SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR-BOOK — PART V. 3b7 



I believe that I have covered the few points that I wanted to make 

 and thank you for your attention. 



Editor's Note: We publish following the original paper 

 prepared by Professor McKay. 



THE CREAMERY INDUSTRY. 



PKOF. G. L. MCKAY, AMES, lA. 



During the past year it has been my privilege to travel extensively 

 through practically all parts of the state, and in going from place to 

 place I cannot help but notice the progress in one locality and stag- 

 nation in another. The amount of butter made has greatly increased 

 whether the statistics furnished by our good dairy commissioner tell 

 us so or not. A great deal of cream is shipped out of the state which 

 is not accounted for, therefore it is about impossible to get reliable data. 



It is not surprising that dairying is on the increase owing to the 

 advance in the price of land in recent years. The farmer that suc- 

 ceeds must produce more economically now than when land was worth 

 only $30 or $40 per acre. Dairying, more than any other form of 

 commercial activity adds to the wealth of a nation. One chief reason 

 for this is that butter forms a large part of the output; and this but- 

 ter takes practically no fertility from the soil. The elements that go 

 to make it have been drawn from the air, sunshine and the rain. It 

 is no wonder then that every nation in the civilized world is trying 

 to build up its dairy industry. 



I recently heard one of our congressmen say that the dairy and egg 

 production of the state was of greater value annually than all the 

 gold and silver produced in the United States and Alaska. Which Is true. 



Very few have any conception of the magnitude of the dairy industry 

 of the country. The butter made annually in the United States some- 

 what exceeds 1,500,000,000 pounds, and requires the milk from about 

 10,000,000 cows. These cows are kept on something like 4,000,000 farms 

 and furnish occupation, wholly or in part, for about 7,000,000, or nearly 

 ten per cent of the population. The total value of the annual output of 

 butter is nearly $300,000,000, which is a little more than five per cent 

 of all the agricultural products of the United States. Considered as a 

 crop it is exceeded in valuation only by corn, wheat, hay, forage and 

 cotton. More than half this amount of butter is produced in seven 

 states, and general agriculture is carried on in practically all states. 

 This magnificent state of Iowa has the honor of producing more but- 

 ter than any other state in the Union and yet dairying is practically 

 in its infancy. 



Of the enormous amount of butter produced in the United States 

 94 per cent is consumed at home, leaving only 6 per cent for export. 



