76 FRANCE 



a very modest return, because the middleman 

 maker wants his profit as well, and because of 

 the further cost of production necessitated by 

 the blending mill operations. Before Denmark 

 secured so strong a position on British markets, 

 the French butter exporters made large fortunes 

 from the business. The opportunity came with 

 the Franco-German War, which closed the Paris 

 markets for a time, and caused them to look for 

 an alternative outlet in Great Britain — a pro- 

 cedure which answered so well that in some 

 instances the present-day representatives of 

 butter -blending mills, originally started in a 

 very small way, are owners of chateaux, and are 

 locally regarded as "butter -kings," while the 

 French farmer still drives to market with his 

 weekly tub of butter, regarding his commercial 

 rulers with the greater awe, perhaps, because he 

 may be indebted to them for pecuniary advances 

 made to him in times of need. 



Of the adaptations of Danish methods which 

 have, thus far, been brought about in France, 

 one of the most interesting is at Cherbourg. 

 An English firm, with the help of a Danish 

 manager, has there set up a factory in which 

 the cream is separated from the milk obtained 

 from 385 farmers in the surrounding district. 

 After being pasteurised, and having a preserva- 



