98 Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the 



QUALITY AND (3UANTITY OF BUTTER. 



PROF. G. I,. MCKAY, IOWA AGRICUM'UKAI, COI.IvKCl':, AMKS, IOWA. 



In discussing the quality and quantity of butter. I realize 

 that I have two important ideas to deal with. Very few have any 

 conception of the magnitude of the dairy industry of the United 

 States. The value of the dairy product is about $700,000,000. 

 The total output of butter alone is nearly $300,000,000, which is 

 a little more than five percent of all our agricultural products. 

 Butter considered as a crop is only exceeded in value by corn, 

 wheat, hay, forage and cotton. More than half this amount is 

 produced in seven states, while general agriculture is carried on 

 in practically all states. The annual value of the dairy and egg 

 production of my state is greater than that of all the gold and 

 silver produced in the United States and Alaska. The con- 

 sumption of butter is constantly on the increase. Ninety-four 

 percent of our butter is consumed at home, leaving only 6 per- 

 cent for export. With our constantly increasing population, it 

 is only a matter of time, if the quality is kept up to the standard 

 of extra, when we will be compelled to import to supply local 

 demand, unless we greatly increase our output. 



The greatest danger menacing the dairy industry today does 

 not come from oleomargarine, but from the ranks of the cream- 

 erymen themselves, those who have placed quantity above qualit}-. 

 Deceit and fraud have never yet succeeded in building up an 

 honest industry. Many in this audience no doubt remember the 

 time when cheese, at Little Falls and Utica markets, sold for a 

 premium of y^c to ^c per lb. above the Canadian cheese. To- 

 day the Canadian cheese has a reputation in the English market 

 that cannot be wrested from it as long as justice and right can 

 control their output. This great change was brought about by 

 some selfish scheming individual in the United States who placed 

 on the market skimmed milk cheese and filled cheese and branded 

 them as full cream cheese. This resulted in English merchants 

 regarding- all cheese from the United States with suspicion. This 

 was a case where the innocent had to suffer through no fault of 

 their own. 



