The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1908-07-03
pAlRYlNo IN DENMARK.
Land Worked for Hundreds of Years
Still Beats Ours.

Land worked for f1unufous OF teATs
Still Beats Ours.
That American farmers and promoters
Of agricultural industries are rather
lax in grasping their opportunities, and
are in danger Of being outgeneraled in
the markets of the world, unless they
improve their methods, is the belief OF
Dean James E. Russell, Of Columbia
University, New York. Dean Russell
was recently visitor at the state col
lege, and during his stay there ad-
dressed an assembly of the teachers OF
the Inland Empire, who were attending
the teachers institute in Pullman Rela-
tive to the problems just mentioned, he
said:
"Thirty years ago New York was
sending butter and cheese to the Lon
don markets. New York butter and
cheese were ruling out similar products
from Ontario, and other parts of the
world. Just thirty years ago Denmark
began to think she could make butter
and put it in the London market. The
question was, How could she overcome
the lead that New York already had in
the London marketsf She sent men to
London to study out the ground; to fnd
what London wanted. Then she set
about to give them the required product.
"Denmark is country Of poor soil,
which has been titled and overworked
for thousand years. Nevertheless, the
Danish population annually sells in the
markets of London $4,000, 900 worth
of butter. In 1908 the entire United
States exported only $1,064,o0o worth
Of butter. In addition to the vast guam
tity of butter mentioned, Denmark
sends out oneffth as much pork as we
do, and just as many horses; and GER
tainly, we should lead the world in the
breeding of horses. In the meantime
the Danish nation has taught the hens
how to work. Four hundred and fifty
thousand dollars worth of eggs were ex-
ported by this country in 1878, and in
1903 this export had reached value
Of $S,092, 900. In the last ten years
Denmark has taken $9,000,000 worth Of
corn from Iowa and Nebraska, via New
York, which she has fed to Danish cows
and pigs, and then placed the latter in
the European markets in successful
competition with similar products from
America
/. "I said moment ago that twenty
years ago the competitor of Denmark
was the State of New York. In these
twenty years the Danish people have
increased their exports from 100000
to $40,000,000. In the same twenty
years farm values in the State of New
York have decreased $200,000,000. In
the last fifteen years Ontario has outbid
New York in the same way in the
cheese market. Twenty years ago New
York companies received Canadian
cheese and put the, New York stamp on
it to get one cent more in the English
market. Today the New York farmers
are sending their cheese over the Cana
dian boundaries, and paying two cents
per pound in order to sell it at all.''
Showing the superiority Of European
methods of education in comparison
with American education, Dean Russell
said:
Wurtemburg Is small German
state, q little larger than the Inland
Empire Of Eastern Washington, and
having population of about two mil
lion persons. Thirty years ago Wur-
temburg began to realize that her pop
ulation was beginning to dwindle; that
something had to be done to maintain
her integrity as state. So she set
about building up system of schools
for all the people; that would help the
boy who wished to be carpenter, q
plumber, or farmer, in the same de-
gree, according to his needs, as they
would assist the youth who desired to
be lawyer, an engineer, or ply
sician. Today Wurtemburg has uni
versity giving courses of worldwide
fame; technical schools, weaving and
manufacturing schools; two hundred and
thirty industrial schools in towns and
villages; schools for metal workers, and
workers in the textile trades; schools Of
art, of agriculture, of preparation for
household management; and numerous
farm schools, and high schools through.
out the state
larger than the Inland Empire Of East
ern Washington, supports all these in
stitutions, with an income of ten dollars
per head of population. What would
American citizens think, if in addition
to supporting agricultural colleges, they
were asked to support five hundred
technical and industrial schools for
every two million of populations This
is what is being done in the small state
of Wurtemburg, and from the point of
view Of American citizens TODAY, it is
almost inconceivable; the contemplation
Of which must lead any American citi-
zen to infer that his country has much
to do and learn before it can success
fully compete with the old country in
the products of Industrial education. -