No. 4.] DAIRYING IX FRANCE. 137 



The rents which are often paid for farms in France would be 

 regarded as impossible in this country ; on the other hand, 

 hired labor for farm and dairy costs but a fraction there of 

 what it does here. In dairy utensils and equipment ours 

 are greatly superior, and our methods arc more generally 

 founded upon principles which arc understood and known to 

 be correct. Butter is more economically produced in the 

 United States, and, so far as the product of the creamery 

 system is concerned, it is of higher average quality than 

 that of France ; the same cannot be said of the farm dairy 

 butter of this country. France offers a much greater variety 

 of cheese and a much more general appreciation of this prod- 

 uct as an article of food. Much of the French cheese is 

 excellent of its kind, }^et the facilities and processes of mak- 

 ing and curing are comparatively crude. The factory system 

 of cheese making is at present better organized in America, 

 and conducted with greater economy, equal skill and more 

 intelligence. In the important business of making milk for 

 market, and all through the milk service for towns and cities, 

 the United States is far in advance of France. This is true 

 not only in comparing averages, but our best establishments 

 and practices are superior to their best in production, 

 quality, purity, preparation, transportation and delivery. 



While too much cannot be said in praise of the industry, 

 frugality and thrift of French dairymen and their families, a 

 close comparison leads one to feel that the conditions of the 

 industry in the United States are decidedly more satisfactory 

 in almost every particular. 



[Xote. — The foregoing text is only half a reproduc- 

 tion of the lecture as delivered, the latter being illustrated 

 by more than one hundred lantern slides, thrown upon a 

 curtain, nearly all being made from photographs collected 

 by Major Alvord during recent visits to the places de- 

 scribed.] 



Following this lecture was a reception to the Board of 

 Agriculture and others attending the meeting, given by the 

 citizens of Northampton. 



