SOME FALSTER ISLAND FARMS 153 



raised. By help of this small sum a canal has been 

 cut to the sea about a mile away, and a large wooden 

 screw-pump, driven by steam, erected that throws 

 the water into the canal, which pump is operated 

 when the wind motors cannot deal with the drainage 

 accumulations. 



The reclaimed land, whereof a wide vista is visible 

 from the sluice, is worth about 200 kroner (^n) per 

 tondeland, or say ^"ioan acre. This of course is a 

 low price compared with the value of the best agri- 

 cultural soil in this part of Falster, which, I was told, 

 is estimated at about 1000 kroner G55, 8s. 4d.), 

 or a little over ^40 the acre, but doubtless this 

 reclaimed soil will gather in worth as time goes on. 

 What astonishes me is the modest figure at which the 

 reclamation has been effected. 



Recently I have been concerned officially in visiting 

 and looking into the cost of reclamations or attempted 

 reclamations, for many of them have proved failures in 

 Ireland and elsewhere, and was astonished at the great 

 sums that have been spent upon them, sometimes to 

 no purpose. Here in Denmark the story seems to 

 be very different, though of course there may be 

 engineering reasons to account for a part of the dis- 

 crepancy. Or possibly I may have misunderstood or 

 been misinformed as to the expenditure on the Danish 

 venture at Boto Nors. The fact remains, however, 

 that everybody seems to be satisfied with its results, 

 whereas in Ireland and elsewhere there has often been 

 a different tale to tell. Probably good management 

 has to do with this fortunate issue of the enterprise. 



Another farm that I visited in this neighbourhood 

 was that of Mr. Chr. Larsen at Marrebaek Fiskebsek, 

 who farms eighty tondeland, of which fifty are good 



