8 BULLETIN 177, U. S. DEPAETMENT OP AGRICULTUEE. 



and Pacific States the number of acres per dairy cow is decreasing; 

 in other words, dairy farming is beconung more important as an 

 agricultural industry. In the West South Central and Mountain 

 States, other types of farming increase faster than dairying. 



PRODUCTION OF BUTTER PER COW. 



During the last 40 years the average quantity of butter produced 

 per cow has increased 30 pounds. This fact must not be taken as a 

 measure of the increase of the productivity of dairy cows, for the 

 relative quantity of the total milk production used for cheese, or 

 consumed raw, may have varied considerably. In the New England 

 and Middle Atlantic States the production of butter, compared with 

 the total number of dairy cows, was lower in 1910 than in any census 

 year since 1870. This indicates that a larger quantity of the milk 

 produced is being used for other purposes. Another interesting fact 

 is that in all of the southern and western States the average produc- 

 tion per cow is increasing. For cheese, the average production in the 

 East North Central States has been increasing, while in the Middle 

 Atlantic the tendency is toward a decline. 



The average yields of milk per cow, as obtained from the last three 

 censuses, have been obtained by somewhat different methods, so that 

 comparison of one census with another can not be made with any 

 degree of accuracy. One fact, however, appears in aU three — that is, 

 the average. production in the New England, Middle Atlantic, and 

 East North Central is much larger than that of the Southern States. 

 It also seems that the production in the Pacific and Mountain States 

 is increasing. 



FACTORY PRODUCTION OF BUTTER AND CHEESE. 



Not only have there been marked changes in the yield of butter and 

 cheese and milk per cow and per person, but in the last 40 years 

 cheese manufacture has changed from a farm operation to a factory 

 system. Butter production is rapidly moving in the same direction. 

 In 1870, 33 per cent of the total cheese made in the United States was 

 produced on farms; and in 1910, only 3 per cent. In 1870 aU the 

 butter was produced on farms, but in 1910 only a httle over 60 per 

 cent. It can readily be reahzed what a change the introduction of 

 the factory system has made in the dairy industry. These changes 

 have taken place where the dairy industry is most intense. There 

 has not been developed to any great extent in the United States a 

 method whereby the factory system of making butter and cheese can 

 be carried on where the number of cows is small. 



