s, situated only a few miles from the Herndon
depot, began to flourish as dairy centers when only a few years earlier
poor transportation would have made marketing of such a highly
perishable product unthinkable. So successful and rapid was the dairy
boom that by 1924 over 1,800 gallons of milk were shipped daily from the
county to Washington, and its production was the highest in
Virginia.[134]

Other factors served to enhance the burgeoning dairy industry. Around
1910 milk pasteurization and bottling plants were established in
Washington. This created a large market for whole milk, which had
formerly been held in suspicion by many people who believed milk to be a
carrier of disease. Another important aspect was the well-directed
efforts of the two county agricultural extension agents who, in addition
to introducing the previously mentioned Dairy Herd Improvement
Associations, encouraged the use of pure-bred bulls for breeding, often
acquiring the free loan of USDA animals for the purpose. The use of
these bulls was an added incentive for farmers to pay the nominal fee
and join the Dairy Herd Improvement Associations, since membership was
required in order to borrow a government animal. By these methods and
repeated admonitions to "get out of the scrub class and join the
pure-bred bunch," the county agents helped Fairfax farmers develop so
fine a reputation for quality dairy cows that buyers came from many
states to procure these high-testing animals for their farms.[135]

Another factor affecting the rise of dairying in Fairfax County was the
early formation of the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Association.
The organization had been informally started in 1907 as a clearinghouse
for grievances among some producers in the vicinity of Washington, D.C.,
but for many years it "amounted to little more than an occasional
general meeting for the purpose of some united effort toward raising the
price of milk."[136] In 1920 it was incorporated and a full-time manager
employed. Each member paid a fee of one cent per gallon of milk sold (a
fund which was accumulated and refunded when a farmer left the
organization) and the Association handled the business of selling to the
distributors in Washington. By such collective action the dairymen were
able to control milk prices more effectively, and their unity assured a
measure of security against unscrupulous action by distributors. In the
early years of Fairfax County dairyin