1050 



The Utilisation of the Soil. 



The laising of cereals (barley) was formerly of greater 

 importance than is now the case, as owing to the improved means 

 of conveyance cheap suppHes inay now be had from other piaces. 

 The following is the mode of cultivation^: — Towards spring, by 

 means of the peculiar Færoese spade, the turf is loosened on the 

 piece of ground intended for the cultivation of cereal crops; the 

 slices which have been loosened are from 1 to 3 feel square and 

 3 inches thick. The manure, which consists of sea-weed or of 

 catHe-manure, is then carried to the land in question either by 

 men or by horses, in two baskets made specially for the purpose 

 and placed on a pack-saddle. When the manure has been scat- 

 tered under the turf and the latter has been tur ned with the 

 grassy side downwards, the soil is ready for sowing, which 

 generally begins after April 14th. When sowing is over the more 

 or less tough slices of turf are by means of a light spade cut into 

 fairly small pieces. Then the soil is flattened with a wooden board 

 devised specially for the purpose, and it is then quite prepared — 

 it is both harrowed and rolled! Where this mode of cultivation is 

 applied, trenches, some 6 to 9 inches deep, are dug at intervals 

 of 12 feet. On account of the late ripening, the grain is dried 

 in the so-called »Sodnhuse«^ after the ears have been pulled off 

 by an iron comb. At present about 800 acres of land are supposed 

 to be under cereal cultivation. 



The hay-crop is of the greatest importance lo the agriculture 

 of the Færoes; and there is about 120,000 cwt. of hay produced 

 yearly per 8000 acres, or on an average about 15 cwt. per acre. 

 Where the drainage is good and the land is well-manured the 

 yield may reach 20. 30, or 40 cwt. per acre. The value of the crop 

 is however often somewhat diminished partly because the grass is 

 allowed to become over-ripe before it is cut, and partly on account 

 of the frequent and prolonged periods of rain which do not per- 

 mit the grass to dry. 



Potato and root-crops give a fairly good yield per 300 or 400 

 acres, and there are instances of a crop of 500 bushels of potatoes 

 per acre; but even if the potato-crops on an average yielded only 



' Landbruget og Husdyrbruget paa Færøerne af Landbrugskonsulent 

 Effersø. København, 1886. 



^ Houses in which grain is dried artificially (in an oven). 



