Feb. 1900.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 283 



The Namseii River is one of the best in Norway for 

 salmon. The fishing is by trolling, or " harling," with 

 minnow from a boat. An expedition to the river was 

 usually made in the forenoon, returning about three o'clock 

 for dinner and repose, going out again at six or later, and 

 coming home about midnight. A good many fish were 

 caught on each excursion, often of good size, — even the 

 botanists, inexperienced in this form of the gentle art, 

 landed (among others) two fish, one a little over, and the 

 other a little under, thirty pounds. 



One of the industries of the place (it was a large farm, 

 worked by the proprietor) is hay-making, which we saw in 

 full swing. They have their own way of doing it here. 

 As the grass is being cut, they stick into the ground long 

 rows of poles, like hop sticks, a few yards apart, from end 

 to end of the field ; then tie cords to the poles, and hang 

 the grass thereon to dry. It looks as if rows of long green 

 hedges had grown up under your windows in the course of 

 a few hours. They say that the hay is dried much sooner 

 ill this way, as the air gets through the interior of the 

 " hedge," in addition to the action of the sun and air out- 

 side, — and this is probably true ; but we saw an instance of 

 one drawback to the system, where a gale of wind had laid 

 the whole erection flat on the ground. 



The first sight of a Norwegian wood is something of a 

 revelation to the British botanist. The profusion and 

 luxuriance of the vegetation, and the rich variety of the 

 Mowers with which the ground is carpeted, many of these 

 l)eing new to the traveller, are quite dazzling to the eyes 

 until one gets used to the novelty. The woods are chiefly 

 pine, but in places the birch, oak, beech, and elm abound. 

 It may be remarked in passing that the leaves of some of 

 the trees in the northern parts of Norway develop to an 

 enormous size, a fact attributed to the long light in the 

 summer months. The undergrowth of flowers through 

 which one has to wade in going through the wood is made 

 up of Vaccinium in all species ; Linnma borealis, the lovely 

 •evergreen creeper, presenting itself in graceful ways of end- 

 less variety ; Gornus suecica, a black and white object amid 

 a niass of green ; several species of Pyrola, Buhus saxatilis, 

 Lycopodium annotinum, L. clavatum, L. Selago, Pohjpodiuin 



