"The buildings are drained into two large liquid-manure tanks, the contents of which serve to irrigate about 14 acres of meadow-land.

"The rain-water, and the wash of the house, is conducted to suitable reservoirs, and is made to flow over a small meadow at pleasure.

"The buildings are supplied with water from a pond, which receives the drainage-water from about 15 acres of land.

"The corn crops are well housed in skeleton barns, having clay floors, the crops being preserved from contact with the clay by means of an intervening layer of brushwood.

"In addition to this homestead, which has the disadvantage of being at the corner of the holding, 24 cow-stalls, a food-house, and labourer's cottage have been erected at a distant part of the farm. At this steading the barren cows are fatted and the calves are kept, the latter being supplied with roots and fodder. By this means much cartage is saved, and manure is made where it is wanted.

Mr. Jackson exhibited a model of this homestead at Manchester, and was awarded the prize of 101. for hay and corn sheds. The following extract from the Report of the Judges gives their opinion of the steading ::

"In this commendation they especially refer to the Dutch barns, erected in connection with the homestead, for stacking corn in sheaf at harvest time, and which would also serve for storing hay and straw. They unanimously disapprove of the arrangement of placing hay in the loft over the cows in the shippon, though the exhibitor has made special provision for ventilation by a shaft through the hay and roof from the shippon below, as well as by perforations in the walls just under the loft."

On this point Mr. Jackson remarks, that "to put hay over all the cows is one extreme, and to put all the cows in sheds open to the roof is the other." He therefore advocates the middle course, of sheds at each end for half the cows, and hay over the centre portion; by this plan he considers that the extremes of heat and cold are avoided, while it secures the most convenient stowage for hay, which is of better quality than if kept by stacking, as it is said usually to come out as green and sweet as at harvest.

X.-Report on the Cheese-Factory System, and its Adaptability to English Dairy Districts.* By H. M. JENKINS, F.G.S.

AMERICAN cheese has been imported into England for many years, but until recently it has not much excited the attention of

On July 1st, 1868, the Council, on the motion of Lord Vernon, requested the Journal Committee to obtain information as to the working of the Cheese factory system in America, and its adaptability to the dairy districts in England. Various causes have since combined to defer the publication of the Report; but as, in the meantime, public opinion on the question has become more matured, it is hoped that this delay has not injured the cause in which the inquiry was undertaken.

English farmers. Two causes combined to produce and foster this indifference: one was the bad quality of the article when first imported; and the second, which was to a certain extent the consequence of the former, was the prejudice which induced consumers to buy, even at an enhanced price for worse quality, the native rather than the foreign production. But the cattle-plague commenced and continued its ravages, and English cheese became not only dear and difficult to obtain, but also inferior in quality. Dealers were therefore compelled to purchase American samples, and thus the ice of prejudice was broken. It was soon found by purveyors and consumers that good American factory cheese was equal, and often superior, to any English produce but that of the very best dairies, while its price was considerably below that at which even moderate samples of English cheese could be sold. Hence at last arose a real demand for American cheese, and, as the demand increased, the price of the commodity rose in obedience to the economic law of supply and demand. American dairymen saw the tide turning, and, with the shrewdness characteristic of their nation, watched and took advantage of every chip which showed the course of the current of public opinion. They also took every means in their power to ascertain the wants of the English cheese-markets, and especially to find out what were considered in England the defects of their produce. Their agents collected opinions on every imaginable point-the defects in size, shape, colour, flavour, &c.; and, as each was indicated, every exertion was made to remedy it. By these means it is that American cheese in large consignments can now be sold at a price which comparatively few English dairies can command. In London at the present time (December, 1869) American Factory-cheese made in September is selling at from 70s. to 74s. per 112 lbs.-equal to from 75s. to 79s. 34d. per 120 lbs.— figures the importance of which dairy-farmers can easily appreciate.

In the following pages I shall first describe the rise and progress of the system by which the American dairymen have been enabled to achieve this result, and afterwards endeavour to estimate its adaptability to English dairy districts. The first part of my report will consist almost entirely of verbatim extracts from American publications; and as the essays from which they are taken were written for the benefit of American dairymen by authors of the highest reputation, I believe that every reliance may be placed on their accuracy. As a pendant to these extracts I shall print without alteration four replies which I have received from eminent practical men in answer to questions contained in my letters to them. Finally, it will be my endeavour to place before the members of the Society the English view of

the question, as obtained by me during visits made for the purpose to the most important English dairy districts.

The origin of the American Cheese-factory system is ascribed by Mr. X. A. Willard* to Mr. Jesse Williams, a farmer living near Rome, Oneida County, New York, under the following circumstances:

“Mr. Williams was an experienced and skilful cheese-maker at a time when the bulk of American cheese was poor. His dairy, therefore, enjoyed a high reputation, and was eagerly sought for by dealers. In the spring of 1851, one of his sons having married, entered upon farming on his own account, and the father contracted the cheese made on both farms at seven cents per pound, a figure considerably higher than was being offered for other dairies in that vicinity. When the contract was made known to the son, he expressed great doubt as to whether he should be able to manufacture the character of cheese that would be acceptable under the contract. He had never taken charge of the manufacture of cheese while at home, and never having given the subject that close attention which it necessarily requires, he felt that his success in coming up to the required standard would be a mere matter of chance. His father, therefore, proposed coming daily upon the farm, and giving the cheese-making a portion of his immediate supervision. But this would be very inconvenient, and while devising means to meet the difficulties, and secure the benefits of the contract, which was more than ordinarily good, the idea was suggested that the son should deliver the milk from his herd daily at the father's milk-house. From this thought sprung the idea of uniting the milk from several neighbouring dairies and manufacturing it at one place."

The above quotation gives the true origin of the existing system of associated dairies; but a few years previously another system had been tried, and found inefficient, in the State of Ohio. Therefore, for the purpose of showing English dairy-farmers what to avoid, I quote the following paragraph from a paper by Mr. A. Bartlett,† of Ohio:

"So long ago as 1848 a system of cheese manufacturing was in operation in some parts of Trumbull and Ashtabala counties, and in the course of the next few years was largely extended. The plan of operations under this system was briefly as follows: some person or firm would erect suitable buildings or fixtures, and purchase the curds of the surrounding farmers, haul the curds to the factory and weigh them, paying a stipulated price per pound. . . The system had radical defects, the chief of which was that the curds, being made by the several different farmers who furnished them, there was, of course, almost as many different qualities of curds as there were farmers furnishing them; and it is impossible to make a prime article of cheese from a curd that has been mismanaged during its first stages.”

This attempt, therefore, failed; and in the spring of 1862, after a visit to the factory of Mr. Jesse Williams, who founded the rival system, Mr. Bartlett introduced into the State of Ohio the

* Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1865,' pp. 432, 433. Twentieth Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture for the year 1865, pp. 170, 171.

first cheese factory on the New York principle. In the meantime that principle had, slowly but surely, obtained a footing in the Empire State, and by the end of the year in which the Factory-system was first established in Ohio, no less than eighty factories were in operation in New York.

The original factory of Mr. Jesse Williams stood alone from 1851, the year in which it was erected, until 1854, when four were established. For some years after the system progressed slowly, the number of new factories having been two in 1855, three each in 1856 and 57, and four each in 1858 and 59. The number of new factories annually erected then suddenly increased coincident with a very remarkable expansion of the export trade. Thus in 1860 there were seventeen, in 1861 eighteen, and in 1862 twenty-five. This may be considered the second epoch in the history of Associated Dairies, the third and last period being that in which private dairies were practically abandoned, and nearly the whole of the milk sent to factories. Therefore we find that in 1863 the large number of 111 factories were erected in the State of New York, while in 1864 the enormous increase of 210 new establishments was reported. But there is a limit to the possible number even of cheese factories in one American State; accordingly only 52 were erected in 1865, and 46 in 1866. Thus three years ago no less than 500 cheese-factories were in full operation in the State of New York alone; and, taking the average number of cows supplying each with milk at only 400, we get the enormous total of 200,000 cows, the milk of which is thus manufactured into cheese. These facts are sufficient to give an idea of the importance and success of the system, but they do not represent the whole magnitude of the business; for what has been achieved in this way not confined to the State of New York, nor even to cheese-factories. The associated dairies now comprise a very large number of butter-factories, and the principle of association is in full operation in every State in the Union where dairying forms a prominent branch of agriculture, as well as in Canada, and even in Sweden.

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The methods resorted to when it is required to establish a factory are briefly the following:-A certain number of dairymen, keeping, in the aggregate, from 300 to 1000 cows, having agreed to "turn in their dairies," that is, to send their milk to the factory, one of two systems is adopted. One system is carried out by a committee of dairymen being appointed to collect information on the mode of procedure in successful factories, to select a site, &c., and then to report to the members of the Association. The preliminaries having been arranged, directors are chosen, and rules drawn up and agreed to; the

necessary arrangements are then made for the erection of the factory-building according to an approved plan, and for the engagement of a competent superintendent. The alternative system is, that some manufacturer proposes to erect a factory on his own account, and to manufacture and take care of the cheese at a fixed price per pound. In this case each farmer, or "patron," contracts to supply the milk of a certain number of cows for a definite period, and the manufacturer agrees, on his part, to "run the factory."

The site chosen for the erection of a factory should be convenient of access to the dairies which are to supply the milk, and it should possess an abundance of good water. The conveyance of the milk to the factories is a most important consideration. In America three systems are in operation: either each patron conveys his own milk every day, or the patrons take it in turn to convey the whole of the milk, or some carrier conveys it regularly at a certain fixed charge.

The factory having been erected, the machinery purchased and fixed, the workpeople engaged, and the milk delivered, the process of manufacture next demands description. For this purpose I have transcribed the following descriptions of two factories by Mr. A. Bartlett, of Ohio, as they give a very good idea, not only of the method of cheesemaking, but also of the factories and their fittings. The first establishment is Mr. Bartlett's original factory (the first erected in Ohio), as described by him in a letter to the secretary of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture.*

"The factory buildings are: a workshop, 26 by 26 feet; a salt-room, 10 by 22 feet; a press-room, 12 by 40 feet; a boiler-room, 12 by 15 feet; receivingroom, 13 by 16 feet; and kitchen, 13 by 24 feet. These buildings all stand contiguous to each other, and are connected together. The curing-house is 30 by 100 feet, 3 stories in height, and will store for curing about 2500 cheeses of the size we are now making, viz., 15 inches in diameter, and 10 inches high. The milk is hauled to the factory in tin cans of different sizes, holding from 125 to 500 pounds of milk each, and are hoisted from the wagons by means of a crane and windlass, and the milk dumped into the receivingcans, of which there are two standing on scales. It is then weighed, and, by means of a gate, is let off through a tin conductor into the vats below. A careful account is kept of the milk delivered by each man every day. The vats are 3 feet 6 inches wide, and 16 feet long, and hold 5000 pounds of milk each. There are four of them standing in the workshop, made of tin, and each standing in a wooden vat, with a space around and under the bottom of the tin for water.

"At night, when the milk is received, it is run into the vats, and a stream of cold spring-water set running into the wooden vat around the milk, which is left running all night to keep the milk cool, and prevent it from souring, the milk being stirred for a while to hasten the cooling when first put in.

"In the morning the cream which has arisen on the milk is dipped off and poured

*Twentieth Annual Report, for the year 1865,' pp. 174-176. VOL. VI.-S. S.

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