Denmark Agriculture Commerce

fertilizers resulted in de- creased production from the land. In spite of their greatly increased wealth it was only by the exercise of strict economy that the Danish farmers were able during the two years that followed to maintain their stocks of cattle and pre- vent the soil of their farms from becoming im- poverished. Exports of meat and dairy products naturally fell to a frac- tion of the normal figures and the stocks of animals A picturesque survival of old Denmark and poultry were necessarily cut down considerably. The number of cattle, which in 1914 amounted to 2,463,000 head, decreased somewhat more than ten per cent; the number of fowl declined about one-third to 9,884,000 and the number of pigs, which normally was nearly 2,500,000, fell about 75 per cent. This reduction was carried on, however, in a scientific manner so that the actual loss was substantially less than it would appear. Great care was exercised to retain the strong- est and best animals and when the war ended the supply of livestock was not as seriously impaired as might otherwise have been the case. On finding themselves temporarily handicapped in their normal occupations, the Danish farmers with characteristic versatility turned to various other enterprises. The culti- vation of beets and other vegetable roots for fodder was greatly increased in order to supply at least part of the re- quirement for corn and oil cakes. In addition, the raising of agricultural and vegetable seed, in which Denmark had long been prominent, was actively developed. This industry, which normally yielded for export about $1,000,000 annu- 10