44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and pnxhu'tivo, and at the same time pays for her feed and 

 care by producing food for mankind. We have simiLar con- 

 ditions in some portions of this country, bnt instead of the 

 ' intensive cnltnrc of flowers, we make use of the fertility for 

 food plants, such as wheat, corn, oats and other grains, which 

 do not return as large gross receipts from the same area. 

 The people of Holland make their living chiefly from the 

 soil, but they buy much of their grain from our country. It 

 must, however, be borne in mind that grain is fed to their 

 animals in very limited quantities. Roots, grass and hay 

 are the important feeds of the dairy cow there. These, of 

 course, are raised on their soil. By this intensive system 

 of agriculture the value of the land is greatly increased, so 

 that in many parts of Holland land is worth $:^,000 per 

 acre, and in some parts as high as $2,500 per acre. 



We find similar conditions on the islands of Jersey and 

 Guernsey. The Isle of Guernsey is 12 miles square and 

 supports a population of 40,000 people. The same general 

 conditions exist here as in Holland. Both make dairying 

 the chief factor in their agricultural pursuits. 



Denmark is considered one of the most intensely dairy 

 countries of Europe. The history of its development well 

 illustrates the part that dairying has played in its progress. 

 After the war with Germany, by which Denmark lost its 

 very important possessions, namely, Schleswig-Holstein, a 

 most fertile country, Denmark became a bankrupt country 

 with an extremely high tax rate. It was a bleak and wind- 

 swept land with a practically barren soil. Previous to the 

 war it was largely a beef-producing country and few dairy 

 cows were kept. On account of the high tax rate necessary 

 to pay the debt created by the war, and the tax put upon 

 the meat importations from England, Denmark was obliged 

 to resort to a more intensive system of farming. It is a 

 common saying that " I^^Tecessity is the mother of invention," 

 and it was not long until, through practical experience, they 

 found that dairying was their method of salvation. Feed 

 was purchased from other countries and fed to the dairy 

 cows. Their soil became fertile. Mineral fertilizers were 



