Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1901 — Danes Return to the Farms. [ARTICLE]

Danes Return to the Farms.

The Howard association has published an Interesting leaflet entitled “Back to the Land—Denmark’s Example.” In that country there is an exodus of the population of the towns back to the land. Partly by state aid and partly by private enterprise 2,000 square miles of waste lands have been reclaimed, and five eighths of the national territory is possessed by small freeholders and peasants. Above a hundred people's high schools have been established, where peasantry and working classes of ages from 18 to 25 get board and education for 10 shillings per week. The Danish farmers have formed co-operative societies for the collection, sale and export of their produce. Danish university and college students have instituted throughout the rural districts free lectures, evening lessons and committees for promoting popular amusements. In almost evey village a,public hall has been erected for recreation aud social gatherings. In villages where the high school has obtained Influence neither drinking, gambling nor gross breaches of morals are to be met with; yet the villages are foud of games, dancing, sports and other recreations. And what is the result? Denmark has become the second country in the world in regard to average wealth pethead, although there are very few rich men. She annually supplies the British market with more than 1,000,000 hundredweight of buttons and the same amount of bacon, about 200,000,000 eggs and scores of thousands of pigs, cattle and horses. London Truth.