CO-OPERATION IN DENMARK 



Whatever else may be doubtful or open to argu- 

 ment in connection with Danish agriculture, one thing 

 remains clear, namely, that it owes the greater part of 

 such prosperity as it possesses to the working of the 

 co-operative movement. Or perhaps it would be more 

 accurate to say that this prosperity is due to the char- 

 acter of its people, which renders co-operation popular 

 among them, and to the local conditions which make 

 it feasible and even necessary to agricultural success. 



As the reader may be aware, for it is common 

 knowledge, at present co-operation does not flourish in 

 Great Britain. Speaking generally, notwithstanding 

 the blandishments of the Agricultural Organisation 

 Society, which now receives a small subsidy from the 

 State, and much individual effort and exhortation, 

 the British tenant-farmer consistently declines to 

 co-operate. 



In support of this view I will quote a few sentences 

 from the first yearly Bulletin of the International Insti- 

 tute of Agriculture. In a monograph on Great Britain 

 and Ireland, under the section headed " The Sale of 

 Produce," it says : 



11 We find that in Great Britain co-operation for the 

 sale of produce is still in its infancy." Again, under 

 the section headed "Co-operative Dairying," it says: 

 "The co-operative creamery at which butter is made 

 is almost unknown in England." Again, under the 

 section headed "Agricultural Credit," it says: " Agri- 



