The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-05-26
Dairy Products i'm the Census.

The United States census, by dis |
tinction the propriety of which is some
what doubtful, ranks the production of
butter and cheese on the farm with 9TH
er agricultural statistics, while the pro-
duction at factories-which are simply \
farmers associations for doing the same
thing in different models classed
with manufactures, in a wholly different
part of the tables, and in way to es-
cape attention unless one is familiar
with the fact Thus the London Lice
Stock journal, in noticing our dairy
products, gives the aggregate for the
country, in the year covered by the
censos QS79)- as III, $50, 2S7 pounds
butter and 2Z,272, 4S9 pounds cheese.
The true figures we give below:
Butter, lbs. Cheese, lbs.
Made on the Farm.... TI7250,2s7 1922, 4S9
Butter Factories. l64Tl,lG3 =:
Butter and Cheese
Factories combined. 12,95o,62l a4,l34,sed
Totals ..--..... SO6,672,On 243I57,s5O
1t will thus be seen that fully eight
ninths of our cheese product Us now
made under the factory system. The
figures of the census of 1870 are as fol-
lows:
POUNDS
Factory-made Cheese. 109, ,2220
Homemade Cheese. 81, 4gs, 90
Total. .......--............ .... .ua2, 927 3ss
This is an increase of almost precise
ly fifty per cent. in the ten years. In
1870 butter WIS not made in che fac
| tories, or if made at all, ON so small
scale as not to- have been reported. The
butter product'of the year was 81 4, 092.-
| 6S3 pounds, sa that the increase in our
butter produo in the ten years has been
in even larger proportion than that of
cheese, or but aittle short of sixty per
| cent.
The question will then arise whether
there are discrepancies in the census
| figures, on the one hand, or whether,
on the other, there has actually been a
great improvement during the ten years
in our dairy systems. For we find the
aggregate number of mich cows in the
country stated at II, 443,120 in 1880,
against 1885, 332 in 1870-an increase,
to be exact, OF thirty-nine and one
fourth per cent. In other wouds, to
render the comparison clearer, for each
| one hundred mich COWS in the country,
we produced 6, 1872 TBS. butter and ], 300
\ TBS. cheese, in 1880, against 5,75t Tbs.
| iDulJcI anu 1000 1Do' 'Cucccc iOi CsiC1ii lou
COWS in 1870. We have increased our
product of butter fully twelve per cent.
faster than the number of our COWS,
and that of cheese nearly five per cent.
! faster.
The growth of our dairying interests
may be farther Illustrated by quoting
the manufacture of butter and cheese
at the two preceding census periods;
! COtcs No. Butter bs Cheese Rs
| IS50..-..... 63sj,094 3l3345,aO8 l05535. s94
| IS60-..-...... S5s5,735 45g6sl,372 l03t6l&7
| Is70.-..-..... Sgl5,3E 5l40g2, 6S3 l62 g27 ,3S2
1890. I443.l20 S06,6I2,071 245, l57 $50
II will be seen that we made no more
cheese in 1860 than in 1850, and that
the introduction of the factory system
shortly after 1860 at once resulted in a
rapid gnowth. Between 1860 and 1870,
this growth appears TO have been to
some extent at the expense of the butter
product, hut during the succeeding ten
years closing with 1880, the growth of
butter-makimg, as above noted, was
again somewhat the more rapid of the
two.
In 1880 our product for each 100 cows
S:as 1907 pounds butter and 1858
pounds cheese, Comparing these fig
ures with those already given for 1880.
affords ample evidence that efforts to
improve our dairy stock have not been
thrown away, and that the influence of
our agricultural papers in introducing
better breeds and better methods has
hren in some measure at least success
tdl.- Country Gentleman.