20 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doe. 



eastern markets, aud for exportation a large number of horses, 

 classed as Pennsjlvania draft horses. Many of th(^se horses are 

 western horses that have been fed aud lltted for market on the 

 farms of Pennsylvania. The feeding and fitting for market of 

 horses is sonu^thiug^that is understood to perfection by many farm- 

 ers of this State. On the first of January, 1903, there were iu 

 Pennsylvania 578,247 horses, valued at .$47,055,151.00, and 37,035 

 mules, valued at $3,380,185.00. Pennsylvania is practically the 

 largest horse and mule consuming State in the country; that is to 

 say, iu connection with the A'ast industrial enterprises, miuing, oil 

 production and commerce of the State, more horses and mules are 

 employed and nsed up than in any other state of the Union. It is 

 interesting to note, in this connection, that, thanks to an efiicient 

 veterinary control, there is less of that baneful disease of horses 

 and mules, glanders, in Pennsylvania than in any neighboring state 

 and, so far as known, less than in any other state in the Union. 



In the older days beef cattle wH're produced in Pennsylvania on a 

 large scale, and some of the earliest importations of cattle of im- 

 proved breeds were brought to Philadelphia and were used in neigh 

 boring counties. At present, however, and as a result of the growth 

 of the larger centers of population, especially in the eastern part of 

 the State, cattle are kept chiefly foi- dairy purposes, but the dairy 

 interest in Pennsylvania is by no means new. As already stated, 

 most of the land in large parts of the State is splendidly adapted 

 to grass production and the growth of corn. The farms are well 

 watered, a large proportion of them being supplied with cool spring 

 water. This combination of favorable conditions led to early de- 

 velopment along dairy lines, and for more than a century Pennsyl- 

 vania butter has led the market, and, indeed, for much of that time, 

 it has been almost the sole occupant of the highest class- of this 

 commodity. At this time, the dairy interests are developed to such 

 an extent that Pennsylvania ranks second in milk production among 

 the states of the Union. There were, in the State, in 1903, 1,044,625 

 milch cows, valued at $22,947,473.00, and there were also nearly 

 a million other cattle valued at about fourteen million dollars. 

 These great possessions in cattle give Pennsylvania a very high 

 rank among the cattle-producing states and amply justify the great 

 care exercised by the Commonwealth in protecting the health of 

 members of these herds. In I he parts of the State that are not 

 favorably located for shipping milk to the cities, creameries and 

 cheese factories are to be found, where the milk from the neighbor- 

 ing farms are taken and manufactured in1o a more condensed pro- 

 duct. I have already alluded to the northern and northwestern 

 counties of the State as those in which most of the cheese factories 

 are located, while butter factories are to be found in considerable 

 numbers in almost all the counties of the Commonwealth. 



