1 82 RURAL DENMARK 



down upon the average Danish holding would starve 

 there in three years unless he changed his methods. 

 Or rather he would not remain to starve, since at the 

 Michaelmas following his entry he would give notice to 

 quit. But as in most cases the Dane owns his land, 

 there is no one to whom he can give notice. Either 

 he must stay and wring a living from the earth, or he 

 must sell it and take to some other occupation. As a 

 rule he stays and does fairly well. 



Obviously one of the secrets of his success lies in 

 the number of his cattle and pigs, which means a corre- 

 sponding amount of manure wherewith he enriches 

 his poor soil. Years ago the Danish farmer used to 

 produce grain. Then came the foreign competition, 

 against which he was unprotected by any tariff, and 

 the crash. 



The same thing happened at home, but there was 

 this difference in the results. In Great Britain many, 

 if not most of us, continued to grow corn whether it 

 did or did not pay, for we were too conservative to 

 vary our methods. In Denmark they changed their 

 system and thenceforward devoted themselves to the 

 production of milk and its products, and of pigs which 

 feed upon the waste of the milk. Being an owner, 

 there was no landlord to whom the Danish farmer 

 could go to help him in his trouble, by lowering his 

 rent or otherwise. He must either adapt himself or 

 perish. So he adapted himself, and by aid of the 

 mighty engine of co-operation, of which I will speak 

 presently, was lifted to his feet again. 



As compared with Great Britain, there is no doubt 

 that the Danish land carries a heavy head of stock. 

 Thus, to take the example of horned cattle and pigs : 

 in Denmark in the year 1903, the last for which 



