Dairying runs back to a period in the development of the human race of which we have no record. Man early learned to not only slay animals and eat their flesh, but to appropriate to himself the food belonging to their young—a trait of selfishness which he has not yet overcome, and even manifests by preying in various ways upon his fellows. We have in the world large classes who add nothing to its real wealth, but live and luxuriate on the fat of the earth by drawing the results of labor from the toilers through cunningly devised schemes of finance, business and government.

IN ASIA.

Away back in the dimness of antiquity, of which even tradition gives no hint, comparative philology shows us that a civilized race, now known as the Aryan race, dwelt on the steppes of Central Asia, and that the ox and the cow constituted their chief means of subsistence. They lived in simple peace and innocence, their language having no terms of war and strife. But there came a time when separation began and migration followed. They were scattered to the four corners of the Eastern Continent, and their descendants now constitute the progressive nations of the earth. The parent nation appears to have utterly perished in giving birth to the nations of the future. No trace of it is left, save the remnants of its language inherited by its children; but they furnish indisputable evidence of a common parentage.

AMONG THE JEWS.

Our earliest authentic records about the dairy are of the use of milk and its products among the Jews. We are told, in the 8th verse of the 18th chapter of Genesis, that when Abraham entertained the three strangers, "he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them." Moses, in his song, as recorded in the 23d chapter of Deuteronomy, 14th verse, says of Jacob that the Lord, among other things, gave him to eat "butter of kine and milk of sheep." Deborah, who declares in her song that "the stars in their courses did fight against Sisera," who was entertained and slain by Jael, says of the murderess (Judges, 25th verse and 8th chapter) "he asked water and she gave him milk, she brought forth butter in a lordly dish." In the 17th chapter and 5th verse of 2d Samuel, the writer tells us that David and his people, after the battle in the wood of Ephraim, were given "honey and butter, and sheep and cheese of kine," to eat. Zophar, in the 20th chapter of Job, 17th verse, declares of the wicked hypocrite, who "hath swallowed down riches," that his triumph is short, and "he shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter"—which, we infer, are designed for the righteous; and Job (29th chapter and 6th verse) bemoans the loss of his former prosperity, "when I washed my steps with butter." In the 55th Psalm, 24th verse, David says of his enemy that "the words of his mouth were smoother than butter." Solomon appears to have understood the whole business. In Proverbs, 30th chapter and 33d verse, he exclaims: "Surely, the churning of milk bringeth forth butter." Isaiah, in the 7th chapter and 15th verse, declares of the coming Immanuel, that "butter and honey shall he eat;" and again (22d verse) that "for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter."

IN SOUTHERN EUROPE.

Chambers says: "In ancient times, the Hebrews seem to have made copious use of butter as food; but the Greeks and the Romans used it only as an ointment in their baths, and it is probable that the Greeks obtained their knowledge of the subject from the Scythians, Thracians, and Phrygians, whilst the Romans obtained it of Germany." This would indicate that the Germans at that time were engaged in dairying. But, even now, in Southern Europe, butter is sparingly used, and in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Southern France, it is sold by apothecaries as an ointment. Dairying is now extensively carried on in all the countries of Northern Europe.

IN AMERICA.

When the early settlers of America crossed the Atlantic, they brought with them their favorite domestic animals, including the family cow. But dairying for a long time, in this country, appears to have been confined mainly to producing supplies for the family of the dairyman. It was not until quite a recent date that dairying sprang into commercial importance. But, to-day, dairying cannot be considered second to any other industry as to either magnitude or importance; and it is a patent fact that, in those sections where dairying is most extensively and successfully carried on, the farming population is the most prosperous and happy.

Within the last twenty years, since associated dairying has been introduced, great progress has been made in the dairy—but not greater than in many other occupations, nor out of proportion with the growth of population. The growth of the dairy will probably never exceed the growth of population so long as the present heavy tide of immigration continues to set toward our shores.

FIGURES FROM THE CENSUS.

Let us refer to the census of 1880, and note the development of the dairy during the previous 30 years:

By the census of 1850, we had 6,385,094 cows, and produced 314,345,306 pounds of butter, and 105,535,893 pounds of cheese—a total of 418,881,199 pounds of product.

By the census of 1860, we had 8,585,735 cows, and produced 459,681,372 pounds of butter, and 103,663,927 pounds of cheese—a total of 563,345,299 pounds of product.

By the census of 1870, we had 8,935,332 cows and produced 514,692,683 pounds of butter, and 162,927,382 pounds of cheese—a total of 677,620,065 pounds of product—and this notwithstanding the war of the rebellion came in this decade.

By the census of 1880, we had 12,443,120 cows, and produced 803,662,071 pounds of butter, and 243,157,850 pounds of cheese—a total of 1,049,819,921 pounds of product.

GROWTH IN THIRTY YEARS.

This is an increase in annual product of 630,948,622 pounds in thirty years, or 212,057,523 pounds more than double the amount, in 1880, that was manufactured in 1850. History records no parallel to this anywhere on the face of the globe.

Let us put some of these figures into tabular form. We had in

We did not quite double the number of cows, but considerably more than doubled the population. The number of inhabitants was, in

The increase in 30 years is .40 inhabitant to each cow. That is to say, the population, as compared with the number of cows, was .40 larger in 1880 than it was in 1850.

PRODUCT PER COW AND PER CAPITA.

And now let us compare the product per cow and per capita. It was in

HOME CONSUMPTION VS. EXPORTS.

But it should be borne in mind that in 1850 very nearly all our dairy products were consumed at home; whereas in 1880, we exported a large amount. As the exports do not all come in the year of production, we will take the average amount of exports for 1879 and 1880:

pounds of product. If we take this from the total product

of product for home consumption, or more than five times as much as we export. This is a consumption of 17.47 pounds per capita for our 50,155,783 inhabitants, or .59 of a pound less than in 1850, when it was 18.60 pounds per capita. Does not this indicate the folly of catering for a foreign market to the neglect of our own?

FORMS OF MILK CONSUMPTION.

It is estimated by good judges that 45 per cent. of our milk product is consumed in its natural state, 50 per cent. is used in butter making, and 5 per cent. is made into cheese. The fact of there being a foreign demand for so large a proportion of our cheese, has led everybody astray, and magnified the cheese factory into the position of supreme importance.

THE PRIVATE DAIRY VS. THE FACTORY.

Let us again turn to the census of 1880, and see how the factory product compares in amount and importance with the product of the private dairy. It appears by the census of 1880 that the number of pounds of dairy products made in factories was as follows:

or considerably more than double the total factory product.

Now, let us make a comparison by values, calling the cheese 10 cents and the butter 25 cents a pound. We made in factories:

There was made in the private dairies:

In short, the product of the private dairy is between three and four times larger than that of the factory, and nearly seven times its value. Important as the factory is and is likely to become, let us not forget the private dairy nor overlook the home interest in striving for a little foreign patronage.

Notwithstanding the fault with the census that is found by some, the census is the most reliable source of statistical information about the dairy that we have.