138 WESTMORLAND AGRICULTURE, 1800— 1900 



The first butter factory to be formed in the county was started 

 at Barbon, by Messrs. Holhns, in the autumn of 18S6, in a building 

 70 ft. by 15 ft., fitted with cream separator, refrigerator, churn and 

 butter-maker, the motive power being derived from a four-horse power 

 steam engine. It was worked by the Lunesdale Co-operative Dairy Co., 

 and by the end of October was deahng with 150 gallons of milk a day, 

 for which yA. per gallon was paid for the new milk delivered, the sender 

 taking the separated milk back at 2d. per gallon. The butter sold at 

 1/4 per lb. ; at the same time at Kirkby Lonsdale the price was iid. 

 to i/- per lb. and at Kendal i/- to 1/2 per lb. At the factory it took 

 thirteen quarts of milk to produce one pound of butter, but a week's 

 mUk from A. Airey's of Firbank produced at the factory 57 lbs. of 

 butter, which is equal to rather over nine quarts to the pound of butter. 

 In the following year the factory was closed owing to the low price of 

 butter. In a paper read by the late F. Punchard before the British 

 Dairy Farmers Association, when they held their meeting in Westmor- 

 land in 1892, he estimated the average yield of milk per cow in the 

 county to be about 570 gallons per annum and that it took about 

 three gallons of milk to produce one pound of butter. The quantity 

 of butter despatched from stations in Westmorland by the London and 

 North- Western Railway in 1891 was 185 tons 3 cwt. 



In 1887 the Culgaith Dairy Factory was opened ; it was managed 

 by a board of directors, under the name of the " Vale of Eden Dairy 

 Company," who leased it to J. Hills. The price paid for milk was 

 8d. per gallon and in 1889 the company paid 4J per cent, dividend, 

 with £20 to reserve and £14 forward, when it was let for a further 

 period of five years to Hills. 



About this period butter was bringing a very low price ; in June, 

 1887, it only brought 7d. to lod. per lb. at Kendal, and at Penrith 

 was 4d. per lb. ; in the same month in the following year butter was 

 offered in Kendal market as low as 4d. per lb. 



J. Cropper and J. Wakefield offered to build and equip a butter 

 factory for the Kendal district in 1S91 at their own expense, but the 

 farmers could not be induced to supply the dairy with milk and the 

 project fell through. In the following year a committee of the Kendal 

 Farmers Club was formed to consider the butter question and they 

 reported that the low price of butter in the spring and summer months — 



