Exports of Italian Dairy Produce. 



517 



7 26,251 ; rye, 91,758 ; barley, 185,128; oats, 246,764; and 

 maize, 1,107,713 acres. 



The Servian pliimcrop of 1898, though very abundant, was 

 inferior both in quality and amount to that of 1897, which 

 was phenomenal in its abundance. In the latter year the 

 exportation of dried plums was valued at ^502,811, and of 

 plum marmalade at 129,028. Lest the term marmalade 

 should be misleading, this article of trade is described as a 

 compound of fruit reduced to a squash or pulp by boiling. 

 After the stones have been separated it is poured unsweetened 

 into barrels and sold to agents at Buda Pesth, who are said 

 to purchase it for Germany, where it is used as an article of 

 food by the poorer classes. 



[Foreign Office Report, Annual Series. No. 2207. Price i^d.] 



Exports of Italian Dairy Produce. 



According to the Italian Trade Returns it appears that 

 the quantity of Italian butter exported to Great Britain in 

 1897 was about 31,500 cwts., and of cheese 42,900 cwts. 

 These commodities are, for the most part, exported overland 

 through other countries, chiefly through Belgium, and conse- 

 quently the Annual Statements of Trade of the United 

 Kingdom for 1897 show only 1,349 cwts. of butter and 

 1,892 cwts. of cheese as having been imported into this 

 country from Italy. 



The total exports of fresh and salt butter from Italy in 

 1897 were 93,600 cwts., and of cheese 173,400 cwts. The 

 climate of Upper Italy is stated to be very suitable for cattle- 

 breeding and butter-making, and the greater part of the 

 butter exported is manufactured in the country to the north 

 of the Po : Milan, Lodi, Codogno, and Pavia being the 

 principal exporting centres. Co-operative dairy associations 

 of small farmers exist in Italy to the number of 690 ; of 

 these, 204 are in Lombardy, and 382 are in Venice. Many 

 of these establishments are closed during the winter. 

 Associations for the manufacture of cheese (" fromageries "j 

 have also been formed ; one of these, situated in the Province 



