The English Dairy Farmer

Originally published in 1966, this work by G. E. Fussell is a thorough examination of the role played by the English dairy farmer over the past four hundred years. Beginning his study with the cow he gives an account of the improved breeding and feeding methods that make today's cow a totally different beast to that of the Tudor farmer. A chapter is devoted to the cultivation of fodder crops and another to the comfort of the cow for, as the author states, pleasant conditions are an important factor in encouraging its productivity. The dairy industry, no less than any other in the nineteenth century, was the scene of numerous devices and inventions designed to improve milking methods. This, together with the development of the sale of milk in a liquid form, is discussed in later chapters. The practical difficulties of transporting milk had until about 1850 caused the major part of the milk produced to be turned into butter and cheese and the varying products of differing regions are fully described. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, however, the number of dairies prepared to retail milk grew in number to accommodate an ever increasing rate of milk consumption. Numerous farming textbooks published during the period and contemporary descriptions of the farming scene form the background for this scholarly appraisal. No other book has treated the English dairy farmer in such detail and, in drawing upon such a wealth of illustrative material to support his conclusions, G. E. Fussell has produced a work which will be valued by all agricultural historians.

A Brief History of Milk Production details the history of milk farming from the earliest days through to the problems facing dairy farmers in the current day.The book covers the massive transformation in one of the most important sectors in the agricultural industry from being based on small units to modern complex processing plants. It includes the set-up of the Milk Marketing Board; the Board's role in improving milk collections, told with humorous anecdotes gleaned from the author's own experience; and the sad demise of an operation that Bert considered to have been the lifeline of the industry for over 60 years. The book also looks at the regulations that were brought in over the years to remove the health hazards from drinking milk and details the arrival of Artificial Insemination, including some of the risque stories and poems told about the AI men.With illustrations, photographs of milking machines and processing plants and case studies, A Brief History of Milk Production will appeal to farmers, and in particular to dairy farmers, and those with an interest generally in rural/farming history.

The young James Robertson set out for the beautiful, badger-haunted fields of Devon to turn grass into gold via the medium of milk. It only took an encounter with his first cow to realize that he would need the survival instincts of the SAS if he were to live to appreciate this rural idyll. His cows did not seem to live up to their public image of placid benevolence and created a working environment as ruthless as that of the London advertising agency from which he had escaped. There were cows with sharpshooter hooves; an amorous bull set on enjoying the favors of a neighbor's herd – or even those of the farmer himself, should he turn his back – and the terrible tyranny of a new-born calf. The author’s sharp observations and memory for detail ensure that all these humorous possibilities are fully exploited.