lOOB 



lopmenl is more precise. Thus when we were considering Ihe na- 

 lural formations of the Færoes, we were constantly obliged to 

 be content with suspecting or guessing how development had 

 proceeded in the past, and what is now going on. On the other 

 hånd we know much more about the development of the culture- 

 formations. 



The greater part of the cultivated area on the Færoes consists 

 of the enclosures locally known by the name »Bo« or, if only re- 

 cently brought under culti vation, »Tro«. The distinction between 

 these two names is mainly a technical one, hence in this paper 

 the word »Bo« is used to include the »Tro« as well as the »Bo« 

 proper. 



Information on the methods of cultivation^ may be found in 

 several of the older books (e. g. Landt's description) and in more 

 recent accounts, such as those of L. Bergh (1906) and P. Feil- 

 berg (1900). I have also obtained a large amount of valuable 

 information direct from the »Kongsbonde« Just Jacobsen. 



The first step in taking new land into cultivation is lo fence 

 it with a stone wall in order to protect the vegetation from constant 

 grazing by sheep. The surface is then made more uniform by re- 

 moving loose stones and roughly levelling it; ditches are also dug. 

 Sometimes the turf is pared off, and any stones collected during 

 the operations spread as a layer over the sub-soil; then the green 

 turf is laid on with the grassy side downwards. In this way the 

 rough grass is smothered, and in a primitive way an efficient drain- 

 age is secured. The grass-turf is afterwards broken up by hacking 

 it, and the field is ready for further cultivation. When the field 

 is very wet, a most original method is often employed lo free it 

 from superfluous moisture. Care is laken when digging and turn- 

 ing the turf to make a series of narrow ridges, sometimes only 

 about 3 — 4 meters wide, and with a sloping surface. In the words 

 of P. Feilberg's picluresque description (1900, p. 158): »The 

 tranverse section of a Færoese meadow shows a profile resembling 

 a row of large saw-teeth; each »Ager«^ is made up of a long 

 ascending slope, ending above in an abrupt steep scarp, which is 

 generally cut down far enough below the lower edge of the next 



' See also the historical survey (p. 869 et seq.). 



- »Ager« in this case is equivalent to the English »ridge« or »rigg«. (Note 

 by W. G. Smith). 



