PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF DAIRY PRODUCTS. 7 
than in 1910. In the Southern and Western States the general 
tendency is for the per capita production to increase, while in the 
New England and Middle Atlantic States the average is decreasing. 
There are several factors entering into these changes. The principal 
ones being changes in population, in dairy cows, in average yields 
of milk per cow, and in the relative proportion of the total produc- 
tion used for making butter. Changes in the average yield of milk 
and the relative amounts of milk used raw for human consumption 
will be discussed later. If the average production per capita for 
the United States represents the actual average consumption in all 
the geographic divisions, an average greater or smaller than this 
amount would represent a surplus or deficit. Using this basis, the 
New England and Middle Atlantic States began to have a deficit of 
butter in 1890. The North Central and Pacific States have always 
had a surplus. 
Table 5. — Average production of butter and cheese per capita, by geographic divisions. 
Geographic division. 
1910 
1900 
1890 
1880 
1870 
BUTTER. 
Pounds. 
10.5 
8.6 
23.2 
38.2 
10.3 
16.3 
15.4 
13.2 
20.2 
Pounds. 
16.5 
15.1 
25.2 
39.3 
8.9 
13.0 
13.6 
12.2 
22.6 
Pounds. 
16.4 
17.1 
24.3 
36.2 
9.1 
13.2 
10.6 
7.2 
18.8 
Pounds. 
16.4 
20.1 
21.4 
23.2 
6.4 
9.2 
6.8 
4.9 
18.0 
Pounds. 
14.2 
20.0 
East North Central 
17.1 
West North Central 
15.1 
South Atlantic 
4.9 
East South Central 
6.2 
West South Central 
3.3 
Mountain 
4.3 
Pacific 
14.5 
Total, United States 
17.6 
19.6 
19.1 
16.1 
13.3 
CHEESE. 
New England 
0.6 
6.1 
9.9 
.5 
.1 
1.0 
2.2 
1.2 
9.1 
7.5 
1.3 
.1 
0) 
.1 
2.8 
4.2 
1.9 
10.2 
7.0 
1.8 
.6 
3.1 
3.0 
13.2 
7.0 
1.2 
.1 
0) 
0) 
.9 
3.8 
4.7 
Middle Atlantic 
11.8 
East North Central 
3.9 
West North Central 
.6 
South Atlantic 
(i) 
East South Central 
.1 
West South Central 
0) 
.6 
Mountain , , , 
Pacific 
5.2 
Total, United States 
3.5 
3.9 
4.1 
4.8 
4.2 
1 Less than 0.05 of 1 per cent. 
The cheese production has always been highly localized in the Middle 
Atlantic and East North Central States. In the Middle Atlantic 
States the per capita production is decreasing, while the reverse is 
true for the East North Central. By comparing the number of acres 
of improved land with the dairy cows, an approximate index of the 
relative importance of dairy farming can be obtained. The smaller 
the number of acres per cow, the more important seems dairying in the 
system of agriculture. In the North Atlantic, East North Central, 
