124 CO-OPERATION IN DANISH AGRICULTURE 



often resulted in very severe losses for the latter. If useless or 

 inferior artificial manure, or impure and badly germinating 

 seed are used on a field the disastrous results do not appear 

 until it is too late to remedy them, and the loss caused is often 

 many times greater than the total value of the seed or manure 

 in question. The individual farmer is in most cases unable 

 to guard himself against fraud, as the chemical composition, 

 purity, germination or other character of the goods can only be 

 determined by analysis or examination by an expert. Merchants 

 with a somewhat elastic conscience w^ere, therefore, sometimes 

 tempted to sell goods of inferior quality, such as seed of very 

 low germination or mixed with seed of weeds, or chemical 

 manure with very low percentage of the active substance, at 

 prices which would have been low if the goods had been of 

 fine quality, but which, as they were, left an undue profit 

 to the merchants. As the demand for these goods increased 

 with the increasing production, so did the importance of getting 

 good value for the growing expenditure. The necessary cost 

 of distribution fell heaviest on the small parcels, and made 

 these goods relatively more expensive to the small farmers 

 who were least able to pay. These, therefore, in many cases 

 became indebted to the merchant, and consequently were 

 obHged to buy from him at prices which were not always the 

 lowest. 



There were many cases of systematic fraud. From a 

 quarry near Prague in Bohemia, stone powders were produced 

 by sifting, resembling the various kinds of clover seed in colour 

 and size of grain. They were used for mixing with clover seed 

 which has been known to contain as much as 80 per cent, by 

 weight of what became notorious in the seed trade as the 

 " Bohemian mountains." Other adulterations were carried 

 on by Enghsh firms, such as the admixture of dead seed or seed 

 of low power of germination, " to counteract the unfortunate 

 inclination of farmers to sow too closely." Bran from abroad 

 was found adulterated wdth mill-dust, chaff, seed of weeds and 

 cleanings from corn. Chemical manures were offered under 

 fancy names and were sometimes found to have a value of 

 only one-twentieth of the sale price. Of course, the legitimate 

 trade did not deal in these goods, but even the better firms 



