“248 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTIQULTU RE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
THE  ERENCH  DAIRY  INTEREST. 
Wk  are  so  apt  to  Consider  the  Danes,  and  the  Danes  only,  as  our 
great  rivals  in  the  j)roduction  of  dairy  delicacies,  that  wo  overlook 
the  other  nations  who  have  turned  their  attention  to  this  particular 
industry.  We  must  correct  ourselves.  In  southern  England,  those 
parts  nearest  Normandy,  there  is  some  knowledge  of  French  enter¬ 
prise.  Of  course  it  is  natural  that  perishable  goods  should  be  landed 
at  the  nearest  ]7ort,  so  we  on  the  east  and  northern  coasts  are  more 
conversant  with  Danish  wares  than  we  are  with  those  of  “La  Belle 
France.” 
From  early  Norman  days  the.«e  two  countries,  separated  by  a 
silver  streak,  have  bpen  more  or  less  antagonistic.  Wo  have  scoffed 
at  and  des]>ised  the  “  Mounseer,”  and  he  has  made  game  of  “  John 
Bull.”  First  one  of  us,  and  then  the  other,  has  had  the  advantage, 
but,  on  the  whole,  affairs  liave  been  pretty  evenly  balanced,  and  we 
can  neither  give  each  other  great  odds.  Indeed,  when  we  consider 
how  much  Norman  blood  runs  in  our  veins,  it  is  no  wonder  we  are 
in  many  things  so  much  alike.  Climatic  influences  bring  about  the 
differences,  but  racially  we  are  in  a  measure  one. 
Fhe  enterprise  of  the  Frenchman  does  not  stop  at  butter  and 
cheese,  he  acfually  has  the  audacity  to  send  us  over  milk  ;  but 
it  is  not  with  his  milk  exports  we  are  at  present  concerned,  it 
is  more  his  butter  and  his  cheese.  The  writer  of  to-day,  a  man 
at  home  equally  on  an  African  “  velt  ”  as  on  a  Norfolk  pasture, 
docs  not  give,  as  an  eye  witness,  the  most  pleasing  accounts  of 
the  butter  and  its  surroundings  as  found  in  Brittany. 
The  custom  appears  there  for  the  butter  to  be  gathered  up  from 
all  the  small  farmers  (peasant  proprietors)  and  then  re-made,  worked 
and  blended  in  a  manufactory.  Well,  that  is  not  quite  our  idea  of 
the  way  to  make  good  butter,  but  this  mixture  or  manufactured 
article  finds  a  ready  market.  We  should  not  like  the  raw  material- 
Th«-  French  farmhouses  and  surroundings  (the  small  ones  we  mean) 
are  not  arranged  with  much  idea  as  to  sanitary  matters,  and  the 
jjeople  themselves  are  too  hard  pressed  by  constant  toil  to  be  ultra¬ 
particular  about  the  methods  employed. 
We  should  i)refer  that  the  manufactories  began  with  the  milk 
rather  than  with  the  already  made  up  butter ;  there  would  be  more 
chance  of  rudimentary  cleanliness  at  any  rate.  In  northern  France 
we  find  a  good  class  of  cow,  very  much  after  the  stamp  of  our 
•Shorthorn,  and  it  is  to  these  northern  provinces  that  we  look  for 
butter  production.  Tbe  grass  land  of  Normandy  is  sound  and  good, 
well  calculated  to  produce  milk,  and  also  well  calculated  to  produce 
grand  well-developed  cart  horses.  The  principal  butter  districts  are 
the  departments  of  Hie  et  Vilaine,  whence  come  18,000,000  lbs. 
of  butter;  Nord,  touching  on  Belgium,  Pas  du  Calais,  and  further 
west,  Calvados  and  Manche.  This  butter  is  sold  by  the  kilogram, 
erpial  to  2  2  lbs.,  and  the  price  varies  from  Is.  3d.  to  2s.  4d.  per 
kilogram,  just  about  what  most  English  farmers  get  for  theirs.  We 
do  not  often  fall  below  7^d.  per  lb.,  and  do  not  often  exceed  Is.  2d., 
although  we  see  that  for  two  weeks  in  August  we  actually  made 
Is.  4d.,  and  in  October  and  November  Is.  3d.  (This  was  owing  to 
the  prolonged  drought,  which  caused  great  scarcity  of  food). 
France  produces  yearly  somewhere  about  136,000,000  kilograms 
of  butter  as  against  Denmark’s  50,000,000,  and  Italy’s  16,500,000. 
But  after  all  it  is  not  in  butter  production  that  France  exceeds  the 
other  nations — she  takes  the  lead  in  cheese,  and  gives  us  cheeses  many 
aud  varied.  The  working  classes  of  France  have  always  been  much 
more  frugal  than  the  same  class  in  England.  They  live  more  care¬ 
fully  and  on  a  plainer  diet,  vegetable  soups,  salads,  any  bread  but 
wheaten,  no  beer,  and  not  much  meat,  not  half  the  luxuries  that  the 
British  workman  demands. 
Of  all  forms  of  food  nothing  is  much  more  concentrated  than 
cheese.  It  may  be  a  little  hard  of  digestion,  but  when  that  is  accom¬ 
plished  the  system  is  enriched  by  many  valuable  constituents.  The 
Englishman  does  not  put  cheese  quite  in  its  right  place,  he  uses  it  as 
a  finish  to  his  me.al  rather  than  making  it  the  piece  de  resistance. 
Lheese  is  not  consumed  by  the  working  classes  as  it  used  to  be.  In 
our  young  days  most  farmers  made  at  least  a  few  cheeses  to  be  used 
March  23,  1899. 
for  himself  and  his  men,  and  now,  except  in  the  cheese  districts 
proper,  where  is  the  cheese-maker?  Gone  with  the  home  brewer  and 
bread  maker. 
Cheese  used  to  be  sent  out  always  for  afternoon  luncheon  in 
harvest,  and  filled  mauy  a  gap  at  other  times;  now  cheap  pork  pies 
and  cakes  take  its  place.  The  French  are  very  proficient  in  .soft 
cheese  manufacture — the  taste  for  these  goods  is  certainly  growing  in 
England,  but  slowly.  Our  dairy  teachers  are  now  prepared  to  show 
us  how  to  make  many  varieties  of  small  inexpensive  cheeses,  but  the 
market  is  not  quite  here  yet.  We  stick  to  our  hard  varieties,  and  for 
a  change  in  summer  enjoy  a  real  cream — an  expensive  luxury  only  for 
the  few. 
Like  the  hard  or  pressed  cheeses  the  soft  ones  can  be  made  either 
plain  or  rich.  It  is  simply  a  question  of  removing  the  cream,  and  for 
immediate  consumption  the  plain  cheeses  are  most  excellent.  They 
are  made  up  into  small  shapes,  easj'  of  purchase,  easy  to  consume,  and 
form  a  most  pleasing  variety  in  the  menu.  Whether  we  as  a  nation 
.shall  ever  take  the  matter  up  seriously  remains  yet  to  be  jiroved. 
France  makes  £2,500,000  of  her  hard  cheese,  but  a  good  deal  more  of 
her  soft  cheese.  When  the  English  palate  is  sufficiently  cultivated, 
perhaps  the  English  farmer  will  be  found  ready  to  put  on  the  market 
such  and  similar  varieties  known  abroad  as  Brie,  Loudom,  Miers, 
and  Camembert. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Farmers  ai'c  renowned  as  grumblers,  but  the  man  who  would  grumble 
at  the  present  weather  must  indeed  have  a  soured  mind.  We  had  just  a 
sufficiency  of  frost,  though  not  too  much,  some  nice  rain,  which  has 
invariably  fallen  in  the  night,  and  so  hindered  no  work,  and  now  we  are 
enjoying  bright  sunshine  and  a  .Tune  temperature. 
Barley  is  being  sown  under  perfect  conditions  of  soil  and  temperature, 
and  there  is  now  quite  the  full  regulation  supply  of  March  dust.  Wheat 
is  being  rolled  and  harrowed  ;  some  fields  are  much  too  thick  of  plant, 
and  harrowing  is  necessary  for  thinning  purposes. 
Where  top-dressing  for  Wheat  is  thought  necessary  it  is  time  the 
manure  was  jiut  on.  If  sulphate  of  ammonia  be  used  it  should  be  sown 
immediately  without  delay,  as  it  is  so  much  slower  in  its  action  than 
nitrate  of  soda.  Nitrate  may  be  sown  until  the  end  of  April.  Salt 
can  be  put  on  the  Wheat,  and  will  do  good  on  sandy  soils  ;  4  to  5  cwt. 
per  acre. 
Clover  seeds  may  now  be  sown,  and  if  the  land  be  clean  and  as  free 
from  weed  seeds  as  it  ought  to  be,  they  had  better  be  sown  with  the 
Barley  Immediately  after  the  corn  drill.  This  is  the  only  sure  and 
certain  way  of  attaining  a  good  plant  of  seeds. 
Farmers  who  can  spare  time  from  the  spring  sowing  are  doing  a  little 
more  to  the  fallows;  we  see  the  smoke  of  twitch  burning  in  several 
directions  to-daj'.  Thus  thousands  of  little  bits  will  be  utterly  destroyed 
which,  if  left,  would  have  quickly  made  the  land  as  foul  as  ever. 
J^amhing  proceeds  satisfactorily,  and,  generally  sj)eaking,  losses  arc 
very  small,  both  ewes  and  lambs  being  exceptionally  healthy.  Young 
seeds  are  looking  very  green  and  fresh,  the  Rye  grass  providing  a  nice 
bite  for  the  ewes  with  pairs;  which  are  now  being  favoured  with  the  first 
taste  of  it.  Turnips  are  nearly  done,  and  the  fat  hoggs  are  quickly  going 
to  market,  leaving  a  poor  look-out  for  the  supply  of  the  April  fairs. 
The  beef  trade  is  better,  and  store  beasts  are  making  good  prices, 
good  yearlings  making  up  to  £9  and  £10  each.  We  see  that  anthrax 
is  again  reported  from  North  Lincolnshire,  two  farms  being  affected. 
This  sounds  very  serious,  as  one  is  the  second  outbreak  within  a  few 
months,  and  we  should  sympathise  with  the  occupiers  in  what  must  be  a 
very  prolonged  time  of  anxiety'. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32’  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date.  j 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Bain. 
1899. 
March. 
Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
inchs 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
inchs. 
Sunday  . . . . 
12 
30-461 
,50-8 
48-0 
N. 
40-0 
58-2 
41-1 
93-3 
35-9 
— 
Monday  . . . . 
13 
30-605 
41-1 
41-1 
N.E. 
41-4 
57-9 
40-1 
83-9 
32-9 
— 
Tuesday  . . . . 
14 
30.568 
38-6 
38-2 
N.E. 
41-2 
47-1 
31  -9 
56-7 
28-9 
— 
Wednesday 
15 
30-478 
41-5 
40-6 
N.K. 
39-6 
59-9 
31-4 
87-2 
26-9 
— 
Thursday  . 
16 
30-474 
34-8 
34-8 
E. 
40-0 
45-8 
33-9 
52-1 
27-9 
— 
Friday . 
17 
30-420 
41-3 
40-9 
E. 
40-2 
42-9 
35 -S 
45-6 
35-1 
— 
Saturday., . 
18 
30-147 
42-0 
41-4 
N.E. 
40-1 
46-8 
30-9 
70-6 
28-3 
— 
30-450 
41-4 
40-7 
40-4 
51-2 
34-9 
69-9 
30-8 
12th. — Pair  day,  with  briglit  sunshine  at  times. 
13th. — P'oggy  morning,  witli  the  sun  visible  ;  bright  afternoon. 
14th.— P’og  all  day,  generally  rather  dense. 
l.'ith. — P’ine  and  sunny  day  ;  haze  or  slight  fog  in  morning. 
16th. — Overcast  all  day  ;  wet  fog  early  and  most  of  the  morning. 
17th. — Smoke  fog  nearly  all  day,  and  lights  necessary,  but  clearing  towards  sunset. 
18th. — Overcast,  with  occasional  drizzle  in  morning  ;  hue,  and  frequently  sunny, 
after  noon. 
Fogs  early,  much  bright  sun,  no  rain,  and  temperatui'e  near  the  average. — 
G.  J.  Symons. 
