CHEESE DAIRYING. 357 



The first is, no danger of over-production. And allow me to 

 say, that I would not attempt to say a word, after the able and 

 masterly treatment which the subject has received, from my own 

 observation, but I fall back as I did this morning-, when alluding 

 to this subject, upon the testimony of Mr. Willard, who is excel- 

 lent authority upon any point connected with dairying. In regard 

 to the danger of over-production, Mr. Willard stated that Great 

 Britain fails to produce as much as she consumes, and consequent- 

 ly imports from those regions of the world from which cheese can 

 be obtained — from Holland and the United States. In the United 

 States at present, we produce more than we consume, and help to 

 supply the English market ; but the manufacture of cheese is not a 

 business in which all parts of the world can compete. The dairy 

 belt of the United States is practically limited to the region in- 

 cluded between the parallels of 40 and 45 degrees, and between 

 these parallels only about one-third of the country, from the At- 

 lantic to the Pacific, is well adapted to dairy purposes, so that we 

 can see at a glance that there is very little danger from outside 

 competition. 



When we consider the limited areas that have suitable natural 

 advantages for the production of butter and cheese, and consider 

 that the quantity consumed is annually increasing, and must con- 

 stantly increase, it seems to me it is safe to calculate upon a sale 

 for all that in any human probability can be produced in New Eng- 

 land at remunerative prices ; that there is no danger whatever, for 

 a long time to come, to say the least, of over production. 



Mr. Gurney referred to cheese as an article of diet. Its value 

 in that regard has not been sufficiently appreciated. There is 

 hardly any other product so rich in the muscle-forming elements 

 as cheese ; and I am glad to learn upon reliable testimony, that its 

 use as an article of food is steadily increasing among the people 

 of the United States. And here I would throw in the remark, that 

 in producing cheese much can be done by selecting the proper food 

 for the cows. The question was asked whether pea and bean meal 

 would be good. When cheese is to be manufactured, the cows 

 should be fed upon material rich in nitrogen, and all the legumin- 

 ous plants, as they are termed, are rich in nitrogen. Clover, beans, 

 peas, and all plants of that nature, are rich in nitrogen, and rich 

 in the materials that go to make up cheese. For the production of 

 butter, a difFerent kind of food might be preferable. 



A word as to the number of cows that are needed to make a 



