Imports of Bacon and Hams. 



9 



member to his labourers, or consumed in his own house. A 

 corresponding obligation is nearly always imposed on the 

 association to accept all the healthy swine consigned by a 

 member to the factory. A member may purchase any num- 

 ber of pigs from another member of the association, and send 

 them to the factory, provided he has fattened them for a 

 period varying from 20 to 30 days before delivery. But he 

 is not allowed to send in one year more than ten pigs pur- 

 chased from non-members. The association usually defrays 

 the expenses incurred in conveying the swine from the 

 nearest railway station to the factory ; all other charges for 

 carriage are paid by the consignors. On removal to the 

 factory, the pigs are divided into classes according to quality, 

 the values of the different classes being fixed weekly by the 

 council on the advice of the manager. In some cases the 

 prices are paid according to dead weight, but in the older 

 establishments payment is still determined by the live weight. 

 The offal is generally sold to the members of the association, 

 or to the general public, at the current prices of the day. 



At the close of the year the profits arising from the opera- 

 tions of the association are distributed amongst the members, 

 after provision has been made for the payment of the working 

 expenses, the allocation of a certain sum to the reserve fund, 

 and the part repayment of loans. Each member receives a 

 share of the profits in proportion to the weight of pork he 

 has delivered during the year. The amount carried to the 

 reserve fund is determined annually by the council. 



The net exports of bacon and hams from Denmark during 

 each of the past five years have been as follows : — 



Nearly the whole of these shipments w T ere taken by the 

 United Kingdom. 



The managing committees of 21 of the co-operative 

 bacon factories in Denmark have now combined for the 

 purpose of regulating their output and thereby maintaining 

 prices at a remunerative level. The gross turnover of these 



1893- 94 



1894- 95 



1895- 96 



1896- 97 



1897- 98 



Cwts. 

 836,000 



976,000 

 1,373,000 

 1,228,000 

 1,093,000 



