We contribute to the argument for a “new” business history employing a quantitative approach. We illustrate opportunities for new perspectives from this approach using a novel microlevel longitudinal database comprising 131 variables for 1,419 cooperative creameries in Denmark for the period 1898–1945, which we also document and make available to the scholarly community. We present a number of applications of the data, including investigating regional productivity differences, expenditure on fire insurance, and survivorship and reporting biases.

Over 120 prehistoric pottery sherds from mainland Finland and the Åland Islands in the north Baltic region were studied for their organic residue content. Preserved fat residues found in these vessels indicated that the food procurement pattern was broad during the Neolithic and Early Metal periods. Based on previous research and these results, it appears that animal husbandry came to Finland with the Corded Ware culture. Groups using the succeeding Late Neolithic Kiukainen Ware did not, however, practice animal husbandry to any great extent, as there is an indication of dairy fats in only a single sherd. In general, even after dairy farming arrived in the area, prehistoric groups in southern and south-western Finland continued or returned to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. During the Early Metal period, animal husbandry increased in importance among the groups living in the area, and the level of dairying then intensified.

Although the origins of domestic animals have been well-documented, it is unclear when livestock were first exploited for secondary products, such as milk. The analysis of remnant fats preserved in ceramic vessels from two agricultural sites in central and eastern Europe dating to the Early Neolithic (5900-5500 cal BC) are best explained by the presence of milk residues. On this basis, the authors suggest that dairying featured in early European farming economies. The evidence is evaluated in the light of analysis of faunal remains from this region to determine the scale of dairying. It is suggested that dairying—perhaps of sheep or goats—was initially practised on a small scale and was part of a broad mixed economy.

Ceramics were subjected to organic residue analysis from two collections: a series of middle Copper Age (Bodrogkeresztúr) vessels hitherto known as ‘milk jugs’, curated in the Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Budapest, and a collection of early Baden (Boleráz) vessels from the recently discovered settlement of Gyo”r-Szabadrét-domb, in western Hungary. The aim of the analyses was to establish whether or not these vessels, often associated with milk based on typological criteria, were actually used to process, store or serve dairy products. The results of the analyses revealed that no dairy products could be securely identified in the so-called ‘milk jugs’. Nevertheless dairy products were identified in other vessel types.

To avoid winter scarcity of fresh goat milk, simple methods of advancing the season of kidding would be commercially valuable. A combination of long-day light treatment followed by melatonin is successful but other aspects of seasonality including coat growth are also reset. To investigate whether effects on breeding season and coat growth can be dissociated, British Saanen dairy goats (no. = 30) were randomly allocated to one of six groups. Control goats were untreated. Goats in the other five groups received 2 months of treatment with 20 h light: 4 h darkness (20L: 4D) and were then given 3 mg melatonin orally at 16.00 hfor 2 months. The treatments started on 11 January (group 1), 29 March (group 2), 14 June (group 3), 30 August (group 4) and 8 November (group 5). Weekly blood samples were taken for the measurement of progesterone to monitor ovarian activity and prolactin. Side patches (10 cm ×10 cm) were clipped monthly from alternate sides and weighed to measure coat growth. The onset of ovarian activity was advanced from a median date of 15 November in controls to 24 May in group 1 (P < 0·01), 16 August in group 2 (P < 0·05) and 18 October in group 3 (? < 0·05). Groups 4 and 5 showed no significant change in the onset of oestrus (median onset dates 8 November and 1 November, respectively). Group 1 goats came into season again with controls in November. In all except group 5, treatment interacted with time to affect significantly the growth of the coat. The pattern of coat growth was most altered (P < 0·001) in groups 1 and 2. This was associated with effects on plasma prolactin concentrations of light stimulation and melatonin suppression. Group 1 goats resynchronized with control goats to show a coat of normal weight in the winter following treatment. Division of milking goat herds into spring and autumn kidding groups is, therefore, a practical possibility, but effects on overall milk yield require study.

The genetic and economic efficiency of alternative selection schemes and breeding objectives for the Karagouniki dairy sheep in Greece was investigated by model calculations. Criteria of efficiency were the annual genetic gain for the aggregate breeding value, the profit per ewe in the population and the annual selection responses for single traits. The introduction of a two-tier selection scheme, where the recorded ewes are separated into a nucleus and a pre-nucleus, was found superior in both genetic and economic terms for a breeding objective comprising the traits milk yield and number of lambs weaned per ewe per annum. Highest rates for annual genetic gain and selection responses were obtained when the nucleus size was proportionately 0·05 of the population (200 000 ewes), the size of the test matings 0·50 to 0·60 of the size of the pre-nucleus unit (0·10 of the population) and the number of daughters per test ram 40. Opening the nucleus to replacement ewes from the lower tier did not affect positively the annual genetic gain and the selection responses. Furthermore, a breeding objective comprising the traits fat yield and number of lambs weaned per ewe and per annum was found very efficient in both genetic and economic terms while selection on growth and carcass traits did not seem to be justified.