72 REPORT OF THE SCOTTISH COMMISSION 



experiment no information was obtained. Careful examination of 

 it in the light of science supports the view that a greater growth 

 can be obtained in this way, but whether the increase of crop will 

 be sufficient compensation for the extra labour in watering and 

 tending the stock must depend on circumstances. The system of 

 allowing the grass to become full grown before eating it down 

 certainly militates against the formation of fine pasture comparable 

 to what we find in a well grazed field in this country. Indeed 

 good close bottom pasture fields are conspicuous by their absence 

 in Denmark. 



Sixth year — Oats. The land is well ploughed in autumn as a 

 preparation for this crop, and the seed sown about the end of 

 April. It may be remarked here that spring sown cereals did not 

 appear to be a great success. This, no doubt, is due to the dryness 

 and shortness of the season. But the scientists of Denmark are 

 evidently trying to meet the difficulty, for we saw at one of the 

 Experiment Stations experiments in progress for the purpose of 

 discovering varieties of oats and barley hardy enough to stand the 

 winter, and thus permit of autumn sowing as is done in the case 

 of wheat and rye. 



Seventh year — Fallow. But only those parts that are infested 

 with weeds, and are requiring special treatment, are left uncropped. 

 The greater part of the break is used for growing such crops as peas, 

 six-rowed barley, mixtures of peas and cereals which are used 

 partly as green fodder and partly as hay. 



It may be mentioned that the Danish farmer does not grow 

 potatoes for the market. He uses very little artificial manure, in 

 many cases none at all. His dairy practice is so profitable that his 

 great aim is to keep as many cows as possible. This entails, in 

 addition to consuming much of his grain on the farm, extensive 

 purchase of feeding stuffs, with the result that the manure heap 

 is greatly augmented both in quantity and quality. This dung, 

 both liquid and solid, is usually very carefully looked after, and is 

 often more than sufficient, with little or no assistance from artificial 

 manure, to maintain the fertility of the land. 



Farming suited to the Soil 



It would be difficult to conceive a system of farming more 

 suited to the soil in Denmark than that in practice at the present 

 time. The policy of keeping as many cows as it is possible to 

 keep, and the production of a large quantity of farmyard manure, 

 which is carefully husbanded and applied in small dressings 

 frequently during the rotation, is on many of the fiirms in Denmark 

 effecting a gradual improvement which could not be accomplished 

 by the use of artificial manure. Especially is this true of the 

 small farms of the peasant proprietors, for it is on them that, 

 owing to the desire to find profitable labour on the holding for the 

 peasant and his family, the greatest effort is made to stock heavily 

 and to practise intensive farming. The soil being chiefly sandy in 

 nature and. liable to suffer from drought, dung is the best and 



