The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-05-29
DAlRyING IN THE wssr.
Thu Advantages Over Other Parts Of tba
Country.

Ch'cago Tunes, men who had achievef
considerable success in central Nav
iork IN keeping cows and in maxim,
butter and cheese were invited TO af
teho the meetings of dairymen's ms
soclatlons in the west, for the purpos
OF lmparting information. No dnnh
they accomplished considerable goo,
~ 'ne matter OF affording instructio,
IN the establishment Of butter ant
cneese factories and in the sale O
oalry products. In one respect thei,
speaking had a bad effect. Their es
Innate OF the capabilities of the ives
=" milk, butter, and cheese
that would compare in excellence wifi
those produced in york state'' wa.
exceedingly d~iscouraging. Some Of
lhem thought that only inferior articles
would ever be produced on prairie
farms. They declared that it required
somewhat hllly country to furnish
the grasses that produce the hest mill
ana they stated that spring water was
essential to successful dairying. A
rev took a rather more hopeful view
VI inc matter. They expressed the
oellei that grasses suitable for the +
uuction OF good milk would sometime
pe lalsed on the prairies. They thought,
however, that one generation of men
YOU be required to farms
ipr the occupation of dairying. After
me native prairie sod was reduced,
ufa'hs Were cut, and the land kept in
cultivated crops for thirty or forty
years, they thought that, good past
eres OF tame grass might be establish
so ana good milk produced. 1t was
wei ehough to make in the meantime
some putter and cheese for the supply
Oh local markets, where the patrons
were not very particular, and some of
lhese interior dairy products might
una a sale In tho east at prices much
below those realized by eastern dairy
men. Many who listened to the re-
marks OF these s'wise men from the
east abandoned the idea of becoming
oalrymen, and others diligently labor.
sd to improve their farms so that their
boys, IN a distant future, might make
good butter and cheese. None, or at
least very few, thought that thew
could successfully compete with york
state. dairymen in the production of
butter n cheese designed for first
Grass customers in the great cities of
the country.
1t took but a few years to demon
strate the fact that the great prairies
Of the northwest were capable of pro-
uucing as much and as excellent grass
as any territory in the country. In
fact, it was shown that the native
grass of the prairies furnished
good food for mich cows. and
mat tue pasture grasses that are in
taVor IN other places could be intro
duced on a prairie sod with very little
difficulty. With good grass and an
OF grains, and with the
same breeds OF COWS that were kept in
the dairy regions of the eastern states.
there was no trouble in obtaining good
milk. Skillful hands converted this
milk into butter and cheese of excel
lent quality. At several national and
international fairs butter and cheese
made in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa
awarded the highest prizes. A
reputation was gained at home and in
foreign countries. The proprietors of
creameries and cheese fac
tories were proud to put their names
On all the packages they sen out.
They established boards of trade in
all the large towns which were dairy
cehters, and caused the wholesale
dealers III butter and cheese to attend
them in order to obtain goods to sell
again. They saved the margin long
allowed commission merchants. abof.
ished the credit system in disposinc of
dairy products, and adopted sound
business rules.
The prospect for dairying in the
and territories COMPOSING the
are o excellent. This
portion of the country enjoys adj
yantages for dairying not possessed
elsewhere. 1t is an excellent country
producing grass, which is the food
chiefly relied on for making milk. The
of the soil has not been ex-
hausted by the continuous production
Of grain, hops, and tobacco, as is the
case in many parts of the east. Corn
and all the smaller grains are chiefly
raised. No commercial fertilizers arc
required in order to produce large
crops. 1t is easier and cheaper to col
lect herds of dairy cows in the west.
than in the east. The production of
beef is one of the Leading Institutions.
purchasing or raising animals
fatten prefer steers, and COWS can
be obtained for dairy
The facilities for marketing western
dairy products are now almost every
thing that could be desired. There is
an extensive local market. Butter and
cheese are in constant demand to sup
ply mining towns in the distant west
and lumber-camps in the north. Sew
eral times during the past few years
complaint has been made by east
arn dairymen that butter and cheese
were carried from Iowa to Boston
cheaper than from Vermont. Trans
portation companies now contract
20 deliver western dairy prod
acts in Liverpool and Glasgow at
that were not anticipated a few
years ago.
In many places capital is necessary
to develop the dairy interest in the
west. The farmers have no money to
put in butter and cheese factories.
They generally commenced poor.
They have spent years in improving
:heir places. All the money they
could obtain from the sale Of crops
been exhausted in making fences,
sreeting buildings. breaking the soil,
and purchasing machinery. They
exchange some of the stock they
low have for dairy cows. but they have
not the money to erect buildings suit
able for butter and cheese factories
and to purchase suitable machinery
and implements for them. More
knowledge of the proper sheltering
and are of mich cows is also want
I'D, and more instruction is needed in
the art of milking, the care of milk, the
of cream, and the manufacture
IF butter and cheese. Western farm
srs have been advised to convert their
grass and grain into meat and wool in
order to save in the matter of trans
oortation. There is q greater saving
N tho nnattar If ~ characterization IN onr.