CO-OPEEATIVE DAIRY SOCIETIES 41 



The list suffers somewhat in accuracy from the fact that 

 some dairies were started as private collective dairies, and 

 later on changed into co-operative dairies, while giving the year 

 of their first start instead of the year when they were made 

 co-operative, while 17 dairies have failed to give information. 



That the number of dairies has kept on increasing when it 

 might be thought that the country had already been fully 

 stocked is partly due to the increased production of milk, which 

 was estimated in 1898 at 2,300,000 tons, and in 1914 atB,500,000 

 tons (respectively 510 milhons and 778 millions of gallons). 

 With the increased quantity of milk it was found practicable 

 in many places to build a new dairy and divide the district, 

 instead of enlarging the old dairy. This was often done to 

 reduce the average distance of farms from the dairy, whereby 

 the cost of cartage was reduced. This plan also offered advan- 

 tages to farmers living far away from the old dairy, by doing 

 away with the necessity to have the cows milked very early 

 in the morning, at the same time enabling the skim milk to- 

 be returned earlier in the day. 



The co-operative dairies gradually swallowed up nearly all 

 the private dairies on the estates : — 



Number of Dairies in Denmark. 



1909. 1914. 



Co-operative Dairies 1029 1157 I 1168 



Private collective dairies 266 238 ! 196 



Estate dairies 2-14 90 I 16 



An official inquiry was made in 1909 ^ to show to what 

 extent the dairies served the farms in the country. There 

 were altogether 182,373 holdings in 1909 on which cows were 

 kept. From 2568 holdings with 9828 cows no returns were 

 received. Of the remainder of the holdings 86 per cent, were 

 found to have joined a co-operative dairy, 7 per cent, sold milk 

 to private collective dairies, and 7 per cent, were unconnected 



' Statistiske Meddelelser, 4 Rcfikkc, 36 Bind. 4 Hoefte, "Dcltagclsen i Land- 

 brugets Andelsvirksomhcd 1909," published 1911. 



