FARM LIFE--BUTTER-MAKING--"HEDESELSKABET"
Farming in Denmark is the most important industry of the kingdom, and
gives employment to half the nation. The peasant is very enlightened and
advanced in his methods; agricultural and farm products form the
principal exports of the country. England takes the greater part of this
produce. Three or four times a week the ships leave Esbjerg--this port
being the only Danish one not blocked by ice during some part of the
winter--for the English ports, laden with butter, bacon and eggs for the
London market. Now, why can the Danish farmer, whose land is poorer and
his climate more severe than ours, produce so much? Education,
co-operation and the help given by the State to small farmers lay the
foundation, so the Danes will tell you, of the farmer's prosperity. The
thrift and industry of the peasant farmer is quite astonishing. He is
able to bring up a large, well-educated family and live comfortably on
seven or eight acres of land; whereas in England we are told that three
acres will not keep a cow! The Danish farmer makes six acres keep two
cows, many chickens, some pigs, himself, wife and family, and there is
never any evidence of poverty on these small farms--quite the reverse.
The farmer is strong and wiry, his wife fine and buxom, and his children
sturdy, well-cared-for little urchins. All, however, must work--and work
very hard--both with head and hands to produce this splendid result. The
Danish farmer grows a rapid rotation of crops for his animals, manuring
heavily after each crop, and never allowing his land to lie fallow as we
do. On these small farms there is practically no grass-land; hedges and
fences are unnecessary as the animals are always tethered when grazing.
Omission of hedges is more economical also, making it possible to
cultivate every inch of land. There is nothing wasted on a Danish farm.
Many large flourishing farms also exist in Denmark, with acres of both
meadow and arable land, just as in England; but the peasant farmer is
the interesting example of the Danish system of legislation. The
Government helps this small holder by every means in its power to become
a freehold farmer should he be willing and thrifty enough to try.
The typical Danish farmstead is built in the form of a square, three
sides of which are occupied by the sheds for the animals, the fourth
side being the dwelling-house, which is generally connected with the
sheds by a covered passage--a cosy arrangement for all, as in bad
weather the farmer need not go outside to attend to the animals, while
the latter benefit by the warmth from the farmhouse.
The Danes would never speak crossly to a cow or call her by other than
her own name, which is generally printed on a board over her stall. The
cow, in fact, is the domestic pet of the Danish farm. In the winter
these animals are taken for a daily walk wearing their winter coats of
jute!
These small farmers realize that "Union is Strength," and have built up
for themselves a marvellous system of co-operation. This brings the
market literally to the door of the peasant farmer. Carts collect the
farm produce daily and transport it to the nearest factories belonging
to this co-operation of farmers. At these factories the milk is turned
into delicious butter, the eggs are examined by electric light, and "Mr.
Pig" quickly changes his name to Bacon! These three commodities form the
most remunerative products of the farm.
The Danish farmer is a strong believer in education, thanks to the
Grundtvig High-schools. Bishop Grundtvig started these schools for the
benefit of the sons and daughters of yeomen. When winter comes, and
outside farm-work is at a standstill, the farmer and his family attend
these schools to learn new methods of farming and dairy-work. The
farmer's children are early taught to take a hand and interest
themselves in the farm-work. The son, when school is over for the day,
must help to feed the live-stock, do a bit of spade-work or
carpentering, and perhaps a little book-keeping before bedtime. These
practical lessons develop in the lad a love of farm-work and a pride
in helping on the family resources.
[Illustration: VAGT-PARADEN. LIFEGUARDS DRAWING UP OUTSIDE THE PALACE.]
Butter-making is an interesting sight at the splendidly equipped
steam-factories, and we all know that Danish butter is renowned for its
excellence. When the milk is weighed and tested it runs into a large
receiver, thence to the separator; from there the cream flows into the
scalder, and pours over the ice frame in a rich cool stream into a
wooden vat.
Meanwhile the separated milk has returned through a pipe to the waiting
milk-cans and is given back to the farmer, who utilizes it to feed his
calves and pigs. The cream leaves the vat for the churn through a wooden
channel, and when full the churn is set in motion. This combined churn
and butter-worker completes the process of butter-making, and when the
golden mass is taken out it is ready to be packed for the English
market. The milk, on being received at the factory, is weighed and paid
for according to weight. It takes 25 lbs. of milk to make 1 lb. of
butter.
"Hedeselskabet" (Heath Company) is a wonderful society started by
Captain Dalgas and other patriotic Danes, in 1866, for the purpose of
reclaiming the moors and bogs. The cultivation of these lands seemed
impossible to most people, but these few enthusiasts with great energy
and perseverance set to work to overcome Nature's obstacles. These
pioneers have been so successful in their efforts that in less than half
a century three thousand square miles of useless land in Jutland have
been made fertile. Trees have been planted and carefully nursed into
good plantations, besides many other improvements made for the benefit
of the agriculturalist and the country generally. All along the sandy
wastes of the west coast of Jutland esparto grass has been sown to bind
the shifting sand, which is a danger to the crops when the terrible
"Skaj"[8] blows across the land with unbroken force. Thanks to the
untiring energies of this society for reclaiming the moors, Denmark has
gained land almost equal to that she lost in her beautiful province of
Schleswig, annexed by Prussia in the unequal war of 1864.
In the town of Aarhus, the capital of Jutland, a handsome monument has
been raised to the memory of Captain Dalgas, the father of the movement
for reclaiming the moors, by his grateful countrymen.