CHAPTER VI. 



THE ELABORATING COMMERCIAL 

 COUNTRIES. 



IN a number of areas, as has been observed, animal industries 

 are conducted on a more or less intensive basis, as distinguished 

 from the pastoral system, by using feedstuff s imported from 

 abroad or brought from other parts of the same country. Such 

 areas are found mainly in Western Europe, but also to some extent 

 in Eastern North America. Important industrial countries such 

 as Great Britain, France, Germany and Belgium are among such 

 areas ; these export agricultural products to a quite limited extent, 

 and, with the exception of France, they have scarcely any export 

 trade in animal foodstuffs ; their imports of foodstuffs, and especi- 

 ally of animal foodstuffs, are in general much greater than the 

 corresponding exports. On the other hand, certain countries, 

 among which Denmark, Holland, Sweden and Ireland are the chief, 

 have much greater exports of animal foodstuffs than imports. In 

 the case of these countries, concentrated feedstuffs and cereals for 

 human consumption are imported, as shown above, as a means of 

 increasing the exports of finished animal foodstuffs, the elaboration 

 of which is in most of them the principal industry. It is proposed 

 in this chapter to discuss in detail the conditions of production in 

 these countries, and incidentally to touch upon any noteworthy 

 facts relating to internal consumption. 



(a) DENMARK. 



Considering its somewhat meagre resources in soil and climate 

 for animal industries, Denmark presents what is probably the 

 most remarkable example of the elaborating-commercial type in 

 the world. On a productive area of a little over 9 million acres 

 less than half the productive area of Ireland Denmark supports 

 a population of 2f millions, and in addition exports more butter 

 than any other single country, more pig-meat than any other 

 country except the United States, and a considerable number of 

 cattle. The explanation lies, first, in the high proportion of arable 

 to the productive area (over 70%), and second, to the extensive 

 importations of feedstuffs and of fertilisers as raw materials, and 

 of wheat and rye for human food. A detailed examination of the 

 trade figures for the year 1912 shows that the total net exports 

 from Denmark of the principal items of animal foodstuffs amounted 

 in value to 23-2 millions ; for, while there were in the same year 

 net imports of cereals and feedstuffs, together amounting in value 

 to 104 millions, of which the materials fed to food-animals would 



