478 Co-operative Movement in Denmark, [sept., 



cows as are good milkers is said to be tending towards the 

 production of a breed possessing unusually developed 

 capacities in this direction. 



Other Functions of the Controller. — Beside 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 dairying industry in Danish agricultural 

 life is the bacon-curing industry. In 1887 the import of 

 Danish pigs in a living state into Germany was prohibited, 

 and the Danish farmer saw himself obliged to look for 

 another market. One or two old-established firms in Copen- 

 hagen had for some years been dealing with the 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-operation 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 much opposition, 

 and the experience gained in co-operative dairying being 

 only to a slight degree applicable to this new departure. 



Growth of the Movement. — Despite various obstacles, the 1 

 success of the movement was assured from the beginning. 

 Eight new co-operative factories were established in the 

 second year of the movement, and the number has grown 

 vearlv since. The number of co-operative pig-killing and 

 bacon-curing factories in 1908 was thirty-six, with a member- 

 ship of about 95,000. (Besides these co-operative factories 

 there were twenty-four private firms, so that the total numbed 

 of enterprises in this branch of the industry was sixty.) 



Constitution and Organisation of Co-operative Pig-killing 

 and Bacon-curing Factories. — The constitution of a cc 



