86 



Agriculture Abroad. 



[APRIL, 



The number of plantations now under the direction of the 

 Society is 2,232, covering an area of about 195,000 acres. The 

 problem of utilising the wood thus grown was solved in certain 

 cases by the installation of charcoal burning plant, and by the 

 extraction of tar. A considerable trade has also been developed 

 in supplying fence poles and other forms of light timber. 

 Large numbers of young trees, coniferous and deciduous, 

 have been grown on the various plantations, and for a number 

 of years between ten and twelve million plants have been 

 distributed annually. 



The search for marl was one of the early labours of the 

 Society, as it was recognised that large areas would require 

 some form of manure to render the soil fertile, and the transport 

 of this by light railway was begun in 1875. The subsequent 

 expansion by the Society of the system of movable light railways 

 was of importance. Up to the end of 191 5 the amount of 

 marl transported was about 1,300,000 tons, and the amount 

 of lime about 160,000 tons. 



The drainage and cultivation of marsh land took an important 

 place among the activities of the Society. Irrigation canals 

 were made, drainage systems were evolved, embankments 

 and dikes were constructed, and plans and assistance given 

 to a large number of small farmers. About 270 miles of 

 irrigation canals have been made for the improvement of about 

 17,500 acres of land. Extensive schemes of drainage have 

 been put into operation, and the construction of embankments 

 protects large areas from becoming useless stretches of water- 

 logged land. The institution of numerous demonstration 

 stations and of three large permanent experimental stations 

 has enabled the Society to maintain this important work. 

 From these stations are issued large numbers of plans and 

 instructions for the benefit of small holders who are in a position 

 to carry out improvements on their own behalf. 



In the success of the Society's work the co-operation of the 

 individual owner or occupier of the heath land has been a 

 contributing factor of the utmost importance. This has been 

 fostered to a large extent by the educational system obtaining 

 in Denmark, which aims primarily at implanting a love of 

 rural life in the minds of the young. Subsequent training 

 in the advanced schools tends further to develop a taste for 

 those agricultural pursuits which demand a full measure 

 \i the national traits of thrift, industry and neighbourliness, 

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