THE FRENCH DAIRY SYSTEM 75 



Charente districts, on the west coast, substantial 

 quantities of dairy produce being sent thence to 

 the Paris markets. As regards, however, most 

 of the butter exported to Great Britain, the 

 methods in vogue are still mainly those that 

 Denmark abandoned a quarter of a century 

 ago. Each farmer makes his own particular 

 lot of butter, and takes it to the local market. 

 There it is bought by a commission agent, and 

 he in turn disposes of it to the wholesale 

 merchant, who thus receives into his " blending 

 mill" the dairy produce of a wide district, re- 

 presenting, it may be, a considerable number 

 of different " makes " of butter. Expert em- 

 ployes will sort out the purchases into five 

 different classes, and the quantities representing 

 each class will then be worked up afresh and 

 blended together, so as to present a uniform 

 quality. All this is, of course, very different 

 from the Danish system, under which the 

 farmers bring in their milk to a central depot, 

 where the cream is separated from it, the butter 

 as exported being produced in one operation 

 from the combined supplies. 



In Denmark, too. the farmers get most of 

 the profit for themselves, whereas in France 

 the farmers are not only put to greater trouble 

 and expense, but they must be content with 



