[13] THE GREAT BOHUS-LAN HERRING FISHERIES. ng ID 
eign countries, and exporting Swedish products directly to and from the 
interior by way of well-located outer harbors. These railroads would, 
especially if the gauge of the line Uddevalla- Venersborg-Herrljunga is 
changed to the normal Swedish gauge, prove of immense benefit not 
only to trade industry, but also for the defense of the country by greatly 
facilitating the connection between Sweden and Norway west of Lake 
Venern. 
In examining the different plans, special attention should be paid to 
the length of the proposed lines of railroad, the technical conditions, the 
cost of construction, the prospects of answering the purpose in view, 
and of paying, to the requirements of the sea fisheries, the coast, the 
province, and the whole country, and finally to the construction of such 
lines as will most successfully work together with the rest of the rail- 
roads of the country. In determining the termini of such lines of rail- 
road regard should be had to the location of the harbors, as to their 
nearness to a large number of fishing stations, to already existing rail- 
roads, to the number of fish consumers at home, to their being unob- 
structed by ice during winter, to their capacity, entrance, &c. The ex- 
perience of other countries, especially Great Britain, teaches us that the 
trade in fresh sea fish demands outer harbors, connected with the rest 
of the country by railroads, whose water (even at the surface) is so 
salty all the year round that large sea fish, as well as lobsters and oysters, 
may be kept alive in inclosed waters. It is well known that Gottenburg 
and the harbors near the mouth of the Géta River are just as inconven- 
iently located for this branch of the fish trade as London and its outer 
harbors on the Thames. The same applies, though in a less degree, to 
Stromstad and Uddevalla. Taking all these conditions into considera- 
tion, it will be seen that the two lines of railroad which will best an- 
swer all reasonable purposes are the following: 
(1.) Aline from Uddevalla, past Herrestad and Qvistrum, to Grebbestad- 
Krossekdérr (with a branch line to the southern point of the Sannds fiord 
in case the projected canal between that point and Kyrossekdrrshamn is 
not constructed) ; and 
' (2.) A branch line from Herrestad either to Fiskebdkskil or (and this 
would be preferable) to Hlés. 
The first line would be about 60 to 65 kilometers in length, and the 
last 32 to 35; therefore, both together, about 100 kilometers, a length 
which cannot be considered excessive, in view of the fact that Bohus- 
lin, one of the most densely-populated provinces of the country in pro- 
portion to its extent, and at the same time one of the most fertile, has 
so far had but little benefit from the most important means of commu- 
nication of our times, the length of the Bohus-liin railroads being less 
than that of any other provinces of the kingdom, with the exception of 
Norrbotten and Vesterbotten. The Economical Association of Bohus-liin 
has furnished the means_for a preliminary survey of both lines. 
The terminus near the sea of the first-mentioned line (@rebbestad-Krosse- 
