POLITICS AND BACON FACTORIES 31 



sum being sufficient to provide a dairy which 

 will deal with the milk of 850 cows. The 

 establishment of the co-operative dairies has 

 been followed by the founding of societies for 

 the sale of butter, together with some 200 

 central unions which employ capable men to 

 take periodical tests of the milk on the farms of 

 the members, and see which particular cows 

 gave the best results according to the quantity 

 and cost of food consumed. 



Next to the co-operative creameries, and now, 

 indeed, rivalling them in importance, come the 

 Danish co-operative bacon-curing factories, the 

 success of which has been, if possible, even more 

 rapid. It is interesting to find, however, that 

 these factories were originally the outcome of 

 political prejudices rather than of patriotic senti- 

 ment or commercial foresight. In 1872 the 

 Liberals in Denmark got a majority in the 

 Folkething, which majority they still retain ; 

 but the Conservatives remained in power (as 

 they had been since the concession of the Con- 

 stitution in 1849), the members of the Govern- 

 ment being elected from the Landsthing, or 

 Upper House. The Liberals resented this, and 

 trouble arose as to the voting of the Budget, 

 which, under the Constitution, required to be 

 passed by the Lower House. The Government 



