ON AGRICULTURE TO DENMARK 33 



(1) Those which are held directly of the Crown, and which have 

 been granted for services to the State. Such lands are fettered by 

 certain restrictions and limitations, and in the event of there being 

 no heir entitled to succeed to them, they revert to the Crown. (2) 

 Lands which have been entailed by the proprietors themselves 

 under certain conditions. These are known as " Family Estates." 



In many respects the law of entail is similar to that with which 

 we are familiar in our own country. There is, however, this 

 marked difference, that an heir of entail is not allowed to burden 

 his estate for his widow's and younger children's provisions, or for 

 any purpose whatever, beyond his own lifetime, unless it can be 

 clearly shown that such a burden is to be for the improvement of 

 the estate. In order, therefore, to secure provisions to his widow 

 and younger children, the heir in possession must save this out of 

 his annual income. He has, however, power to sell the estate, 

 subject to approval of the Ministry of Justice, on the express con- 

 dition that the proceeds from such a sale are invested in certain 

 securities, defined by the Ministry of Justice, the interest from 

 which only can be enjoyed by the heir in possession for the time. 

 This practically means that the proceeds from the sale of the 

 entailed lands are as rigidly fettered by the entail as the lands 

 themselves were. 



The succession to an entailed estate, whether it be the land 

 itself, or the proceeds from the sale of an entailed estate, follows the 

 well-known rules of primogeniture, and it would appear that the 

 entail is perpetual, unless there be intervention under special Royal 

 Authority. Since 1848 it is now no longer lawful to entail an 

 estate. 



Before dealing with the different kinds of tenure of land, it 

 would be well to explain that for many years it has been forbidden 

 by Statute to join several farms into one, and there is an obligation 

 upon every farm which exists, or is about to be created, that it 

 shall independently be provided with suitable houses and stock, 

 and no one is allowed to work more than one, or, in case of a special 

 grant being obtained, more than two farms on his own account. 

 Thus, if any person acquires more than one, or two farms, as the 

 case may be, these being either fixed or free land, he shall be 

 obliged to let out the exceeding number of farms either in " Faeste " 

 or in free tenure. In this way the large estates will by and by 

 disappear, and give place to an increasing number of self-depend- 

 ing agricultural holdings. It is further impossible to create large 

 properties, or to increase the large properties which already exist, if 

 this shall be done in such a way so that existing farms and the 

 existing farmers who cultivate the land on their own account 

 should thereby be obliterated. These restrictions in conjunction 

 with the laws relating to " Faeste " have been of the greatest im- 

 portance in keeping up the system of agriculture to the extent 

 now practised in Denmark. 



The various kinds of tenure may be divided into three 

 classes : — 



