48 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Mr. Baker aaid, with regard to the hall in which they 

 were assembled, he (Mr. Baker) might be permitted to state 

 that £161 lOs. 9d. had been expended in its improvement, 

 and that the ocly debt standing against it was £3 lOs. 9d. 

 la 1846 there was a debt upon the building of about £400. 

 A mortgage was then suggested, but he resisted it, and the 



amount was raised by subscription. Mr. Baker then made a 

 few remarks upon the advisability of offering prizes for stack- 

 ing and thatching, in regard to both of which, in the county 

 of Rutland, system seemed to be altogether lost sight of. 



The proceedings of a highly successful meeting were brought 

 to a close shortly before nine o'clock. 



THE IMPORTATION OF BUTTER AND ITS CHARACTER. 



Butter, which forms so large an article of consump- 

 tion, with us is, comparatively .speaking, very little 

 used in many of the Continental States. Beckman tells 

 us that in Germany and among the ancients it was 

 chiefly employed as an unguent, or for inunction at the 

 baths, and as a medicine. It was scarcely ever men- 

 tioned as food ; olive and other vegetable oils probably 

 being those chiefly used, as they are still largely on the 

 shores of Ohe Mediterranean and most tropical coun- 

 tries. At the present day even butter is very little used 

 for food, in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the south of 

 France; indeed dairy occupations do not find favour 

 ■witli the people. 



The commercial value and importance of this dairy 

 productis often underrated. A few facts in connection 

 with the subject may serve to correct this mistake. 

 The total production of butter in the United King- 

 dom has been variously computed. The most recent 

 calculation, and that by a competent statist, Mr. 

 Braithwaite Poole, in his " Statistics of British Com- 

 merce," estimates the production and consumption at 

 over 160,000 tons per annum, worth at the general 

 average of lOd. per lb., igl3,328,000. But our home 

 production appears to be insufhcient for our consump- 

 tion and export demands, since we import from the 

 Continent from 20,000 to 25,000 tons, and ship from 

 5,000 to 6,000 tons per annum to various quarters. 

 Some ten years ago we used to ship four times this 

 amount ; but the export trade has been taken into their 

 own hands by the Continental merchants, owing to the 

 facilities of direct shipment now offered. 



The following return shows the yearly import of but- 

 ter into this country since 1844 : — 



Years. Cwts. Years. Cwts. 



1844 185,511 1852 285,497 



1845 .... 253,723 1853 403,289 



1846 257,385 1854 482,514 



1847 314,125 1855 447,266 



1848 294,427 1856 513,392 



1849 281.969 1857 .... 441,606 



1850 330,579 1858 .... 387,999 



1851 353,718 



The proportionate sources of supply will be seen from 

 the return for 1857 j which shows that we received 

 from — Cwts. 



Denmark 3,809 



Hanover 4,235 



Hanse Towns 55,789 



Holland 255,872 



Belgium 62,288 



France 26,290 



Channel Islands 28,465 



British North America 1 ,430 



Other parts , 3,428 



441,606 

 The computed net value of this quantity, at from 

 ^64 to £5 per cwt., is stated at £2,061,280; and the 

 duty levied on it at 29. 6d. per cwt. for the butter of 



British possessions, and 5s. for that from foreign coun- 

 tries, yielded .£110,593 to the revenue. From 13,000 

 to 14,000 tons of Irish butter is imported annually into 

 Liverpool, and about the same quantity into London. 



From the following series of returns it will be seen 

 that Hamburgh exports annually about 143,000 cwt. of 

 butter ; Holland, 32,000,00U lbs. ; Belgium, 8,500,000 

 lbs. ; and France about the same. The greater portion of 

 the butter made in the dairies of Holstein and .Schles- 

 wig is bought up by the Hamburgh merchants, though 

 it is likewise sent in considerable quantities from Kiel 

 and other ports to England, Copenhagen, and the 

 West Indies. Lubeck imports about 700,000 lbs., and 

 Bremen 3,000,000 lbs., of which one-third is re- 

 exported. In Switzerland about 250,000 cwt. are 

 made annually. Austria imports about 13,000 or 

 14,000 cwt. ; Tuscany, 400,000 lbs. ; Portugal, 

 2,000,000 lbs. ; and Spain, 500,000 lbs. From Wal- 

 lachia, 300 to 400 cwt. are shipped. The butter pro- 

 duction of Finland is said to be over 2,000,000 stone 

 yearly. 



EXPORTS OP BUTTER FROM HAMBURGH. 



aUANTITY. VALUE. 



Year. Centners or cwt. Mk». Banco. 



107,767 3,757,210 



114,627 4,330,530 



97,720 3,760,890 



110,091 5,-337,930 



129,771 6,574,624 



1850 ... 



1851 



1852 



1853 



1854 .... 



1855 142,639 7,491,310 



EXPORTS OF BUTTER FROM HOLLAND. 



Year. Ponds or kilog. 



1850 12,016,261 



1851 12,737,808 



1852 12,125,662 



1853 13,426,398 



1854 14,435,365 



1855 14,675,674 



The kilogramme is about 2^ lbs. 



BUTTER EXPORTED FROM BELGIUM. 



QUANTITY. VALUE. 



Year. Kilog. Francs. 



1850 1,781,295 2,671,942 



1851 1,921,279 2,881,918 



1852 2,218,887 3,550,220 



1853 2,706,511 4,330,417 



1854 3,913,071 7,043.528 



1855 3,826,313 7,652,626 



Of the foregoing quantities 600,000 to 700,000 kilo- 

 grammes are butter the produce of Holland and 

 France. 



BUTTER EXPORTED FROM FRANCE. 



aUANTITY. VALUE. 



Year. Kilog. Francs. 



1851 2,553,825 3,638,244 



1852 2,621,376 3,820,891 



1853 4,344,472 6,379,052 



1854 5,193,718 8,765,632 



1855 ...... 3,900,870 9,259,1 9(> 



