The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1914-05-15
Cooperative Concern Copenhagen
WHY DENMARK PRODUCES BEST BUTTER. BACON AND EGGS

Copenhagen, Denmark has
Denmark, little country with less
khah fifteen thousand square miles Of
hrea, established itself as one Of the
pest agricultural centers In the world?
Why Is It that Denmark produces the
best butter, the best bacon, the best
eggs, that have ever been placed upon
Ehe markets Of Europe? How can this
little country export each year fifty
odd million dollars worth Of butter,
bver four million dollars worth Of
cream and milk. thirty odd million dol
lars worth of the finest bacon and
slight million dollars worth of eggs?
Denmark has no rich mines, no great
forests. no water power. The soil.
8he one resource, Is not naturally fer
tile. In fact, Denmark is low-lying
iexpanse Of wind-swept sand dunes,
with here and there small stretches
Of richer soil. Much OF its more pro-
{tuctive soil is the result Of scientific
drainage. fertilization and rotation Of
crops. Chilling winds sweep over the
Nountry the year around, and these,
with the prevailing fogs, render the
climate an inhospitabIe one.
Man has been no kinder than nature
20 this little country. In the eight
Tenth century, the nobility and the
tcrown owned all the valuable lands,
while the peasantry were either serfs
ior tenants under impossible condi-
NiOns. Export duties made foreign
commerce Improbable. Early in the
nineteenth century economic condi-
ktons had only begun to improve when
che Napoleonic wars again spread dis
hster and poverty over the country.
Sttll little later Denmark's Ger
manic neighbors to the south took
from the already small nation the
prOyince OF Schleswig- HoIstein. Then
Germany. In the early eighties, built
up q high tariff wall which excluded
Danish producta The commerce upon
which the people depended for their
revenues was gone. and the country
was still again grievously stricken.
It's Present Prosperity.
Il Yet today. In spite of all these handi-
caps. Denmark is in proportion to its
population the wealthiest country in
Europe. Eighty-nine per cent OF the
agriculturists own their own land. Her
farmers have been called the best
Farmers and the most skilled rural
business men In the world. Rural
Denmark produces the best bacon, but
ter and eggs ever produced: their pigs
turn feed into pork more scientifcal-
" than the porkers Of any other ma
Zion; their hens lay more eggs, and
Eheir COWS are more effective as milk
and butter producing machines. These
Farmers have worked out system Of
cooperative marketing so effective
that Il is estimated that over ninety
per cent OF what the consumer pays
Tor Danish farm products actually
reaches the pocketbook of the man
who produces tia rather significant
Agure compared with the generally
accepted estimate that the American
farmer gets only from 'thirty-five to
fOrty-six per cent of what the city con-
sumner pays for his product
How has Denmark reached this posi-
tion agriculturally? Why is 1t that she
can produce the best bacon, butter and
eggs? The answer seems to be: First,
because she has an efficient eGuca-
tionaI system; second. because the
government Is giving aid which, while
effective, is not unduly paternalistic;
third. because of cooperation.
Danish Farmer an Educated Man.
II takes brains to raise the most
aristOcratic sort of products that are
produced in Denmark. No ignorant
people could take the bleak. sandy
plains OF Denmark and make great
gardens Of them, gardens supporting a
APPENDED aggressive. progressive. pros
porous race. It requires native
shreNdness to do these things. but it
requires something more. 1t requires
In addition. scientific agricultural
knowledge, a big conception Of the agri-
cultural possibilities Of the country and
q generous loyalty to state and com
munity-an aggregate OF qualities that
1one but an educated man possesses.
and the Dane is indeed in very truth
In every sense OF the word an educated
nnan. He has been trained to make
the best use OF himself and Of his en-
Vfronment.
As a boy he WAS compelled By law
~ attend school until he was fourteen.