INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 



c. H. OSTENFELD. 



Agriculture. A Færoese fjord-landscape has almost ahvays a 

 gloomy aspect; the mountain tops and the dark-green slopes 

 are sombre, so, too, is the dark sea ; amidst all this gloom only 

 one bright spot shines out at times, during summer and autumn, 

 viz: the ciiUiuatcd fields. The Færoese generally live together in 

 yillages or hamlets (Bygder) which are almost invariably situated 

 on the sea-shore; in spite of the faet that in many piaces a landing 

 can hardly be effected, and then only in calm weather, the inha- 

 bitants still settle down as near as possible to the sea. The inhabited 

 piaces are surrounded by a small cultivated area, the so-called »Bo« 

 (pasture-land or enclosed fields), which is separated from the uncul- 

 tivated land or w asie (Hauy en) by high stone walls(Fig.ll}). In choosing 

 a site for habitation the first point taken into consideration doubtless 

 was, whether the surrounding land were fit for cultivation; and 

 considering the northerly situation of the Færoes, most of the in- 

 habited piaces are surrounded by a considerable cultivated area. 

 But agriculture is carried on under very primitive conditions; the 

 Færoese are slow to adopt new methods, and it will doubtless be 

 long before a more rational cultivation of the soil is introduced. The 

 enclosures (Bo) consist of pastures, barley and potato fields, and 

 here and there a small turnip field. The chief obstacle in the w^ay 

 of successful farming is the damp, swampy condition of the land, 

 which has ahvays first to be drained by means of numerous ditches, etc. 

 Meadows. What was formerly waste-land with its many 

 small swampy areas and its vegetation of sedges, which is not of 

 much use for cattle and sheep, has by means of this drainage been 

 turned into meadows or pastures. The Færoese also dig the ground 

 to make the grass grow, but as a rule they have no idea that grass 



