302. Total production of cheese in the United States.—The following figures (Table XX) compiled by the United States Census show the total production of cheese and the amount made on farms and in factories in the United States by ten-year periods:
TABLE XX
Showing the Total Production of Cheese and PartMade on Farms and in Factories in the UnitedStates by Ten-year Periods | ||
| 1849 | Total | 103,663,927 pounds |
| 1859 | Total | 105,535,893 pounds |
| 1869 | Total | 162,927,382 pounds |
| 1879 | Total | 243,157,850 pounds |
| 1889 | On farms | 18,726,818 pounds |
| In factories | 238,035,065 pounds | |
| Total | 256,761,883 pounds | |
| 1899 | On farm | 16,372,330 pounds |
| In factories | 281,972,324 pounds | |
| Total | 298,344,654 pounds | |
| 1909 | On farms | 9,405,864 pounds |
| In factories | 311,126,317 pounds | |
| Total | 320,532,181 pounds | |
Fig. 66.—Showing the cheese factories in the Pacific coast states.
Comparing the figures of 1899 with those of 1909, it is seen that the total production of cheese in the United States increased 22,187,539 pounds, or an increase of 7.4 per cent in 1909 over 1899. During the same years the amount made on the farms decreased 6,966,454 pounds, or a decrease of 42.6 per cent, while the amount made in factories increased 29,153,933 pounds or 10.3 per cent.
303. Rank of the leading cheese-producing states.—The rank of the leading cheese states according to the number of factories in 1914 was: Wisconsin 1720, New York 995, Michigan 196, Ohio 111, Pennsylvania 106.
The table on the opposite page (Table XXI) shows the amount of cheese produced by the five states with the largest number of factories. This table indicates that New York led in the production of cheese until some time between 1899 and 1909. This is probably because, New York having so many cities, the demand for market milk is so large that it is sold as such instead of being manufactured into cheese. There is about the same number of milch cows in New York and Wisconsin. However, Wisconsin is credited with more cheese in 1909 than New York ever produced and this output probably will increase, as there are considerable areas of undeveloped agricultural land in Wisconsin. It is also interesting to note that Ohio is falling off in cheese production. This may be due to the increased demand for market milk. On the other hand, production has increased in Pennsylvania.