WITHIN THE BRITISH EMPIRE 287 



and milk also. The Australian exports of butter, which rose con- 

 siderably between 1901 and 1913, have since declined owing to 

 unfavourable weather conditions. A survey of the Empire's 

 butter-producing resources does not point to any likelihood of a 

 large increase in the near future either in the United Kingdom or 

 in the temperate Dominions. In the former the demands made 

 upon dairy herds for whole milk are very great and any surplus 

 milk can apparently be better used for increasing the output of 

 cheese rather than of butter, while in Canada and New Zealand 

 the tendencies are strongly in favour of sacrificing the production 

 of butter to that of cheese. Only in Australia, where little cheese 

 is manufactured, does it appear likely that the surplus of butter 

 may increase, and that only if the country escapes destructive 

 droughts. Even when peace conditions are restoied, it is quite 

 unlikely that Denmark and Siberia, which were the two principal 

 sources of supply in the years prior to 1914, will resume at once 

 their extensive exports of butter to the United Kingdom on the old 

 scale. In the meantime, however, the manufacture of margarine 

 as a substitute for brtter has expanded very rapidly in the United 

 Kingdom, and it happens that the raw materials used are largely 

 produced within the Empire. In discussing the question of the 

 Empire's deficiency in feedstuffs above, attention was drawn to 

 the possibility of diminishing the dependence upon foreign sources 

 of supply by an extension of the industry employed in the treatment 

 of oleaginous nuts and seeds of Imperial origin. It is obvious also, 

 that the Empire's dependence upon foreign sources for supplies 

 of butter could be materially reduced, if home-produced margarine 

 continued to be used extensively as a substitute for butter after 

 the close of the war, as at the present time (1917-18). There does 

 not appear to be much immediate prospect of increasing the 

 Empire's production of butter to an appreciable extent without 

 materially reducing its output of cheese, a course which for some 

 time to come is likely to be undesirable. It will be shown later 

 that special difficulties lie in the way of any very rapid expansion of 

 the dairy industry throughout the Empire. 1 Besides the United 

 Kingdom, the only other part of the Empire that requires to make 

 regular net importations of butter is South Africa. Fortunately, 

 however, in quite recent years, the deficiency of the Union in 

 butter has declined to very small proportions, the net imports 

 having fallen from 67,000 cwts. in 1908 to about 3,000 cwts. in 

 1916. The dairy industry in South Africa is making progress, and 

 it is probable that it may even have a small net surplus of butter 

 in the future. 



With regard to condensed milk, a glance at the table shows that 

 the imports of this commodity into the United Kingdom increased 

 appreciably between 1901 and 1913, while the supplies derived 

 from other parts of the Empire, which were trifling in the earlier 



1 See below, Chap. ii. 



