353] GRADING AND JUDGING BUTTER I2 g 



Year 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 



Eastern (N. Y. State) . . .48 .42 .40 .32 .32 .36 



Western 40 .30 .20 .15 .16 .27 



Difference 08 .12 .20 .17 .16 .09 



But there came a time when the classification of butter 

 based on producing areas lost its significance. That time 

 was when the factory system became established all over 

 the country. This, by introducing uniformity of method, 

 brought uniformity of quality into the product. The first 

 butter factory in New York dates from about the year 

 1 86 1 ; * and through the 70's factories spread through the 

 West. As a factor in the New York market the stock 

 from the western factory was not felt until about 1876, 

 when the region around Elgin, 111., developed into a famous 

 butter-producing area, and during the winter of 1877, sold 

 its product in New York at "38 to 40c, while best New 

 York State early made creameries sold at 30 to 33c." 2 The 

 work of dairy education, and the agitation of dairy asso- 

 ciations were beginning to be felt. The West by this time 

 had not only established the factory system, but was adopt- 

 ing new methods of feeding. They began winter dairying, 

 and feeding corn meal. Of course transportation and re- 

 frigeration after 1869 were also greatly improved. " Dis- 

 tance and time are overcome and the cost of transit from 

 the extremities of production to the centers of consumption 

 are now less than formerly existed between the outlying 

 counties of this state and our city markets ". 3 The terms 

 Eastern and Western were used to quote prices long after 

 they had lost their significance, or at least until it was nec- 



1 X. A. Willard, Practical Dairy Husbandry, p. 237. 

 * "Review of the Butter Trade" by the Urner-Barry Co. in the .V. Y. 

 Chamber of Commerce Report for 1877, p. 116. 



3 Idem, p. 115. 



