DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 



N. W. HEPBURN, Peoria 



N THE field of dairy husbandry we find a natural division 

 occurring between production, on the one hand, and the 

 manufacture and sale of dairy products, on the other. The 

 two are so interdependent, however, that any review of the 

 development of dairying would not be complete without 

 considering both phases of the industry. It is almost 

 impossible to point out the progress, either in the production or 

 the manufacture and traffic in dairy products during the past twenty- 

 five years, without first going back into the period just preceding the 

 time in question. 



It was only natural that Illinois should, in the early days, de- 

 velop as a grazing state. Her almost boundless prairies, rich in native 

 grasses, furnished ideal forage for cattle and sheep. With a scanty 

 population, there was no particular demand for milk or butter or 

 cheese, except to satisfy the individual needs of the family. With the 

 increased production of grains, particularly corn, it was only another 

 step to feed these grains to live stock to fatten them for market. And 

 thus was built up the system of feeding and fattening animals, many 

 of which were raised on the ranches farther west. It was not until 

 1855-1860, with the opening of a market for whole milk in Chicago, 

 that there was any great stimulus toward the production of dairy pro- 

 ducts in Illinois. Since that time, the development has been rapid. 

 Broadly speaking, we can classify producers under two heads. The 

 first group includes those farmers who derive their major source of in- 

 come from the sale of dairy products ; the product which they produce 

 is for the most part whole milk, and they are located generally in close 

 groups around the larger cities. Over against this group is one which 

 is much more widely distributed, and which derives its revenue prin- 

 cipally from the sale of cream ; in this group dairying constitutes 

 merely an important side line. The development in these two groups 

 has been simultaneous, tho the factors causing the growth have been 

 somewhat different. 



FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION 



In a general way we may say that four factors have been largely 

 responsible for the development of production. They are: first, the 

 introduction and utilization of the silo ; second, the centrifugal cream 



16 



