82 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [306 



distribution of butter and cheese factories in Dane County, 

 Wisconsin, by B. H. Hibbard. 1 



The states that show the most pronounced dairy type of 

 farming, whatever the product, according to the number 

 of milch cows maintained on every square mile of land 

 surface, are New York first with a little more than 30,500 

 milch cows to the square mile, Vermont second with nearly 

 30,000, and Wisconsin third with a little more than 28,000. 2 



SOIL AND TOPOGRAPHY 



In connection with soil as a cause of the distribution of 

 the dairy type of farming, two main ideas are found in 

 popular dairy literature. It is stated that the soil in some 

 sections of the country is peculiarly suited to dairying be- 

 cause of the adaptability to raise grasses. It is also con- 

 tended that as the wheat belt moved westward and left in 

 its wake a wide tract of partially worn-out land, diversified 

 farming in which the dairy cow became a prominent 

 feature was necessary to restore the fertility of the soil. 

 The first statement holds that the cow needed the soil and 

 the second that the soil needed the cow. Historically it 

 may be said to be true that adaptability of the soil to grow 

 certain grasses and the fertilization of the land through the 

 cow, were at least secondary causes in the geographic dis- 

 tribution of dairying districts. 



Before the 70's the idea generally prevailed that in view 

 of the fact that certain sections of the country were espec- 

 ially favored with sweet grasses, the dairy industry would 

 attain its highest success in these districts. It was known 

 of course that certain weeds produced an objectionable taste 



1 The History of Agriculture in Dane County, Wisconsin, p. 178. 



2 Calculations based on estimates of the distribution of milch cows in 

 1914 made by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Vide, Yearbook. 



