Why Danish Farming Pays
93 • C. CULPIN.12, CONTRASTS are frequently drawn between Danish and English farming, very often to the detriment of the latter. I have recently spent some months on a Danish farm and, being pretty thoroughly acquainted with English farming, have been able to make various comparisons from which conclusions—I think of some interest and I hope of some value—emerge.
The farm on which I worked was on Als, a pleasant little island just off the east coast of Southern Jutland. On arriving at the tiny village station I was met by my hosts, a peasant farmer and his two sons. That evening I received my first taste of Danish hospitality, and was then and at all times amazed at its liberality. This was rural Denmark on holiday. To-morrow, I was assured, I should have an opportunity of seeing it at work. I was- not disappointed.
At 5.30 next morning I was called to help with feeding the pigs, and was surprised to find that by this time the men who attended to the cows had already been up for an hour. At 6.0 a.m. we stopped for breakfast and I was able to study the staff. Besides the farmer, his wife and their two sons there was a third young man who looked after the horses, and a married stockman whose wife helped with the milking. This seemed a rather large staff for a peasant farm, but I soon discovered why. Ours was about twice the sift of the typical- peasant farm. It might reasonably be argued that lessons drawn from a study of such a farm are worthless ; but so anxious were my hosts to give me a correct impression of rural Den- mark that I was shown many farms in Als and even in Jutland. I formed the conclusion that in everything except size the farm on which I lived was typical of the peasant • farms of Denmark, and further that the small size of most Danish holdings is not the direct cause of the success which Danish agriculture achieves.
It must be admitted that direct comparisons between the farm where I worked and farms of similar size and situation in England are very definitely to the detriment of the latter. The land itself was highly farmed and was devoted almost entirely to the production of home- consumed feeding-stuffs. The livestock consisted of about thirty cows in milk and over two hundred weaned bacon pigs, together with the young and breeding stock necessary to keep these numbers fairly constant. In addition, there were six horses and three hundred hens. These figures are quite double what one usually finds on a similar farm in England, and there is little doubt that in this respect English farming suffers by comparison. The " whole " milk was collected daily by the village co-operative dairy, and the " separated " milk was re- turned to the farm, where it was used for feeding the pigs. When the pigs attained exactly the right weight, we despatched them to the nearest co-operative bacon factory.
In the matter of buildings, English fanning again com- pares unfavourably with the Danish. It is a well-known fact that in England the best farms tend to have the worst buildings and vice versa. It soon became clear to me that in Denmark, where the majority of tenure is free- hold, the buildings are better adapted to the require- ments of the farm. Our cows and pigs were housed in clean, roomy, two-storied buildings, the upper floors being used for storing fodder and litter, and at the same time serving to maintain the interior at a more equable temperature. The fullest use was. made of electric light and power, To what, then, is the high state of development of Danish agriculture chiefly due ? First, I would say, to the sheer hard work and self-sacrifice of the agricultural population ; secondly, to advantageous marketing con- ditions and legislation ; and thirdly, to agricultural educa. tion and research coupled with an advisory system which ensures that the technical progress and development of modern times reaches the-smallest of-small-holders as well as the largest farmers. Although the second and third of these causes have rightly obtained much publicity in this country, the first, in my view, contributes most to the success of Danish farming.. Even Saturdays and, Bank Holidays were not different from the normal twelve-hour working day. Moreover, there .was always routine • work connected with the stock to lie done on. Sundays.. In. England, .5unday work -is usually -lightened by preparation of. the food on Saturdays. In Denmark, on the contrary, many jobs, such as the weighing of pigs, are specially held over till that day. Miring harvest there was no rest weekday or Sunday until all the corn was safely garnered. The work was done quite cheerfully, and with little grumbling, even at the weather.
Judged by English values, the standard of living of rural Denmark is not high. The low cost of living is partly explicable by the fact that most of the food is home-produced. Our meat consisted chiefly of such pig products as were unsuitable for export. Danes do not know the taste of the bacon which they produce, and butter is considered a luxury, only supplanting margarine on special occasions. Nevertheless, the food. was whole- some and sufficient, and though at first it seemed un- appetizing, hard work in the open air soon taught me to relish most of it. The homes of the peasant farmers contained many comforts, and there was always an air cf contentment and quiet cheerfulness.
. The movement towards small holdings which started in Denmark about the close of the last century still continues. Close acquaintance with a neighbouring small-holder convinced me that the small holding is not economically as efficient as the peasant farm. This typical small-holder secured a 'comfortable living for himself and his family, but the price paid was work from dawn till dark on almost every day of the year. He seemed little better off than the hired labourers who; though not highly paid, were amazingly industrious. From the English point of view their lives seemed some- what drab and uninteresting.
• There was little in the way of organized recreations in this remote country district, and with increasing transport facilities there was a strong tendency among the young people to abandon the village social life and flock on Sundays into the nearest town, where the cinema formed one of the chief attractions. I could not help wondering whether the Danish rural community of the future will be prepared to work from dawn till dark to support itself.
It seemed at first sight that it could only be a matter of time before the Danish rural workers demanded a working day more nearly approximating to that of the urban artisan, and incidentally to that of the English agricul- tural labourer. But closer acquaintance with this like- able people convinced me that there is in the owneiship of the land a certain contented pride, a certain something indefinable and incalculable in material terms, which must make an enormous difference to their general outlook,
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