It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society.

June is Dairy Month and Wisconsin is still the “dairy state.” Yes, California produces more milk, but Wisconsin is the holder of dairy heritage and, of course, cheese traditions. Anyway, here is an image from the Henry Scholl collection of glass plate negatives from 1890 to 1910. It shows a typical dairy herd on a family farm around 1900. If it looks small compared to herds later in the 20th century, remember, the cows were milked by hand, and it was typical for family farms to have less than 20 cows. As seen here, cows were pastured in warmer weather, but it was advances in producing and storing cattle feed like hay and silage that made year around dairying profitable for Wisconsin farmers who transitioned from cash crops, like wheat, to dairying in the late 19th century.

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society.

(2798GP, Whitewater Historical Society)