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, 11
samples had less than 10%, 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 0.55 to 1.7%, with an average
of 0.98. 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 212% of salt, but the quantity of ash
in the 43 samples ranged from 0.83 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 dairy-farms, and has necessitated the extensive purchase of feeding-stuffs 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 milk-selling 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 20th 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 & North-Western railway delivers 9,000,000, and the Midland railway at St Pancras 5,000,000, and at others of its London stations about 1,000,000, making 6,000,000 in all. The London & South-Western 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 1,000,000 gallons, and the South-Eastern & Chatham and the London & Tilbury railways carry approximately 1,000,000 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.
