French Dairy Industry. 



173 



little agricultural land), are at the top ; the highest average 

 being reached in the Nord with 156 cwts. of cattle per 100 

 acres, the Ille-et-Vilaine being only sixteenth. 



The production of milk from these 5,407,126 milch cows, 

 or rather from 90 per cent, of them — the remaining tenth 

 being assumed to yield no milk — during the year 1892 

 is estimated at 1,694,294,338 gallons, as compared with 

 1,500,531,230 gallons in 1882. The departments yielding 

 most milk are the Nord (79,466,398 gallons), followed at 

 some distance by the Seine-inferieure, the Manche, 

 Ille-et-Vilaine, Pas de Calais, Calvados, Finistere, all with 

 over 46,000,000 gallons. The yield per cow was estimated 

 to have been about 352 gallons in 1892, as against 330 gallons 

 in 1882. Smce 1892 the annual production of milk in France 

 is estimated, in the annual reports of the French Ministry of 

 Agriculture, to have been in the years named — 



These annual estimates are not strictly comparable with 

 those of the decennial returns : for 1892 the Ministry of 

 Agriculture estimated the production at 1)750,967,504 

 gallons, whereas the Decennial Inquiry published last year 

 showed the amount to have been 1,694,294,338 gallons. 

 But the annual figures indicate the changes from year to year. 

 Very little French milk is exported in a raw state, although 

 an appreciable quantity— some 2,000 cwts., i.e.^ about 22,000 

 gallons — of fresh milk or cream was exported to the United 

 Kingdom towards the end of last year. 



For the manufacture of dairy products the latest figures 

 available are those of the Decennial Inquiry relating to 

 1892. The production of butter in 1892 is given as 2,593.300 

 cwts. Four d-epartments in the south, as also the Seine 

 (Paris and environs), make no mention of any production of 

 this commodity, and it is not clearly stated \^rhether none 

 was actually made in these departments, or whether the 

 persons concerned omitted to make proper returns. 



Gallons. 



1893 

 1894 



1895 

 1896 



^531,235,002 

 1,681,225,194 

 1,719,641,550 

 1,734,995,746 



