The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-07

brdtllylnk Tebuits are difcauy dp parent from the work of the United States Department of Agriculture in cooperation with State authorities for the development of the dairy industry In the South. This work has been In progress three years under special ap- propriations made by Congress. The Dairy Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry has paved the way to better conditions by the introduction of more practical methods in the management of dairy heards. A valuable feature Of the work is the Keeping of systematic records which enable the dairyman to determine which cows are profitable and which unprofitable and to elimi- nate the latter from the herd. Within two months after the testing is begun with a herd the owner usually begins 10 cuil 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. H. Rawl. has been in the main a personal effort among the farmers with view to instructinB them in better methods. The southern farmers have not been slow to adopt
 improved methods when the advantage
 Is demonstrated. The idea that dairy cows do not produce well In the South is incorrect. Success there, as else-
 
 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. careful survey has been made to determine the conditions and needs.
 Southern Butter.
 The creamery butter production of tho South Ia tnadeUnafa .1ue 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 a shortage in the milk supply necessarily limits the number of creameries. with the result that large quanties of print butter are shipped into the South from northern and western points.
 The farm dairy butter varies in quality Some of the better equipped dairies produce an article almost equal to creamery butter. The country but ter Is of quite a different grade. Much of 1t soon becomes rancid as a result of not having been properly washed when 1t was churned. and has to be shipped to the renovating factories.
 Less than two per cent of the cheese consumed in the South is produced locally. In fifty cities fin thirteen Southern States the quantity handled annually amounts to approxima tely 42.000.0o0 pounds The per capita con- sumption is large. especially among the laboring classes, who largely je- pend for their noon-day meal on crack CTS and cheese; yet practically no whole-milk cheese of the Cheddar type Is manufactured in the South. A few small factories in South Carolina, Vir- ginia. and West Virginia constitute the source of local output. It would seem 4n view of this condition, that the South presents an attractive field for the manufacture of cheese. Before a cheese factory would be operated suc- cessfully, however. an adequate supply of milk would have to be assured.
 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 re- suit is that unsweetened condensed milk is consumed in large quantities in There is a large consumption of ice cream. but much of the product is made from bulk condensed or whole | milk of low grade. The price varies | from seventy cents to 8 a gallon. the | average being about $1.50. The city | of Memphis has the distinction of ship | ping the largest quantity one of It's making as high as B. 900 gallons daily during the summer season. Ice cream manufactured in Tennessee and Georgia Is shipped as far south as Florida.
 Southern MILK Supply.
 The supply of milk Is entirely local. none being shipped in from distant points. The conditions under which the supply Is secured are not always favorable and this fact has been given very careful attention by the Dairy Division in it's work of improvement Many herds are kept within the thick y settled portions of the cities where and Is expensive. This quite natural y results in overcrowded stables with he accompanying evils. poor light and and contracted yards for frequently filthy and knee leep with mud after a rain. The feed s usually of character that requires he least space for storage and Is in- 'luenced to some extent by local con iitions of production.
 Practically all of the milk sold is supplied by the producer direct, very title being transported by rail. With he methods ordinarily in use. climatic necessitate two deliveries a lay, which frequently bring the pro- luction of the herd to the consumer n less than five hours. Bottles are lsed only to limited extent. and the practice of dipping from the open can prevails where the milk Is not drawn trough faucets.
 The quality of southern milk Is gen rally satisfactory from the standpoint if milk solids Where Jersey blood jrevails In the herd. the milk will Lverage from 4.5 to per cent of fat. When the quality Is unsatisfactory rom the sanitary standpoint this is lue in the main to lack of knowledge