Christian knew that the workman was only joking, but the workman did know the date when the egg was laid. Christian knew too that the farmers knew which hens lay many eggs, and which hens lay large eggs. Christian learned to milk cows too. He could milk only a little, as his hands got tired. He milked only cows that were easy to milk. But he could carry buckets of milk to the house. In the large stable where the cows are milked, Christian saw a sheet of heavy paper tacked up over each stall. He read what was on some of those papers. They were the cows’ _grade cards_. There were good grade cards too, for they told exactly what each cow can do—how much each eats, how much milk each gives, whether that test is better or worse than other tests. Christian felt sorry when the farmer showed him one record. That record was for a cow that was eating a great deal, but giving milk that tested low in butter fat. The farmer said that he would have to fatten that cow and use it for meat. Christian went with the farmer to take big cans of milk and cream to the cheese factory and the creamery. The factory was in an old, old town. Christian liked to play on the narrow street near the factory. But he always went with the farmer to take the milk and cream to the factories. Over those buildings he saw a word that he asked the farmer about. The word was the Danish word that means “Co-operative.” The farmer told Christian the “co-operative” means that the farmers are working together for the good of all. So instead of each farmer making cheese and butter on his own farm and selling it at whatever price he wishes, a group of farmers take their milk and cream to factories where cheese and butter are made for them. There the milk and cream are tested and each farmer is paid a fair price for his cans. In the cheese factory were cheese balls marked with the word “Danish” in the oval just as the eggs were marked. The man at the cheese factory said, “We put the name ‘Danish’ upon _good_ cheese only. Anybody in any country may be sure that cheese marked ‘Danish’ has been tested before it is sold.” [Illustration: AN OLD TOWN IN DENMARK] Christian began to feel that it was a splendid idea to have the name “Danish” put upon only _good_ products. In that way people everywhere would come to trust their country. The farmer told him that the idea was the same for each person. He said that Christian could make his own name stand only for good things. He said, “See to it always that the work upon which you write your name is the very best work that you can do.” [Illustration: A CO-OPERATIVE DAIRY FARM] One day Christian went to visit a farm that had eight hundred acres. Eight hundred acres is a large farm even in America where there is much land, and is, of course, a very large farm in a small country like Denmark. On that farm Christian learned more about the word “co-operation” which means “working together for the good of all.”