CHAPTER XIII 

 BREEDING FOR MILK PRODUCTION 



There were 24,429,000 milk cows on farms in the United States 

 on January 1, 1923, according to the estimate of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, and they were valued at $50.83 per head. If put in 

 single file, allowing ten feet of space for each animal, they would make 

 a line over 46,000 miles long, or would form a procession 18 abreast 

 from New York to San Francisco. 



The distribution of dairy cattle in the United States is shown by 

 the numbers of milk cows in the leading states and in the various 

 geographical divisions: 



Leading states in numbers of milk cows on farms, January 1 , 1 923 



Average 

 State Number value 



1. Wisconsin 2,195,000 $57.00 



2. New York 1,678,000 63.00 



3. Minnesota 1,641,000 47.00 



4. Iowa 1,160,000 58.00 



5. Illinois 1,148,000 56.00 



Distribution of-^milk cows on farms by geographical divisions, January 1 , 1 923 



Divi.'sion Number 



North Atlantic 4,026,000 



South Atlantic 2,045,000 



North Central, East of Mississippi River 6,131,000 



North Central, West of Mississippi River 5,817,000 



South Central 4,432,000 



Far Western 1,978,00« 



Total, United States 24,429,000 



Dairy cattle are densely distributed in the northern third of the 

 eastern half of the United States, forming a well-marked belt from the 

 eastern boundary of the Dakotas to the Atlantic, and including the 

 northern and eastern margins of the corn belt. The concentration of 

 dairy cattle in this region is due chiefly to the number of large cities 

 located within it and to the large percentage of total population which 

 it includes. 



Production and consumption of dairy products. — The United 

 States is the largest producer of milk, butter, and cheese in the world, 

 but does not rank high in average per capita consumption. Sweden 

 consumes about 600 pounds of whole milk per capita, Denmark 590 

 pounds, Switzerland 580 pounds, United States 370 pounds. Great 

 Britain 190 pounds, and Italy 36 pounds. In butter consumption 

 Canada leads with 27.7 pounds per capita, and the United States with 



195 



