The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-03-09
IMPROVING TIE DAIRY
INDUSTRY OF SOUTH
BETTER COWS MORE EOME-
GROWN FEED.
The Three Main Points that Every
Southern Dairyman Should Bear
in Mind-Work of the De-
partment of Agricr!-
ture.

partment of Agricu!-
ture.
( (?ress article from the Bureau Of
eAnimal Industry, =. S. Department Of
Agriculture, Washington, D. c., A.
D. Melvin, Chief Of Bureau.)
Gratifying results are already ap-
parent from the work Of the United
States Department Of Agriculture in
cooperation with State authorities
for the development Of the dairy in
dustry in the South. This work has
been in progress three years under
special appropriations made by con-
Tess. The dairy division of the Bu-
7au of Animal Industry has paved
p way to better conditions by the
Goduction Of more practical meth
in the management Of dairy herds.
valuable feature Of the work is the
eping Of systematic records which
able the dairyman to determine
Itch COWS are profitable and which
Iprofitable and to eliminate the lat
ter from the herd. Within two months
after the testing is begun with a herd
the owner usually begins to Gull out
the poorest COWS, and the next step
Of the progressive dairyman is to
procure purebred bull.
The government work, under the
supervision of B. II. Rawl, has been
in the main a personal effort among
the farmers with a view to ihstructing
them in better methods. The South
ern farmers have not been slow to
adopt improved methods when the ad-
vantageis demonstrated. The idea that
dairy COWS do not produce. we'll in
the South is incorrect. Success there,
as elsewhere, depends "a the quality
of the cattle and the methods Of
handling them. The South offers a
good field for profitable dairying, and
how to develop the industry is the
problem on which the Department of
Agriculture is working. A careful
survey has been made to determine
) the conditions and needs.
Southern Butter.
The creamery butter production Of
the South is inadequate, due to the
small number of creameries, although
during the past two years several new
ones have been established. The pro-
duct of the Southern creamery COM
pares favorably with the Northern
or Western products, but shortage
in the milk supply necessarily limits
the number of creameries, with the
result THAT large quantities of print
butter are shipped into the South
from Northern and Wester points.
The farm dairy butter varies in
quality. Some of the better equipped
diaries produce an article almost
? equal to creamery butter. The coun-
try butter is Of quite a different
grade. Much of it soon becomes ran
cid, as a result Of not having been
properly washed when it was churned,
and has to be shipped to the renovat-
ing factories.
Cheese.
Less than per cent of the cheese
consumed in the South is produced
locally. In so cities in 13 Southern
States the quantity handled annually
amounts to approximately 100000
pounds. The per capita consumption
is large, especially among the labor
ing clasSes, who largely depend for
their MONDAY meal on crackers and
cheese; yet practically no whole-mllk
cheese of the Cheddar type is manu-
factured i'm the South. A few small
factories in South Carolina, Virginia,
and West Virginia constitute the
source of local output. It would
seem, in view of this condition, thai
the South presents an attractive field
for the manufacture Of cheese. Before
cheese factory could be operated
successfully, however, an adequate
supply of milk would have to be as
sured.
Cream and Ice Cream.
The consumption Of cream in the
South is small, due to the scarcity of
! fresh cream rather than to a lack of
demand. The quality is variable,
some being equal only to rich milk.
The result is that unsweetened con-