PRODUCTION 81 



organization to the highest level ever reached in the 

 histor\' of agriculture. And it would be hard to find 

 any other rural people with so high a standard of edu- 

 cation ; this is perhaps the greatest advantage they have 

 over us. Inherently our agricultural workers, in the 

 northern half of England at all events, are at least equal 

 to the Danish ; but a large proportion of the Danish 

 labourers own a sufficient amount of land to give them a 

 direct interest in the agricultural industry, and a valuable 

 degree of independence. And the conditions affecting 

 the smallholders are far superior to those existing in this 

 country. 



The Co-operative movement had its origin in England 

 about 100 years ago. It has flourished in our tozcns 

 and has reached a degree of development unequalled 

 in any other country. The Wholesale Co-operative 

 Societies count their membership by millions and the 

 annual turnover is more than ^150,000,000 a year. 



The Danes took the idea from us, but with one great 

 difference. They made it a rural movement ; the result 

 being that the majority of Danish farmers to-day are 

 members of a Co-operative Society, and the bulk of their 

 produce is sold co-operatively — they are their own 

 middle-men. 



The great advantages derived from the full develop- 

 ment of co-operation are these : the producer is not only 

 enabled to fix his prices for the produce of the farm at 

 figures which arc remunerative in the first case, and much 

 less fluctuating than with us, but he also earns a second 

 profit as a trader— a profit which goes to the middleman 

 here. Though the control of prices is so largely in the 

 hands of the farmers, it is well to note that they have 

 never taken unfair advantage of this. During the years 

 preceding the war the prices of Danish farm produce 

 6 



