752 Imports of Milk and Cream in 1905. [march, 



The quantity of milk and cream imported into the United 



Kingdom from abroad in 1905 was less than in any year since 



1899. The value per cwt., however, rose 



iwr.-if 111 ^ 0 /^? °^ considerably, but this was due in the main 

 Milk and Cream . J r 



in 1905. to the larger proportion of cream in the 



total imports, and also to the great falling off 



in imports of cheap preserved milk from France. The cream, 



which is worth ten times as much per cwt. as fresh milk, last 



year amounted to 58 per cent, of the total imports, whereas in 



1903 it formed under 33 per cent. 



The following statement shows the receipts of milk and 

 cream during the past seven years : — 



Year. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Average per Cwt. 





Cwr. 



I 



s. d. 



1899 



7,859 



16,068 



40 11 



1900 



15,638 



26,837 



34 4 



1901 



24,293 



42,327 



34 10 



1902 



22,030 



37,6i3 



34 2 



1903 



22,487 



41,176 



36 7 



1904 



12,911 



29,437 



45 7 



1905 



8,557 



23,834 



55 8 



Fresh Milk. — Of this item only 238 cwt. were received in 

 1905, as compared with 866 cwt. in 1904. Practically the 

 whole of it came from France. The decline is apparently due 

 to none having been imported in the early months of 1905, at 

 the period corresponding to the bulk of the imports in 1904 ; 

 for the last six months of the year the imports were 208 cwt. 

 in 1905, as compared with 173 cwt. in 1904. The average 

 value per cwt. works out at 8s. 9d., or is. 2d. less than last 

 year. 



Cream. — The decrease in this, viz., 1,343 cwt., was not, 

 relatively, so great as that in fresh milk. There was some 

 change in the source of supply, the quantity from France 

 diminishing by some 25 per cent, while that from Norway 

 increased by nearly 40 per cent. The quantity received from 

 Holland dwindled from 830 to 286 cwt., while the only other 

 countries — aggregating together less than 100 cwt. — were 

 Denmark, Belgium, and Germany. Norwegian cream is of less 

 value than French, and in spite of a rise of about 6s. per cwt., 

 in Norwegian cream, its increasing importance is responsible for 



