G. E. Fussell - The English Dairy Farmer, 1500-1900

First published in 1966 by Frank Cass and Company Limited

This edition first published in 2019 by Routledge
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1966 by G. E. Fussell

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A Library of Congress record exists under ISBN:

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-23569-7 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-429-28050-4 (ebk)

The only one good reason for presenting yet another book to the public in these days of massive book production is that a subject has not already been discussed in detail. I think that reason holds good for this book. Although the importance of dairy products in human diet is now realised as never before, no attempt has so far been made to write the history of the English dairy farmer and his business.

The Dairy Farmer was always a man who did his job in the best way he knew and who was willing to change his methods if a new way seemed good to him. Dairy farming is the work of human beings, and its development was the result of human action, not the result of the blind forces of nature, nor of impersonal economic forces. All history is, in fact, the story of what men and women did, and it is the development of one group of human actions through four centuries that I have tried to describe here.

Like all branches of farming the subject is complex. Its elements necessarily interlock, and splitting them up for discussion is a matter of some difficulty. Some repetition is unavoidable, but this is less than it must have been if the story was told in periods of time. Change was slow in the earlier days, and I am sure readers would find tedious the repeated details of very similar practices in Tudor times, and under each subsequent dynasty until the end of the nineteenth century. The story has therefore been broken up into the various branches of the subject, and the developments that took place throughout the whole period discussed in separate chapters. Where it was necessary I have tried to show the bearing of each upon the others and so to make a significant whole. The effect of external influences outside the farmer's control have been treated in the same way.

The farmer's cow is, of course, the centre round which all dairy farming must revolve. Despite the numerous books on the individual breeds and Mr. Trow-Smith's recent work 'British livestock husbandry to 1700' the cow must therefore take pride of place here, but strictly as a milk producer.

Much of the greater well-being of present day dairy cattle is due to better feeding. The improvement of grassland was something the old-time farmer gave thought to, but it is a development that has largely taken place in the last half century, and is therefore outside the scope of the present study. The efforts to improve the sustenance of the cow however clearly deserve the second place in the discussion. Also we must consider the comfort of the cow, another important factor in encouraging its productivity, which can only be secured if it has a pleasant home to live in when it is not grazing in the fields.

After the cow has been cared for, fed, housed and milked the milk has to be processed. In modern times this is a simple operation because most milk is sold liquid and has only to be cooled and put in the transport churn for collection. Until 1850 this was a minor department of the dairy farmer's business as most of the milk produced was made into butter and cheese, both commodities that would keep longer and were more easily transported in good condition than milk, even had there been a sufficient demand for it. The dairy itself was an important place and a good deal of thought was given to its construction, and though the utensils used in processing milk were simple, they became complex as time passed and invention flourished.

When the milk, butter and cheese had been produced, they had to be sold, at a profit if possible. It seems to me however that it is not of very great service to include dairy farmer's accounts of different dates. The value of money has changed so much in the period as to render financial comparisons of various times of very little significance: so I have confined myself to describing the marketing and transport systems by means of which dairy produce passed from the producer to the consumer.

This rough outline of the dairy farmer's business from cowkeeping to the sale of the produce has only been given because it shows why I have planned the book as I have. No doubt the story could have been arranged in other ways; all have disadvantages as they have advantages. The best is difficult to choose. The one selected seemed to me preferable for in some ways it is based on the cow like the business itself.

To compile the story it has been necessary to range widely. The main source of information is, of course, the numerous farming textbooks that were published during the period. Although most are general works, they do contain something about dairy farming. It was only towards the end of the eighteenth century that specialist dairy textbooks were first published. The number rapidly increased. Topographical descriptions of counties and of districts and traveller's tales of their tours in England often contain descriptions of the local dairy industry. Country people's diaries and occasional accounts throw light on this or that part of the subject. Fiction and poetry, as well as local superstition, proverbs and sayings, supply human touches, sometimes flavoured with bucolic humour and wit. While for the last century and a half there are the proceedings of local and national agricultural societies, and there is some primary and secondary material in the publications of learned societies, again both local and national. Doubtless too there is other material in the county record offices, but these are now so numerous that it has not been possible to visit them. I hope that nothing significant has been missed for this reason.

Finally I must add that this work has been made possible by a grant from the Milk Marketing Board, and that I owe a considerable debt to officials of that Board for their valuable help in collecting statistical material at the Public Record Office and elsewhere. Without that help the research would have been much more arduous, and unduly prolonged. My wife, too, relieved me of much tedious work, of which there is always so much to be done.