Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1942, Síða 25

DANISH EMIGRATION TO NORTH AMERICA 15
In those States which have the greatest number of Danish-
born inhabitants, the latter have established orphanages and
homes for old people.
Two foundations, have been established, one in New York
and one in Los Angeles, with the object of presenting some parti-
cularly deserving Danish-born American — man or woman —
with the price of a journey to the old country.
During the Great Warofi9i4—18 The Jacob A. Riis League
was established, an organization which had members in all the
Danish settlements in the U. S. A., and which proved of great
importance for the position of the Danish-born Americans during
the war years.
In the middle of the 1870’s Danish papers began to be publish-
ed in America. In the course of years there have existed more
than 20 Danish weeklies in America. Of these, only 7 now sur-
vive, viz Nordlyset (New York), Dansk Tidende (Chicago),
Dannevirke (Cedar Falls, Iowa), Det Danske Ugeblad (Min-
neapolis), Den Danske Pioneer (Omaha, Nebraska), Dansk lu-
thersk Ugeblad (Blair, Nebraska), and Bien (San Francisco). The
one with the greatest circulation is Den Danske Pioneer, the
favourite paper of the Danish farmer. It once had a circulation
of 30,000, but this has now fallen to about 15,000. The total
circulation of all the other papers hardly exceeds this figure.
The Danish farmers in the U. S. A. have either gone in for
mixed farming or grown wheat and maize, while some of them
have specialized in the cultivation of seeds. A few individual
men among them have done work of outstanding importance.
Thus Niels Ebbesen Hansen undertook half a dozen journeys to
Central Asia, from which he brought back a large number of
hardy agricultural plants, among them alfalfa, which have re-
volutionized prairie agriculture. C. C. Georgeson established ex-
perimental stations all over Alaska, and thus laid the foundation
of the astounding development of plant growing and cattle-breed-
ing in this vast territory.
Danish dairymen with a practical or theoretical training have
done pioneer work in the American dairy industry, and one
might mention a score of Danes who have contributed in no
small measure to its development as dairy-managers, lecturers,
instructors, editors of dairying periodicals, and university
teachers.
Among the hundreds of Danes who have occupied leading
positions in American industry may be mentioned: Niels Poul-