388 



The Country Gentleman^ s Magazine 



it with gratifying unanimity. The co-opera- 

 tion of the farmers was, of course, an essen- 

 tial condition of the success of the under- 

 taking; and it was, therefore, satisfactory 

 that the Company suffered no inconvenience 

 in this respect. Having in regard, more- 

 over, the fact that they offer to the farmer 

 for his milk terms which he cannot in his 

 own interest refuse, it is by no means sur- 

 prising that no difficulty was experienced of 

 this kind ; and at the present time the local 

 farmers are only too pleased to dispose of 

 their milk to the Company. By doing so 

 they avoid many exigencies and liabilities to 

 loss which heretofore attended their labours ; 

 and, under the present 7'egime of sending 

 their milk to the factory, they have little 

 other anxiety than the pleasurable one of re- 

 ceiving their cheque for their produce, which 

 cheque the Company, with commendable 

 regularity, present weekly. 



It is interesting to mention, en passant, that 

 the Company have erected a factory in 

 Cheshire (at Middlewich) for the conserva- 

 tion of milk ; thus, in a sense, actually taking 

 by storm a notoriously cheese-making county. 

 This factory is expected to commence opera- 

 tions very shortly, under the management 

 of an experienced superintendent ; and so far, 

 we believe, the farmers regard the enterprise 

 with feelings of decided favour. Already 

 there is a cheese factory established in 

 Cheshire, and when to this is added a con- 

 densed milk factory, who shall dare to say 

 that Cousin Jonathan is not invading us ; 

 that American principles of doing business — 

 especially in the matter of dairy produce — 

 are not in the ascendant in this country? 

 Seriously, however, it is a gratifying circum- 

 stance that the success of this Company is so 

 great, and the demand for their manufacture 

 so continuous, that the resources of their 

 present establishment are inadequate, and 

 that they find it necessary to increase their 

 capabihties of production to so important a 

 degree as the erection of another entirely 

 new factory, immediately adjoining, and of 

 much larger dimensions. 



The works at Aylesbury are just without 

 the precincts of the town, and are pleasantly 



and conveniently situated. The buildings 

 being all new, they present an interesting 

 appearance, and the passer-by cannot fail to 

 be struck with them. There is a sense of 

 busy activity about the place which bespeaks 

 at once the activity of manufacture. The far- 

 mers bring the milk to the factory early in the 

 morning — chiefly between eight and nine — 

 and the daily amount of milk used at the 

 present time varies from 3000 to 4000 gallons 

 — certainly a veiy large quantity. 



The delivery of the milk necessarily 

 occupies some considerable time, and is 

 certainly an interesting process in itself. 

 The farmers send it in the large tin cans 

 ordinarily used in the trade, which the 

 Company supply, and immediately the milk 

 is received it is emptied into a large trough 

 — not, however, before it has been critically 

 examined and tested by men employed for 

 that purpose, and who are enabled to detect 

 the slightest impurity. From this trough — 

 which receives the milk through a sieve for 

 the purpose — it is put into a large tank, 

 being placed in metal cylinders, where it 

 undergoes what may be termed a sort of 

 hot-bath. After remaining here for some 

 time it is emptied, by means of cranes, into 

 large funnel-shaped vats, and is thence 

 drawn up, through a pipe in the centre, to 

 the vacuum or condensing pan, which is on 

 the higher floor. In order to effect the pro- 

 cess of condensation, the milk remains in 

 this pan for some time — say two or three 

 hours — during which the evaporation of the 

 water occurs. This part of the process 

 having been satisfactorily completed, and the 

 milk having assumed in some measure its 

 condensed form and consistence, it is con- 

 veyed into the lower room again, where it is 

 placed in suitable manner for the purpose of 

 cooling. It must be understood, too, that 

 the temperature during these processes is 

 regulated with the utmost precision, and, 

 when they are entirely completed, the milk 

 — now in its condensed form — is taken to 

 the filling-room, where it is run into i lb. 

 tins, the sizes ordinarily sold. The tins are 

 then soldered up, the labels are affixed, 

 and, practically speaking, the article is ready 



