THE STATE SMALL-HOLDINGS IN DENMARK 479 



that there were many small-holders in the country where agri- 

 culture was strangely prosperous. But in the light of the ex- 

 perience that I gained in the course of my investigations on 

 the spot, I can say honestly that until these were made I un- 

 derstood little of the local conditions. Further, I had no idea 

 of the great lessons that are to be learned from those condi- 

 tions, which have, as a matter of fact, shown me the answers 

 to problems that I have studied for years without being able to 

 be sure of their solution. 



On these grounds, then, I determined that I would not leave 

 the country until I had personally interviewed some of these 

 State small-holders had seen their land and heard their stories 

 from their own lips. Here I may add that the men I visited on 

 this particular journey, as Mr. Mortensen assured me in answer 

 to my specific questions, were neither the worst nor the best of 

 the State small-holders in that part of Denmark. They were, he 

 said, a fair sample, selected for the most part because their hold- 

 ings lay near the road and were therefore easy of access. 



The first holder whom I saw, a hard, sturdy-looking man of 

 about fifty, was Mr. Ole Larsen of Sallov, by Gadstrup, who 

 owns five tondeland, that is, about six acres and a half, which he 

 bought in 1905 with the aid of a State loan of 4000 kroner (or 

 ^221 13s. 4d.), at a cost of 500 kroner (or about >2'j los.) 

 per tondeland say ,2^ the acre. He informed me that when 

 he entered on the holding he possessed a capital of 1 100 

 kroner (about ;6i), which he had saved as an agricultural 

 labourer. Mr. Larsen is a man of standing in his way, being a 

 member of the Parish Council. He has a wife, but no children. 

 He built the house and buildings at a cost of 2400 kroner 

 (^133)* I believe largely by his own labour; indeed if it were 

 otherwise, I am sure I do not know how he did it for the 

 money. At the time of my visit he was engaged in putting up 

 an excellent cart-shed with his own hands. 



His house was erected under the supervision of the Small- 

 holdings Commission for the Roskilde district, to which all 

 drawings and plans for such dwellings must be submitted. It is 

 thatched, and comprises under one long roof the dwelling-place, 



