1910.] Notes on Agriculture Abroad. 



503 



46,706,252 metric tons, or 5'68 tons per acre, of which 5 per cent, were 

 diseased, as against 5*69 tons per acre and 4 per cent, diseased in 

 1908. There was a large increase in the export of potato products, 

 potato flour and starch amounting to 507,834 cwt. during the first 

 eleven months, against 234,257 cwt. during the same period of 1908. 

 — [F.O. Reports, Annual Series, No. 4521.] 



Agriculture and Dairying in Denmark. — The Report on the Trade and 

 Commerce of Denmark for 1909 (Foreign Office Report, Annual Series, 

 No. 4532) gives particulars of a Bill introduced into the Danish Rigsdag 

 relating to the import and export of agricultural products. The Bill 

 proposed to fix the amount of water allowed in butter in order to meet 

 British requirements, and provided for the inspection of dairies and the 

 prohibition of the use of aniline colouring matter or preservatives other 

 than common salt. It met with some opposition, and was referred to 

 a Committee. 



The Report gives a full account of the condition of the agricultural 

 industry during 1909, in the course of which it is observed that the 

 demand for Shorthorns was limited, but a considerable number of 

 Jerseys were bought. A few pedigree sheep were imported from the 

 United Kingdom. 



Reference is made to the conference which took place between the 

 British committee „of Danish butter importers and the representatives 

 of Danish agriculture on the subject of the Danish official butter quota- 

 tions. 



The number of co-operative societies in 1909 is given as follows : — 

 1,116 co-operative dairies; 508 State-supported control associations; 35 

 co-operative slaughterhouses; 1,310 State-supported cattle-breeding asso- 

 ciations, with 1,550 animals; 260 State-supported horse-breeding asso- 

 ciations, with 310 stallions; and 250 State-supported swine-breeding 

 associations, with 326 boars. 



Milking Machinery in Denmark. — Milking by machinery has gained 

 some ground during 1909, and about 150 machines, mostly of the 

 pressure and suction type, are in use. At the same time, it cannot be 

 said that this question has as yet found a satisfactory solution. 



Experiments have lately been in progress at a well-known Danish 

 dairy farm under the superintendence of representatives of the Royal 

 Veterinary and Agricultural College of Copenhagen with a view of 

 comparing the relative values of hand milking and milking by 

 machinery. The milking machine under observation was the Lawrence- 

 Kennedy-Gillies patent milking machine. 



The experiments were made on cows and heifers, a certain number 

 of each being respectively hand milked and machine milked. In the 

 concluding stages of the experiments, a trial was given to the new 

 milking cup, " Thulekoppen," by means of which all the milk is drawn 

 from the cows, and subsequent milking by hand obviated. For com- 

 parative purposes a course of hand and machine milking was conducted 

 extending over three to four months, with the ultimate result that 

 nearly the same amount of milk was obtained by both systems. In 

 the case of full-grown cows a rather larger quantity of milk appears 

 to have been obtained by hand milking, whereas heifers gave a higher 

 yield when milked by the machine. The chemical composition of the 

 milk does not appear to have been affected by the different methods 



