DAIRYING

ons of the most ancient ustries as there are historic records, but it was in the northern countries of Europe that they were first bred for td homes of the modern dairy mdustryIn the United States cows have always been the basis of dairying, and even in colonial days the vast areas of pastaurage favored the importation of dairy cattle. The production of milk has always been evenly distributed over the country, in ratio to the population, since this phase of the industry depends on local markeis, but the manufacture of cheese and even of butter been more or le concentrated in | the central prairie states, where grazing is more plentiful and grain may be more cheaply. Dairying is, of all agricultural industries, the one that has always adapted itself to the cooperative method of marketing. The there first adopted. It was among the dairymen of this country that agrienltural co-operation first developed. tially an enterprise for individuals, not adapted to large scale operations, while the production of butter and cheese, especially tho latter, is performed more economically on a larger scale. Thus, while caring for the cattle as individuals, dairymen combine for the purpose of manufacturing the raw product, milk or cream, into cheese or butter. Milk production for the use of city consumers is a phase of American dairying which has suffered during recent years from over-production. As a result co-operative marketing has in this department also made its appearance, taking the form of dairymen’s leagues, such as that which was organized in New York, in 1916. These rather resemble agricultural labor unions, since the object is to maintain a high price. The United States has always been an exporter of cheese, and, in more recent years, of condensed milk. Together with other agricultural industries, dairying in this country suffered severely from the curtailment of foreign trade after 1920. According to the U.S. Census Bureau there were in this country in 1920, 20,892,341 dairy cows, of two years and over. The value of dairy products in 1919 was estimated at $1,481,462,091. In 1921 the total production of milk in the United States was 98,862,276,000 lbs., the number of milch cows on farms being estimated at over 24,000,000, a gain of nearly 4,000,000 since 1920. The total production of creamery butter was 1,054,938,000 lbs., in 1921, while the production of cheese was 355,838,000 lbs. See Minx and Mixx Propucts.