9 2 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [316 



animals, and the demand for vegetables and potatoes. Milk 

 is a very perishable product and must be produced near the 

 place where it is consumed. Hay, forage, vegetables and 

 potatoes are bulky products and the transportation charge 

 on them is comparatively high. The tendency therefore 

 is to satisfy the strong demand of the city for these pro- 

 ducts from near-by regions. Less bulky and less perishable 

 products are crowded out and are raised in more remote 

 parts of the country. It follows, therefore, that butter, 

 being a highly concentrated food and having a low trans- 

 portation charge, is principally produced in regions adapted 

 to dairying but lying outside of those dairy districts that 

 can more profitably be devoted to the production of milk 

 for fresh consumption and to the production of hay, for- 

 age, vegetables, and potatoes. 



The area 1 supplying the city of Boston and a number of 

 smaller cities and towns in its vicinity with milk and cream 

 in 1905 comprised the southwestern part of Maine, the 

 lower half of New Hampshire, the center of Vermont along 

 the Boston and Maine railroad, two-thirds of Massachu- 

 setts, and the northeastern part of Connecticut. This area 

 is covered with a network of railroads. The greatest dis- 

 tance at which milk was brought into Boston during the 

 year of 1905 was 86 miles from Connecticut, 213 miles 

 from Vermont, 201 miles from New Hampshire, and 129 

 miles from Maine. 



The field supplying New York City with milk and cream 

 in 1905 comprised the northern part of New Jersey, the 

 eastern part of Pennsylvania, and a large part of eastern, 

 central, and northern New York, as may be seen by con- 

 sulting table no. io. 2 



1 Vide, Bulletin 81, Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. 



2 From Bulletin 81, Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



