AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION IN DENMARK. 
33 
England. The higher prices which the Hamburg hog buyers in 
Denmark were able to offer for the bacon-type hog helped to stimu- 
late the farmers' interest in this type, and in the seventies and early 
eighties prompted the erection of several private bacon factories in 
Denmark, which were operated principally for the British bacon 
trade. 27 These plants were small, because their supply of hogs was 
restricted to the surrounding districts. To get the bacon-type of hog 
required for their export trade, the farmers were encouraged to 
cross the native breed with the English Yorkshire, This improve- 
ment in breeding was inaugurated by the bacon factories, which pur- 
chased Yorkshire boars in England and placed them among farmers 
in the vicinities which supplied their plants. As the British bacon 
trade promised to be more profitable, this improvement in pig breed- 
ing soon spread to other sections of Denmark. 
RECENT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SWINE INDUSTRY. 
The Danish swine industry has made a tremendous growth and 
development during the past 30 years, both in increase in number of 
pigs and improvement in breed. The rapid increase in the number 
of pigs in Denmark is shown in Table 5, containing figures from 
the official census. 
Table 5. — Number of pigs in Denmark. 1 
Date official census 
was taken. 
Number of 
pigs. 
Date official census 
was taken. 
Number of 
pigs. 
Date official census 
was taken. 
Number of 
pigs. 
1837 
235, 000 
301, 000 
442, 000 
527, 000 
771,000 
829, 000 
1898. . 
1, 168, 000 
1, 457, 000 
1, 468, 000 
2, 497, 000 
1, 919, 000 
1, 983, 000 
July 12, 1917 
July 15, 1918 
July 15, 1919 
July 15, 1920 
July 15, 1921 
July 15, 1922 
1, 651, 000 
1861 
1903 
2 621, 000 
1871 
1909 
716, 000 
1881 
1914 
1, 008, 000 
1888_... 
May 15, 1915 
Feb. 29, 1916 
1, 429, 908 
1893 
1, 899, 019 
1 Source: Det Statistiske Departement, Copenhagen. Years 1921, 1922, 1923 include north Slesvig. Offi- 
cial census figures for Denmark without the north Slesvig area were 1,007,866 in 1920; 1,327,268 in 1921, and 
1,734,116 in 1922. 
2 Decline caused by cutting off of the importation of feeds by submarine warfare and the very small 
home-grain crop in 1917. 
IMPEOVEMENT IN BEEEDING BACON TYPE. 
The great improvement in quality and type achieved in the Danish 
swine industry in the last 30 years has no parallel in any other coun- 
try. Rather than go over to a new breed of the bacon type, the 
Danish farmer chose to improve the native breed to meet the demand 
of the English market. In the improvement of the native breed 
(Dansk Landrase) the aim has been twofold: To produce a quality 
of bacon satisfactory to the English market, and to retain thriftiness, 
prolificacy, and hardy characteristics demanded by the farmer. The 
native breed is a white hog of the bacon type — long, fairly fine bone 
and skin, well-developed muscles over back and belly, fairly good 
hams. (See fig. 11.) This breed is a very economical feeder and 
especially well fitted to the feeding conditions on the average Danish 
farniy where it reaches a live weight of a little over 200 pounds in 
-' Sorensen, S., Ilorsens Andels — Svineslagteri 1887-1912, 1912. 
93145°— 24 3 
