191 1.] Co-operative Movement in Denmark. 



469 



Shepherd's Purse are repeated surface cultivation, and the 

 free and continued use of the hoe among root-crops. An 

 endeavour must be made to prevent seeding of many plants, 

 which may often be overlooked owing to their being hidden 

 by larger crop plants. The seeds occur in samples of clover 

 and grass seeds, and care should be taken that only pure 

 "seeds" be sown. , 



THE GROWTH OF THE CO-OPERATIVE 

 MOVEMENT IN DENMARK. 



The Board have received through the Foreign Office the 

 following report, which has been drawn up by Mr. R. 

 Turner, late Vice-Consul and Archivist at H.M. Legation at 

 Copenhagen, on the growth and progress of the co-operative 

 movement in Denmark. 



Growth of the Co-operative Movement. — Until the latter 

 half of the last century Denmark was a corn-producing 

 country, but from thirty to forty years ago various causes 

 combined to ruin this branch of agriculture in the country, 

 and it was then that Danish farmers began to take up 

 dairy farming. Such success attended this departure that 

 Denmark is now cited as being second in the list of 

 European countries ranked according to wealth per head 

 of the population. The new departure was from the 

 beginning encouraged by the Government, and the judi- 

 ciously applied State aid is in no small measure responsible 

 for its success. 



Apart from the geographical and other natural advan- 

 tages which Denmark enjoys as regards this special branch 

 of the agricultural industry, its success is to be very largely 

 ascribed to the perfection to which the system of co-operation 

 has been brought in the country. In 1890, when the co- 

 operative movement was as yet in its infancy, the butter 

 exported from the country (to take one instance) was calcu- 

 lated at 97,480,000 lb., while in 1905 Denmark exported 

 186,360,000 lb. of butter. At the same time the number of 

 co-operative dairies had increased from 781 to 1,068 (exclu- 

 sive of some 200 communal dairies). 



Danish Co-operative System. — The system of co-operation 

 as practised in Denmark may be said to be an adaptation of 



