The milk industry is altogether the most important branch of dairying in Illinois, but in spite of the growth of population the sales of whole milk have shown almost an uninterrupted decline from an annual average of 112,584,707 gallons for the period 1895-1899 to 81,396,353 for 1917. The reason for this is, as has already been pointed out, the introduction of separators on the farms, by the use of which the farmer was enabled to sell the cream instead of the whole milk and thereby save considerable expense in haulage. That this is the explanation rather than a lessened production of milk is shown by the statistics of milch cows, the number of which has remained fairly stationary during the last twenty years at slightly over one million animals. Two-thirds of these, as might be expected, are to be found in the northern division, the average farmer there having about three times as many as the average farmer in the central division and four times as many as the average farmer in the southern division.

The general use of the cream separator and of the Babcock milk test, according to which the farmer's milk and cream are now paid for according to quality rather than quantity, that is according to the amount of butterfat in them, has forced the farmer to pay more attention to the breeding of better grades of stock.

While the amount of milk sold in the state as a whole has fallen from an annual average of 112,584,707 gallons for the period 1895-1899 to 90,355,728 gallons for 1915-1917, the city markets have shown a steady increase. For instance the average daily milk supply of Chicago rose from 476,992 quarts in 1898 to 772,800 in 1901; by 1916 it was 1,100,000 quarts.26 Part of this growth was due to the demand by milk condensing and oleomargarine factories, but most of it is attributable to the normal demand of an expanding urban population for whole milk for table consumption, which moreover has increased slightly during this period.

The production of butter has been steadily transferred 26 Information supplied by the Chicago board of health.

from the farm to the factory during the past fifty years, until today only about forty per cent of the butter entering into the markets is made on the farm. In 1909, for instance, 24,570,976 pounds of butter were reported as made in factories in Illinois, while only 10,534,606 were sold from the farms. However, the total farm production was reported as 46,609,992 pounds, the amount not sold presumably being consumed by the farmers' families.27 Each of these items shows a steady decrease, as the dairy industry has migrated to Wisconsin and other states which now supply the wants of Illinois consumers in ever larger measure.

The production of cheese, which had been steadily falling during the previous period, showed a remarkable growth amounting to almost fifty per cent in the second half of the nineties. This was due to the production of filled cheese, but the boom in this industry was short lived. The cheese industry fell off to about one-third of its previous amount, owing to the coincidence of two destructive factors. One of these was the introduction of separators on the farms, which deprived the city factories of their needed supplies of skim milk; the other was the passage of a law prohibiting the manufacture of filled cheese. There was a slight recovery during the years 1905-1909, but after that the decline set in again. Since the outbreak of the European war there has been a growth of condensaries and cheese factories in the northern division, but the experience of the past seems to indicate that cheese production is a passing industry unless some permanent changes take place.

The production of cream, on the other hand, has shown a steady and, in the last few years, a very marked growth. This has accompanied, as it has doubtless been caused by, an increase in the price of cream. The industry has always been most important in the northern division, though of recent years the southern division has begun to encroach upon it. The develop27 Thirteenth Census of the United States, 5:489-491. The consumption by the average farmer's family is considerably larger than that of the average urban family.

movements.

ment of the cream industry in Effingham and Carroll counties and its decline in Kane county are the most important recent For the state as a whole the amount of cream sold from the farms has increased from 1,056,825 gallons in 1895 to 3,098,994 in 1917. Most of this is sold to creameries, butter factories, ice cream and similar establishments.

The fourth group of domestic animals enumerated above consists of fowls. Taken as a group these showed a marked decline between 1890 and 1900, but since the latter date have increased again though not to the earlier figure. In spite of these fluctuations Illinois has maintained her position as second state in the union in the number of fowls. Chickens made up ninety per cent of all in 1890 and over ninety-seven per cent in 1910, as the other kinds of fowls are decreasing very rapidly. There were only one-fifth as many turkeys in the state in 1910 as there had been in 1890, and about one-third as many ducks and geese. So far as the Illinois farmer is a poultry raiser he exemplifies here again his tendency to concentrate upon one staple. The industry was spread very evenly over the whole state, with the central division slightly in the lead.

In this brief survey of the development of agriculture in Illinois only the half has been said. Some problems have been barely touched upon and others necessarily omitted. But enough has been written to show that there has been steady progress. It is, however, equally clear that much remains to be done if Illinois agriculture is to maintain its position and to advance in the future. New adaptations and adjustments must be made, problems of labor scarcity solved, better methods of marketing and rural credit devised, and farm life be made more attractive. To meet and solve these difficulties reliance must be placed largely upon education. Much has already been done in this direction. Science has been applied to agricultural problems, experiments carried on in experiment stations, the results disseminated among the farmers by means of bulletins, extension work, and conferences. Experts are being placed in the counties as advisors to the farmers. The number

of students in the state college of agriculture is steadily growing, and an increasing number of the graduates is going back to the farms equipped with a knowledge of scientific agriculture. Agricultural education is also being carried down into the secondary schools, and several hundred high schools in the state now give courses in this subject. To the boys and girls thus trained the future of Illinois agriculture may safely be entrusted.

I'

V. MANUFACTURES

LLINOIS was the third manufacturing state in the union in

IL 1893

1893. Only a few years before it had been counted as a purely agricultural state and its citizens classed as farmers rather than factory operatives; in 1893 it ranked with the oldest manufacturing states in the country as a great industrial commonwealth, whose claim to economic preeminence rested not merely upon its fertile soil but also upon the ability of its workers to transform the resources of forest and field and mines into articles of utility and enduring worth. This high rank in manufactures was, however, ascribable in large measure to the preeminence of the state as a producer of foodstuffs and to its location in the corn belt, for three out of the first five manufacturing industries were closely linked with agriculture, and in the not far remote past had been carried on upon the farm rather than in factories.

The following list comprises all manufactures which produced in 1890 products valued at $5,000,000 or more, in the order of their importance:

Agricultural implements.

24,609,660

Lumber, planing mill products, including sash, doors, and blinds.

20,468,903

Carpentering

20,392,422

Printing and publishing, newspapers and periodicals.

17,348,845

Cars, steam railroad, not including operations of railroad companies 17,117,223