4 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [264 



principal reasons for this, the first one being that the do- 

 mestic manufacture of butter is a simpler operation than 

 the domestic manufacture of cheese, and the second that the 

 amount of capital required per establishment in the factory 

 production of butter is considerably greater than in the 

 factory production of cheese. It requires expert skill and 

 information to> manufacture cheese. Few people know any- 

 thing about the process of cheese-making. Butter-making, 

 on the other hand, is comparatively simple. With great 

 care, just as good butter can be made on the farm as in the 

 factory. As far as the equipment for making the two 

 products on the farm is concerned, cheese-making is also at 

 a disadvantage. The ripening process makes necessary a 

 large curing room. For butter-making an inexpensive churn 

 and a few other utensils complete the equipment. Condi- 

 tions on the farm, therefore, exert a much greater force in 

 transferring cheese-making from the home to the factory 

 than in transferring butter-making. Viewing the problem 

 from the standpoint of the factory, the equipment is found 

 to be much less in cheese-making than in butter-making. In 

 1910 the capital per establishment in cheese-making was 

 $2,536, while in butter-making it was $8,994. 1 Part of 

 this difference is due to the fact that in the butter industry 

 greater concentration is possible than in the manufacture 

 of cheese. It is more profitable to transport cream long 

 distances than whole milk, and considerable concentration 

 in the butter industry has therefore occurred during the 

 last decade. In 1900 the capital per establishment in butter- 

 making was only about double that of cheese-making. 

 Under existing economic conditions it must be more ad- 

 vantageous for butter-making to concentrate, but it is by 

 no means necessary in regions more or less thickly popu- 



1 Computed from census figures. 



