372 Notes, Communications and Reviews. 



off" to go to outlying farms. They are seldom milked for 

 more than one " note " as one period of milking is called. 



The second class is very similar, comprising as it does those 

 farms not near a town but within easy reach of a railway. The 

 farmer sells his milk wholesale to dealers in the towns. 

 The method of working such farms is generally very much the 

 same as those in the first class, though in some instances calves 

 are reared. 



The third class is confined to districts not within easy reach 

 of the railway. This class consists of cheese making, butter 

 making, and stock rearing. In many of these outlying districts 

 farmers buy the "lying-off" cows from the milk-sellers and 

 keep them till they calve, when they are sold back to the milk- 

 sellers. It is the two first classes that have sufl:"ered from the 

 closing of the ports against Irish cattle. It is apparent that 

 from its geographical position Lancashire is the natural outlet 

 for Ireland's large consignments of cattle, and every week 

 numbers of new-calved and springing Irish cows are sold in 

 the Lancashire markets. It is from these that the milk-seller 

 largely draws his supplies. When the restrictions were first 

 put on, prices for milk-cows naturally rose, but not to a very 

 great extent, as there were a considerable number of new- 

 calved cows (English) on the market. Then came an outbreak 

 in South-East Lancashire which affected a large district ; prices 

 remained normal, or even dropped, as no cows could be moved 

 into this area. But when the restrictions were taken off there 

 was a rush for milk. Prices ruled high till fresh outbreaks 

 were reported near Blackburn and Preston, and these outbreaks 

 again lowered prices, for the reason just stated. As soon as 

 these districts w^ere no longer scheduled the markets were 

 crowded out with buyers, with the result that cows which had 

 any milk about them at all have reached a figure that is the 

 highest on record. 



The prospects before the milk-seller are not encouraging. 

 He has to choose between two evils ; either to buy cows at 

 a price which, by a large amount, they will never fetch again, 

 or else to lose customers. The latter course cannot be followed 

 by the second class of farmer, as he has to keep up his contract 

 which he very likely entered into before foot-and-mouth 

 disease appeared. 



The outsider would naturally say that the price of milk 

 should rise. In so}ne towns it has risen, but there are still 

 some populous centres where it remains at the same rate at 

 which it has been for years. This is, of course, to a large 

 extent in the hands of the farmers, but when so many indi- 

 viduals are selling in one town the diSiculty of bringing about 

 any sort of combination or understanding among them is very 



