Jens Christian Boje Nørgaard

&
John Krog  

Just east of the town of Faaborg on South Funen, lies a small village called Katterød. Katterød is a typical Danish village that has experienced great changes throughout history. The town's history stretches back to the Viking Age, and perhaps even further back, as the many ancient monuments in Alléskoven and Pipstornskoven testify to.

The country's development, wars, conflicts, crises have in different ways affected all local communities, including the local community in Katterød. As in many other villages, agriculture has been the source of income for the majority of families in the town. Over time, the farms have been owned alternately by the crown or by owners from the surrounding estates: Holstenshus, Nakkebølle, Hvedholm and Langesø on North Funen.

However, after the agricultural reforms, independent farmers, homesteaders, and sharecroppers gradually arrived, establishing new properties and buying up land.

The Holstenshus estate was even at the forefront of development, when the landowner experimentally relocated farms from the neighboring village of Diernæs to an area southwest of Katterød as early as the 1770s. 

The village structure is thus well preserved in Katterød with a north-south road with east-west facing farms and homesteads located next to the road. The number of farms has varied, but a number of around 8 to 14 plus smaller homesteads in the last century is probably realistic.

In addition, there was a hospital that Adam Christoffer v. Holsten from Holstenshus had built in Katterød. The house was built of stone and was to house 8 families in rooms of 13 m2, who were affected by poverty or illness. The house was taken into use in October 1786 and stopped as a hospital in 1938. In 1948-49 it was moved to the museum Den Fynske Landsby.

With the agricultural reforms, the Constitution and the Act on the Freedom of Trade from 1857, and as part of the general social development, a number of new professions gradually emerged in Katterød, such as carpenters, joiners, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, millers, merchants, skilled workers for the sawmill and forests.

With the school reforms in the 19th century, there was a need for classrooms, and in 1865 the buildings of Katterød School were completed. In 1901, the school was expanded with a new, beautiful building that housed the classrooms and a back house.

As in any other local community, there was a need for a place where residents could gather socially, culturally and politically, a replacement for the town hall of earlier times. Therefore, a community center was built here as well, which was completed in 1905.

In the midst of the First World War in 1916, Katterød got a station building. It was an important connection for the local population's travels and for the transport of goods to the big cities. There was a train connection from Faaborg past Katterød Station to Svendborg, Ringe and thus Odense. From the port of Faaborg there was also a connection to South Jutland.

For a number of years, there were 2 grocery stores in the village, where there was a large selection of goods on the shelves.

Until the 1970s, Katterød was thus a small village community with a few hundred inhabitants and it was part of Diernæs Municipality. Throughout the 1960s, many changes took place in the local communities. 

There was increasing centralization, new types of work functions in the nearest cities lured with good salaries, agriculture became mechanized, increasing international competition, the need for a high level of education, all of which affected the small local environments.

Where the road, Bymarksvej, to Katterød runs out to the main road between Faaborg and Svendborg, there was a property that in many ways reflects the historical development related to the horticultural industry.

The original property's plot had a size of 16,000 m2, or about 1.5 hectares. The cadastre was divided from a farm in Katterød itself, namely Dalgården in 1849. The division took place because the tenancy for the residents of Dalgården itself had ceased, and they had to find new forms of housing. Holstenshus therefore built 2 similar properties close to the Svendborg - Faaborg road, which must be described as homesteads for Dalgården's former residents.

In the same year, construction began on a property on the plot, built in half-timbering with a thatched roof, and a large part of the wall material was unfired bricks. The property plus the land was still owned by the Holstenshus estate, which from 1852 rented it out to local residents, often fishermen and homesteaders.

It was not until 1916 that Rasmus Poulsen from Bjørnø, a local skipper, bought the property from Holstenshus. After that, the land registry changed owners several times. In the 1920s, an extension in burnt stone with a tiled roof was added, which lay north-south as an angle to the original building. The building functioned as a stable and barn.

In the summer of 1931, gardener Louis Krog bought the property and developed it into a nursery. Louis Krog had completed his apprenticeship and had just completed his education with a commercial gardener in the neighboring village of Nab. The nursery was named “Skelbanke” after its geographical location.

From the start, Louis Krog had employees to help the company get started, including local employees who also lived in rental accommodation with his employer.

Greenhouses were built, 4 facing south-north, and a smaller greenhouse facing east-west, which functioned as a warehouse, workroom and storehouse. Some of the greenhouses were supplemented with a solid fuel heating system, which required a chimney several meters high. In an area south of the greenhouses, an access road and mist benches were established.

In the early 1930s, the nursery "Skelbanke", like most of the nursery shops in Denmark at the time, primarily sold vegetables and fruit, supplemented with a selection of flowers and plants.

For vegetables, tomatoes and cucumbers were important greenhouse crops, often grown together with chrysanthemums and freesia in the winter. In the open field, rhubarb, leeks, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower were typically grown. The fruit board especially included the sale of various apple varieties, as well as pears and plums.

It is estimated that there were around 6,000 to 7,000 nursery shops at this time, this assessment according to the number of members in the General Danish Gardeners' Association

Within flowers, roses, carnations, amaryllis and orchids were sold, although the range of varieties was more limited than today. Perennials were also part of the offer, and plants were grown for planting in private gardens. It was also a time when some horticultural farms experimented with growing tropical fruits in greenhouses due to the scarcity of foreign goods.

Establishing and building a horticultural farm at this time is a very optimistic choice. Denmark's economy was hit hard by the Great Depression in the early 1930s, but generally fared better than many other countries. Agriculture, which accounted for a large part of exports, experienced a crisis with falling prices and export opportunities, especially after Britain's introduction of preferential tariffs. Unemployment was high, with up to 44% of insured workers in 1932.

The government responded with measures such as the Kanslergadeforliget in 1933, which included the devaluation of the krone, a freeze on wage agreements and the introduction of social reforms to alleviate the crisis. Import restrictions were also introduced to stimulate domestic industry and the agricultural sector.

Although unemployment remained high, urban businesses and industry experienced some growth during the 1930s, and the overall economy began to show progress from 1933.

In 1941, the nursery "Skelbanke" was sold to Aage Nørgaard, and the purchase price was 20,000 kr. plus 6,000 kr. for movable property and machinery. Aage Nørgaard had also received his education as a gardener through an apprenticeship. He had trained at nurseries in Viborg and in Stige near Odense (Svend Madsen) and finally at the Årslev experimental station.

Aage Nørgaard continued to produce largely the same products as his predecessor, but due to the occupation, shortages of goods and rationing, changes were nevertheless made to the nursery's range. Imports from Europe were severely limited, so there was a focus on producing food locally.

The nursery "Skelbanke" therefore focused, like other nurseries, on vegetables, especially common and nutritious vegetables, such as kohlrabi, celery and potatoes, but also various other root vegetables and traditional types of cabbage.

Many fruits native to Denmark were sold, such as apples, pears, plums, cherries and berries such as blackcurrants, currants and raspberries. It appears from the nursery "Skelbanke"'s accounting for 1941 that significant quantities of raspberries and strawberries were sold in July. In addition, tobacco plants were grown on a relatively large area near the nursery.

It also appears from the nursery's records that in 1941, significant new plantings of fruit trees were carried out to increase the supply of plums in particular to customers in the nearby provincial town. Among the customers were not only private individuals, but also a number of local business owners, hotels, boarding houses, and merchants.

In the summer of 1941, there was very little rainfall in Denmark and it was necessary to water the crops a lot. The water for the nursery Skelbanke came from a private well near the residence, and since no other water supply was connected, it was therefore difficult for a period to obtain enough water for all of the nursery's activities.

 In 1941 and 1947, Denmark was generally hit by drought, which led to drying out of fields and difficulties for the crops. In parts of Denmark, many crops were hit by rare and unknown diseases due to the drought.

During the winter months, the nursery had sky-high fuel costs in the form of wood and sawdust, precisely to keep the greenhouses warm for the few remaining luxury goods such as ornamental plants and exotic flowers. However, the focus was on food production, where it was about making the best possible use of the land and optimizing production.

It was not easy to be a commercial gardener in the 1940s. During the harsh winter of 1941-42, which was also characterized by a heavy ice winter, Denmark experienced several extremely cold nights. Especially around February 1942 it was extremely cold, with really low temperatures measured throughout the country, down to minus 25 degrees. This made it impossible for the nursery to heat the greenhouses, the coming spring plants died in the frost and newly planted fir trees broke in the frost and under the weight of ice and snow.

As if that were not enough, on the evening of February 27, 1942, an English bomber dropped a bomb in the nearby Pipstorn forest while in flight. The pressure wave from the impact hit the greenhouses with such great force that hundreds of pieces of glass and bars shattered. This caused a huge clean-up effort and large additional expenses for the nursery.

One of the four preserved order books for the nursery shows that the nursery sold a lot of tobacco to local customers in the spring of 1945. Here are just 2 examples that appear in the order book:

Customer: H. Nielsen. (Nab)
25-5-45 Tobacco 14.40 DKK
01-6-45 Tobacco 12.00 DKK

Customer: P. Rasmussen
05-06-45 700 gr. Tobacco 8.40 DKK
08-06-45 3000 gr. Tobacco 48.00 DKK

It has not been possible to identify what the tobacco was used for, but perhaps it was parts of the local population who used it for pipe tobacco.

The liberation on 5 May 1945 was celebrated by local customers by purchasing bouquets of tulips. In the month after the liberation there were a number of orders for wreaths and funeral bouquets, possibly for ceremonies at local memorial sites.

During the summer period, the nursery continued with the 1940s summer sale of ornamental and useful plants, first vegetable plants and later summer flowers, at the same time there was a sale of berries, especially raspberries plus strawberries and in addition the sale of potatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes.

The order book shows that the customer segment was really the local community, including the local farm owners, small industries and craftsmen as well as the staff at the churches. There was also a sad note when reviewing the order book, namely the fact that a local, large pulmonary sanatorium and its patient association often figured in the order book through orders for wreaths and funeral bouquets, in the months after the occupation almost every other week.

In the 1950s, Danish horticultural nurseries experienced a period of strong growth in flower production. As the state was still focusing on Danes eating more local vegetables due to the shortage situation worldwide, vegetable producers also had an increase in turnover, but somewhat surprisingly, the sale of flowers exceeded the sale of vegetables/fruit. This made flower production the largest area of turnover in the late 1950s for the industry.

The nurseries thus still sold large quantities of vegetables, primarily tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage and berries such as strawberries and raspberries. Fruit production mainly included apples and plums. 

The aftereffects of World War II and the new wars in Asia still made it difficult to import essential fruits and vegetables, which benefited the entire horticultural industry in Denmark. However, the idea of a greater export of Danish food and ornamental plants in a more industrial form began to take shape.

But more and more different new types of potted plants were also produced, such as hyacinths and cyclamen as well as bouquets of Danish-produced flowers, e.g. chrysanthemums, peonies, snapdragons, tulips.

A line of development that the nursery  Skelbanke was also part of. The nursery's turnover increased significantly throughout the 1950s. Already in 1950, a new workroom, business space, was built just west of the greenhouses. 

In addition, a basement was added to the building with a new solid fuel boiler, which provided heating for the greenhouses. The old workroom northeast of the greenhouses was converted into a greenhouse, the boiler plus chimney removed. The new business space was closer to the road network and was more customer-friendly. Bouquets, ornamental plants, fruit, vegetables were exhibited here.

Around half of the nursery's production was sold to private individuals, while the rest was sold through the Gardeners' Sales Association in Odense (GASA). The logistics for the goods to GASA was simple and fast, namely via the railway from Katterød or Faaborg station to Odense.

Here is just one example of a customer purchase at the Skelbanke nursery in the summer of 1954:

Vegetable plants:
100 Leeks
30 Celery
25 Kale
10 Spring Cabbage
10 Tomatoes
30 Brussels Sprouts
30 Red Cabbage
Flowers:
20 Tagetes
Fruit:
4 pounds Strawberries

Total price 7.80 kr. Customer: Å. Christoffersen. Date 3 June 1954.

Another example of a customer purchase is the following:

20 Tulips for planting
2 Orchid decorations
2 Bouquets
30 Pansy plants

Total price 22.50 kr. Customer A. Nordahl. Date 25 April 1954.

In the 1950s, sales of bouquets and floral decorations became so large that Gartneriet Skelbanke attempted to expand its range of flowers by purchasing orchids from Thailand. Tropical orchids became known in Europe in the 16th century, and orchids were imported to Denmark from 1700.

They were difficult to propagate and grow, so they were often purchased in their countries of origin via intermediaries for nurseries. They required a constant temperature and high humidity. But the attempt was successful, and a relatively large proportion of the orchids' flowers were used in decorations or sold individually.

In the 1960s, Danish horticulture also experienced great growth. Flower sales increased and increased, especially for planting in the newly created villa gardens. Large areas in the cities were ready for construction and the homes were divided into large plots of land that required shrubs, trees, perennials, herb gardens, the last remnants of an agricultural culture brought with them. 

A somewhat odd production of mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and other edible mushrooms also began to become popular during the decade. In addition, there was some production of tulip bulbs and herb and flower seeds for limited export, especially to Sweden and Norway.

But throughout the decade, Danish horticulturalists' exports were primarily focused on ornamental plants, especially potted plants, and to a lesser extent vegetables. Before Denmark's entry into the EC in 1973, production in Denmark supplied almost exclusively the domestic market.

This growth in the industry also affected the horticultural farm "Skelbanke", where in the 1960s a new house was built close to the greenhouses, and the old half-timbered house was sold off. In this way, housing and business are once again combined on one land plot after a previous road realignment had divided the plot into 2 parts. The road realignment had moved the Bymarksvej exit to Svendborgvej and the horticultural farm thus lost some production land.

According to an order book from Skelbanke, in 1961 over 460 different people were registered who had ordered one or more items from the nursery by telephone during the year, to which must be added the customers who came to the store itself and bought in. At the same time, there was a seasonal sale through GASA in Odense, which constituted half of the total sales.

7 years later, 636 people were registered in an order book from Skelbanke, who ordered one or more items by telephone during the year, and again the open purchases in the store and sales through GASA in Odense must be added.

One could say that the customer base was not bad, since in Faaborg municipality in 1968 there were 5,787 inhabitants according to the Statistical Yearbook 1968.

If you do a little research on the turnover through the order books, it appears that in 1969 the sum for a purchase of goods per person varies from 2.75 DKK to 460.00 DKK. On average, each customer ordered for 64.00 DKK. If this figure is put into perspective in terms of the number of registered customers, this could indicate a turnover through orders of 38,400 DKK. 

To this must be added the free trade in the store plus the turnover through GASA. Not really a bad sales, seen in relation to the fact that in the same year the average income for a worker in Denmark was around 12,000-15,000 DKK.

Unfortunately, only 4 order books from the nursery exist today, and one without a complete overview of customers.

There was still a focus on the Danes eating more healthily and green, which gave a significant increase in turnover for vegetable producers. The nurseries still sold the traditional fruits and berries and with urbanization and a different labor market, there was no time for the ordinary employee to organize and process fruit and vegetables from nature or the garden.

The new supermarkets and grocers took over part of this process and quickly developed industrially processed foods, specifically designed for the busy family with 2 working people. In an attempt to retain the customer group, Skelbanke developed various new initiatives, including adding new product groups, e.g. flower pots, bowls, ceramic sculptures.

The growth of smaller nurseries stopped during the 1970s and many smaller nurseries had to close completely.

During the period, it was seen that the new supermarkets operated with large purchasing volumes and could therefore push prices down. Small nurseries, which often had higher costs per unit, had difficulty competing on price. Supermarkets also demanded large, uniform batches of products.

Small nurseries had difficulty delivering on the necessary scale and meeting the strict requirements for appearance and sorting. This led to a trend towards fewer, but larger and more specialized nurseries.

Logistically, a colossal change also occurred in the 1970s, larger and cheaper transport volumes changed the sales of food in Denmark. Supermarkets began to import fruit, vegetables and plants from abroad, where production costs were much lower. This posed a direct threat to small Danish nurseries.

In addition, the oil crisis made it difficult for nurseries with greenhouses to exist. The quadrupling of oil prices during the first oil crisis in 1973-74, and subsequent increases, meant that the cost of heating greenhouses exploded. This made it significantly more expensive to produce flowers and vegetables. 

Production became too expensive and it became much cheaper to import goods from countries both in Europe and outside Europe. This was a major challenge for Danish horticulturalists and contributed to a restructuring of the industry with an increased focus on energy efficiency and a change in the production landscape.

From more than 5,000 horticulturalists in the early 1970s, there are fewer than 1,000 in recent years. Although some specialized horticulturalists still thrive by focusing on specific niche products or direct sales, the dominance of supermarkets has fundamentally changed the landscape for small horticulturalists.

The Skelbanke nursery  was also able to feel this development in every way. The large stores in the cities took over the sales of the products that normally generated the horticulturalists’ income base. 

It became difficult to maintain competition, production costs for foreign products were much lower. The oil crisis worsened the situation and made it difficult to heat the greenhouses.

Skelbanke had to shut down the heating of some greenhouses and focus on other production, primarily growing plants for gardening, namely Rhododendron, perennials and summer flowers. However, a varied collection of Orchids was maintained, whose flowers were sold in bouquets and decorations. 

During the 1980s, the nursery ceased altogether, a development that characterized many smaller nurseries. An industry disappeared, and the opportunity to buy local products became less and less.