68 RURAL DENMARK 



Mr. Larsen and his wife do all the work of the 

 holding without assistance, but he does not undertake 

 any outside labour. He told me that he gets on well 

 and is perfectly satisfied, adding with emphasis that 

 he much preferred his present position to that which 

 he used to occupy as a labourer. Certainly he seemed 

 to be prosperous in a small way ; and as we sat down 

 to partake of the lunch of coffee, beer, &c. which 

 Mrs. Larsen had hospitably provided, the air of solid 

 comfort about the place struck me very much. It 

 was a little astonishing also to be warmly thanked 

 by a man in this position for the pleasure that he 

 said he had experienced in reading works of mine 

 that do not deal with agriculture. I do not think 

 that a foreign writer visiting a small-holder in England 

 would be likely to meet with this particular surprise. 

 In Denmark, however, it is otherwise, for there 

 among the peasant class he may find that he is as 

 well or even better known than it is his fortune to 

 be at home. The Danes are great readers of such 

 fiction as appeals to them. 



Before I parted from Mr. Larsen I had a private 

 conversation with him on the subject of State small- 

 holders generally. He told me that in his opinion 

 about half of these really succeed. One-third just 

 get on, and the rest are unsuccessful. It was entirely 

 a question of the man himself. If he were the right 

 man in the right place things would go well. If not, 

 he would fail. He thought that the movement would 

 spread, which he feared would cause the land to 

 become too expensive. Thus he said that in this 

 part of Seeland it used to be possible to buy ground 

 at 500 kroner (,27, 14s.) the tondeland, whereas now 

 it cost 700 kroner (3%, 15s. iod.). 



