436 
STATE AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETY 
CHEESE CONSUMPTION, «ScC. 
I have said that fears had been entertained that we had reached the limit 
of over-prodacton. Time must, of course, decide this question, but in the 
meanwhile a knowledge^of the ordinary consumption of cheese in the United 
States and Great Britain, may be a help on which to base future operations. 
From careful estimates it appears that the consumption of cheese in the 
United States and Canada is annually about 160,000,000 of pounds. This 
makes 469,000,000 of pounds, as the consumption demand in Great Britain 
and America. 
Against this we have the product of cheese made in Great 
Britain. 179,000,000 
Product of the United States. 200,000,000 
Product of Canada. 15,000,000 
Total. 394,000,000 
Quantity lacking to supply two nations beyond the home make, 75,000,000 
of pounds. 
Mr. Webb informs us that France has become a competitor with England 
for Dutch cheese, and that hereafter the imports into Great Britain from this 
source must decrease. On the other hand Sweden is entering the field as a 
dairy district, and will compete hereafter with the United States in the Eng¬ 
lish markets. 
Already the Swedes are turning their attention to the factory system, and 
during the past season occasional samples have out-sold, it is said, the finest 
grades of American in the English market. 
Some of the leading men at the South are proposing to try the dairy in 
various locations. A cheese factory is already in operation in Kentucky, 
Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee ; but many question whether 
the dairy can be successfully carried into warm climates. 
In regard to the quantity needed abroad, Mr. Downes, Secretary of the 
London Board of Trade, writes me in a recent letter, that Americans should 
bear in mind this fact—the population of Great Britain doubles every forty 
years, and that the consumptive demand for cheese is in proportion to the in¬ 
crease of population. On the assumption that Great Britain doubles her 
population in forty years, the ratio of her increased cheese consumption would 
be 10,000,000 of pounds annually. Then, if the United States doubles its 
population in twenty years, the ratio of increased consumption would be 
8,000,000 of pounds per year, making 18,000,000 of pounds as the annual in¬ 
crease of consumption for the two nations. 
It may well be doubted whether the production of cheese will keep pace 
with this demand, since the increased demand for and consumption of butter 
goes on in the same rapid proportion. I think it may be safely estimated, 
therefore, that this branch of farming promises to be enduring and remune¬ 
rative, if the people continue their efforts to improve the quality of both 
butter and cheese. 
