PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF DAIRY PRODUCTS. 3 
various geographic divisions in the production of cheese, but these are 
more easily comprehended by a study of the percentages in Table 3 than 
by a study of the figures showing production in pounds, as in Table 1. 
CHANGES SINCE 1870. 
If 1870 is taken as 100, and figures for other census years are 
expressed as percentages of the corresponding figures for 1870, the 
changes in the various geographic divisions for the different items 
mentioned above can be readily comprehended. For the United 
States, as a whole, the percentage or "index number" for 1910 for 
improved land is slightly greater than the index numbers for popu- 
lation and for dairy cows. This condition is true for practically 
all the census years shown for the United States as a whole; but 
when geographic divisions are considered individually the increase 
for those east of the Mississippi has not been as rapid as the increase 
for those west of that river, due primarily to the undeveloped condi- 
tion of the West prior to 1870 and to its great development since. 
There was less improved land in the New England States in 1910 
than there was in 1870, while in the Middle Atlantic States the areas 
of improved farm land in 1870 and 1910 were approximately the same. 
The increase in dairy cows in the 40 years was slight in the New 
England and the Middle Atlantic States, yet the increase hi the total 
population in the New England States was about 90 per cent, and 
in the Middle Atlantic nearly 120 per cent. When the increase in 
butter and cheese production in the New England and Middle At- 
lantic States is compared with the increase in total population, the 
population shows the more rapid advance. In other words, neither 
agriculture in general nor the dairy industry has kept up with the 
increase in population in these two geographic divisions. 
When similar comparisons are made for the North Central States 
east of the Mississippi River, the increase in improved land is not as 
large as the increase in population, yet the increase in dairy cows and 
in dairy products has excelled the increase in population. 
In the South Atlantic, East South Central, and Pacific States 
the population has increased faster than the improved land in the 
40 years under consideration, and the same is true of the dairy cows, 
except in the East South Central States; yet increase in butter 
production was greater in all three of the geographic divisions than 
that f$r the population. Other changes can readily be noted in 
Table 2. 
