390 ADVERSITY, 1874-1912 



the parent of the Laval, Lefeldt, Petersen, and other varieties of 

 the separator. Improved by successive developments, it can now 

 be purchased at a third of its former cost. In its wake have followed 

 a variety of improved appliances churns to suit every fancy, milk- 

 testers, milk-coolers, centrifugal butter driers, butter workers, 

 butter hardeners,, steel pails, tin-lined utensils, down to grease- 

 proof paper, and chip or paper boxes for marketing the produce. 

 In recent years an effort has also been made to compete with the 

 soft cheeses of foreign countries. Excellent cheeses of the type 

 of Brie, Camembert, and Gervais are now produced by English 

 dairies. If there is a weak side to all this progress, it lies in the fact 

 that the processes of butter and cheese-making are becoming too 

 elaborate and scientific for the ordinary run of agriculturists. 

 There is certainly some risk that this branch of the farming industry 

 may become confined to creameries and associations, and that 

 wholesale dealers may refuse the products which have not come 

 from a factory. 



In the science and practice of the various branches of farming, 

 progress has been great, and it has been helped by a corresponding 

 increase in the means of obtaining agricultural education. Through- 

 out the country numerous centres have been established in addition 

 to those previously in existence. Aspatria (1874), Downton (1880), 

 the University College of North Wales (1884), followed by colleges, 

 schools and institutes in South Wales, Kent, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, 

 Shropshire, and other counties, at Cambridge, Reading, Penrith, 

 Swanley, Uckfield, Chelmsford, and elsewhere, the Armstrong 

 College at Newcastle-on-Tyne, the Cheshire Agricultural and Horti- 

 cultural Institute, the Harris Institute at Preston, the Eastern 

 Counties Dairy Institute at Ipswich, the National Fruit and Cider 

 Institute at Bristol, and similar institutions in various parts of 

 England, offer new opportunities of practical and scientific training 

 to future landlords, farmers, and land-agents. At many of these 

 centres, degrees or certificates can be obtained. Examinations for 

 National diplomas are conducted by the Royal and Highland 

 Agricultural Societies. The admirable leaflets issued by the Board 

 of Agriculture supply the latest scientific discoveries in the shortest 

 compass, either free or at the smallest possible cost. In local ex- 

 penditure on technical education, instruction in agricultural subjects 

 is represented, and the range of the lectures and classes organised 

 by County Councils continues to extend. Instruction in forestry is 



