84 BULLETIN 1266, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
were well demonstrated during the agricultural depression in 
1921-22. During this difficult year the aggregate losses on mortgage 
properties taken over bv the 13 associations amounted to only 35,000 
kroner ($6,655). 
SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS. 
The savings institutions of Denmark engage in mortgage loans, but 
the bulk of their business is personal credit. They supply an im- 
portant part of the farmer's personal-credit requirements. The 
first savings institution (Sparekasse) was established in 1810 on 
Holsteinborg Estate. 63 In 1921 64 there were 496 savings institutions 
in Denmark and 392 of these were located in the rural districts. 
On March 31, 1921, these institutions had 1,533,286 deposit accounts, 
whose aggregate deposits totaled 1,516,842,919 kroner ($275,306,990 
at exchange as of that date). The fact that these local institutions 
were established in the agricultural districts, before the development 
of the modern private banks, partly explains why the latter are not 
so widely established in the Danish agricultural villages as in this 
country. 
While the savings institutions are under Government supervision, 
each is purely a voluntary community undertaking, established by 
private enterprise. Only a minimum margin is charged on all money 
transactions to cover expenditures incurred — any profits are placed 
in a reserve fund. The savings institution is therefore a self-support- 
ing institution, rather than a cooperative enterprise. It provides a 
community exchange where local people may deposit their savings, 
and these savings in turn may be loaned to others in the same 
community. 
These savings institutions usually pay about 4rJ per cent interest 
on savings deposits, and in turn grant loans with this money at 5 
per cent, charging just enough to cover expenses incurred in making 
such transactions. The affairs of the smaller rural savings institu- 
tions are managed by the members at minimum cost. A teacher, 
farmer, or village merchant usually performs the principal clerical 
and ohj.cial work at his home or place of business, with a small re- 
muneration for his services. These savings institutions have played 
an important role in furnishing loans to cooperative associations 
for building cooperative creameries and bacon plants. 
LOAN ASSOCIATIONS. 
In 1898 a scheme to provide short-term loans was created by 
State legislation, whereby the State provided 5,000,000 kroner ($1,- 
340,000 at par) at a low interest rate, which could be loaned to farm- 
ers through local agricultural loan associations (Lcmdokonomiske 
F or skudsf overling er) . These loan associations could then provide 
small loans for buying seeds, fertilizer, feeds, etc.. at low interest 
rates for a period not to exceed nine mouths, against livestock se- 
curity. While many of these loan associations served an urgent need 
during the first decade of this century, the plan failed to become per- 
manent. Aside from meeting this need, the Government policy was 
to encourage the plan with the aid of State loans, until the loan asso- 
r«ra. o. n. Landbrogetfi Historie og Statistik. 1921. p. 240. 
«St;Mi>tik Aarbog, 1928, p. 100. 
