128 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



milk supply of Paris, the chief reliance for preserving milk 

 is pasteurization. 



It is well worthy of note that at a special show of perish- 

 able dairy products, held as an annex to the Paris Exposi- 

 tion, in July, 1900, just outside the city limits, where French 

 producers had ever}^ opportunity of exhibiting their goods 

 in the best possible shape (although under unfavorable local 

 conditions after reaching the exhibit) , there was a large col- 

 lection of natural milk and cream ; but the only samples of 

 these products, absolutely free from chemical preservatives, 

 and uncooked, which were sweet and palatable after noon of 

 the exhibition day, were from dairies in New York and New 

 Jersey, then 18 days from the cow ! There was also in the 

 United States dairy exhibit natural milk and cream from a 

 farm in central Illinois, in bottles exactly as sent daily to 

 Chicago families, which was only very slightly acid, al- 

 though 20 days old. It had kept sweet until the day before 

 this show, and even later it was better than the best normal 

 French milk only 12 to 24 hours after milking. The Ameri- 

 can products had been preserved solely by cleanliness and cold. 



In the northern part of France, or the territory lying 

 between Paris and the Belgium border, the dairy industry 

 is not especially developed, and presents little of interest. 

 Large farms abound in that region, with extensive cultiva- 

 tion of wheat, barley, grass, sugar beets and potatoes. Al- 

 most every estate has some industry, like the making of 

 suo-ar or starch or alcohol. There is also an active live-stock 

 interest, but horses, beef cattle and sheep receive most atten- 

 tion. There are mines in this region also, — coal, iron and 

 lime, — and numerous large manufacturing towns, such as 

 Amiens, Arras, Douai, Lille and St. Quentin ; so that there 

 are large local markets for hay and all forage, and, so far as 

 there is dairying, it is nearly all for making milk for town 

 supply. Yet this part of France and particularly French 

 Flanders is the home of a race of cattle not widely known, 

 which furnishes by far the best dairy cows in this part of 

 Europe. These are the Flamandes, a large-framed, rangy, 

 dairy type of cattle, uniformly dark-brown or almost black 

 in color, healthy, active and docile, good feeders and pro- 



