1907.] Cost of Food in Production of Milk. 333 



sets of figures should not be too closely compared. Had the 

 Scottish figures been compiled for the autumn months instead 

 of the spring ones, a very different price would have been re- 

 corded. From the middle of May to the end of September 

 our costs for the production of milk will be less per gallon than 

 any of the Danish ones, so that when the average for the whole 

 year is taken, the difference will probably be very small. It 

 is hoped that at an early date it will be possible to give the 

 costs for a whole year, when our costs for food can be more 

 fairly compared with those of Denmark than at present. 



In Scotland the cost of labour and interest on capital are 

 considerably higher than in Scandinavia. Most classes of 

 concentrated feeding stuffs are if anything cheaper with us, 

 while the home-grown foods are sometimes cheaper and 

 sometimes dearer. Ayrshire cows give richer milk than those 

 in the countries referred to, the average percentage of fat on 

 which the foregoing figures are based being, Zeeland, 3*44 ; 

 Fyen, 3-43 ; Jutland, 3*41 ; Scotland, 3*63 per cent. 



It must be pointed out that in the Scandinavian averages 

 the percentage of fat is that for the milk of the whole year,, 

 whereas the Scottish ones are for the period over which the 

 cost for food extends, viz., the spring months. During the 

 period that pasture is at its best in Scotland, say according 

 to district from the last week in May to the middle of 

 June, while the quantity of milk yielded by the cows is at 

 its maximum, the quality (other things being considered)' 

 is at its minimum. In cheese-making herds the quality 

 increases very materially in autumn, and had the whole year 

 been considered for Scotland, the percentage of fat would 

 probably have been somewhat increased. The average fat for 

 443 cows in the Fenwick No. 1 Milk Record Association for the 

 whole year 1905 was 3*74 per cent, and the average for the 

 whole of the south-west of Scotland where Ayrshires alone are 

 kept, will not differ materially from this. Our heavier outlays 

 for labour, interest, &c, are therefore in great part discounted 

 by the higher percentage of fat in our milk and the extra cost 

 of conveyance to our markets which the foreigner has to bear. 



Our cheapest food is evidently pasture, whereas in Scandi- 

 navia there is considered to be little difference in the cost of 

 keeping cows in summer and winter, as pasture does not do 



