REGION OF DISCONTENT II 



So great was the demand that means of transportation were devised to 

 tap the milk supply a hundred, two hundred, or even three hundred 

 miles from the city markets. In addition to milk for direct consumption, 

 dairy farmers also sold butterfat to local creameries and comparatively 

 small quantities of milk to ice cream makers, cheese factories, and con- 

 denseries. The production of butter and cheese began far back in the nine- 

 teenth century and antedated the urban era, but as with other food items, 

 the increase in the number of city consumers greatly increased the 

 demand. 11 



While cities inevitably furnished the principal market for milk, prox- 

 imity to urban centers turned out to be only one factor in determining 

 the location of dairy farms. The condition of the land mattered far less 

 to the dairy farmer than to the grain grower, for a well-managed dairy 

 farm tended to build up the soil rather than to deplete it. Naturally, 

 therefore, where wheat growing or other types of general farming had 

 robbed the soil of its fertility, dairy farming furnished a reasonable alter- 

 native. Rough and worn-out fields could be turned to pasture, and dairy 

 farming produced an ample supply of fertilizer with which to stimulate 

 the growth of feed crops. But the successful dairy farmer had to be a good 

 farmer, intelligent as well as industrious and able to keep abreast of the 

 rapid progress that scientific agriculture was making in his specialty. 



The greatest concentration of dairy farming in the Middle West was in 

 Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northwestern Iowa, and central and eastern 

 Minnesota. Nearby lay the markets of Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, 

 Minneapolis, and numerous lesser cities. The urban influence, however, 

 was less important in determining the location of dairy farms engaged 

 principally in the production of butterfat. For this purpose some of the 

 heaviest areas of concentration lay at a considerable distance from the 

 large cities. There was, indeed, a considerable amount of dairy farming 

 throughout the entire corn belt and even in the remoter grain-growing 

 areas. It is also worth noting that the farmers of Wisconsin produced the 

 milk that made that state for many decades the chief center of cheese 

 manufacturing in the nation. 12 



ii. Henry E. Alvord, "Dairy Development in the United States," U. S. Dept. 

 Agri., Yearbook, 1899, pp. 381-402. See also Wallaces' Farmer, XXXIII (October 16, 

 1908), p. 1251. 12. Elliott, Types of Farming, pp. 44, 54. 



