The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-09-22
Government Experts Point Out Advantages of Ger
 tain Counties
EXPENSE IS SMALL
 AND PROFIT LARGE
Factories Cost Only About $500 and Should be Operated in Farm Communities on Coop
 erative Plan

The cneeSe industry Tn tnis country IS
 branching out and developing in sections
 where 1t was unknown before. Indeed, l the great demand abroad for American
 cheese has started a brand new indus- try in the southern states, North Caro-
 lima leading the way with Alabama the
 next state where 1t will be fostered and
 developed by the department of agricul- ture.
 | The first link in the chain of cheese
 industries is already In operation south
 of the Mason and Dixon line. It Is at
 Sugar Grove. N, C.. that the first fac tory, the pioneer cheese plant of the
 south. was started June D. Furthermore,
 if the ambitions of C. F. Doane. cheese
 expert of the department of agriculture. comes to full fruiton something more | than 100 cheese factories will eventually
 be in operation in the mountainous coun- ties of Alabama. Tennessee and North
 Cal olina, Kentucky and Arkansas Mir. Doane has looked into the situation in
 Alabama and has decided that Jackson,
 Madison, Marshall, Cullman, Winston,
 Lawrence and other counties of the northern part of Alabama are in fine po- l sition to produce cheese.
 l VIII WOrk Tn harmony
 The work in Alabama will be under the direction of the state department of az riculture, explains Mir. Doane, and that
 branch of the state government will be
 asked to cooperate with the state ag- ricultural college and other kindred in- stitutions in Tennessee to the end that
 the farmers may be brought face to face with the advantages and profits of the | cheese industry.
 Tn the past Alabama and other states
 or the south have not been looked upon
 as promising fields" said MT. Doane, flor the reason that the farmers found
 ready and profitable demand for their milk. The demand for milk Is not as great
 as formerly on account of quicker de- liveries required to comply with rigid
 pure food laws and the farmers are not
 able to make as quick deliveries of their l milk as are required under improved sanitary regulations and health demands. Therefore. profitable field is open in
 cheese making. While milk cheese can be 1 manufactured with facility by every l farmer. A plant will cost $500 to $500,
 which can be operated on the community
 plan. Ten pounds of milk, or little over
 gallon, produces a pound of whole milk cheese. It readily brings 13 to 15
 cents on the market wholesale. and re-
 tails at 20 to 30 cents per pound.'
 Getting Better Prices
 The first Dixieland cheese factory Is producing cheese of a quantity that com mands a price 8 cents per pound higher than that produced at long-established | factories in Pennsylvania and Illinois. The vision itself is only little more
 than year old, but the department of l agriculture feels that Alabama farmers
 will fall into line with enthusiasm.
 It is even said that in some of the l md lloxyc ho oolr iv,
 tains persons who until certain southern
 states went dry" devoted their energies to the manufacture of product that is being banished. under the law, have in- dicated that they will welcome the es-
 tabishment of these cheese factories ow-
 ing to their desire to turn their energies
 Into other channels. Many of the coves
 and valleys are wonderfully productive, Ideal spots for raising milch COWS. The cheese factories would furnish a ready
 market for the milk. Some believe that 1 the establishment of these factories will
 do more than any other one thing to promote the big movement for diversfi- cal tion of crops in the southland.
 | The first factory started in North Caro- lima. where the ground work is being l laid for the subsequent campaign in Ala bama, is owned by s7 farmers who have 1 gone into the dairy business. Of course, the plant is only in it's early stages as yet, and probably will not be kept in
 operation at all times throughout the
 first year. The stockhoiding farmers and others who sell them milk, however. are planning silos to store feed for winter | use.
 | Thinks Conditions Ideal
 l IT. short, MT. Doane believes that condi- 1 tions are ideal in the counties named in l Alabama Compared with Pennsylvania, for example, the water is cooler. the l pasturage splendid and the percentage of butter fat higher than in the northern 1 states. Careful tests at the North Caro- lina plants during the first two months of operation showed that the butter fat | averaged AZ per cent, while in the cheese
 making districts of the north it hardly ever goes 3.3 per cent The COW best adapted to the Tennessee region is the l Holstein, 1t is said The only ingredients needed to make the ration perfect are said | to be silage and cotton seed meal. l The south annually imports large quan- titles of cheese from Wisconsin and other l long, ablished cheese making states. 1 The agricultural department experts think 1t is only matter of compara- lively short time before the south will wrest this market from northern pro- ducers, and sell their product not only over the south, but in the north, too. 1 The cheese industry in the United States has been stimulated by the great world war. It was depressed at the out break of the war, and the department of agriculture seeking this opportunity for southern farmers is utilizing every re- source at its command to emphasize it's Importance.
 In June, 1914. the exports of cheese from 1 this country aggregated 174,2o0 pounds valued at $S1, ,426. In June. 1915 the exports had jumped to the unprecedented fig ] urc of 14, ,299 pounds, valued at $2.186,- in1 The June exports in both quantity and value exceeded the entire product | of the country for the year 1909, accord | ing to the latest census figures. The l cheese manufactured in the United States
 in 1909 aggregated 9.4o5s64 pounds, valued at $l.14s.70 70S
 1 The total exports of cheese from the ] limited States for the F months ending l June 1914. aggregated 2427.577 pounds. l worth $414,127 while those for the 12 ] months ending May 81, 19l5 aggregated s54 Oe9,017. valued at $S,147,174
 I The figures for June this year are the 1 high water mark for cheese exports, and l indicate that the fighting nations of Eu- l rope find American cheese 8 very desirable substitute for foodstuffs heretofore used 1 by their people Incidentally. the exports l for July and August continued to show Ian upward trend. While importing moro | American cheese, the European nations 1 a. war which have large cheese fac- l tories are exporting much less of their ! own product. making our home -as well I n our foreign market for cheese much better, hence the desire to get Dixieland taroused to the importance of an indus
 try that has made millionaires in Yankee