The growth of the bacon-curing societies has been remarkable. The first of them was not founded until 1887, but they spread rapidly, and in seven years there were twenty, killing more than half the country's then produce of hogs. The movement has greatly increased since then, and multiplied its output about fourfold. Co-operation in collecting, grading and exporting eggs only began in 1895, and in eight years 65,000 members had joined the various egg societies, and the value of eggs exported had reached £436,000. Taken as a whole, the effect of agricultural co-operation in Denmark has amounted to little less than a revolution. It has brought the results of science within the peasant's reach, and he has been quick to avail himself of them: it has transformed a great part of farm work into a factory industry, increased the yield of the soil, improved the material position of the peasants, and drawn rich and poor together. Denmark, once so poor, is now, except England, probably the richest country in Europe in proportion to its population. Besides Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Ireland and many other countries have important developments of agricultural co-operation. In Germany, where it is closely connected with credit co-operation, it seems to date from 1866 only, yet in forty years agricultural co-operative societies have come to number six thousand, without counting the agricultural banks, which exceed twice that number. There are dairies, societies to purchase farm requisites, societies of grape-growers, hop-growers and beetroot-growers, distilleries, labour societies, insurance societies, societies to own warehouses and granaries and to sell produce, to purchase land and resell it in small holdings, and even several societies which purchase land to cultivate it in common. The close connexion between credit-societies and other agricultural co-operation is exemplified in the Central Union of orthodox Raiffeisen credit societies at Neuwied. Through a central bank and a trading department allied to it, it has negotiated the joint purchase of coal, feeding-stuffs, manures, machinery and so forth to large amounts, as well as the difficult business of the combined sale of agricultural produce. Moreover, several local centres connected with this union have granaries and warehouses for the storage of agricultural produce, and negotiate joint sales, while within the union facilities have been found for selling the products of one district to members in another.