174 



Impressions of a Visit to Denmark. 



[may, 



us " We are poor hands at revolution. We find our best way 

 is to prove our rights. Thus in 1882, the only butter fit for 

 export was that made on the big estates, and was sold for 

 1-42 kroner* per lb., while the inferior farm butter was sold for 

 •88 kroner. Ten years later, after the farmers had learnt to 

 co-operate, they were awarded all the gold and silver medals 

 at the Dairy Show, while the estates only gained the bronze. 

 We consider that our greatest political triumph." In the same 

 way, the small holder tries to prove his equal right to existence 

 by producing as good crops as the farmer. 



On the larger farms we visited, which were not more than 

 100 acres, we found that the head man had a comfortable 

 cottage with a neat garden, and enough land to keep a cow, 

 some poultry and pigs. The other labourers employed were 

 all young men up to the age of 25, putting in time and gaining 

 more experience until they are able to acquire holdings of their 

 own. There is thus no class of landless labourers, without 

 prospect of anything better, or means of exit from a blind- 

 alley profession. It is not, therefore, surprising to find that 

 very little trouble occurs between employer and labour. These 

 men usually " live in " as they do in Anglesey and other parts 

 of Wales, but their quarters were neat and comfortable, com- 

 prising a sitting room in addition to their bedrooms. The wages, 

 at the time of our visit, appeared to be very much the same as 

 in this country. 



The farm-houses are plain, mostly of the bungalow type, 

 easily worked, fitted with electric light, and almost without 

 exception with a telephone. 



The surest proof that it is generally believed possible, in 

 Denmark, to make a living out of 10 to 15 acres of land, is the 

 ever increasing demand for small holdings. The demand is 

 so great that the Bill before the Danish Parliament last summer 

 was the third within the last 18 years having for its object 

 the conversion of more precious acres into State small holdings. 



2. The second factor is undoubtedly the wonderful system 

 of co-operation in Denmark, which makes it possible for the 

 small producer to make a living in competition with the larger 

 farmer. The first co-operative dairy was started in 1882 ; 

 there are now 1,188 such dairies in Denmark, with a membership 

 of 157,000. The first bacon factory was started in 1887 ; there 

 are now 41 societies, with a membership of 95,000. The most 

 interesting fact in connection with these societies is that the 

 movement was started entirely by the farmers themselves, 

 and was not the work of organisers. It has proved so success- 



♦ A kroner = is. i\d., normal rate of exchange. 



