176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



be regained. More than this, the "fraud we perpetrated has 

 reacted upon us to raise a presumption of suspicion in 

 British minds against all our dairy products, — a feeling 

 ■which it is difficult to allay. American butter has been 

 offered in the English market to but a slight extent until re- 

 cently. That great consuming nation has relied largely on 

 Denmark, Holland and on distant Australia for its supplies. 

 One of the first acts of the present Secretary of Agriculture 

 was to study English market demands by the shipments of 

 considerable amounts of American butter from many sources, 

 thus working up somewhat of a trade. This action has not 

 only acquainted English consumers with the merits of Ameri- 

 can goods, but has served to teach our butter makers the 

 needs of English markets. Great Britain is naturally pre- 

 possessed in favor of her own colonies, while the Danish and 

 Dutch butters grade higher on the average than those of any 

 other country (and it may be stated parenthetically that this 

 is due to the general adoption in these countries of modern 

 methods, cleanliness, and particularly of the teachings of 

 dairy bacteriology) . This combination is difficult to meet 

 in competition, yet good goods will sell well there. Certain 

 Vermont creameries have already established London trade, 

 which promises to prove remunerative. In 1893 the United 

 States exported to England 2,293,000 pounds of butter; 

 in 1897, 15,419,600 pounds, — an increase of nearly 700 per 

 cent. The increase in the exportation of Canadian butter 

 has been even greater. 



(d) Is there not Danger of Over-production? — This is a 

 very pertinent question. The old yet ever true answer may 

 be made, that, while there are always too many inferior 

 goods made, there has not yet been a surplus of the best 

 grade. There is always room at the top. I do not believe 

 there is any immediate danger of over-production. Increase 

 of population more than keeps pace with the increase in the 

 number of cows, because of the slaughter of poor animals 

 and calves. The consumption per capita in this country and 

 in Europe of the various dairy products, milk, butter, cheese, 

 cream, milk foods, condensed milk, etc., has greatly increased 

 within the last generation, and particularly within the last 

 fifteen years. These two factors, larger number of con- 



