Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-09-29
English and American Cheese Dairying.

tne mix product OF Great britain toward
direct consumption, rather than TO the man
ufacture Of butter aud cheese. Il is stated
on good authority that since the plan of con-
veying fresh milk to towns and cities by
railway, aud especially since there has been
more knowledge disseminated in regard to
the preservation of milk during its transit
aud delivery to consumers, there has been q
large increase in the trade, and the result
is that the cheese aud butter lairies Of the
country have been encroached upon to meet
the increased demands of fresh milk con-
sumption. Again, the increase in population
in Great Britain is another element that has
drawn largely and must continue 10 do so,
upon the milk supplies Of the country. b..
The furnishing of fresh milk for city con.
sumption is more profitable to dairy farmers
than to manufacture it into butter and
cheese. The transition, then, from the lat
ter to the former is more easily brought
about so far as the dairyman is concerned,
since he will naturally seek those channels
for his product which yield the most profit.
The question which is now agitating the
dairy industry of England is better method
Of preserving milk aud in regulating the
shall be little or no surplus milk on the mar.
ket; and to avoid losses on this account fac.
tories at the railroad stations where farmers
deliver their milk are suggested. On
this plan the quantity of milk needed
from day to day in the different milk
walks of the city is telegraphod to the
respective factories furnishing said walks,
and this prevents the transit Of surplus milk
leaving it to be converted into butter and
cheese at the factory. BY the free establish
ment Of such factories at convenient points
along the railways, it is believed the con.
sumption Of milk in cities and large towns
will be promoted, because regular
and unlimited supply can then be had. Any
thing likely to affect the quantity of butter
and cheese made in Britain must be of inter.
est to American dairymen because her main
dependence for cheese is upon America.
We have before US an abstract of the Of
fetal roturRs showing the number of COWS
and heiiers ia milk 10 Great Britain for the
year 1874 aud 1875, respectively From
these returns it appears that there has been
decrease Of milch stock in the kingdom
from 1874 to 1875 of fifty thousand COWS.
ain in 1874 was 2,273,797. In 1875 there
was only 2,223,24l. OF this number Eng.
land had in 1875 but 1895, ,296; Scotland,
396,S33 Wales, 26l,0S2.
We have no statistics at hand showing the
percentage of the milk product used directly
as food in Great Britain. In 1870 it was
estimated at about Al per cent of the en-.
tire milk crop in the United States was used
directly as food. The number of milch cows
then in the United States was about l ,OO0,-
600, or nearly five times the number at pres
ent in Great Britain. In 1870 the popula.
tion in England and Scotland was upwards
Of 20 100000 souls, and to-day it is 80 900.
600 in the United Kingdom. 1t is evident,
therefore, il milk was used as freely in Brit.
ain as it is in the United States, very large
share Of the milk product would be consumed
as food. Hence We are inclined to the opin.
ion that the views expressed by persons in
England who are familiar with the milk
trade, that cheese dairying must gradually
decrease in that country are not without
Foundation; and this must be more apparent
when we consider the low price at which
American cheese has been placed before
the British consumer. The English dairy
man finds cheese-making by far the least re-
munerative Of any branch Of the dairy. In-
deed, it is only by making the high.prced
cheese that he is able to get anything like
fair returns for his capital and labor. A
correspondent from one of the best dairy dis
tricts OF England, in letter under date of
Aug. 8, says:
"Cheese is much lower than last year
say 3 cents per pound. Low qualities are
scarcely salable at any price. Farm dairy
cheese is averaging about so shillings per
cwt., while some Of it is as low as 30s.
English factory cheese is fetching 60 to "
shilliugs per cwt. American cheese of fine
quantity can be bought for As shillings, end
the finest at AZ shillings, in this country.
Beef and mutton are tho only agricultural
product that keeps up 10 price. They are
from to III pence per pound (l6 TO ~
centsl. Wool is very low--say 35 shillngs
for mixed lots. know a farmer who has
several years wool on hand for one of which
he once had 62 shillings offered"
He remarks further:
"English farmers are becoming desperate.
On one nobleman's estate they are giving up
the farms wholesale and are emigrating, be-
cause the landlord would not reduce the rent.
II things go on in this way much longer the
price Of land will be seriously affected.
am afraid We are helplessly drifting into one
Of the most serious crises English agricul-
ture has kown for long time. What the
end will be no man can tell, and It is painful
to speculate on it, At present there is no
silver lining to the cloud discernible."
This state Of things, it seems to US, must
have an important bearing on the cheese
trade Of America. The gradual abandon
ment Of cheese dairyiug the high price Of
of meats whish must have tendency to
promote larger consumption of cheese, the
cheaper animal food, cheese, being used by
the working classes-al these must indicate
larger demand from Britain for cheese, while
at the same time they promise a permanent
trade in dairy produce for us, thus giving
sure outlet for all surplus likely to bo made
in this country for years to come. American
dairymen have had serious fears in regard to
the over-production of cheese but We have
always found a market in England for our
surplus, and generally at very steady prices.
Some anxiety has been expressed by
American dairymen in regard TO the future
of our cheese industry, and especially has
this been the case during the present year,
when cheese has ruled at comparatively low
prices. We have deemed it, therefore, of
some Importance to place before our dairy
men tho foregoing facts and arguments, be-
lieving, as wo do, that there is no branch of
farming that promises more permanence and
that is liable to less fuctuation 10 prices than
the dairy and its products. We have re-
ierred only to the foreign demand, but much
can be said in favor our position when the
needs Of our home consumption are
taken into account. AS our population in-
Creases, larger and larger drafts are made
from vaar 10 uaar for frask ,o;IL, g.. o;tu a,l