University of South Carolina Libraries
MAIN PLAZA OF TAMPICO, MEXICO Thlb ih the <<hl*f platen of the city of Tumplco. tl>? gailitirlng pluca of the' people, mid it may be- subjected to Domburdmeiit b> the American warships. ' . ' J ^ w Danish Farmyard. Co-Operative Farm Products Marketing mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmrnmmKajmmkBmmmmmmamammmmnmmmmmmmmmKmmmmwmmmmwmmmmmmmfmmmmB How It Is Doric in Europe and May Be Done in America to the Profit of Both Farmer and Consumer B^MATTHEW S. DUDGEON. DAY AMONG DANISH FARMERS Copt iiliUKrii. Denmark.?' Thin rn a I about $17,000.00 greal farming country. Every square foot, of land is utilized. There is al most no waste land. In America you will find here and there a scientific: firmer. Here every fanner is h scien tific farmer, lie knows farming, and, thanks to cooperation, he knows mar keting as well. 10 very cow is a good cow, giving a good quantity of good milk Not only is the milk good when it leaves the cow hut if it goes to the city it goes promptly anil is still good milk ?when it is delivered. If if is made into butter it becomes good but ter and reaches the consumer in the best possible form. The pigs too are high grade. As they move to market they appear to be all of uniform color, size, shape, and quality, for each con forms to a type proved by experimen tation to be the best for the purposes to which they are devoted Every fenner analyzes his soil ter tilizes his fields, ami rotates his crops according to the best principles of coil conservation In America you or caaionalb aeu surh farming and such farmers, here vou see nothing else. Medium Sired Farm. What appears to be the home of a well-to-do farmer upon a medium sized farm Is our first point of at tack Wo find the building* including dwelling, stables, granary, hay shed and other outbuildings arranged around a square court. All except tin* dwelling house are roofed with thateh which although It seems to be in good condition the farmer assures us is twenty years old. Everything ex hibits the utmost neatness. The sta hies, poultry houses ana pig shelters, are all as clean as the nature of their use permits, while the house itself In Immaculate. The for nun owner of the farm is dead. The widow and children now occupy the place. Of three sons one is in Copenhagen and is to leave the farm permanently. He rocs to the city not because, he wants to but be cause there is no room for him upon this farm and it is almost impossible to get more land ? everybody wants to keep all he has The older son is to have the major part of the farm turn ing over a nnaller i>ortion to a young er brother The mother will continue to live on the farm with the older son The farm Is eighty-eight acres in ex tent. There are on it six horses, thir ty-five cows, and sixty pigs, besides the poultry. The farm with its stock, buildings, and equipment is worth Cooperative Bacon Factory. The farmer is u member of a co operative bacon- fuctorv. In order to ! m^et the demands of the market. ? "which lias been most carefully studied. , he and the other members ' find it : necessary to breed a pin of a particu lar type, one which will produce Rood bacon. All of the members therefore are raising a piK produced by crossing the Knglish Yorkshire with tho native Danish breed. They have found also that the best bacon is obtained when the pigs are brought to market from twenty-two to twenty eight weeks old. weighing beween I SO ninl 200 pounds. Careful experimentation has also dem onstrated that if the hogs are mar keted nt this time tho most bacon per food unit fed them Is produced. The pig's, life is a busy life They "have only live to seven months to live and must weigh at the end of that time from ISO to Jon pounds. The hogs are also bred for largo litters since this is an important consideration whfM'i il becomes neeossarv to rush ! the entire output of hogs upon the market ut an early ane P^xpe^ts say that the pip so produced i*>*ideul for. the prodnction of bacon. % Co-operative Creamer,'. I This farmer belong* to a coopera I tivo dairy association which conducts I a creamery some little distance awav. | The members are mostly the smaller farmers. Kaoh leaves his cans of milk on the road to be gathered up by a collector hired by the association. The collector when he returns the ; cans brings ""Back the skimmed milk i The milk sent Into the creamery is tested and the price dwpends altogeth er upon the butter fat contained In ? the'v mUk. This results in a constant i improvement In tho breed of cows ' since the members find it profitable j to keep only the best breeds. j The farmer escorted us through the j farm to a stubble Held where the eat I tie were grazing It must be romem ; bered that in Denmurk cattle are ! never pastured behind fences as they ; are in the United States Kvery cow j Is tethered with a chain al>out twenty 1 feet long. F,ach cow ts fitted out with a thin i canvas blanket and thus protected j from flies and other annoying insects I Tho increase In milk production when the cow Is thus freed from all disturb ing insects is said to be very consider able,. The cow is spared every exer tion. She Is not required to walk any long distance oven for her water, hut it is liauled to her. The water la atored and carrjed in a hiK horizontal tank much resembling our street sprinkling wagons to which ia attach ed a smaller open tank, ko that the cow ia enabled to drink aa Clio tanks are drawn along the line. Fertility Maintained. This farmer, and in fact every far mer whom we htivo interviewed -dur ing the. entire flay, seems to have a very thorough knowledge of the rota tion of crops. On thin farm the plow land ia divided into nine fields among which the crops are rotated accord ing to a carefully considered arid well defined schedule. Natural and com mercial manures are used, the farmer having had? Hit- soils of his various fields analyzed, so that he may know what is needed for each field. Ho now purchases his manures from a co operative company which guarantees the chemical content of its products although formerly, when private deal ers sold fertilizers. It was difficult to get them of assured chemical compo sition. The Big Farmer. While Denmark has been 'called the land of the rich little farmer thd. coun try is not entirely devoted to the smaller farm. After driving some; distance we naw what was evidently a large farm with extensive buildings. It proved to bo a farm of tHMJ acres. The proprietor was away but a young apprentice eighteen years of age who seems to fully understand the farm and its operation very courteously ex hibited everything .to us. The buildings on this larger farm are most- substantial handsome struc tures. W'o fgiiml on i he farm twenty two, horses, one hundred eighty cows, besides poultry aiyl pigs. There are employed upon the farm fifteen male hands and fifteen female Polish labor ers. We found the barns of the latest types, clean and fresh. The floors are concrete and sloped to a transverse drain. Each stall lias a patent head yoke and is equipped with an auto matic water basin. Ample provisions there are also for flushing and clean 1ng floors. The arrangement for pre serving the fertilizing quality of tho waste is complete. Solid and liquids are stored in cisterns' from which the manures are periodically removed and distributed over the farm. The bins for all feeds and machinery' and tools for handling are conveniently ar ranged. A Co-operator. The owner of thin farm belongs to the Trifoliuin dairy, a big co-operative association whose members are most ly owners of the larger farms. Upon becoming a member of this coopera tive concern the farmer enters into an fereement similar to that entered into by *11 co-operators in Denmark. He agrees to deliver to the association ''nil of his dairy products. The agree i ment is a most comprehensive ono j and he Is pledged not only to deliver what he produces, but it is his duty under his agreement to produce all that he normally can with his farm and his equipment. Karly in the history of cooperation i it Denmark a situation developed which is similar to that now existing in America. Whenever a cooperative concern was formed for the purpose of marketing the product of its mem j bers the members were at once ap j proached by outside buyers who of j J'ered them a substantial advance over ! the price being paid by the co opera j tlve concern. Many of tho farmers I wt're led to accept the price This | might have been expected Outside I buyers simply Increased the price un . til they had drawn off from the co operative association a sufficient num ' ber of members, so that the concern ( became a failure. Immediately upon its falluro tho outside buyers dropped I the price and the famers were just ' where they were previous to the or ganization of the society. As a pre ventive of this situation every Danish oo-operatlve concern pledges each member to deliver to it his full-out put. Tw Laborer Farm?r. J The greatest cars la taken upon tn , . farm to protect the quality of the in'.lk. The veterinarian of the oo-op erative society visits the farm every eighth day and irispectg tin- oowh, th? barna, the equipment, and the feed Kvery tenth day also the milk is test ed for butter fat. A record Is kept ? and each cow/s history 1h fully record- j ed. it being possible in this way to weed out the poor cqwh. The mem bers of the cooperative organization , ar? also under the strictest obllga- : tioiiH to report immediately any tdight Indisposition of th? cow and to aepa role the milk of the indisposed cow j from the other milk. Contamination of lite milk an well as the spread of any disease in thus Well guarded against When 'I"" Riilk is to be used for hospital purposes or infant's food the <liet m 'he COW is. further limited, bo that all feeds Which tend tp taint jtjl'o milk ?YWV slightly are excluded. The rows are tested more frequently for disease and are kept under cl.Ofror supervision. All milk is cooled us'hooii as it loaves the cow and all bacterial growth cheeked. Imported Women Laborers, There are upon (his farm fUtc ii Polish girls who are comfortably housed, well fed, and paid a living., though moderate, wage. It must be i noted, however, that they are import ed laborers, and are not in any sense immigrants. They do not come to make a permanent, homo in Denmark, I but coming In March and April, they j return to Poland In November or I>e- j cember. The stay in Denmark is usually limited to from seven to nine ? months. It 1b estimated that each! year about ten thousand farm hands, ; many of them women, come into the country fori the busy season. All agree that this Importation of labor ' is beneficial. The farmers themselves are loath to put In their time on the ! hard hand labor necessary In. raising many of the root crops which art' so i important in this part of the country and nro glad to get the cheaper for eign labor when it presents Itself. Quality of Milk. Again wo proceed and this time pick out what is evidently a small farm. The owner of the fanh, which is only about six acres in extent, is one of tlie eleven drivers employed 1 by the local creamery, It' being his ' duty to collect the. milk and return' the cans and skimmed milk each day : to the farmers.. His dutTes are not: -extensive, his wages are? moderate,-' and lie tinds it necessary to depend largely upon his little farm for sus tenance. lie has recently bought three of his six acres, borrowing the money for the purchase price, from a co-operative credit society which i.:i ! aided by the government. Ills Interest is at the rate of three per cent, per annum, in addition to which he Ik pay- j ing each year . a small installment up on the principal. He had in cash i when he bought the farm only ton ' per cent, of the purchase price, but ho i capitalized his character, as is passi- ; bio- here, end made the flflftxhase. t Originally a farm laborer I10 under- : stands thoroughly the principles of the scientific farmer, lie appreciates the \utlue of rotation of crops, the nec essity, for fertilization and all methods ; of conservation' of the fertility of the soil. Upon the next farm live an elderly ? couple who own three acres from which they obtain the major part of j their living, .although the farmer i spends some of his time In making ' wooden shoes which he sells at a low price and from which he obtains only ] a meager amount. In the adjoining j house we found a farmer who had , about four acres. He ekes out his j support from the. farm aided by a lit-; tie salary received for acting as sec retary of a local co-operative society. None of these three small -farmers aro at present wholly dependent upon the farm although each Is looking for ward to the time when he can secure a little more land and thus! become in-1 dependent of thc> outside earning. All j realize that good farming methods are J necessary to success. All are loyal to i their co-operative societies, evidently j believing that, without co-operation agriculture in Denmark would be an absolute failure. All have been farm laborers and all aro indebted to tho rural credit system for the opportuni ty to own their farms. Helper-Town Merchant. Wo took luncheon in a little village, j Here the hotel keeper who consented | readily to an interview upon the sub ject, fully appreciates that tho welfare of the villages and cities as well as that, of the country depends absolutely upon co-operation. "Anything" which makes the farmers prosperous helps us." ho says "When the farmer gets a krone in his pocket some of us In tho villages and cities get our share of it before long." While there had been originally some opposition to co operation, particularly when It Includ ed an effort to buy cooperatively, tho village business men now realize that unless the farmer receives a good price for his product there will be no money V.i the country and the pros perity of the village as well as the country will suffer immediately. ! NOTICK. To my friends and patrons thru out the County: I am now located In Camden In a largo tent oq cor nor of Main and DeKalb streets,"" where I will bo pleased to serve you for anything In tho Photo line. 1 also enlarge pictures,, make any thing from penny pictures up. Give mo a rail. Satisfaction guaranteed. Joe. H. Gaskins, Photographer, Camden, S. C. 61 Hair* you read tho startling irmha In the Book FROM THE BALL ROOM TO HELL A Dancing Master's Kxprrlence. 25c postpaid. Arent* wanted fvb. Ca., ItulcvHI*. *t YOUR Hogs and be sure to feed them on Rice ' Meal or Rice Bran. Scientific rais ers claim it is 33 per cent, cheaper than corn. We have just received a solid car, and can give you close prices on any quantity. The weather is getting warm, but our prices are still below zero. MURCHISON Wholesale Supply Company TO THE PUBLIC " ? ? ? ' - ? ' * . . . . ( ' l " ' 1 - -iV I i II i i mmmmm+mmmmimmmmmmmmmmmmm We wish to notify the public that the old estab lished Sam Wing Laundry will be managed hereafter by W. S. Lee, and we still wish your patronage. Laundry collected and delivered to all parts of the city. SAM WING LAUNDRY 915 % Broad St. Phone 91 Camden, S. C. NOTICE To Automobile Owners Insist on getting GULF REFININd CO., GASOLINE. It's Better. Let me show you or ask the man who is using it. J. B. ZEMP, Agent You Can Rest assured that your prop erty is insured in Good Companies evfcry time you hear the fire alarm, if WE place the insur ance. The insurance policy is just as good as, the company behind it, no more, no less: ? if the company is strong And pioperly managed, you 11 enjoy prompt settlement of->j your losses otherwise, ir^ all probability, not. Our companies will stand investigation on any thest leitntM* WILLIAMS INSURANCE & REALTY COMPANY ( Incorporated.} ^ /? ^ . 1 T M ' 3 1012 Broad Street Camden, South Carolina - One Dollar i r Gets The Chronicle