THE BACON INDUSTRY IN DENMARK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3019, 24 January 1912, Page 19

THE BACON INDUSTRY IN DENMARK.

The following description of the rapidity with which the bacon industry was built up and increased in volume should open the eyes of dairymen to the possibilites of the trade, and induce them to make the most of the by-products of the factory. The Weekly Times says that “the rapid increase of the bacon indutsry in Denmark is one of the most noticeable features of the co-operative movement. Within the last 15 years Denmark’s exports to England have risen from one million to five millions pounds sterling-, while the total number of bacon factories, consisting of over 37 cooperative concerns, have increased in number to over 60. The co-operative bacon factories are, of course, the direct outcome of tho co-operative dairying movement. But while they owe their origin to the dairying industry they are quite a distinct branch of rural enterprise. The societies ■have organised a federation with its headquarters at Copenhagen, which is often quoted as one of the most efficient intelligence bureaus in the world. To this federation are due to tho following figures, which show the magnitude of the industry as tho result of organisation. In the year 1838 there was only one factory, and the number of pigs killed amounted to slightly over 20,000. Their cash value was £57,000, or an average price per pig ef £2 9s. Five years later 14 factories had sprung into existence, and the number of pigs killed increased to 297,000, with a total value of £961,000. or an average' of £3 5s per pig. From that time onwards, although there has been a fluctuation in the value of bacon, there has been a steady inrccaso in the number of factories and in tho number of pigs slaughtered. In 1902 there were 27 co-operative factories accounting for about 800.0C0 pigs, whoso total value was £2,500,000. Out of the £5,000,000 which represented Denmark’s bacon exports last year to Great Britain, about £4,000,000 were distributed among shareholders of cooperative factories. The remaining onefifth belonged to private factories. —Rapid Progress.—

The first factory -was organised, as I have eaid before, in 1887, and its rapid and successful growth is duo to the same factors which made the organisation of tho dairying industry possible. These were (1) tho widespread practical education of the farmer; (2) the thoroughly systematic manner in which a national scheme for tho improvement of the quality of pigs has been undertaken and maintained; (3) the rapidity with which the farmers of the country adapted their system of farming to the requirements of the bacon factories so as to secure uniformity of supply and uniformity of size and quality; (4) tho public spirit exhibited in all cases by tho banking nstitutions of the country' in financing tho people’s factories, and tho co-operation in many instances of the municipal bodies in corporate towns, and of associations of merchants and traders, in manv towns and villages, with tho efforts of the local farmers’ societies, to provide tho capital necessary to erect and equip these factories; and (5) the assistance given bv tho Government in providing experts and by assisting the prosecution of inquires in foreign countries, and by advancing subsi-

dies to steamship owners to ensure more frequent transit to England.