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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  November  20,  1902. 
and  there  in  process  of  time  be  turned  into  butter,  there  is  I 
much  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  actual  hard  work,  and  more 
time  is  spent  before  it  is  ready  for  the  consumer.  We  do 
not  shirk  hard  work  or  we  should  not  farm  at  all,  but  if  we 
give  of  our  best  in  the  form  of  work,  we  are  at  any  rate 
entitled  to  a  suitable  return.  The  fact  is  that  farmers  as  a 
body  have  been  giving  out  in  many  instances  more  than 
they  received,  hence  the  disasters  which  have  overtaken 
so  many. 
Now  the  question  that  has  been  debated  lately  with 
great  ability  in  the  pages  of  “  The  Agricultural  Gazette  ”  is 
this:  “  Is  it  better  to  sell  milk  or  to  sell  butter?”  It  is  a 
wide  question,  and  one  which  must  be  closely  examined 
before  a  final  opinion  is  arrived  at.  We  think  the  great 
question  to  be  considered  is  the  one  of  locality,  and  even 
then,  perhaps,  there  is  less  difference  here  than  one  would 
expect.  Of  course  the  price  of  butter  per  lb.  does  vary  to 
a  certain  extent,  but  nowhere  is  it  so  very  high.  On  farms 
in  remote  districts  we  could  hardly  advise  milk  selling  on 
account  of  the  expense  in  conveyance  to  a  station — motors 
may  alter  this — and,  therefore  the  milk  must  be  disposed 
of  in  the  condensed  form  of  butter  or  cheese,  certainly 
the  latter  if  possible.  Perhaps  some  readers  hardly  realise 
that  there  are  still  farms  ten  miles  or  so  from  a  station,  and 
equally  remote  from  large  centres  of  population.  But 
about  milk  selling.  At  Islington  the  milk  is  carefully 
measured  and  assessed  at  a  certain  price,  say  9d.  per 
gallon.  That  milk  is  afterwards  turned  into  butter  and 
valued  in  that  form,  and  the  result  is  published.  Now  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  animals  which  produce  this 
milk  are  showT  animals  ;  therefore  we  will  suppose  about 
as  good  as  any  that  can  be  found.  They  have  been  selected 
for  their  dairy  properties  and  carefully  fed,  and  all  the 
tests  are  carried  out  by  experienced  men,  and  with  the 
greatest  exactitude.  These  are  some  of  the  figures,  and 
they  are  well  worth  study : — 
There  is  a  pedigree  Shorthorn  belonging  to  Mr.  Merry 
which  yielded  in  twenty-four  hours  5§  gallons  of  milk  which, 
valued  at  9d.  per  gallon,  would  be  equal  to  4s.  3d.  She  is 
considered  to  have  done  well  in  the  butter  test,  as  that 
quantity  of  milk  (5|  gallons)  made  2flb  of  butter,  which,  at 
Is.  6d.  per  lb  would  be  a  trifle  under  4s.  Then  we  come  to 
a  cow  of  Mr.  George  Long’s — Red  Queen — who,  by-the-by, 
won  the  first  prize  in  her  own  class  for  Shorthorns  not 
eligible  for  the  herd  book,  also  won  Barham’s  Challenge 
Cup  and  the  Lord  Mayor’s  Cup  for  the  best  milking  Short¬ 
horn.  Her  milk  record  was  somewhat  over  7  gallons  per 
day,  but  the  butter  that  was  produced  from  her  milk  only 
could  be  valued  at  a  fraction  over  3s. 
Then  we  come  to  a  Jersey  belonging  to  the  Bishop  of 
Ipswich,  whose  daily  yield  of  milk  was  4|  gallons,  and 
whose  butter  produce  was  2^1b — thus  setting  as  butter 
money  3s.  9d.  per  day  as  against  milk  money  3s.  2d.  Then, 
again,  the  same  paper  (date  October  20)  makes  mention  of 
ten  Shorthorns  who  were  either  prizetakers  or  highly  com¬ 
mended  in  the  butter  tests — picked  cows  again,  mark.  In 
one  day  their  united  milk  yield  was  53  gallons  milk, 
£l  19s.  9d.,as  against  22lb  butter,  £l  13s.  We  do  not 
quarrel  with  the  price  at  which  the  milk  is  rated,  viz.,  9d. 
per  gallon,  but  we  do  very  much  disagree  with  the  Is.  6d. 
per  lb  charged  for  butter.  We  have  been  good  butter- 
makers  for  many  years,  and  we  have  very  seldom  realised 
Is.  6d.  per  lb  save  for  an  odd  week  or  two  in  the  depth  of 
winter.  Our  average  has  been  much  nearer  Is.,  or  perhaps 
a  fraction  under,  to  be  nearer  the  truth.  With  these  facts 
and  figures  before  us  how  can  we  advocate  butter-making 
as  a  paying  industry?  We  know  it  is  said  that  the  value 
of  the  skim-milk  and  butter-milk  makes  the  total  add  up 
a  bit  better,  but  even  then,  unless  the  price  put  on  those 
bye  products  is  very  much  above  the  market  value,  there 
can  be  no  comparison.  Possibly  now  old  milk  as  pig  food 
is  at  its  highest  market  in  value,  but  pigs  surely  will  not 
always  remain  at  the  famine  prices  they  have  now  touched. 
As  we  have  practically  given  up  Wheat  gi'owing  from  a 
baker’s  point  of  view,  we  shall  give  up  butter  culture  and 
devote  our  cows  to  stock  rearing,  milk  selling,  or  cheese 
making,  the  value  of  the  latter,  we  see,  being  on  the  up 
grade. 
When  we  come  back  to  butter  making  and  cheese 
manufacture  we  at  once-  pile  on  the  cost  of  production, 
one  writer  says  butter  is  composed  of  four  ingredients,  viz., 
time,  muscles,  brain,  and  animal  fat,  and  when  it  is  con¬ 
sidered  that  the  price  of  butter  will  range  from  6d.  to 
Is.  6d.,  there  is  little  encouragement  to  us  to  try  and  take 
the  trade  out  of  the  hands  of  Danish  farmers,  or,  perhaps 
more  properly,  factory  companies.  We  know  one  friend 
who,  with  a  herd  of  Jerseys,  and  with  a  market  in  one  of 
the  home  counties,  and  whose  butter  wTas  really  of  the  gilt- 
edged  variety,  and  practically  he  could  and  did  pick  his 
customers,  has,  in  consideration  of  his  pocket,  gracefully 
retired  from  the  struggle  after  some  two-and-a-half  years’ 
trial.  We  should  like  to  impress  upon  our  readers  once 
again  the  fact  that,  taking  the  ordinary  farmer’s  cows  and 
allowing  them  to  be  good  milkers  of  a  non-pedigree  strain, 
it  is  very  very  seldom  indeed  that  they  can  produce  lib  of 
butter  from  less  than  3  gallons  of  milk — there  may  be,  and 
of  course  are,  exceptions  to  this,  but  the  general  rule  is 
3  gallons— lib  butter.  There  is  another  point  where  a  little 
profit  may  be  made  out  of  the  milk  trade  ;  this  is  where 
the  milk  is  delivered  by  the  farmer  himself  to  his  customers. 
He  is  not  a  pushing  business  man  if  he  cannot,  along  with 
the  milk,  make  a  trade  for  eggs,  fowls,  curd,  Potatoes,  and 
other  small  wares ;  things  on  which  there  is  always 
a  bit  of  profit  .  to  be  had  provided  there  are  no 
intermediate  channels.  He  will  also  be  looked 
to  if  an  extra  surmly  of  cream  is  needed,  and 
he  may  also  be  able  to  make  a  demand  for  choice  fruit 
and  flowers.  The  milk  dealer  is  always  in  trouble  with  his 
customers,  and  as  a  rule  settles  accounts  weekly  (there  is  a 
very  great  advantage  here). 
The  idea  that  has  long  existed  that  certain  cheeses  can 
only  be  made  in  certain  localities  must  now  be  abandoned. 
When  we  see  that  four  out  of  the  five  great  prizes  for 
Cheddar  went  to  Scotland  this  year  we  must  acknowledge 
that  technical  skill  has  as  much  to  do  with  successful  cheese 
making  as  the  situation  of  the  pastures  or  class  of  cattle. 
We  may  look,  again,  at  some  of  the  Canadian  cheeses,  which 
are  perfect  reproductions  of  our  best  makers.  But  without 
good  sound  technical  knowledge  no  one  should  enter  on  the 
calling  of  cheese  making.  It  is  hard  work,  and  for  many 
months  in  the  year  constant  work.  There  are  many  fancy 
cheeses  which  meet  a  ready  market,  indeed  we  might  say 
a  steadily  growing  market ;  and  we  should  almost  be 
inclined  to  advise  that  some  of  these  newer  varieties  should 
receive  a  little  more  attention  at  the  hands  of  those  farmers 
who  are  tired  of  the  butter  and  milk  trade. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
The  Swedes  are  still  growing.  We  have  had  a  heavy  rain, 
and  Swede-pulling  could  not  have  been  done  with  any  comfort 
to  the  men.  The  dressing  and  weighing  of  Barley  and  Wheat 
has  found  plenty  of  occupation  for  men  and  delivery  to  the 
station  for  the  horses.  This  putting  on  rails  from  a  distance  of 
four  and  a  half  miles  is  slow  work.  If  there  wrere  no  undue 
delays  two  journeys  per  diem  could  be  managed  even  in  one 
of  these  fast  shortening  days,  but,  alas!  delays  at  the  station 
are  the  rule  and  not  the  exception.  The  staff  at  these  country 
stations  is  a  small  one,  and  can  render*  little  assistance  at  any 
time,  but  now  that  threshing  machines  are  putting  in  full  time 
everywhere,  so  much  grain  is  being  marketed,  that  no  official 
help  in  loading  can  be  looked  for,  and  we  have  to  send  an  extra 
man.  But  that  does  not  prevent  delay,  though  it  helps  to 
minimise  it.  There  is  often  such  a  block  that  the  waggon  cannot 
be  got  near  the  railway  truck  until  others  have  unloaded  and 
departed.  But  the  most  aggravating  delay  of  all  is  that  caused 
by  shunting  operations.  It  frequently  occurs  that  when  there 
are  but  few  sacks  left  in  the  waggon,  a  pick-up  train  arrives, 
and  immediately  removes  all  the  trucks  from  the  siding  te  sort 
out  loaded  ones,  and  as  shunting  is  never  hurried,  an  hour  or 
more  may  elapse  before  the  waggon  can  again  be  got  to  the 
truck-side.  No  wonder  waggoners  are  addicted  to  strong  lan¬ 
guage.  We  want  the  steam  cultivator  to  plough  some  ley  for 
Potatoes,  but  it  is  deeply  engaged  for  the  present,  so  we  shall 
have  to  wait.  The  late  harvest  has  caused  a  big  demand  for 
the  use  of  cultivators  on  fallows.  The  rain  must  be  separated 
from  the  ewes  now,  and  the  latter  may  be  allowed  to  consume 
the  Mangold  tops  ;  as  there  is  likely  to  be  plenty  of  other  keeping, 
we  should  prefer  to  plough  them  in.  They  are  worth  more  as 
manure  than  as  food.  The  ewes  will  be  best  kept  on  grass  or 
seeds  at  present  ;  they  are  better  without  many  Turnips  until 
nearer  Christmas,  but  they  must  not  be  put  on  very  low-lying 
wet  pastures  until  there  has  been  a  decided  frost.  The  very 
mild  autumn  has  been  most  favourable  to  the  breeding  of  that 
dreadful  pest,  the  liver  fluke.  A  plentiful  supply  of  rock  salt 
might  prevent  the  absorption  of  the  embryo  fluke,  but  would  not 
kill  it  when  once  acquired  by  the  system. 
A  swampy  place  sometimes  causes  an  attack  of  fluke  in  what 
is  otherwise  a  dry  field.  If  a  good  dressing  of  agricultural  salt 
were  sown  on  the  swampy  place  in  July  it  would  be  an  excellent 
preventive. 
