FOREWORD 



So much has been written about Danish Agriculture that it 

 would seem as though little remained to be described. It is 

 only the main features, however, of the progress of that fasci- 

 nating country that have been placed before British readers. 

 We are, or we ought to be, familiar with the systems of tenure, 

 methods of farming, experiments in co-operation and organisa- 

 tion of marketing. 



In his book, " Co-operation in Danish Agriculture," Mr. 

 Harald Faber has given us a vivid picture of the growth of 

 prosperity in Denmark through co-operation. Nevertheless, in 

 spite of that and of other equally instructive books, there remain 

 to be explained to us some of the original and ingenious methods 

 by which the production of Danish soil has increased so remark- 

 ably. In the present volume " Forage Crops in Denmark " 

 light is thrown on several experiments, and developments 

 therefrom, which are not sufficiently known in this country. 



The origin and spread of root cultivation in England, and 

 later, in Scotland and Ireland, is an old story, and the effects 

 upon the systems of farming and even upon the health of the 

 people are well known to every student of agriculture. It is a 

 question if we have not carried the cultivation of roots and the 

 prominence of roots in the rotation beyond the economic point. 

 It is certain, at all events, that we have not attempted to fix 

 the feeding value of roots on the comparative basis which has 

 been adopted by Denmark. The Danish farmer grew small 

 areas of roots and thought little of them as feeding material. 

 In consequence his land was not kept too clean and his bill for 

 imported or home grown cereals and other products for cow 

 feeding was heavy. In this book we are told not only how the 

 Danish farmer was induced to give a greater place to roots in 



