92 



SWEDEN - AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL 



Timber Floating on 



Tributaries •. . . 



Chief rivers 



Average Daily Wages in Croipm;. 



Depart- Depart- Depart- Depart- Depart- Depart- Depart- 

 ment ment ment ment ment meat merit General 

 of of of of of of of 



Varm- Koppar- Giivle- Vaster- Jamt- Vaster- Norr- Average 



land berg borg norrland land botteu botten 



2.99 3-83 371 4-54 402 4.37 4.63 4.14 

 3.16 4.00 3.78 4.00 4.30 3.72 4.17 3.94 



Food is provided and prepared during the timber-floating season as dur- 

 ing the winter forestry season, certain modifications arising naturall}' out 

 of the difference of conditions, place and time of year. 



The question of lodgings during the spring timber-floating on the streams 

 and their affluents presents the greatest difficulties. Especially in the northern 

 part of the zone of enquiry atmospheric conditions are still severe, the tem- 

 perature is near zero (Fahrenheit) and there are even falls of snow, and dwell- 

 ing houses are rare in these districts. Often the men are obliged to pass their 

 hours of rest in the open air beside a fire, beneath a temporary roof or a boat 

 turned upside down or with nothing to shelter them against the rain except 

 a reindeerskin, a bed of pine branches or something else of the sort. When 

 timber-floating reaches the chief rivers there is a notable improvement in 

 the conditions in which labourers are lodged. As we have already said a 

 large umber of them live at home, but even the others find good lodgings, 

 the custom being to travel with the floated timber until some farm is 

 found. Where the floating routes pass through sparsely populated forest 

 regions the timber floating societies have, especially of late years, spent 

 much trouble and money in establishing the lodging accommodation which 

 is as necessary to the profit of the enterprise as the workmen themselves. 

 Generally the different types of forest huts have been taken as models ; 

 but as the floaters' huts are intended for more permanent annual use than 

 the foresters' huts they are general^ built more solidly, with higher roofs 

 and larger windows. 



§ 3. Charcoal Burning. 



As well as the exploitation of forests and timber-floating, charcoal- 

 burning is from the economic and social point of view one of the most im- 

 portant forest industries. The report deals however only in passing with 

 that production of charcoal which has for long been one of the most import- 

 ant elements in intensive forest exploitation in the factory regions. It 

 is more closely concerned with the charcoal-burning in forests which large- 

 ly conforms to the system of extensive forest economy still followed in 

 the north of vSweden. This forest industry aims at utilizing the tree-tops 

 and other remains after the trunks have been cut up, and above all the large 



