SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
As illustrating the amount of plant breeding and crop improvement 
going on all over the country the experiences of the two following days 
were typical. Working from Noestved as temporary base an excursion 
was first made to the sced-growing and eleaning establishment of EK, 
Frederiksen Limited at Klarskov. Here at a railway siding is e fine 
four-storey factory where the firm’s seed is dried, cleaned, and packed 
for disposal. The machinery again rather baflles description, but may 
be roughly classed in four groups, namely, the carrot seed equiymenc 
with a strong set of brushes working in wire net concave to remove the 
“)ristles” peculiar to this seed; the “hard round” seed set dealing 
with clover, lucerne, and brassica—types of seed; a set for light grass 
seeds; and finally ordinary cereal cleaning equipment. The main prin-. 
ciple in the latter, which also occurs in almost every other type of 
cleaning machine, is the revolving pitted drum, so familiar to stud 
wheat breeders at home. 
On the farm belonging to the firm 380 acres are devoted to special 
breeding, selection, and test work. New types of all farm crops are 
constantly being worked up by all the principal seed merchants, ot 
whom it was gathered there are about a dozen in Denmark. And tests 
are made not only of all parcels coming into the firm’s hands for re- 
disposal, but of each lot which is made up for sale. Not content with 
the State Control’s certificate of purity, &c., it is the custom with these 
wholesale firms to grow a check plot of every parcel of seed leaving 
their factory. These plots cover large areas, and customers are en- 
couraged to inspect them. They also stand for reference purposes m 
cases of complaint, and should the test plot indicate a defect in the 
quality of the seed (a very rare occurrence!) the buyer inmediately has 
a case for compensation. The compensation, in the case of the Co-~ 
operative Wholesale Society at least, is very liberal, and promptly paid. 
From the remainder of the firm’s land—70 acres—bulk seed is raised ; 
in addition, bulk seed is procured from farmers under contract; for 
example, the firm supplies the seed, the farmer undertakes to grow for 
and supply to this firm and no other, and to submit to the firm’s 
“control.” The latter provides among other things that crops subject 
to cross fertilization be grown in isolation, and that the most thorough 
methods of farming be employed, and the firm’s inspectors visit the 
“contract farms” at least two or three times during the growing 
season. Twenty per cent. of the product after harvest goes to the firm, 
who also have first option over the remainder of the seed at a price 
set out in the contract. There are variations from this arrangement, 
but the above is typical of the method of raising a very large quantity 
of high-class seed throughout the country. One firm was met with 
later who numbered among its “ contract farmers” some 2,500 growers, 
and that the seed industry is an important one here was evident. from 
the time the train left behind the suburbs of Copenhagen. Almost 
every farm carried a few acres at least of carrot, mangel-wurzel, turnip, 
cocksfoot, English rye or timothy grass, running up to seed—another 
example of the general tendency of Danish farming towards a decrease 
of the bulk and a corresponding increase in the value of the product 
remoyed from the farm. 
To return to Frederiksen’s. Lunch was provided at the village 
inn, and incidentally copies of the firm’s catalogue, in English, were 
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