26 
BULLETIN 1266, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Farmers of Denmark Butter Export Association. This association 
did business until 1908 when it was forced to discontinue. Its fail- 
ure, according to Danish authorities, 21 was due to the fact that it did 
not operate on a strictly cooperative basis and was embarrassed by 
poor management. In 1895 the dissatisfaction with the Copenhagen 
butter quotations in regard to " overprices " and the need for certain 
trade reforms in regard to weight and payment for quality, prompted 
the farmers to form two cooperative butter export associations which 
are still doing a successful business. In the next few years other 
associations followed. In 1922, there were 11 export associations 
with a membership of 546 creameries, which handled over 82,000,000 
pounds, or 38.8 per cent of the total Danish butter export. (See 
Table 3.) This membership constitutes about one-third of the total 
number of creameries in Denmark. These sales through export asso- 
ciations show an increase over pre-war times. In 1914, 22 .20.3 per 
cent of the total butter export (based on the value of butter and 
cream export) was handled by the export associations, which handled 
only 16.7 per cent in 1911. 
Table 
•: 3. — Danish hutter exported through cooperative butter export associa- 
tions. 1 
Number 
of 
coopera- 
tive 
export 
associa- 
tions. 
Number 
of cream- 
eries 
mem- 
bers of 
coopera- 
tive 
export 
associa- 
tions. 
Danish butter export 
through cooperative 
butter export asso- 
ciations. 
Year 
Pounds. 
Per cent 
oftotal 
Danish 
butter 
exports. 
19182 
8 
8 
11 
. 11 
11 
23,911,000 
34, 336, 000 
57, 921, 000 
78, 647, 000 
82, 393, 000 
74 
1919 2 
42.4 
1920 
35. 1 
1921 
550 
546 
38.7 
1922 
3S. 8 
i Source: Official figures from the associations and De Samvirkende Danske Andelssm5rexport fore- 
ninger, Aarhus. 
2 Influenced by war conditions. 
Conditions created by the World "War brought about abnormal 
circumstances in regard to the activities of the export associations. 
The dangers involved in water transportation made butter exporta- 
tion very uncertain,, and private exporters often refused to handle 
the butter. Production was decreased, but home consumption was 
stimulated enormously when the war cut off the usual supply of 
margarine so that it took the larger part of the butter. What was 
left for export was largely marketed through the export asso- 
eiat ions. 
With the exception of the first failure, all of these export associa- 
tions have met with substantial success and have won the con- 
fidence of their members and of the trade. It is significant that none 
of these associations has ever had any sensational, mushroom growth. 
' Hertel, EL, Andelsbevagelsen, 1!»17. p. 282. 
er, Harold, Cooperation in Danish Agriculture, 1918, p. 84. 
