70 



Butter-Blending in Normandy. 



north-western France, considerable progress having been 

 made in the trade in potatoes and cauliflowers especially. 



The quantities of agricultural produce exported from the 

 ports of Cherbourg, Granville, Barfleur, and St. Malo during 

 1896 are given as follows: — Butter, 20,311 tons; eggs, 8,830 

 tons; fowls, 267 tons; potatoes, 25,873 tons; vegetables, 

 3,406 tons ; fruit, 2,019 tons ; chestnuts, 3,614 tons ; mistletoe, 

 157 tons. Over 9,000 gallons of cider were also exported 

 from the ports of Cherbourg, Carteret, and Portbail. 



[Foreign Office Report, Annual Series, No. 1,855. Price 2y2di\ 



Butter-Blending in Normandy. 



Mr. INT. C. Gurney, Her Majesty's Consul at Cherbourg, 

 has furnished the Foreign Office with an account of the 

 processes in operation at the Normandy butter-blending mills. 

 rHe says that some dairies are now using small hand-blenders, 

 but in La Manche the competition is sufficient to make any 

 greater care and outlay unnecessary if the butter is sold to 

 the blenders. The farmers rather prefer to add to the weight 

 by not cleaning too much. It is certain, however, that the 

 best made butter fetches the best price, and so easily do 

 farmers win a reputation, that they are known to the agent 

 of the blending mills, and their butter is taken at once even 

 ■without inquiry. These agents get to know their business 

 thoroughly ; their knowledge of butter enables them to select 

 often only by smelling, tasting not being necessary. 



The mill where the butter is blended is kept scrupulously 

 clean ; it is lighted by electricity, and heated when necessary 

 by hot water. The flooring is of cement and tiles. Hot- 

 water boilers, annexed to the mill, do the cleaning and 

 rinsing and washing of cloths. 



Arriving at the mill in cloth-lined hampers, the butter is 

 lifted out of the hampers in the linen cloths, turned out 

 on to glass-covered moving tables, and flattened out. 

 Several layers of varying colour and quality are placed over 

 the first to a given height, the whole mass is then cut 

 vertically upwards into squares of given size by drawing 



