206 



DAIRY FARMING 



Evidently cattle may be used to condense large quantities of 

 roughage into beef and butter for shipment to distant markets. 

 Another factor favoring the location of beef cattle in the 

 regions of least population is the fact that beef animals can 

 thrive on ranges that are too poor to support a good dairy 

 cow. In the irrigated valleys of the Northwest that have 



FIG. 68. Distribution of dairy cows in the United States. The largest 

 numbers of dairy cows are kept in the cool regions that have good blue- 

 grass pastures. 



excellent blue-grass pastures dairy cows have practically 

 displaced beef cattle, but the dry range grasses that are 

 just above the irrigation ditch are given over to beef cattle 

 or sheep. Most of the beef animals are raised west of the 

 Mississippi River, although many of them are fattened east 

 of it. 



In 1910 the New England, Middle Atlantic and East 

 North Central States had over 4 out of each 10 dairy cows 

 in the United States, but had less than 1 out of each 10 

 other cows. 



