Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. 542 



[December, 1911, 



to the cows they should select for breed- 

 ing purposes, and the bulls to which it 

 would be best to put them. The farmer 

 has to keep a record of the weight of 

 milk yielded by each cow, and of the 

 butter-fat contained therein, together 

 with details as to the amount and nature 

 of the fodder supplied to the cow. 

 By this means the controller is able 

 to advise as to the profitableness of 

 the animal. The practice of breeding 

 only from such cows as are good milkers 

 is said to be tending towards the pro- 

 duction of a breed possessing unusually 

 developed capacities in this direction. 



Other Functions of the Controller. — Be- 

 side the main object of improving the 

 breed of cattle, the controller also gives 

 advice on other branches of agricultural 

 industry, such as the pigs, roots, &c. 

 He also keeps duplicate account books 

 for each farm, being both auditor and 

 adviser to the farmer. 



Co-operative Bacon-curing Factories. — 

 Second only in importance to the dairy- 

 ing industry in Danish agricultural life 

 is the bacon-curing industry. In 1887 the 

 import of Danish pigs in living state 

 into Germany was prohibited, and the 

 Danish farmer was himself obliged to 

 look for another market. One or two 

 old-established firms in Copenhagen had 

 for some years been dealing with 

 British market in salted bacon, and 

 hence the first inclination was towards 

 Great Britain. These firms were private 

 concerns, and used the opportune excess 

 of supply over demand to reduce the 

 price given to the Danish farmers for 

 their pigs, while maintaining to a very 

 large extent the price to their customers 

 in London. This state of things was 

 eminently unsatisfactory to the farmer, 

 who having the success of the recently 

 started co-operative dairies before his 

 eyes, decided to experiment in co-oper- 

 ation in this branch of agriculture also, 

 and the first co-operative pig-killing and 

 bacon-curing factory in Denmark was 

 founded at Horsens in 1888. A certain 

 amount of difficulty was experienced at 

 first, the established private firms 

 naturally offering such position, and the 

 experience gained in co-operative dairy- 

 ing being only to a slight degree applic- 

 able to this new departure. 



Growth of the Movement. — Despite 

 various obstacles, the success of the 

 movement was assured from the begin- 

 ning. Eight new co-operative factories 

 were established in the second year of 

 the movement, and the number has 

 grown yearly since, The number of 

 co-operative pig-killing and bacon-curing 

 factories in 1908 was thirty-six, with a 

 membership of about 95,000, (Besides 



these co-operative factories there were 

 twenty-four private firms, so that the 

 total number of enterprises in this 

 branch of the industry was sixty.) 



Constitution and Organisation of 

 Co-operative Pig-killing and Bacon-cur- 

 ing Factories.— The constitution of a 

 co-operative pig-killing and bacon- 

 curing factory is, mutatis mutandis, 

 materially the same as that of a co-oper- 

 aative dairy. The area over which the 

 members of a co-operative slaughtery 

 are scattered is naturally larger than 

 that covered by adairy.Theconsignments 

 to the factory are neither daily nor in 

 small quantities, as, in the case of dairies, 

 but at longer intervals and in larger 

 quantities. Again, the perishable nature 

 of milk necessarily limits the distance 

 over which it can be transported, while 

 with the live pig this is not the case. 

 The risk of transport are borne by the 

 factory once the pig has been consign- 

 ed ; moreover, the factory bears the 

 cost of transport for such pigs as are 

 sent by train, so that all pigs, whether 

 from far or near, arrive at the factory 

 at an equal minimum of cost to the 

 farmer. 



The money for erecting the factories 

 was raised by loans, as in the case of the 

 dairies, the guarantee being in this 

 case also for a certain number of 

 years, generally five, seven, cr ten. In 

 most cases the original loans have al- 

 ready been paid off, and the factories 

 are owned by the members themselves. 

 The members bind themselves to deliver 

 all their pigs to the factory (generally 

 with the exception of the sows and 

 hogs for breeding purposes and young 

 pigs under a certain weight). They may, 

 however, sell to a fellow-member, upon 

 whom the obligation towards the 

 factory devolves. Special rules are 

 made as to the admittance of new 

 members subsequent to the foundation 

 of the factory. 



The members elect their committee, 

 which in turn elects its chairman and 

 vice-chairman, and appoints a director 

 of the factory, and in some cases certain 

 other officials. The Director manages 

 the factory under the control of the 

 committee. 



The Associated Danish Co-operative 

 Pig Slaughteries. — This association (De 

 Samvirkende Danske Andels-Svine-slag- 

 terrier) was founded in 1897, and thirty- 

 three out of thirty-six co-operative 

 slaughteries in Denmark belong to it. 

 It consists of members of the committees 

 of all the associated factories, who elect 

 a committee of five of their members, 

 who stay in office for ^wo yearsi and of 



