DENMARK LEADS.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1919, Page 11

DENMARK LEADS.

FARM CO-OPERATION. ! AND ORGANISATION OF AGBIj CULTURE. With an area of some eleven million acres, Denmark lias a population of three millions, as against New Zealand's area of ,sixty-six million acres' and population of one million. But Denmark cultivates intensively eight million of her eleven million acres, and she also leads the world in respect of farm cooperation and the organisation of agriculture. In view of the period of reconstruction that lies ahead of New Zealand, and the necessity for increased production to meet the heavy obligations, a brief summary of what Denmark has done in the direction above referred to should he of interest. Accordingly, a New Zealand Times representative recently took advantage of the stay in Wellington of Mr. R. Kampp, official agricultural adviser to the Danish Government, to interview him on these matters.

'T understand," said Mr. Kampp, "that in New Zealand of recent years a good deal of attention has been* paid to the various phases of the co-operative movement as well as to the work of agricultural societies. Denmark may be considered to be one of the most advanced agricultural countries, especially so far as cooperation is concerned; and as climatic and other conditions in this country are very similar to those of Denmark, it may he possible to some extent to adopt here the same system that is operating in my country. I should, therefore, like to give a brief outline of how the work in connection with the co-operative movement and the organisation of agriculture is carried on m Denmark." NETWORK OF ORGANISATIONS. During the last forty years there have been established many hundreds of cooperative societies in Denmark; and these, again, are federated into a few big organisations. There are, beside* a great many other agricultural institutions, run either by private individuals, or by the Government, and it may »e somewhat difficult for a stranger to grasp the full details of such a network of organisations. The co-operative movement in Denmark has extended to all branches of agricultural production- hut as the co-operative butter factories are the most important, they.may he given nrst place. Denmark is situa'ted in the so-called "butter zone," within which butter manufacture is a profitable Industry; and the same applies pre-em-inently ln New Zealand. But success does not always depend upon natural conditions. A certain amount of artificial feeding and artificial improvement ot material conditions is often necessary; and in Denmark the cows have to be stall-fed about eight months in the year. If New Zealand wanted to export butter continuously all the year round, a certain amount of stall-feeding D»™ ?V eeded lere, too. Although Denmark has an area of only about 11 milhon acres m all, she exports more butter than the whole of Australia, and SSLf™ **"**"» Zeal "d; and the Danish export of bacon is nearly of the same importance as that of butter This great productivity is due mainlv to the fact tht farming with us is carried out In small holdings. OVER 1200 CO-OPERATIVE DAIRY FACTORIES.

and there we about 1214 dairy co-opera-tive soc.eties attributed over all parts of Denmark. In Denmark all the milk Zealand it; a very often only the cream If V??f- We d 0 far m °<« '« «» way of butter than of cheese. Every morning the co-operative factory genus llftt f 8 !* Van ' wllieh calls fr °m farm in the m , ilk ,' whieh is Bkiffl «»ed S? wv? 7 ' and tl,e wa e° ns ea " take it back the same day to the farmers. m-Si ! *"*""*. and «»* makes it Ki l°, get a Product naid Lf t • C ° U •, Tlle fanae ™ «e »ig to its butter-fat content. Each dairy factory is » by . board of di *ec tors and, ,n conformity with the idea «L«« peratlo . n ' each memDer of a co1 s ? ciet 5' Imb one single vote, : whether he is the owner of a si crf e cow of b„ttrrf. TllCTe is a Oration of butter factories, which deals with ; matters common to them all. Thisor CTZa™* "? owa year book i!i S3lle + \ its own stafeti <*> tarfrt I?;« I * on l the J Stat!sticß thus collected it can be found which butter facfor IT* "V** * ho Bmall6B t «W he PoUnd I? butter Producedf and the whole can thus be keyed un to a Tproduct Tw" Bel!ing ° f the finii *- i,S ct Ther e are several co-opera-tive butter export societies. V

HOOTBSDS OF OTHER COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES. There-are forty-six co-operative bacon factories in Denmark Th„ ft.™ . the trio* ,-„• i ' f he farmers rase It nSI^ 7 °? grain and skiffl milk. of th«« H the re^ired Bize - Some of these bacon factories do a eood deal sfdef I" Sl « e *°S ™ wellfbut be t o„T o f t!i ri et,es - , There & a federation tor the bacon factories similar t„ that for the butter factories The co 550 local branches distributed all over ma n C r> Each of fee enSoyH « . rut™ arolU,<l fr ° m fa ™ t0 &™' as a rule once or twice a week A Co-operatiye Potato Export SooltyW Jem started recently, and there is a Ther« n ' ope ' at r Farni Seed Company Im^L* 8 8ln " lar foodstuffs mmort companies to import, the oT cake maize, etc., required for feeding "attfe.' and an artificial manure import com wSthe hi rt -Tn Um Wile the Danish Co-operative Bank ui become of great importance X last few years. About 1200 different co-operative societies of other kinds but ed tha " thoSe »««»- ert, and there 1B a grand federation of AGRICULTURAE SOCIETIES i

In addition there are special atjrieultaal societies. The Royal A K rKral Souety is the oMest-establishe'd SS! tural socety , n Denmark. It works in close co-operation with the Government tons m regard to agricultural investigation and educational work. There are besides, three different kinds of agricultural societies-(l) that with the object of promoting agricultural development generally; (2) the Small Holders' Society, with partly similar and partly political objects; and (3) the Farmers' Society, or Farmers' Union, which mainly k dcals with class interests for the pro.

tection of farmers. All these have local branches, and are run by boards. As a rule, each of the agricultural societies has one or two agricultural advisers and a few assistants; and they hold several meetings during the winter months for the purpose of discussing agricultural inatters. Various competitions between fanners are also organised, and general investigation of the soil, etc., is carried on by the advisers. 700 HERD-TESTING SOCIETIES. These societies work in connection with the Government, which pays half 1 of their expenses. Thero are a great number of societies for breeders "ot horses, cattle, and pigs; and specially may be mentioned the milk-testing, or herd-testing, societies. There are 700 of these, and each of them employs a travelling inspector who goes round from farm to farm with his instruments, testing the milk on the spot. These societies have been in operation some 30 years or so, and their work has resulted in a great increase in the value of our dairy herds. ' During the last few years the farm-seed-growers' society has become of great importance; and there are several other societies for poultry-breeders, rabbitbreeders—you don't need these last in New Zealand, of course—potato-grow-ers, and sugar-beet growers. I might just mention the experimental work. There are about ten State experimental farms, carrying on the scientific part of the work; and about 100 agricultural adviser's and assistants are employed by the different societies' or by the Government, conducting the field experiments on private farms, and so on. As a rule, there are, every year, some 150 manure experiments carried on, and special horticultural experiment stations for trying fruit trees and vegetables has been established recently; also a State butterfactory. An experiment station for cattle foods has been in existence for many years. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

The more academic or scientific part of agricultural education may be acquired at the Royal Agricultural College, Copenhagen- This is a State institution; but there are about 20 agricultural schools scattered throughout the country, and these are privately owned. All of these schools have a special dairy course, and there are the so-called high schools, of which there are 70 in the country, for general education, but, as they are mainly attended liy young farmers, many of them have an' agricultural course, too. There is a federation of agricultural colleges and schools for dealing with matters of interest to them all. In this connection, I may I mention that there lias been felt the need for one strong body to deal with all the different agricultural societies and co-operative societies. This has just been established, and may be called a Board of Agriculture, though it is not a Government concern.