Columbia Studies in the Social Sciences (Volume 69) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1916. Excerpt: ... EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Volume LXIX Number 2 Whole Number 165 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES An Economic Study of Butter and Oleomargarine $ork THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., AGENTS London: P. S. King & Son, Ltd. Copyright, 1916 BY EDWARD WIEST PREFACE The dairy industry has not yet received the attention from the student of economics that it deserves. The wealth that flows from this industry in the form of butter, cheese, and milk, to say nothing of by-products, make it one of our principal agricultural interests. The conversion of milk into butter and cheese has caused manufacturing industries to grow up which present important economic problems. The butter industry, especially, has a history deserving a much more prominent place in our text-books on economic history than has thus far been given to it. The market organization presents problems that are of current interest. Among these may be mentioned the attempt to control prices by methods peculiar to the butter industry. The subject leads the investigator into the complex problem of the relation of the production of butter to the production of other food products. Considerable attention has been given to this phase in the chapter on the geographical distribution of butter production and in the chapters dealing with oleomargarine. The study shows that the ambitious youth may find an industrial environment in the rural districts quite as interesting and stimulating as that of urban centers. A great deal of dairy legislation has been enacted for the protection of the public health and for the prevention of fraud. An analysis of the conditions leading up to this legislation, however, reveals the fact that the dominating force behin...