VAETOUS CO-OPERATIVE UNDEETAKINGS 151 



Co-operative Marling Societies. — There are two large societies, 

 formed in 1907 and 1906, with 49 and 12 local branches re- 

 spectively, distributing marl from large pits by the usual 

 railways. Agricultural lime is also supplied to the members. 

 The State encourages marhng by paying 70 per cent, of the 

 cost of carriage, the grant from the State amounting in 1916 to 

 £15,000. 



There are sixty other co-operative societies of purely local 

 activity working on different lines. They carry the marl from 

 a local pit to members within a distance of generally less than 

 ten miles by means of movable light railways. The first of 

 these societies was formed in 1905. On the budget for 1904-5 

 the State granted to the Danish Heath Society a sum of £500 

 for the purpose of buying a movable light railway to be let 

 to private landowners for the purpose of transporting marl. 

 The idea was found to work to great satisfaction, the farmers 

 forming co-operative societies in order to hire the railway ; 

 year after year the grant was renewed, and increased until by 

 1912 a total of £24,000 had been voted. After that time it 

 was not intended to spend any further capital on buying Hght 

 railways. These remain the property of the Heath Society, 

 which lets them out to the co-operative societies or to others, 

 and to some extent supervises the use of them. The marhng 

 societies raise loans, on the joint hability of members, to pay 

 for the marl, hire of railways, purchase of hght locomotives, 

 and so forth. Besides paying for the railways the State assists 

 the marhng societies by paying 2 per cent, of the loans of the 

 societies, while the societies are to pay at least 3 per cent, and 

 to repay the loans in less than ten years. On the budget of 

 1915-16 this State grant amounted to £5000. On these mov- 

 able light railways over 3,000,000 cubic yards of marl were 

 transported during the years 1904-1916. , 



Co-operative Baheries. — About 1888 a few co-operative 

 bakeries were started in Sealand, and in 1898 a few more were 

 started in the north of Jutland. There are at present probably 

 about ten co-operative bakeries in Denmark, all in country 

 districts. In some towns joint-stock bakeries have been 

 started by the labouring classes for a similar purpose, the 

 shares to bear interest only at the ordinary rate, the surplus 



