Page 21 - DairyOnThePrairie

Dairy on the Prairie 19
C. Bowen] attempting to produce an article of
cheese in any considerable quantity that would
compete with the celebrated cheese turned out by
the Herkimer County dairymen...And as he has
given the most convincing proof that the west can
compete successfully with the Eastern dairies in
making cheese, we hope to see many others fol-
low his example, as there is no reason why our
farmers should not be able to supply the entire
West with cheese, instead of compelling our deal-
ers to look to the Eastern dairies for a supply, as
they are now doing.65
At least three cheese factories were in operation in ed the name intentionally—not necessarily to deceive
Iowa by 1866: at Bowen's Prairie, Muscatine, and Den-
mark (Lee County).66 Later that year, Asa Bowen
moved five miles north, closing his Jones County fac-
tory and opening a new one at Sand Spring, Dela-
ware County. Bowen's former Jones County milk
patrons were amongst those who supplied the milk
of 400 to 500 cows to the Johnathan B. Ross Cheese
Factory, which opened in 1867, less than one-half mile
from Bowen's old factory.
Additional cheese factories soon opened in Jones
and surrounding counties. Most made full cream
(cheddar-like) cheese, although at least two manufac-
tured skim milk cheese, made from a by-product of
butter production. In 1873, the Oneida Cheese Facto-
ry was built on Bowen's Prairie.67 Selection of the name national acclaim of its sister product, Iowa butter. Sim-
"Oneida" for this establishment indicates that Amer-
icans at the time recognized the idealized cheese heart- are never mentioned in the local newspapers, except
land of the country to be in New York State (Oneida
County). The Bowen's Prairie cheese makers clearly
wanted their product linked to this region and select-
East Coast buyers—but to distinguish the company
from other "Iowa" cheese makers.
Most of the cheese factories in Jones County went
through a boom-and bust-cycle in a short 15 years or
less—a surprisingly short span of time—starting with
the opening of the first cheese factory by Asa C. Bo-
wen in 1864. Most of the smaller factories were con-
verted to butter factories or subsumed by large
creameries by 1880.
Generally, the local downfall of the cheese indus-
try is blamed upon greater profitability and lower
costs associated with the butter industry, although the
cheese factory demise was probably complicated by
a number of factors. Iowa cheese never received the
ilarly, known, large-scale contracts for Iowa cheese
for the early contracts Asa Bowen had with his fami-
ly relations in Chicago. Without large amounts of cap-
ital, high revenues, or increasing product demand,
expansion of individual factories could not occur.
These small facilities could therefore not offer their
milk patrons the returns of the large butter creamer-
ies. The single cheese factory that remained in the
Jones County after 1885, the Wyoming Valley Cheese
Factory near Onslow, probably operated on a small
and seasonal scale until it closed around 1900.
Bowen Brothers
advertisement.68