242 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The Dairy Situation. 

 The largest number of cows ever assessed in Massachusetts 

 was 200,658, in 1890. The bovine tuberculosis campaign sub- 

 sequently followed, with the result that in 1897 the number 

 was reduced to 171,485. There was from this time on a gradual 

 increase, with some fluctuations, until 1905 and 1906 when 

 the number reached 181,920 and 181,816, respectively. Since 

 then there has been a general decrease, with the result that on 

 April 1, 1912, the number was 161,608. Massachusetts is but 

 one of a score of States where the number of cows has recently 

 decreased. This condition, while alarming on the face of it, 

 is not without compensation. From the very outset milk has 

 been mainly produced as a by-product of general farming. 

 Milk production for the general market has rarely stood upon 

 a strictly independent paying basis. It is generally acknowl- 

 edged that a given amount of nutrition in the form of milk 

 has for years sold for a lower figure than that in other animal 

 food products of similar nutritive ratio and digestibility. The 

 natural result of this condition, added to the fact that our 

 railroad laws are such as allow discrimination in favor of out- 

 of-State milk, is that in those sections which have been ship- 

 ping milk to the Boston market many have found the un- 

 profitableness of the business too great to stand, and have, 

 therefore, sold their herds. The production and marketing 

 of clean milk, rich in solids, and bringing a price above that of 

 general market milk, is the hope of the Massachusetts farmer 

 so far as the Boston supply is concerned, and is what the most 

 progressive farmers are striving for in all localities. With 

 the growth of our cities and towns this near-by fresh milk is, 

 and will be, more and more needed and used. The number of 

 cows will cease decreasing only when that time arrives (in the 

 not far distant future) when a sound business basis for dairy- 

 ing is established in this Commonwealth, — the condition most 

 desired. Meanwhile, pasteurized milk and reduced milk in its 

 various forms will continue to come from outside sources. But 

 like counterfeit butter, which never reaches the quality of the 

 best creamery product, this class of milk can never equal the 

 pure, clean, raw, near-by product of the local dairymen. It is 

 gratifying to know that the demand for locally produced milk, 



