* 893 



laid out especially in recent years and principally at Thorshavn. 

 The vegetation here consists partly of the few species under culti- 

 vation, and partly of weeds, most of which arc piants native to the 

 Færoes. A similar vegetation of weeds or ruderal species may be 

 found round the houses and along paths and roads in the rural 

 districts (e. g. Montia lamprosperma and Cardamine hirsuta). 



One must also include as products of cultivation the »Bo«, 

 fenced and drained enclosures, with a vegetation which will be 

 dealt with in detail later. 



Outside the enclosed area, traces of human influence are not 

 evident to any noteworthy extent, except the change brought about 

 by the removal of peat and turf, which produces other conditions in 

 the amount of moisture and thereby affects the original vegetation. 



b. Domestic animals. Sheep play far and away the greatest 

 part among the domesticated animals. There are on the Færoes 

 rather more than 15,000 inhabitants and about 100,000 sheep, in 

 other words about 7 sheep per head of population. These sheep 

 are allowed to roam at large all the year round, and their influence 

 upon the vegetation is undoubledly enormous. Outside the enclosed 

 land, the vegetation is almost everywhere closely clipped by the 

 grazing of the sheep, and the taller piants have little chance of 

 flowering and fruiting. F'ull development is only possible in piaces 

 inaccessible to sheep, such as mountain-terraces and small Islands 

 in lakes^ 



A typical example of this was found on a little isle (Holm) in 

 Vatnsdals-lake on Sydero between Trangisvaag and Kvalbo. 

 When I visited the valley in the summer of 1897, I was impressed 

 with the uncommon appearance of this isle when seen from a dis- 

 tance. The green vegetation looked as if flecked with white, and 

 on closer inspection this was seen to be due to numerous inflore- 

 scenses of Eriophoriim polystachyiim. This plant was also quite 

 common in the swampy vegetation on the shores of the lake, but 

 one might search long and not find a single inflorescence here, 

 where the sheep had free access. Numerous stalks could be found 

 which ought to have borne inflorescences, but these were all bitten 



^ Mr. W. H. Beeby informs me that this is also tlie case in Shetland; lie 

 saj's, one must search for the less common species on the small Islands (Holms) 

 in the lakes, and there also the best developed specimens of the commoner species 

 are found; several rare species have hitherto only been recorded from the >holms« 

 (cfr. W. H. Beeby, Ann. Scott. Nat. Hist., 1907, p. 236). 



