The New International Encyclopædia/Dairying

DAIRYING (ME. deyery, from deye, dairymaid, Icel. deigja; probably connected with OSwed. dæggja, to suckle, Skt. duh, to milk). That branch of agriculture which has to do with the production and utilization of milk. It embraces the feeding and management of milch cows, the supplying of cream and milk, and the making of butter and cheese, etc. The term dairy husbandry is applied to a system of farming under which cows are kept and bred, and the principal crops grown with special reference to the dairy herd. Dairy was formerly used to designate the place or house where the milk was kept, cheese was made, etc. Like almost all other occupations, dairying has become in recent years divided into several distinct and special lines. These differ as to the form of the product and the manner of disposing of it. In one case milk or cream may be produced for delivery to consumers direct from the dairy, or the same product may be delivered to a creamery to be manufactured into butter and cheese, or the product of the herd may be converted into butter and cheese at home.

In no branch of agriculture has greater progress been made in recent years than in dairying, and it is now regarded as among the most progressive and highly developed forms of farming in the United States. While formerly believed to be confined by natural conditions to a limited area, known as the ‘dairy belt,’ it has been shown that the industry can be profitably and successfully carried on over a wide range of country, and that, generally speaking, good butter and cheese can be made by proper management in almost all parts of North America. Dairying was formerly confined to the spring and summer months, when pasturage could be had for the cows, and it was planned to have the cows calve as far as possible in the spring; they were generally allowed to go dry during the fall and early winter, and were neither well fed nor well housed through the winter. Winter dairying was practically unknown, as it was not supposed to be feasible or profitable. Under the system at present followed, dairying is not confined to any season, and the cows are fed succulent fodder during the winter in the form of corn silage, and roots, in addition to hay and liberal grain rations, composed largely of bran, cornmeal, and the by-products of factories where glucose and similar products are made. Great stress is laid upon the value of succulent foods as supplements to dry feed in winter, and in all countries where dairying has attained a high degree of development succulent feeds have occupied a prominent place in the ration given throughout the year. Corn silage is extensively relied upon for this purpose in the United States, being the cheapest food which can be supplied over a wide extent of the country. There may now be said to be two general systems of summer-feeding cows, the pasturage system, and the ‘soiling’ system, in which latter the green crops are cut for the animals. Pasturage is still extensively practiced where practicable, and it is quite customary to feed some grain to good cows on pasture. A large number of cows in the eastern part of the United States are now ‘kept up’ during summer, such green feed as comes into condition in succession throughout the season being raised for them. This method is thought to be more economical in sections where land commands a high price. A much larger number of cows can be kept on a given area by this ‘soiling’ system, and the animals are found to keep healthy and do well under it. Perhaps the most remarkable advance in dairying has been in the keeping of better cows, and in giving more attention to their feeding, comfort, and general management. The introduction of the creamery and cheese-factory systems (q.v.) has caused a great revolution in dairy practice, to a large extent transferring the manufacture of butter and cheese from the farm to the factory. The invention of the Babcock test, which has made practicable the payment for milk by test and placed it within the power of dairymen to test their individual cows, has been a very potent factor in improving the grade of cows which are kept, and has probably done more than any other single thing to advance American dairying. Milk of guaranteed fat-content is now sold in most of the large cities, and cream is supplied of various degrees of richness, according to the purposes for which it is intended. The sanitary conditions of milk production have been greatly improved as a result of bacteriological and other studies which have been made, and pasteurized milk and cream are now extensively used.

Dairying has been very greatly advanced by the invention and introduction of various kinds of daily machinery, such as creaming apparatus, notably the separator; hand and power churns, butter-workers, cheese vats and presses, etc. The cream separator, aside from its increased efficiency and reduction of labor, has almost eliminated the disturbing factor of climate from a large part of dairy management, and has altogether worked a revolution in this industry. See Butter.

The numerous by-products of the dairy are now very generally utilized in a variety of ways. The skim milk and buttermilk are, where practicable, fed to animals; considerable quantities are sold in towns and cities for household consumption, and milk-sugar is made from skim milk and whey. The casein of skim milk is also dried and prepared as a bakers' supply and substitute for eggs, as the basis of an enamel paint, as a substitute for glue in paper-sizing, and is also solidified and used for making buttons, combs, and many similar articles.

The value of the principal dairy products of the United States (milk, butter, and cheese) was estimated by the Federal Department of Agriculture for the year 1899 to be over $450,000,000. “If to this be added the value of the skim milk, buttermilk, and whey, at their proper feeding value, and the value of the calves dropped yearly, the aggregate value of the product of the dairy cows exceeds $500,000,000.”

The leading dairy States are Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Kansas, Michigan, and Indiana. In the Middle and Eastern States the milk is used quite largely to supply the numerous large towns and cities. In the Central West and Northwest butter is the principal dairy product. Dairying is also quite extensively practiced in Canada, where both butter and cheese of good quality are made. Canadian cheese, especially, enjoys an excellent reputation.

Since 1872 oleomargarine (q.v.), known in Great Britain as margarine and butterine, has been used in the United States, and has become a formidable competitor of the true dairy product. Its use in adulterating both butter and cheese led to the passage in several States of laws restricting its use and sale. The manufacture of oleomargarine cheese, or ‘filled’ cheese, as it is called, has greatly injured the good name of American cheese.

For further discussion of topics relating to dairying, see: Cattle—Dairy Cattle; Butter-Making; Cheese-Making; Milk Production; Cheese-Factory; Creamery.