DAIRYING IN DENMARK.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 666, 17 November 1909, Page 10

DAIRYING IN DENMARK.

,THE LAND OP THREE'MHKINGB. . (Specially written for Tub Dotntnoa.) (Br H. T. B. Dnsw.) ; • Denmark igaiiis physical flatnoss. Ono .might say-that if the beech'forests wore felled ,■-i■>: and tlio peat bogs reclaimed,; almost every aero ■jf- ofv the 14,789 square miles, (9,419,217 acres k which is all the (land her peninsular, and r; .' i several; islands , comprise—would be available ■ lor cultivation.- Of that 9,419,217 aci-es, serven millions are now .under tho plough. Now Zoaland's area is 66,349,910 acres, and her occupied ■v ■ area 37,565,0(10 acres. Denmark's. population is -- \ '. millions, of whom 900,'000 aTe engaged ■ in' agncnlturo. A Machine-liko Industry. There is also a good deal of quauitness about t s • • tho dairy industry ' itself;'; especially to the ■i . ■colonial,: bred among tho square wooden cot-. - tages ot' extremely utilitarian , fauns. But a . closor acquaintance gives rise ,to feelings entircly of admiration for the remarkable ; • .'maclunc-liko precision of everything Connected - - ■ . with tho industry. . The .d'liry .indi"Lstry in, Denmark, in fact, is ; a huge: machine, and '.' c ;/; . every movenn the game is a cog in tho wheel.-, Some- of the 1 machinery -is in the cities, liven i tho :cows thepselves, deprived of a loisurely ; roaming over the.fieli/s,. compelled;to,eat and, ' . v. dnnk what'is given thorn, milted thrico a day, "• 'peeni more 'like machines than animals.: You ' come to regard them as such, especially when f:; J -jpquntlv Of: f6od': is espected'to produce feo' much, buttcr-fat, and if l ,: '' . ;it'.doesn't tho reason will'-be sought;.and the "detect," lf' possible, - remedied. Tho Danish : i¥ : -; system ,-raakes- -itojoiio^^fpossibjevtottrAcexback,'. upon poor results,

All Small Holdings. ■' :■. ■ Denmark is a country-of'.small holdings. In fS : \?&l9o4';the!:jstatistics^showed;that.,of a total,of, 75,271 farms 73,200 tv era not raoie than 288 acres V-v' - Jn; size,', arid .70,000",' were Tinder.. 200 ,acres; jvfewer thani2l;sß2' wore, from 2i to '48-acres m y .' /,! extent. well worth recording hero a ) that exists for tho promotion i.of small vUnder a s comparatively now law a A:farm labourer; r .hs soon. as ( ' ho-has saved, one- ' fltenth of the value, can purchase a house, and I'ii ;' ■ >'from 1 -to 10 acres •of viand, " the Government •, granting.,l-loan of-tho remaining nine-tenths of ■• •. tho money afr four per cent,, of which one. per cent, goes to ainortiso tho loan, i -Tho idoa is .to -■ encourageUabourors to remain on the.land instead of flocking to the cities, and to render ;\j. them more ■'contented and hapi<7. . Those, men, called "hoysenieii," supply labour on tho larger for.-part of thetf time, and, ■ - 'i/. i- during" theremainder, they ■ cultivate . their own little'lots. The scheme sprang out of a #4% ; : desire- tofcope rwith .the increasing• shortness ot -• 1 farm labour.', v "Can thoy. jnate such small holdings'pay?" I,quened. "On good land they "-■i.':,-..can run-five, or six cows, .and. breed pigs and .poultry^' / Ope .'man—certainly, an . exceptional .-case—has-i'been known.-..t0-,; fatten ..T^aP'S?!"i t Some of these "housemen" only have gardens In all, in 1 * the whole country there are 162,000 houses and,' lots. - The number of small ' jners and, "housemen" in Denmark is 23-I,# 41... ;iS ; ' V:irf r i;:' Agrarian 'Interests Rule. U : ' i.- In : lU' me' add that as the qualifi--cation td ;voto is small, 'and most of .'these- men posess this, franohiso.' the. agrarian, factor< in politics..lin VDcnmaTk - practically; "rules ■ the ■ i.*'( ioast."', J Tbis accounts fur' tho. predominance,and rightly 4 so, in this country, of agrarian in- ■ (erests. m -all Go-vernment ..• affairs—especially ' 'inatters'of finance, i You: see thisjm"the;annual"! appropriations. - Kach lijjsar.f the Government offers a prize to the best-managed ''house-. ' ' wan's" iiholdiag. Then other "housemen" cin " apply tKrough: the' Koyal Agnoiiliural • Society i for.permission to .travel:- to these prize-taking.. ' places for educational ends, and then arc told. whero .to s'gO'sand . are assisted - with thoir ' ponses. .Tile .money comos out of- small annual ■:■■■' :grants-. • the,-.Goverament•, .- <i furm labourers' pdncation." 'In the iourse of. several days' wanderings on a bicycle through Denmaarkf fceam®'upon many of these small - hoMing3. v' Gonerally,: the housos were of brick, SvT:.;, neat in appearancc. and surroundings, and they k iap^you 1 ? Irom pretty gardens-with'.'an air happy,' content-, mcnt. Many of tho nower cottages along the roads appeared' as the more modern evidences ' of that rapid progrfiss that dairying has made, ■:..:.':-and is making, in>the;country;, Labour and Wages. ■ However, in spite of-this successful. expen- i meat,' Denmark ;'still. wants' for labour, and: iEumbers:.of -.Polish .-and ;Swedish-; girls - are. anil • unally imported for the sum.-nor, who are om-'l a.ployed principally on tho larger/estatcs. It they ,• milk twunty, cows three times a day • they' get 7 :;. from <£14 to-JilG a. year, aiifl board and lodging, latter ,WM : giyeh to Understand." are not required' to 'ido nay- other work on the farn. Other women-are, also gngaged^sometimes-the wives and,daughters of "honsemen", and their ■; ■ pay .will be ■by ,the,; day, ,1 as ■ follows: —Twenty .- , I cows twice a day, "from 8d to lOd , twenty t cows three times n day,, Is to Is. 3d. Wages lists, . however,vary •, considerably, and it is impossible to give exact (figures., So far:trado ■i .4 unionism >not;jentered' the dairy ■;labour -.V i. arena, 1 though 'liwasvgiTOi :to understand "flgi- --. -. tation to timt '-end was m progress- I also give - the following ,wage 3 of other farm em- • ■ ~ ployees,: ; wmch ,wero ...taken from a recent Gov>f; • e J?'^ n t;'P a P® l 'i - though:. again empbamsihg that . ~ there.may. be many;excep,tions .to.those-figures. -, I hey compa,re .very favourably with European short of what ;'.M paid in Now Zealand:—Supervisor of a farm from about £22 10s to £33 15s per year, working -supervisor, about JEIG lis. 6d- to £22 yofemah; ;from;abou.t'^22 ; los;'to .jB2B '2s , 6d.'; -hostler,vabout JBIG 14s. 6d. to J622 10s ; feed masters of cows- (who have control .of. the food 'giveh)r F oin 6d. t0,£2.8 25.. 6d.,-rherdsm.cn (who clean th(> cows, water and feed and mind them) . from £22 10s. to J233 15s Most of these positions .will exist only, on , tho .'largo estates,, but ,th« genirdlVremunora- •' "on even on. the smaller plaws will. be about the same. New Zealand ;readers: piih very we I make comparisons in wages,'but.in'jdoine fo must also.survey tlw general disposal- of v,- ;the labour. ~They will romember.'.those'of them r "I'l 1 farm hfe -cow K I ) S m , ornln K an< l owning v.-;, P® r ,"> .fills :in.,odd time .cleaning cans, fee£ 188 calves and pigs, cashing down the cowshed r , ':: ; -milkingj and domg a ; feiv other odd jobs ' between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m. ' tiA r!" 11 I 3 ® necessary to give further facts of tbe distribution of This -will be' : nn3 fi, a g ?S er i - dcsorl ,P tlon of a Danish farm and the method ot working it. (To bo continjod.)

WAIKATO SHOWJTO-DAY.' tnfn o ij r t . ho an ° nnl lshow of the Wai•Tr -u' a ; n(^ , 1 - Association, to be. held at Hamilton to-day and ThUrsdly (telegraphs our ~ Auckland , correspondent) or 6 ■ considcraoly in excess o last year's total. • This increase ,s ' - he opening tho Main : trunk railway lino since the last fixture, and SfhlLi 3 f rea ?°, nabl ? to anticipate that tho ad- : difaonal facilities , far. travelling .will, be availed' 2® a „ corre f ou < to f> extent by visitors to the ; attendance will probably result Considerable attention has been paid to show- • fSrTto d ck7hibits dat,on ' b ° th f ° r th ° pnbllc and

TAXES AND DAIRY FARMERS. ■ , Tho -tax- paid by. dairy • farmers' in•'the' colonv through the loss of Ihcir cows by. m ilk: fever v abortion,,'otc.Y is far and away the heaviest tax' they have to' meet. And yet there aro hnn-dreds-of : farmers ' whose :losses .-in this respect 1 iro' almost til. Why?, Simply because they , • Jronch thoir cows. Thorough and systematic /'drenching, will act as a preventive. That's tho plan to work on. ■■.■■■. Prevention, not curing. . tiykes's Drench, has cured some of the worst ..••'•rtSasas of milk fevor, but it is-not fair to yonr.wlf or the mcdicine .to wait until your cows ...set the disease. Prevent it itby using Sykes's - Drench on every cow at calving time, and then yon .won't have ,to i cure (her;. ; - Regarding;thoefficiencyof tho Drench, F. . W. Falconer, Esq., Rockvillo Dairy Factory, Collingwood, Nelson District, writes: "A numbet or 1 tho suppliers to - tho Rockvillo Dairy 1 " Factory have been using Sykes's Drench since . , 'it ' was introduced hero, .and; 1., oan'-safely .say /V ■ that it ■ has': fceenitho: means: of 'saving" i of quito a number of ,volnabU> cows, and Up/to ". tho present, I do ;not' know cf a single in- ■ stance in which it has failed Jo do its work." Use only ■ Sykes's .'Drench, .'because it is tho -'best.. - Price, / Is. - Gd.' packet, .or - lGs. by -the dozen. Better buy it.by the.dozen. Write for Advt-i'iri:r. ; ///' v'.v-.' :y-;.':■?■/