THE PRESEXT STATE OF Ar,RIcri/rT-RK TX SWEDEN 



A Special calculation made in igo8 gave the following values (in mill- 

 ions of kroner) for real and personal agricultural property. 



Real estate 3 679 = 26.6 % of the national \sxalth 



I,ivestock . ....... 660 = 4.8 % " " 



Implements etc 322 = 2.4 % »" " " 



Total ... 4 661 = 33.8 % of the national wealth 



Xeedless to saj', in a country as extensive and varied in character as 

 Sweden, the ratio between the values cf the diilerent descriptions of pro- 

 perty changes very much. Neglecting extreme cases, these values on 

 [ normal farms may be estimated as follows per acre of land cultivated : 



i 



I L,and capital 160 — 800 kroner 



I,ive=tock 80 — 240 " 



Imulemenl;, tnach ueiy, etc 40 — 200 " 



W'crking capital 80 — 160 " 



Total . . . 360 — I 400 kroner 



Agricultural Credit. — The real estate is generally encumbered with a 

 considerable mortgage debt. For all the real estate together it amounted 

 in 1912 to 51.7 per cent of the taxable value, but the share of agricultural 

 property- in this figure is not known. 



Agricultural land credit is provided by 10 District Mortgage Associations, 



' organised on the pattern of the German " Landschaften ". The loans are 



granted by the General Mortgage Bank of which the said associations are 



the sole members. This bank operates under the control cf the State, which 



provided it with a guarantee fund of 30 million kroner in State stock. The 



' outstanding loans by the provincial associations amounted in 1913 to 291 



million kroner, or 7. 7 per cent cf the value of the mortgaged property. These 



societies are resorted to chiefly b}' large real estate owners ; small owners 



.. generally apply for the necessary advances to ordinary banks, public loan 



funds and private persons. 



The provision of financial facilities fcr working capital has just been 

 organised by a law of 1915 through the agency of Local Agricultural Co-op- 

 erati7)e Societies and Central Societies, but none of these in.stitutions has yet 

 begun to operate. 



Association and co-operation, which at present play so important 

 a part in the advancement of agriculture in most countries, did not gain 

 a footing in Sweden until a late date. I^atterly, however, they have made 

 .great headway concurrently with the growth cf interest in the small far- 

 , mer. The first co-operative dairies sprang up between i860 and 1870, 

 and, after various changes in organisation, multiplied until they numbered 

 about 600, or 40 per cent of all the dairies of the coimtry. 



Later on, about 1885, farmers began to form associations for the joint 

 purchase of fertilisers, concentrates and other primary necessities, and, in 

 1005, this co-operative movement resulted in the creation of the National 



