REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



387 



THE DAIRY INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



By H. H. WING, Esq. 



In a country of so great extent and with so many varieties of soil and 

 climate as the United States, it is not to be expected that the various 

 industries will beequally developed over the whole country, but that 

 each will be most extensive and best developed in those places where 

 the soil, climate and other natural conditions are most favorable. 

 Consequently, we find that while cows are kept in large numbers, 

 and while milk, butter, and cheese are produced in considerable 

 quantities in all parts of the country, there are certain favored local- 

 ities where this industry is the leading if not the sole occupation of 

 the agricultural community. 



These distinctively dairy regions are all in the more northerly por- 

 tions of the country, but they extend from east to west as far as the 

 country has been settled. The climate is the climate of the colder 

 part of the temperate zone; the soil is generally fertile though often 

 hilly, and is well adapted to the growth of the grasses; and there is 

 an abundance of pure water from either wells, springs, or running 

 streams. In the States of New York, Wisconsin, Vermont, Iowa, 

 and part of Minnesota, dairying is the leading agricultural indus- 

 try, while in the States of Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

 Michigan, Missouri, and Nebraska, and the Territory of Dakota, it- 

 forms a very important part of farm practice. 



The distribution of milch cows will give a very accurate idea of the 

 extent of dairying in the different parts of the country. The latest 

 available returns are those made to the Department of Agriculture 

 in January, 1888, a summary of which is given below: 



It will be seen that about four-sevenths of the cows are found in ten 

 States. Some of these States, as Missouri and Texas, are not, how- 

 ever, distinctively dairy States, but make a large showing in num- 

 bers of milch cows because stock growing is an important industry 

 in those States, and cows that are running at large on the range and 

 suckling calves are classed as milch cows, while as a matter of fact but 

 very few of them are ever milked at*all. 



In the following table the States are arranged in the order of the 

 largest percentage of milch cows in relation to other cattle. It gives 

 a rather better idea of the States that are most extensively engaged 

 in dairying. ^ Several small States that did not appear at all in the 

 other table will be found quite well up in this. In this table are 

 given only the States included in the first table, and such other 



