FARMING IN DENMARK 187 



penses, or of its accumulated surplus funds (see Inter- 

 national Institute of Agriculture Bulletin, 1910). 



If, on the other hand, he disposes of his milk to 

 the Copenhagen Milk Supply, or any other distribut- 

 ing company, as most milk-farmers, including myself, 

 do in England, he is paid a somewhat higher figure 

 to compensate him for the loss of the skim and for 

 the special quality of the milk required by such com- 

 panies. At any rate, what he receives seems to leave 

 the Danish dairyman an adequate profit as a return 

 for his invested capital and labour. Probably it costs 

 him less to produce a gallon of milk than it costs us in 

 England, and therefore he can afford to dispose of it at a 

 lower figure. Such, at least, is my estimate of the case. 



I admit that, at first sight, it seems strange that 

 the Danish farmer should be able to produce milk 

 more cheaply than we can do in England. Three 

 factors, however, occur to me which, taken together, 

 may, in part at any rate, account for this result. The 

 first of these is that except for the interest on what- 

 ever mortgage he may owe, being an owner he has no 

 rent to pay. The second is that he probably works 

 harder himself than does the average tenant-farmer at 

 home, and therefore employs less labour proportionately 

 to the number of his cattle. The third is, that owing 

 to the extreme care taken in its breeding, his cow 

 produces generally more milk than does the average 

 British cow, which often is bred in the most haphazard 

 fashion. This, of course, means that in order to sell 

 a given quantity of milk he does not need to keep so 

 many cows as we must do. The corollary is that as 

 every extra cow costs money to buy, feed, and tend, 

 the Dane can attain to equal results at a smaller 

 annual outlay. 



