THE BOVINE CITY
Rethinking Rochester’s Industrialization through the Cow
PAIGE MCCURDY
Today, anyone can go to the grocery store and grab a pint of milk, a stick of butter, a carton of ice cream, a block of cheese, or a pound of ground beef that could have been produced from a cow anywhere in the United States, or even the world. The widespread availability of dairy and beef products in today’s world stems from the industrialization of the cattle industry and the advancement of the train and other technologies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before these historical phenomena unfolded, farmers kept livestock for themselves or traded it within their local, surrounding areas. After industrialization, livestock were raised for profit, and with a greater network for goods and trade, the animals became a means for accumulating capital. Monroe County, New York, was not an entirely notable dairy- or beef-producing county compared to other counties in New York State. However, from 1850 to 1920, Monroe County experienced the industrialization of both agriculture and transportation, heavily impacting both cattle and farmers for years to come.
The effects of industrialization on Monroe County’s cattle population were not necessarily positive, even as industrialization had positive effects elsewhere. This is due to the increase in competition. The golden age of agriculture for New York State was helped by the waterways and railroads that were constructed throughout the whole state. Monroe County was in a great place for waterways and railways, with the Erie Canal being a major way of transportation. However, this turned against New York State, and consequently Monroe County, because of the competition that was introduced. As the historian Paul Gates notes, “First the canal, and then the railroad, by bringing in the cheaper produce of the Middle West raised on virgin, low-priced soil on large farm units with greater efficiency, destroyed the near monopoly New York farmers had earlier had in the metropolitan market. Not only wheat and flour but cattle, sheep and hogs, meat and meat products were coming in from the west and forcing down prices to depression levels for the local Farmer.”1
FIGURE ONE
“Map of the Various Channels for Conveying the Trade of the North West to the Atlantic Sea-Board Exhibiting the Tributaries & Drainage of the Trade into Each and the Effect of the Enlargement of the Erie Canal, Illustrating the Position Taken by William J. McAlpine, C.E. in His Annual Report as State Engineer and Surveyor of the State of New York”
(Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, 1853)
FIGURE TWO
“Profiles of the New York State Canals and Feeders Showing the Elevations of the Same above Tide Water and the Junction of the Lateral Canals with Erie by Sweet, S. H.”
(Monroe County Library System, 1862)
While transportation was modernizing and industrializing, the agricultural industry during the 19th century into the 20th century began to change as well. One of these changes was the moving away from producing goods solely for the family or local area. “Mr. Average Farmer lived well, producing most of his essentials, owning his farm, equipment, and livestock, and burdened by no great debt, if any.”2 The cattle of this time were not on massive farms used for commercial purposes but kept on the farms of families. They were not living on a massive factory farm where they were viewed solely as products. A pocket manual from 1858, titled Domestic Animals: A Pocket Manual of Cattle, Horse and Sheep Husbandry, speaks to the view of cattle as animals, rather than just products: “As a general thing, our farmers pay too little attention to the health and comfort of their cattle, and especially the cows.”3 The manual consists of testimonials of how other farmers feed their cattle and what the results entail. The overall tone of this manual is similar to old wives’ tales, where the knowledge is being passed down from farmer to farmer. The manual shows how cattle care was not an exact science yet and still left much to be desired regarding the treatment of the animals, but the cattle were still seen as animals.
At the turn of the century, this mentality changed to one of a more scientific, product-separate-from-the-animal view. In 1914, Feeding Cows for Profit was published, which went over the different types and possibilities of food for cows and compared the price and what it can do for the cow. “To make the cow live up to her inheritance in production it is necessary to keep her growing from the time she is born until she comes into milk.”4 From this quotation, the change in the view of the cow from an animal to a product is evident; the cow is worth the money that she will produce. Her value is not one of a living creature, but of money. She was not an individual animal, but just one of many, one of a large herd, and treated as such. She was not treated with care, not seen as a contributing member of the farmer’s family, but solely as an item, a money bag with four hoofs.
While this change in cultural views of animals as purely monetary, commercial products was happening all over the country, and in the agriculture field overall, New York State’s agricultural industry was undergoing changes. New York State experienced its golden years in agriculture from 1850 to 1870, followed by a depression from 1870 to 1890. Between the 1850s to 1870s, “farmers were expanding their acreage in cultivation, enlarging their herds of dairy cattle, greatly increasing the value of their farms, and more than doubling their investment in machinery and tools.”5 Industrialization occurred during this time due to machinery advancements and transportation that was available. However, it was manageable and beneficial to the farmers. The depression that unfolded from the 1870s to the 1890s was due to the exponential growth of those industrialized factors. The rapid increase of available, long-distance transportation of both products and people gave farmers the ability to move out west to participate in farm-making, which was more of interest then reaching a high state of cultivation on the farms that they were leaving behind in New York State.6 The drastic change in the farming industry in New York State can be seen in the change of the cattle population in Monroe County, which is found through agricultural census data.
FIGURE THREE
Total number of cattle in Monroe County, New York, 1850-1920
(IPUMS National Historical Geographic Information System, 2024)
The cattle population in Monroe County changes began in 1870. Another important aspect that speaks to the industrialization of the cattle industry is the way in which the cattle in the census were counted and recorded. Up until 1900, the census data had the categories milch (milk) cows, working oxen, and other cattle. There is then a shift in the way the data are kept, with much more elaborate and specific defining features forming within the milk, working, and other cattle categories. The age of each type of cattle is broken up into under 1 year, aged 1 and under 2 years, aged 2 and under 3 years, and 3 years and over. This again speaks to this scientific modernization of cattle care that is visible through the categories, as well as the book discussing the feeding of cattle for profits.
The 19th and 20th centuries saw changes and advancements in many aspects of life, the majority of which were very beneficial, forming the basis for our way of life now. However, the industrialization and modernization that affected cows was not necessarily beneficial for farmers and cattle in Monroe County. The cows went from being treated as animals to being thought of solely as products, seen through the change in tone and content in books and manuals detailing care of cattle. Then, the industrialization of waterways and railways introduced outside competition for farmers in Monroe County. They could not keep up with the products produced out west that were made for cheaper costs and transported via the new rails and waterways, like the Erie Canal. The agricultural industry overall suffered, with the cattle population dropping in the 1870s. The cow was dealt the brunt of industrialization.
NOTES
1. Paul W. Gates, “Agricultural Change in New York State, 1850 – 1890,” in New York History vol 50, no. 2 (Cornell University Press, 1969), 138.
2. Ibid, 123.
3. D. H. Jacques, Domestic Animals: A Pocket Manual of Cattle, Horse and Sheep Husbandry; or, How to Breed and Rear the Various Tenants of The Barn-Yard: Embracing Directions for the Breeding, Rearing, and General Management of Horses, Mules, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, and Poultry; the General Laws, Parentage, and Hereditary Descent, Applied to Animals, and How Breeds May Be Improved; How to Insure the Health of Animals; and How to Treat Them for Diseases without the Use of Drugs; with a Chapter on Bee-Keeping, (Fowler and Wells, 1858), 65.
4. Valancey E. Fuller, Feeding Cows for Profit (Gibbs & Van Vleck, Inc, 1914), 30.
5. Gates, “Agricultural Change in New York State, 1850 – 1890,” 117.
6. Ibid, 132.