388 ADVERSITY, 1874-1912 



In the years 1837-74, improvement in all the arts of cultivating, 

 harvesting, and marketing cereals were the most distinctive feature. 

 In the later period, progress, practical, mechanical, and scientific, 

 in all the arts of managing milk produce has been most conspicuous. 

 The British Dairy Farmers' Association and its Journal (1876), the 

 British Dairy Institute, the prominence given by the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society and other societies to shows of dairy appliances 

 and the encouragement they have afforded to the study of the 

 subject, travelling dairy and cheese schools, the dairy schools and 

 technical classes of Agricultural Colleges and County Councils, the 

 writings and practical work of a host of experts, and, above all, 

 the absolute necessity of rivalling the skill of foreign competitors 

 in the home markets, have all contributed to a vast advance in the 

 practice and science of dairying. 



Foreign methods have been carefully studied, the comparative 

 merits of the different breeds of milch cows investigated, and the 

 same labour has begun to be bestowed upon the perfection of milk- 

 ing qualities which has produced such great results in the fattening 

 qualities of cattle and sheep. Cheese-makers will prefer one breed, 

 butter-makers another, milk-sellers a third. Yet there will always 

 be a tendency to sacrifice something of the special purpose for the 

 sake of a breed which promises to be saleable as beef when the 

 milking days are over. It is the combination of milking and 

 feeding qualities which makes the Dairy Shorthorn, whether pedigree 

 or non-pedigree, and the Ayrshires such popular favourites. As 

 butter-makers the Jerseys are probably pre-eminent. In every 

 detail of management, from the premises and the water-supply 

 down to the milkman and his utensils, the necessity of absolute 

 cleanliness has been demonstrated. It is enforced by stringent 

 legislation ; it is also based on science and common sense. No 

 product changes its character more readily than milk. If con- 

 taminated, it loses its freshness and the producer his customers. 

 Milking machines have been invented ; but owing to the difficulty 

 of cleaning the tubes, they have for the most part met with but 

 moderate success. The Lawrence-Kennedy type, both the Simplex 

 and the Duplex, has, however, succeeded both on the Continent 

 and at home. Considering the provisions of the Sale of Food and 

 Drugs Act and the Sale of Milk Regulations, and the risk of pro- 

 secutions, it is surprising that milk records of the yield of each cow 

 are not more regularly kept, and that milk is not more often tested 



