36 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



concerned, was reached in 1910, and that since that time 

 there has been an apparent decline, taking the United States 

 as a whole. ISTow, then, in l\ew England the figures indicate 

 substantially the same number in JMainc ; practically the 

 same number in IS^ew Hampshire, a slight decrease, however ; 

 an increase in Vermont ; a decrease in Massachusetts ; sub- 

 stantially the same number in Rhode Island ; a slight de- 

 crease in Connecticut. There was also a decrease in New 

 York, in JSTew Jersej^ and in Pennsj'lvania. It may be said 

 that the conditions in Massachusetts are typical of the con- 

 ditions which exist in other places, so far as the reduction 

 in the number of milch cows is concerned. If we consider 

 the States of the Union in which there has been a decrease 

 in the number of milch cows during the past year, we will 

 find that those States include not only the States I have men- 

 tioned, but Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 

 Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Texas, Kansas. Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas and California, The State 

 of Washington showed a decided increase, but you will see 

 that there is a total of 21 States in the Union where the num- 

 ber of cows has decreased during the past year. To that 

 extent, Mr. Secretary, the conditions are not different in 

 Massachusetts than they are in other milk-producing sections. 

 There is one difference which impresses me to some extent, 

 however. I have come in contact with many dairymen in the 

 Virginia and Maryland districts who are producing milk for 

 Washington, and although the number of cows in Virginia 

 showed a sharp decline during the past two years, yet it is 

 a very rare thing to hear a milk producer in Virginia con- 

 demning the business of market milk production. A decrease 

 in the number of cows has taken place in territory which 

 supplies such markets as Norfolk and Richmond, where the 

 producers of milk have been retailing their own product to 

 consumers at 10 cents per quart ; it has also taken place in 

 producing territory adjacent to Washington, where the pro- 

 ducers of milk received substantially very close to 5 cents 

 per quart by the year, delivered in Washington. This de- 

 cline has taken place in Virginia under conditions which are 



