1904.] 



Farms in Denmark, 



145 



farm, and works the land and attends to his stock, so that 

 they produce more profit, thus giving him about the same 

 amount more in profit for his own use, as he would have to 

 pay in repayment of loan, interest and taxes. Again, if he 

 has a son, he feels that he has paid off so many instalments 

 that when his son succeeds he will in all probability come into 

 the full enjoyment of absolute ownership. In the case of one 

 small farm, which was visited by the deputation, the proprietor 

 had seven years' more instalments to pay, and in his case he had 

 six acres, for which, in interest and repayment, he had to pay 

 200 kroner, or £11 3s. annually, of which 60 kroner, or 

 £3 7s. 6d., were rates and taxes, local and State, the remainder 

 being instalments and interest on the original mortgage. This 

 man kept three cows, bringing him in gross ^13 10s. each, or 

 about £40 10s. per annum from milk alone. He sold the calves 

 at good prices, as a rule, to the local co-operative store for 

 butchering. He also kept some pigs, sending in about ten 

 yearly to the bacon factory, obtaining for each about £3 5s., or 

 about £32 per annum for all. His manure cost him nothing, as 

 he saved his farmyard manure. Seeds, which he bought from 

 the Co-operative Society, his own food and that for his horse 

 were his only expenses. 



The type of farm which prevails throughout the country is 

 described as follows. In shape the buildings are in a square for 

 a farm of about 24 acres and upwards ; but in smaller farms 

 the buildings are formed in an " L " shape. In the square farm- 

 steads one side is given up to the dwelling-house, and though 

 this generally faces the approach road, the door is at the back 

 — inside the square. The farm is entered by an archway, 

 generally on one side of the square ; opposite the house is the 

 hay and straw barn ; on one side are the stables for the horses 

 and the thrashing-floor ; opposite these, again, is the byre and 

 pigsty. Outside of the square, and behind the byre and pigsty,, 

 are generally placed the manure pits, one being for the dry 

 manure, and the other for the liquid. 



The whole object of farming in Denmark is milk production. 

 1 he milch cows are almost entirely fed in the house, except for 

 about 14 weeks in the summer, when they are let out for about 

 six hours in the day. 



M 



