands of dairymen living mainly at a distance from the towns supplied.
This great change in country dairying, involving the continuous export of enormous quantities of milk from the farms, has been accompanied by subsidiary changes in the management of dairyfarms, and has necessitated the extensive purchase of feedingstuffs for the production of milk, especially in winter-time. It is probable that, in this way, a gradual improvement of the soil on such farms has been effected, and the corn-growing soils of distant countries are adding to the store of fertility of soils in the British Isles. Country roads, exposed to the wear and tear of a comparatively new traffic, are lively at morn and eve with the rattle of vehicles conveying fresh milk from the farms to the railway stations. Most of these changes were brought about within the limits of the last third of the 19th century.
In the case of London the daily supply of a perishable article such as milk, which must be delivered to the consumer within a few hours of its production, to a population of five millions, is an undertaking of very great magnitude, especially when it is considered that only a comparatively minute proportion of the supply is produced in the metropolitan area itself. To meet the demand of the London consumer some 5000 dairies proper exist, as well as a large number of businesses where milk is sold in conjunction with other commodities. It has been computed that some 12,000 traders are engaged in the business of milkselling in the metropolis, and the number of persons employed in its distribution, &c., cannot be fewer than 25,000. The amount of capital involved is very great, and it may be mentioned that the paid-up capital of six of the principal distributing and retail dairy companies amounts to upwards of one million sterling. The most significant feature in connexion with the milk-supply of the metropolis at the beginning of the 10th century is the gradual extinction of the town "cowkeeper" - the retailer who produces the milk he sells. The facilities afforded by the railway companies, the favourable rates which have been secured for the transport of milk, and the more enlightened methods of its treatment after production, have made it possible for milk produced under more favourable conditions to be brought from considerable distances and delivered to the retailer at a price lower than that at which it has been possible to produce it in the metropolis itself. As a result, the number of milk cows in the county of London diminished from 10,000 in 1889 to 5144 in 1900, the latter, on an estimated production of 700 gallons per cow - the average production of stall-fed town cows - representing a yearly milk yield of 3,600,000 gallons. How small a proportion this is of the total supply will be gathered from the fact that the annual quantity of milk delivered in London on the Great Western line amounts to some 11,000,000 gallons, whilst the London & NorthWestern railway delivers 9,000,000, and the Midland railway at St Pancras 5,000,000, and at others of its London stations about I,000,000, making 6,000,000 in all. The London & SouthWestern railway brings upwards of 8,000,000 gallons to London, a quantity of 7,500,000 gallons is carried by the Great Northern railway, and the Great Eastern railway is responsible for 7,000,000. The London, Brighton & South Coast railway delivers i,000,000 gallons, and the South-Eastern & Chatham and the London & Tilbury railways carry approximately i,000,000 gallons between them. A large quantity of milk is also carried in by local lines from farms in the vicinity of London and delivered at the local stations, and a quantity is also brought by the Great Central railway. In addition to this, milk is taken into London by carts from farms in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. A computation of the total milk-supply of the metropolis reveals a quantity approximating to 60,000,000 gallons per annum, or rather more than a million gallons per week, which, taking 500 gallons as the average yearly production of the cows contributing to this supply, represents the yield of at least 120,000 cows. The growth of the supply of country milk to London may be judged from the figures given by Mr George Barham, chairman of the Express Dairy Co. Ltd., in an article on "The Milk Trade" contributed to Professor Sheldon's work on The Farm and Dairy. The quantities carried by the respective railways in 1889 are therein stated in gallons as: - Great Western, 9 ,000,000; London & North-Western, 7,000,000; Midland, 7,000,000; London & South-Western, 6,000,000; Great Northern, 3,000,000; Great Eastern, 3,000,000; the southern lines, 2,000,000. The increase, therefore, on these lines amounted to no less than 13,500,000 gallons per annum, or 36%. The diminished production in the metropolis itself amounted approximately only to 3,000,000 gallons, and it follows, therefore, that the consumption largely increased.
Previously to 1864 it was only possible to bring milk into London from short distances, but the introduction of the refrigerator has enabled milk to be brought from places as far removed from the metropolis as North Staffordshire, and it has even been received from Scotland. Practically the whole of the milk supplied to the metropolis is produced in England. Attempts have been made to introduce foreign milk, and in 1898 a company was formed to promote the sale of fresh milk from Normandy, but the enterprise did not succeed. The trade subsequently showed signs of reviving, owing probably to the increased cost of the home produced article, and during the winter season of 1900-1901 the largest quantity received into the kingdom in one week amounted to ro,000 gallons. Of recent years a large demand has sprung up for sterilized milk in bottles, and a considerable trade is also done in humanized milk, which is a milk preparation approximating in its chemical composition to human milk.
Estimating the average yield of milk of each country cow at 500 gallons per annum, and assuming an average of 28 cows to each farm, as many as 4300 farmers are engaged in supplying London with milk; allotting ten cows to each milker, it needs 12 battalions of 1000 men each for this work alone. Some 3500 horses are required to convey the milk from the farms to the country railway stations. The chief sources of supply are in the counties of Derby, Stafford, Leicester, Northampton, Notts, Warwick, Bucks, Oxford, Gloucester, Berks, Wilts, Hants, Dorset, Essex, and Cambridge. It is not entirely owing to the railways that London's enormous supply of milk has been rendered possible, for the milk must still have been produced in the immediate neighbourhood of the metropolis had not the method of reducing the temperature of the product by means of the refrigerator been devised. There are probably 5700 horses engaged in the delivery of milk in London, and more people are employed in this work than in milking the cows. One of the great difficulties the London dairyman has to contend with, and a cause of frequent anxiety to him, is associated with the rise and fall of the thermometer, for a movement to the extent of ten degrees one way or the other may diminish or increase the supply in an inverse ratio to the demand. Thus, at periods of extreme cold, the cows shrink in their yield of milk, while from the same cause the Londoner is demanding more, in an extra cup of coffee, &c. Again, at periods of extreme heat, which has the same effect on the cow's production as extreme cold, the customer also demands an increased quantity of milk. Ten degrees fall of temperature in the summer will result in a lessened demand and an enlarged supply - to such an extent, indeed, that a single firm has been known to have had returned by its carriers some 600 gallons in one day. In such cases the cream separator is capable of rendering invaluable assistance. To make cheese in London in large quantities and at uncertain intervals has been found to be impracticable, while to set for cream a great bulk of milk is almost equally so. But now a considerable portion of what would otherwise be lost is saved by passing the milk through separators, and churning the cream into butter.
Previously to the enormous development of the urban trade in country milk, dairy farms were in the main self-sustaining in the matter of manures and feeding-stuffs, and the cropping of arable land was governed by routine. To-day, on the contrary, many dairy farms are run at high pressure by the help of purchased materials, - corn, cake, and manure, - and the land is cropped regardless of routine and independent of courses. Such crops, moreover, are grown - white straw crops, green crops, root crops - as are deemed likely to be most needed at the time when they are ready. Green crops, - "soiling" crops, as they are termed in North America, - consisting largely of vetches or tares (held up by stalks of oat plants grown amongst them), cabbages, and in some districts green maize, are used to supplement the failing grass-lands at the fall of the year, and root crops, especially mangel, are advantageously grown for the same purpose. For winter feeding the farm is made to yield what it will in the shape of meadow and clover hay, and of course root crops of the several kinds. This provision is supplemented by the purchase of, for example, brewers' grains as a bulky food, and of oilcake and corn of many sorts as concentrated food.
| Influence of | Estimated Total | Estimated Total Quantity of | Estimated Total Quantity of | Cows | Cows and | Season. Per- | Quantity of | Butter produced | Cheese produced | Year ended Decem- ber 31 | Cows and Heifers in Milk or in Calf on 4th June. | per 1000 of Popu | Heifers giving Milk all the year round; y say 75% of | tentage above or below the Average of | . Milk produced in the 52 Weeks by 75 /o of the Total Herd, at | in the 52 Weeks, taking 32% of the Total Milk | in the 52 Weeks, taking 20% of the Total Milk | lation. | Total. | previous 10 Years. | cwt. or I Cow. gallons per | to yield 80 lb of Butter per | to yield 220 lb of Cheese per | Ton of Milk. | Ton of Milk. | No. | No. | No. | % | Tons. | Tons. | Tons. | 18 9 0 | 3,956,220 | 105.5 | 2,967,165 | +3.o | 7,487,640 | 85,572 | 147,078 | 1891 | 4,117,707 | 108.9 | 3,088,281 | Average. | 7,566,288 | 86,472 | 148,624 | 1892 | 4,120,451 | 108.I | 3,090,339 | - 5.6 | 7,147,337 | 81,684 | 140,394 | 18 93 | 4,014,055 | 104.4 | 3,010,542 | -9.0 | 6,712,004 | 76,709 | 131,843 | 18 94 | 3,925,486 | IOI 2 | 2,944,115 | +6.3 | 7,667,505 | 87,628 | 150,611 | 18 95 | 3,937,590 | 100.5 | 2,953,193 | - 3.5 | 6,982,087 | 79,652 | 137,148 | 1896 | 3,958,762 | 1000 | 2,969,387 | - 4.0 | 6,983,999 | 79,817 | 130,000 | 18 97 | 3,984,167 | 99'7 | 2,988,126 | +3.1 | 7,547,856 | 86,261 | 148,260 | 1898 | 4,035,501 | 1000 | 3,025,526 | +3.2 | 7,645,105 | 87,372 | 150,171 | 18 99 | 4,133,249 | 101.9 | 3,099,937 | - 3.5 | 7,329,027 | 83,760 | 130,020 | 10 Years' | 4,018,318 | 103.0 | 3,013,660 | - 0.7 | 7,906,874 | 83,992 | 141,412 | Average | British Output, Imports And Exports Of Dairy Produce Whilst the quantity of imported butter and cheese consumed in the United Kingdom from year to year can be arrived at with a tolerable degree of accuracy, it is more difficult to form an estimate of the amounts of these articles annually produced at home. Various attempts have, however, from time to time been made by competent authorities to arrive approximately at the annual output of milk, butter and cheese in the United Kingdom, and the results are given by Messrs W. Weddel & Co. in their annual Dairy Produce Review. Table XI. shows the estimates for each of the ten years 1890 to 1899, the numbers in the second column of "cows and heifers in milk or in calf" being identical with those officially recorded in the agricultural returns. In thus estimating the quantity of milk, butter and cheese produced within the United Kingdom, the "average milking life" of a cow is taken to be four years, from which it follows that on the average one-fourth of the total herd has to be renewed every year by heifers with their first calf. This leaves 75% of the total herd giving milk throughout the year. Each cow of this 75% is estimated as yielding 49 cwt., or 53 1 gallons of milk annually. It is assumed that 15% of the total milk yield is used for the calf, 32% utilized for butter [[Table Xi]]. - Estimated Annual Production of Milk, Butter and Cheese in the United Kingdom for the Ten Years ended 31st December 1899. making, 20% for cheese-making, and the remaining 33% consumed in the household as fresh milk. A ton of milk is estimated to produce 80 lb of butter or 220 lb of cheese. A gallon of milk weighs 10.33 lb (Io lb). The probable effects of each season upon the production have been taken into consideration in making these estimates, and it will be noticed that owing to the terrible drought of 1893 a reduction of 9% is made from the average. Accepting these estimates with due reservation,' it is seen that the annual production of milk varied in the decade to the extent of nearly a million tons, the exact difference between the maximum of 7,667,505 tons in 1894 and the minimum of 6,712,004 tons in 1893 being 955,501 tons. The decennial averages are 7,906,874 tons of milk, 83,992 tons of butter, and 1 4 1, 4 12 tons of cheese. Table XII. furnishes an estimate of the total consumption of butter in the United Kingdom in each of the years 1891 to 1900. Whilst the estimated home production did not vary greatly from year to year, the imports from colonial and foreign sources underwent almost continuous increase. The ten years' average indicates 37.6% home-made, 7.3% imported colonial, and 55.1% imported foreign butter. But whereas at the beginning of the decade the proportions were 45.4% home-made, 1.5% colonial, and 53.2% foreign, at the end of the percentages were 32.8, 14.7 and 52.5 respectively. It thus appears that whilst the United Kingdom was able in 1891 to furnish nearly half of its requirements (45'4%), by 1900 it was unable to supply more than one-third (32.8%).
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