Danish Small-holders and Their Farms, 1911
"On these grounds, then, I determined that I would not leave the country until I had personally interviewed some of these State small-holders; had seen their land and heard their…
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“The State Small-Holdings,” from Rural Denmark and its Lessons by Henry Rider Haggard, 1911.
During my stay in Copenhagen I was most kindly conducted, as the guest of the Department of Agriculture, on a tour of investigation of the State small-holdings in the neighbourhood of Roskilde. We went by motor, as this was practically the only way to reach them, my companions being Mr. Valloe, Mr. Waage, and Mr. Niels Mortensen, himself a successful small-holder, who is the chairman of the Small-holding Commission in that district. His Excellency the Minister for Agriculture was coming also, but unfortunately a Council of State prevented him. This I much regret, as I should like to have heard more of his views upon the question generally.
I now propose to give some account of the men I visited, as long experience in this kind of investigation has taught me that the only way to get at the truth as to the prosperity or otherwise of any branch of agriculture anywhere, is to examine into it with one's own eyes. Learned treatises and the views of official gentlemen or experts are very well and a great help, but to understand things it is necessary to see the farms or holdings and the actual men who work them.
Before I went to Denmark I was informed in one or two agricultural papers that my visit was unnecessary, as everything about that country is quite well known already. It may be so, but at any rate it was not known to me, who had read everything on the subject upon which I could lay hands. From such reading I gathered, it is true, certain general ideas; for instance, that co-operation was largely practised in Denmark, and that there were many small-holders in the country where agriculture was strangely prosperous. But in the light of the experience that I gained in the course of my investigations on the spot, I can say honestly that until these were made I understood little of the local conditions. Further, I had no idea of the great lessons that are to be learned from those conditions, which have, as a matter of fact, shown me the answers to problems that I have studied for years without being able to be sure of their solution.
On these grounds, then, I determined that I would not leave the country until I had personally interviewed some of these State small-holders; had seen their land and heard their stories from their own lips. Here I may add that the men I visited on this particular journey, as Mr. Mortensen assured me in answer to my specific questions, were neither the worst nor the best of the State small-holders in that part of Denmark. They were, he said, a fair sample, selected for the most part because their holdings lay near the road and were therefore easy of access.
The first holder whom I saw, a hard, sturdy-looking man of about fifty, was Mr. Ole Larsen of Sallov, by Gadstrup, who owns five tondeland, that is about six acres and a half, which he bought in 1905 with the aid of a State loan of 4000 kroner (or £221, 13s. 4d.), at a cost of 500 kroner (or about £27, lbs., 10s.) per tondeland, say £25 the acre. He informed me that when he entered on the holding he possessed a capital of 1100 kroner (about £61), which he had saved as an agricultural labourer. Mr. Larsen is a man of standing in his way, being a member of the Parish Council. He has a wife, but no children. He built the house and buildings at a cost of 2400 kroner (£133), I believe largely by his own labour; indeed if it were otherwise, I am sure I do not know how he did it for the money. At the time of my visit he was engaged in putting up an excellent cart-shed with his own hands.
His house was erected under the supervision of the Small-holdings Commission for the Roskilde District, to which all drawings and plans for such dwellings must be submitted. It is thatched, and comprises under one long roof the dwelling-place, a store-room containing a chaff-cutter, and beyond this the cow-house and pigstye. In the dwelling are two sitting-rooms, a kitchen at the back with a copper and stove, and, as this couple have no children, one bed-room. If there were children the second sitting-room would be used as a sleeping chamber.
The cow-house, which is good and suitable, has accommodation for four cows and one horse. In the piggery, that is roofed over as is usual in Denmark, were a fine sow, ten growing and four young pigs of the Danish breed. Here I saw a new thing, a half-grown female pig with two well-developed teats hanging from its throat. I was told that this phenomenon was very rare, but does occasionally occur in the Danish breed, both with male and female animals. It seems that pigs have been known to suckle their young from these false teats.
In addition to these pigs and sixty fowls, Mr. Larsen's stock consisted of four good red Danish cows, three of which stood blanketed in a field. These he said he had bought out of his private means. Also he had a horse, an aged but useful animal, lightly built though sufficiently strong for his land. It cost him 300 kroner (£16, 12s. 6d.). The milk goes to a co-operative dairy which stands about half a mile away. In 1909 Mr. Larsen's cows produced 30,000 lbs. Danish, which he sold for 1200 kroner (£66, 10s.), plus the value of the skim milk which was returned to him. Also in that year he sold pigs to the value of 2600 kroner (£144) and purchased cake and other feeding-stuffs at a cost of 2500 kroner (£138, 10s.). He told me that during the previous two years, after paying his interest to the State, there had been "a bit over." As a matter of fact, in 1909 this "bit" amounted to a surplus of 800 kroner (£44, 6s. 8d.).
Mr. Mortensen, who heard this statement, added that he also had himself saved money out of a similar holding.
Mr. Larsen said that he looked to his cows, pigs, and poultry for his income, as he sold no corn. The pigs, like the milk, went to a co-operative society, but the eggs he disposed of privately. He buys his artificial manure (super-phosphates) and calf-cake through another co-operative society. Among his implements I saw a waggon that cost 170 kroner {£9, 8s. 6d.), a market-cart bought second-hand for 120 kroner (£6, 13s.), and a corn-dressing machine, besides a plough, a roller, and two sets of harrows, all designed to be drawn by one horse. He borrowed his liquid-manure apparatus from a neighbour.
I inspected this article, which, in view of the considerable cost of such machines in England (my own came to about £22), deserves a few words of description, especially as all I saw in Denmark were of the same pattern. It consisted of a long coopered tub measuring about nine feet by three, which tubs can be purchased for 30 kroner (£1, 13s.). This is placed in one of the narrow-bottomed Danish waggons and pumped full of the fluid, which, by means of a simple sluice-door behind, it discharges in a copious stream on the land as the waggon is drawn forward.
This stuff is applied much more liberally than our carts are designed to do. Mr. Larsen said that it is best used in spring and autumn and after rain. Even on this small-holding there is a good liquid-manure tank holding 96 cartloads of 140 litres to the load, and fitted with a proper pump.
I went over Mr. Larsen's land very carefully, being anxious to ascertain how it was managed. He called it good and heavy, but I should describe it as light. Indeed it must be light, since otherwise one rather slenderly built horse could not drag a plough through it. Near to the buildings were three small stacks — one of barley, one of barley and oats mixed, and one of oats. Beyond these was first a strip of very good swedes and beet, about an acre in all. Then came another strip from which a mixed crop of barley and oats had been taken. This was sown down for clover hay, and on it the blanketed cows were tethered. Next in succession was plough-land already drilled with rye after oats and vetches, then mustard for cow food after rye, a patch of beet and a barley stubble. All of these were clean and in good heart. The little farm is divided into eight portions of about three-quarters of an acre each, worked in the following rotation: (1) oats, peas, and vetches mixed for "stable food"; (2) rye; (3) roots; (4) barley; (5) roots; (6) barley sown down with clover and mixed seeds; (7 and 8) clover.
Mr. Larsen and his wife do all the work of the holding without assistance, but he does not undertake any outside labour. He told me that he gets on well and is perfectly satisfied, adding with emphasis that he much preferred his present position to that which he used to occupy as a labourer. Certainly he seemed to be prosperous in a small way; and as we sat down to partake of the lunch of coffee, beer, etc. which Mrs. Larsen had hospitably provided, the air of solid comfort about the place struck me very much.
It was a little astonishing also to be warmly thanked by a man in this position for the pleasure that he said he had experienced in reading works of mine that do not deal with agriculture. I do not think that a foreign writer visiting a small-holder in England would be likely to meet with this particular surprise. In Denmark, however, it is otherwise, for there among the peasant class he may find that he is as well or even better known than it is his fortune to be at home. The Danes are great readers of such fiction as appeals to them.
Before I parted from Mr. Larsen I had a private conversation with him on the subject of State small-holders generally. He told me that in his opinion about half of these really succeed. One-third just get on, and the rest are unsuccessful. It was entirely a question of the man himself. If he were the right man in the right place things would go well. If not, he would fail. He thought that the movement would spread, which he feared would cause the land to become too expensive. Thus he said that in this part of Seeland it used to be possible to buy ground at 500 kroner (£27, 14s.) the tondeland, whereas now it cost 700 kroner (£38, 15s. lod.).
Leaving Mr, Larsen's house, we proceeded to another State small-holding near by which belongs to Mr. Anders Andersen. Mr. Andersen was away from home working for somebody else, so we interviewed his wife. She told me that they came into occupation of the holding five years ago. It was bought with the house and implements, but without stock, for 6100 kroner (£338) by aid of a State loan. The former owner was also a small-holder, who could not get on, either because he was not hard-working or sufficiently intelligent. Mr. Andersen first saved a little as a labourer, then took up some land, and afterwards moved on to this holding, which is larger.
His wife informed me that she liked the place, and that they were getting on fairly well. At the time of our visit, however, she was somewhat depressed, as two of their pigs were ill with cramp, which to them was a very serious matter. Their stock consisted of four cows, a calf, and five pigs; but having no horse they were obliged to hire one for ploughing. She said sadly that they wanted a horse very much indeed, even if it were only an Iceland pony, such as many of these small-holders use. The harvest had been good, and they had three stacks of corn, also a nice piece of roots.
Their house was smaller than Mr. Larsen's, consisting of two rooms, with a granary adjoining that could be turned into dwelling space if necessary. This they did not need at present, as they only had one small boy at home. There was a cow-house for four beasts, and the usual piggery. I asked if the drinking well were not somewhat too near these outbuildings, and was told that it had been cemented. When the same question was put to another small-holder, he replied he had not noticed that the water made the pigs ill!
My general impression was that these people were not quite so flourishing as the Larsens. It appeared, however, that they took over their land in very bad order. Also Mrs. Andersen was evidently much depressed by the sickness amongst her pigs. Still Mr. Mortensen thought that they would get on well, as the man was steady and reliable.
Our next visit was to Mr. H. P. Nielsen of Tjaereby, a middle-aged and capable man with a lame foot, who owns five tondeland, which he bought with the aid of a State loan of 5000 kroner (£227), at a cost of 600 kroner (£33, 5s.) per tondeland, inclusive of the standing crops. He began with a private capital of about 1000 kroner (£55, 8s. 4d.), which he had saved as a labourer and shoemaker, for he combined both callings. The house, a good one, and buildings he erected at a cost of 3500 kroner (about £194). Mr. Nielsen, who is a member of the Parish and other local Councils, informed me that he was quite satisfied with his position, was getting on well, and after three years' experience of his holding looked forward with confidence to the future. His stock consisted of three cows, a calf, a horse, four pigs, two sows, and thirty fowls. All his milk and other produce were sold through co-operative societies.
The buildings on this place are excellent of their sort and very clean, the liquid-manure tank being so arranged as to form a base for the straw stacks. The land, a medium loam, was clean and well cultivated; it bore good crops of roots, including carrots. Also there was a nice garden, and in it were three large hives of bees. Mr. Nielsen had four children, but these were grown up and away. I gathered that he and his wife did all the work of the place, with the result that he now has little time to earn extra money by shoemaking. That on the whole he had no cause to complain was shown by the fact that he has been able to live out of his holding, and in addition to repay debt to the amount of about 300 kroner (£16, 12s. 6d.) a year.
Another State small-holder whom I saw was named Anders Frandsen, who lived at a place called Svogerslev Mark. He and his wife were elderly people, and with them resided his mother, an old lady of eighty-five, and a young son, who was sick in bed. By the way, all the family, including the old mother and the boy, slept together in one not very large room! Why they did this I do not know, as the house is the best of those that I visited on this journey, and has very good outbuildings.
Mr. Frandsen borrowed 4300 kroner (£238, 5s.) when he bought his property of six tondeland five years previously, but was applying for an additional State loan. He began with three cows, but at the time of my visit had seven cattle, also a sow, four pigs, and two good horses. Originally he was a butcher and stockbreeder, but possessed only a little capital when he entered on his small-holding.
He told me that he was well satisfied, and could earn a living and pay his way, although whatever more he could make went to buy stock and refund debt. He bought and sold everything through co-operative societies, and expressed the opinion, which Mr. Mortensen endorsed, that the small-holding movement in Denmark would be impossible without the help of such societies. Indeed, Mr. Mortensen added that it would be difficult for Danish agriculture generally to succeed in their absence.
Mr, Frandsen, a very intelligent man, informed me that he thought the State small-holders as a body were getting on fairly well. Still the start was difficult, and it was necessary for a man to possess rather more than the tenth of the capital which the law prescribes. This, I think, from the appearance of the place, must have been his own case. He said, what I could well believe, that if he were to sell out he would find himself considerably in pocket on the whole transaction.
I think that the reader will agree with me that on the whole these examples of Danish State small-holders had a satisfactory tale to tell, especially when Mr. Mortensen's assurance is borne in mind, that they were neither better nor worse than the average of their class. Still I imagine that Mr. Larsen's estimate that about one-half of such people really succeed, while a third only just get on and the remainder fail, is on the whole quite accurate. Indeed, in the circumstances, I do not see how it could be otherwise, since even with the powerful aid of co-operation the fight must be very hard, and one in which only good men can win a decisive victory.
Haggard, Henry Rider. Rural Denmark and its Lessons. Longmans, 1911.
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