172 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDIES 
AMOUNT OF SUPPLY 
There is a total of approximately 17,000 farms producing 
milk for the city market. According to the most recent milk 
‘census taken by the Chicago Health Department in August 
and September, 1917, there are approximately 800,000 quarts 
reaching Chicago daily, which includes that used for retail, 
wholesale and industrial purposes. According to the popula- 
tion of Chicago, this means an average per capita consump- 
tion of .6 pint. 
The Monthly Crop Report issued at Washington, D. C. 
eredits the entire state of Illinois with 1,057,000 cows in 1917, 
an increase from 1,047,000 in 1916. It is very evident that 
Illinois produces many times the amount of milk consumed by 
Chicago. 
Sixty per cent of the total milk of Illinois’, ninety per cent 
of Wisconsin’s and seventy-six per cent of Indiana’s are made 
into butter, cheese and condensed milk. 
McHenry County, Illinois, is the third largest market milk 
producing county in the United States, being exceeded by St. 
Lawrence and Orange Counties, N. Y. Kane County, Ilinois, 
is the second milk producing county in Illinois and fourth in 
the United States. Kane County borders on Cook County, 
in which Chicago is located, and McHenry County borders on 
Kane County, which gives an idea of the proximity of the 
milk eenter to the city of Chicago. 
It has been determined by the Chicago Health Department 
that McHenry County, Illinois, and Walworth County, Wis- 
consin, produce sufficient milk to supply Chicago with its 
needs. According to the same authority the average number 
ot cows per farm in 1916 was 1714 and in 1917, 1414; also 
the average production per cow in 1917 was 16 lbs. per day. 
The consumption of 800,000 qts. per day by the city of 
Chicago is a subnormal figure, brought about to a certain ex- 
tent by the propaganda of economy, and the increased price. 
Decreased consumption in the city means a surplus in the 
country which must be conserved. The Chicago zone is 
practically devoid of butter and cheese factories, making it 
