FIRST PART. 



ORIGINAL ARTICLES 



The Present State of Agriculture in Sweden 



Professor H. Juhlin-Dannfelt 



Sccniary to the Rnya! Acadi'my of Ai^ficultiin' in Sicedcn. 



Since the remotest times, vSweden has been practically entirely an agri- 

 cultural country. Half a century ago agriculture was still almost the only 

 industry of the country, and production was sufficient for the needs of 

 the population. 



Since then the importance of agriculture has undergone a continuous 

 decline. The proportion of persons directly deriving their livelihood from 

 it has not kept pace with the increase in the population, cr with the growth 

 in the cultivated area. In 1870, rough calculations showed the agricultural 

 population to form 71.9 % of the total, with 476 persons per 1000 acres of 

 cultivated land, but in 1910 the corresponding figures were 4(8.2 %, and 

 292 persons. Notwithstanding this, up till 1890 the agricultiiral popul- 

 ation showed an increase in absolute numbers; after that date it fell from 

 2 915 000 to 2 663 000. 



During the same period agricultural production became more and more 

 inadequate to supply home consumption. In the period 1871-1880 the 

 value of exported agricultural produce was on the average equal to that 

 of imports (imports 52 932 000 kroner ; exports 55 497 000 kr.) (i) ; bet- 

 ween 1901 and 1910 the average for all imports was nearly double that of 

 exports (110409000 against 55474000 kroner), and from that time till 

 1914 the discrepancy has continued to grew. 



These facts, however, prove neither absolute stagnation nor decHne of 

 agriculture, its production having grown in greater propoiti(m than the 

 number of the population, namely 4 times as against 2.5 times in the course 



(i) I Sufdish krone = i s. i ^.'5 J. 



