WORK DONE OR PROJECTED 211 



DANISH BACON FACTORIES. 



It is further to be borne in mind should the starting of 

 more of these factories be taken in hand that in Denmark, 

 as told by Mr. Loudon M. Douglas in his pamphlet on " Co- 

 operative Bacon Curing," the breeding of swine is looked 

 upon as so important a feature of farming that the swine 

 husbandry of the country is directed by a special State 

 adviser, who has a staff of seven assistants. This, says 

 Mr. Douglas, is undoubtedly the reason why the pigs of 

 Denmark have reached such perfection ; and he proceeds : 



To begin with, the native pig was wholly unsuited for bacon 

 purposes, and various foreign breeds were introduced, notably 

 the Yorkshire breed from England. Under the skilled guidance 

 of State officials, a new race of swine was produced, and is 

 universal throughout the country, under the title of the Land 

 Race, from which the bacon is now derived. Another great 

 feature of swine husbandry in Denmark is the existence of breed- 

 ing centres, which have been known since 1893. These breeding 

 centres are meant to control the whole business of swine husbandry 

 throughout the country, and they receive a substantial subsidy 

 from the Government to enable them to carry on their work, 

 which they do under the following rules : 



1. The hogs in the breeding centres must be either of the pure 

 Danish or of the pure Yorkshire breed. 



2. The breeding centre must be under the control of a com- 

 mittee appointed by the local agricultural society. 



3. The breeding centre must consist of not less than one 

 selected boar and three selected sows. 



4. The directorate of the local agricultural society, or a com- 

 mittee appointed by the local agricultural society, select the 

 hogs, which must be approved by the district committee. 



5. The owners must see that the breeding animals and their 

 offspring are marked. 



6. The owner of the breeding centre must keep a record of 

 pedigrees and sales. The record must be approved by the 

 district committee. 



In this way the best type of bacon pigs are produced, and the 

 whole farming community benefits accordingly ; but co-operation 

 is applied to this industry in other ways besides the organisation 

 of individual factories. The various factories co-operate together 

 to give each other mutual help and advice, and in the disposal of 

 the products in the United Kingdom there is also co-operation, 

 so that the expenses of distribution are reduced to a minimum., 

 the net result being that the bacon industry of Denmark is the 

 most prosperous development of its agriculture. 



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