, 1910-03-23

- eI JIG year IOQQQ. lie mas studied
s4oir tooc, and uses oiI-cakes from New
Orleans and japan, end maize from the
'.2ntlnent. Each week there arrives at
Copenhagen q steamer from New Orleans
laden with oil cakes for feeding. He col
iects his manure with the greatest care,
4nd saves all Of the refuse from the CO.
operative dairy and other establishments
Tor The enrichment of his farm.
tie IS aided in this in countless WAYS by
the State. The State is always at his
service. Commissions are sent abroad to
study foreign markets and foreign meth
oIs. Stock IS bred from the best studs
and bulls. Chickens are selected for
thuL qualities as egg producers. Soil is
studied, and the latest agricultural and
dairy implements are bought, either CO..
oparatlvely or by groups Of men in the same
village.
The Cooperative Movement.
The other great factor is cooperation.
The Danish farmer gets all that be pro
Internationally MI. The State owns
the railways and protects the farmer from
exploitation. And he himself performs all
OF the processes of production, distribution,
and exchange. He has eliminated one mid
dleman after another until he is almost as
selt-contained as was his ancestor of three
hundred years ago, whose only knowledge
OF the outside world was gained at the local
village fair, when he went to barter his
8oods. The cooperative movement began
with daTylpg. Up to about 1890 each
farmer made his own butter. 1t was very
costly md there WAS no uniformity in the
product. About this time a new device
was invented for bu~tter~making. A number
OF farmers got together and purchased one
OF the machines. It's success was immedi-
ate. Other villages followed. To-day there
are LOST cooperative dairies, with a mem
bership Of 1853, 900 farmers. There are
also 200 othor private duiries. Nearly
20 per cent of the farmers are members Of
the &C. operative dairies, which ship nearly
one million dollars worth of butter a
week 10 England. Then the farmers began
to use skim milk for feeding their hogs.
Ibe bacon business became u by-product.
Then they organized cooperative slaughter
houses, which are located III districts.
There now 81 Of these cooperative abat-
tolrs, with a membership Of 10000 and an
annual business Of LOO, 600 hogs.
The Danish Cooperative Egg Export
Society was the next organization. 1t
was organized in 1855. 1t now has
$1,000 members. The eggs are collected
aud stamped each day IN a local circle. Then
they are sent to larger circles for export.
In 1908 the export egg business amounted
to $6,600,0 900. Danish eggs bring fancy
prices. For they are always fresh. They
arc better packed than any Others, and are
carefully graded. BY these means the Dane
has more than doubled the price which he
receives for his butter. He saves the profits
which formerly went to the iobber. The
same is true of bacon and eggs.
Some years ago there was formed in Lon
don a trust to control the bacon industry.
1t fixed the price to the farmer and the price
TO the consumer as we'll This spelled disas-
ter to the Danish farmer. But lie met this
danger as lie had his former difficulties, by
cooperation. He formed Il selling agency
OF his own. The Danish Bacon Company of
London not only destroyed the trust, it
insured to the Danish farmer q secure mar
ket Tor his produce. Thus the farmer gets
al that his labour produces. He is not de-
spoiled 10y warehousemen, by railway or
other monopoly charges. He gets the full
value of his product ia dividends at the end
of the year, the profits refunded to him be-
ing measured by the amount of his output.
The peasant is also his own banker. There
are 636 cooperative savings banks in the
country. Here the farmer places his saw
H.