18S 



FOREIGN OFFICE REPORTS. 



[Sept. 1896. 



FOREIGN OFFICE REPORTS. 



Danish Trade in Agricultural Produce. 



Capt. James Boyle, Her Majesty's Consul at Copenhagen, 

 states in his last annual report to the Foreign Office that the 

 exports of agricultural produce from Denmark increased very 

 considerably during 1895. In comparison with the average 

 exports of the preceding five years there was not only an 

 increase in horses, oxen, cows, pork, and butter, but also in sheep, 

 meat, eggs, potatoes, and undressed hides. In horses and horned 

 cattle, the augmentation amounted to 21 1,1 Hi., and in pork 

 and butter to 672,2221. On these products Danish agriculture 

 thus made 833, 3301. more in 1895 than the average for the last 

 five years. The greatest increase was in pork, but the increase 

 in value did not correspond to the increase in quantity. Had 

 the prices in 1895 been the same as in 1894, the increased 

 export of pork would have realised about 433,330£., whereas it 

 only amounted to about 166,660^., but the prices were so very 

 low that the profits on this branch of agriculture almost entirely 

 disappeared. As regards butter, the exports in 1895 were about 

 the same as in 1894, i.e., about 130,000,000 lbs. There is not 

 the slightest doubt, however, that the exports of Danish butter 

 increased by several million pounds weight, the apparent stand- 

 still is due to the fact that the transit trade in Finnish and 

 Swedish butter was considerably lower in 1895, so that the 

 quantity of Danish produce exported was really greater than in 

 1894. 



The whole trade in cereals, taking the imports and exports 

 together, was, according to the official statistics, 137,500,000 

 bushels less than 1894, although it was 343,200,000 bushels 

 more than in 1893. 



As usual, the principal exports to England consisted of 

 dairy produce, bacon, and eggs. The exports of these articles, 

 in 1895, were as follows :— Pork and bacon, 132,000,000 lbs. ; 

 butter, 129,800,000 lbs. ; and eggs, 8,000,000 score. 



According to information collected from various sources, it 

 may Vie said that about 950,000 pigs were slaughtered in Den- 

 mark for bacon during 1895, showing an increase of 35 per 

 cent, when compared with 1894. Considering the enormous 

 number of pigs slaughtered, the results are stated to have been far 

 from satisfactory, as the prices obtained were uncommonly low. 

 In the report of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, farmers are 

 advised to obtain a better breed of pig, and not to over-fatten 

 them. At present there are 15 private and 18 co-operative 

 slaughter and curing establishments in Denmark. It is worthy 

 of remark that all the slaughtering establishments started in 



