The Parker post., 1914-07-25

process of education is a finished
product of extremely high efficiency.
The State and the Farmer.
The Danish government is not chary
in the aid which it extends to the farm.
er. The aid, however, is always ex.
tended upon the fundamental theory
that the best way to help the farmer
is to help him to help himself. Pos
sibly in no other way has the govern.
ment so greatly furthered the inter
ests of agriculture as in assisting in
the acquisition by each farmer of the
soil which he tills. Thanks to the
joint activities of the government and
the cooperative credit societies, it il
easy to buy a farm in Denmark.
If the wouldbe buyer has forty pei
cent of the price to be paid for the
farm and all it's equipment he may
apply to a credit society for loan o..
sixty per cent of the value, the loar
to run for from forty-fve to seventy
nine years. Each year the farmer pays
from four to six per cent of the prin
ctpal amount borrowed. This, how
ever, is not wholly interest, but in
cludes a small installment of principal
so that at the end of the period fol
which the money was borrowed not
only has the interest been kept up, but
the principal has been automatically
discharged.
There are, however, other forms oil
loans even more advantageous to the
borrower, particularly if he be one oi
the poorer farm laborers. If such q
laborer is anxious to become a land
owner on a small scale he may under
certain conditions, procure a loan fol
nine-tenths Of the purchase price OF
the farm and equipment. The condi
tions which he must meet are: He
must have been a farm laborer fol
five years (the law applies to women
on the farm as well as men); the
land must not exceed ten acres in ex
tent, nor $2,140 in value; he must
work the farm in a scientific manner
and must agree to follow a proper 70
tation OF crops and, by the use o1
manures and otherwise, insure the
continued productiveness of the land
For the first five years the labore1
pays three per cent interest and moth
ing upon the principal. After that he
begins to add small percentage upon
the principal in order to discharge his
debt. At no time, however, does the
total annual payment for principal anG
interest exceed four per cent of the
amount borrowed.
The government is back OF these CO
operative credit societies. By benevo
lent legislation it makes their organiza
ton and operation possible; it assists
in supervision and inspection, and in
some cases it advances to the coop
erative society the funds out of which
the loans are made. There are in
Denmark about half million families
including those in cities and villages
Cooperative credit societies have a
membership of over two hundred thou
sand-that is to say, two out of every
five families in the entire country
seem to be represented in these co
operative credit organizations. In
fact, it is because it is so easy to buy
land in Denmark that the tenant is
disappearing and the small land owner
is taking his place.
Other Government Assistance.
The government has also enacted
much other legislation calculated tc
serve the interests of the farmer. II
has regulated carefully the manu-
facture and sale of margarine, so thai
it is impossible to import or export
or sell 1t under any false representa-
ton that it is butter. 1t has regulated
the quality of butter and has forbidden
the export Of butter containing more
for the preservation of which anything
other than common salt is used, OF
butter colored with any substance de
rived from coal tar. All butter must
have been made from milk or cream
which has been pasteurized; it must
have been made in an inspected dairy;
it must have upon it the Danish Label
guaranteeing it's quality.
The sanitary condition in the cream
cries, the method of packing, and the
process of the sale of butter, are thor
oughly controlled by government au
thority. II any dairy which has been
authorized by the government to use
a Danish label for it's product violates
any regulation or law the minister oi
agriculture has the right to take away,
either temporarily or permanently.
the authorization to use the national
trade mark. Butter from foreign
lands must not be marked in any way
to imply that it has been made in
Denmark, and those wishing to import
butter must make declaration an0
be properly registered.
Cooperation Chief Factor.
Those familiar with the conditions
in Denmark concede that the educa
ton of the farmer has contributed
largely to the success of Danish agri'
culture. Every loyal Dane is proud
of the government which has seen the