CATTLE. 35 



two for the consumption of man. This gives an average 

 of about one thousand litres for each cow. The produc- 

 tion of France is probably at most two milliards, or at 

 the rate of five hundred litres per head, of which at least 

 one-half is consumed by the calves. 



Thus, while the French have only one milliard of litres 

 to sell for human consumption, the English have two ; 

 and as, in consequence of their large manufacturing 

 population, they obtain double the price for their milk 

 that we do, it follows that the dairy produce of Eng- 

 land is worth four times as much as it is in France. The 

 production of the two countries should, then, be repre- 

 sented by the following figures : 



France, 1 milliard of litres at 10 cents, 100 million francs (4,000,000). 

 British Isles, 2 milliard of litres at 20 cents, 400 million francs (.16,000,000). 



This difference, great though it be, will not cause 

 surprise to any one who may have compared, even in 

 France, the production of dairies in different localities. 

 Between a Normandy dairy, for example, where the pro- 

 duction and management of the milk are skilfully con- 

 ducted, and one in Limousin or Languedoc, where the 

 lactiferous properties of the cow have not been encouraged, 

 the contrast is greater than between an ordinary French 

 dairy and an English one. Not only is the quantity of 

 milk infinitely less, but the price obtained for it is less 

 also. The producer of the centre or south does not know 

 what to make of his milk when he has it ; the producer 

 of the north, on the contrary, derives from it a good 

 profit. In every country the art of dairy husbandry is a 

 profitable employment ; and the districts which make but- 

 ter and cheese are always richer than those that do not. 



If the work we impose upon our large cattle deprives 

 us of a large revenue in milk, it also deprives us of a 

 not less important return in butcher-meat. 



