142 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



But since the recent law of Congress has gone into effect, 

 which regulates the manufacture of filled cheese, confidence 

 seems to be improving and our cheese market is now in a 

 far more satisfactory condition. 



The milk supply of our cities and towns is a branch of 

 dairying which has been rapidly developing in recent years, 

 and in some respects this business has been improved. On 

 the whole, however, while continuing to increase in volume, 

 the milk trade is conducted in an irrational and very waste- 

 ful manner, to the detriment of producer and consumer. 



The magnitude of the dairy interests of the United States 

 is not generally appreciated. Cows are familiar objects, and 

 milk and butter are seen everywhere and used with reason- 

 able freedom in almost every family. But few stop to con- 

 sider the aofo-regate and relative value of the cow and her 

 products in this country. In classifying the agricultural 

 products of the United States according to value, butcher's 

 meats and meat products take the first place, in gross value 

 the corn crop comes next, the hay crop third and dairy 

 products fourth ; wheat, cotton and other staple crops then 

 follow. But large parts of the corn and hay crops directly 

 contribute to the dairy, and appear in market only as trans- 

 formed into dairy products ; making proper allowances on 

 this account, it is found that the products of the dairy hold 

 the second place on the list, exceeded in yearly value only 

 by meats. This annual value of what may be called our 

 dairy crop approximates $450,000,000. This is more than 

 all our mining products, other than coal, oil and gas. Much 

 has been heard lately of precious metals ; it may be interest- 

 ing to note that there never has been a year when the entire 

 gold and silver product of the world was enough to buy the 

 dairy products of this country the present year. The cows 

 of California annually yield a greater value than the gold 

 mines or the wheat fields of that great State. Our cotton 

 crop is considered one of great importance, but during re- 

 cent years it rarely exceeds our butter crop in value. It 

 would require the entire issue of United States treasury notes 

 (or "greenbacks"), or the entire issue of national bank 

 notes, to buy the butter crop of the year, and these combined 

 would be needed to purchase all the dairy products of the 



