The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1904-03-01
THE DAIRY
Dairy Industry in Siberia.

Qdlry INDUSTRY
"The government, being anxious to
settle up the country, and realizing
that agricultural pursuits in this vast
domain are impossible without the aid
of modern farm implements, has estab-
lished machine warehouses all over the
agricultural districts of Siberia, from
which the peasants are being supplied
with American harvesting machinery,
German plows and English threshing
machines. In 1898 the experiment sta
tion at Korgan discovered that the
milk from the Siberian cow was unus-
ually rich in butter fat, the average of
several tests being over per cent. The
government established several expert
mental dairies, which at once met with
singular success. The Danish butter
had obtained a splendid reputation on
the London market, and the Danes
were unable to supply the demand.
Some of the butter merchants of Copen-
hagen hit upon the idea of sending their
representatives out to Siberia to buy
butter, ship it to Copenhagen and
stamp it "select Danish butter,' I'M
der which title it went on the London
market.
After a while the London merchants
learned the real origin of some of the
Danish butter and sent their own rep
resentatives to Siberia to buy butter.
The Siberian railway, having been COM
pleted through Western Siberia for the
last six years, gives splendid facilities
for the exports of butter, and in 1900,
on my first visit to that country, there
was one train q week of refrigerator
cars loaded with butter that went from
Siberia through Russia to the Baltic
Sea and from there to England by
steamer. That year there were seven
firms in Omsk, the principal business
center for the butter trade, which were
buying butter for expectation. The
next year there were sixteen firms buy
ing butter in Omsk, new firms were es-
tablished all over Siberia and there
were five trains per week of refrlger-
ator cars loaded with nothing but but
ter, which was shipped to England
principally. An idea of what the bust
ness amounted to can be obtained when
it is learned that on one Monday morn
ing a single bank in Omsk paid out
100000 rubles Gone ruble 81 cents) for
butter alone.
From the reports of the present sea-
son it is learned that over 3,OOO,OOO
pools Gone pood equals 40 pounds) OF
butter have been exported from Siberia
this year. In every village through this
section of Siberia has been established
one or more dairies and the peasants
now have numerous COWS from which
they are supplying these dairies with
milk. The butter is shipped in kegs,
which are manufactured in Riga, and
these are covered with coarse mating
that comes from China. At first the
butter had to be on the platform for
DAYS before the train came to take it
away, but now there are found at each
station dug-outs or cellars in which the
butter is kept until it is shipped.
The butter merchants going into bus
mess in Siberia carry on double trade
with the peasants. They import dairy
machinery from Sweden and imple-
ments from America and Germany,
which they sell to the peasants and IN
return buy their butter, making prof
it on both deals. However, on account
of the exceedingly fierce competition
caused by the great number of Danish,
English German and Russian firms
which have gone into the business,
profits are no longer so great as they
were at first, and number of the older
q -. have n finally withdrawn from the