THE DAIRY. 177 



THE DAIRY. 



THE dairy industry has assumed vast proportions in the United States within the last 

 decade; and it may, perhaps, be safe to say that it has made more rapid progress 

 within the last ten years than any other branch of agriculture, embracing, as it does, 

 a wide range of labor, and requiring a great diversity of skill and intellect to insure its 

 most successful advancement. No other country in the whole world contains such natural 

 resources as our own, and when we consider the advancement already made in this depart 

 ment of agriculture alone, and the wide field that lies beyond, almost unexplored, we can 

 justly regard the dairy industry as in its infancy, as well as one of the principal branches of 

 agriculture upon which the future success and prosperity of the whole country shall find the 

 elements of a substantial basis. That the dairying interest of this country is one of vast 

 and increasing magnitude, will be seen by the following reports and estimates on dairy stock 

 and dairy products: 



In 1840 the number of milch cows in the United States was estimated at 4,837,043; in 

 1850. 6,385,094; in 1860, 8,728,863; in 1870, 11,000,000; and in 1880, 12,442,137. The 

 production of butter in 1850 was estimated at 313,250,000 Ibs.; in 1860, 469,750,000 Ibs., 

 in 1870, 600,000,000 Ibs., while the annual butter product of 1880 has been variously esti 

 mated at from 1,000,000,000 to 1,400,000,000 pounds, nearly all of which was consumed at 

 home, the exported product being estimated at only 39,236,658 Ibs. 



In 1860 the production of cheese in the United States was reported to be 103,750,000 

 Ibs.; in 1870, 275,000,000 Ibs.; in 1880, 400,000,000 Ibs. In 1860 the cheese exported from 

 this country amounted to 15,750,000 Ibs.; in 1870, 70,000,000 Ibs.; and in 1880, 127,553,907 

 Ibs. Notwithstanding the rapid advancement and growth of dairy husbandry in the United 

 States, the supply of dairy products is quite unequal to the demand; those which are first 

 class in quality being standard articles throughout the whole civilized world, and will always 

 be in demand, and command remunerative prices. 



The American dairy belt and the characteristics of a good dairy country are thus 

 defined by the late Prof. X. A. Willard, who has probably given more attention to the sub 

 ject of dairying than any other writer on this subject in the country: 



&quot; The great American dairy belt lies between the fortieth and forty-fifth parallels of 

 latitude. It stretches from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and possibly to the Pacific. 

 &quot;Within its limits are New England, New York, Pennsylvania, the northern parts of Ohio, 

 Illinois, and Indiana, the greater portion of Michigan, &quot;Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, and 

 a part of the Canadas. Of all this belt probably not more than a third of the land is adapted 

 to dairying. The dairy lands are quite irregular in outline, lying not always continuously 

 together, but often detached, and not unfrequently, if represented on the map, would have 

 the appearance of islands. 



The characteristics of a good dairy country are, high, undulating surfaces; numerous 

 springs and streams of never-failing water; a soil retentive of moisture; a sweet and nutri 

 tious herbage, that springs up spontaneously and continues to grow with great tenacity; a 

 rather low average temperature; frequent showers, rather than periodical drouths, and suffi 

 cient covering of the ground in winter to protect grass roots, so that the herbage may be 

 permanent and enduring. 



Doubtless within the limits of the United States, on high table lands, or on the lower 

 slopes of mountainous ranges, there are soils eminently adapted to dairying; but we have no 

 large and continuous stretch of country, like that to which we have referred, where the busi 

 ness naturally would develop itself into a specialty.&quot; 



Milk and its Composition. Successful dairying, as with every other kind of busi- 

 YOL. 1111. 



