SWEDEN 



5648 



SWEDEN 



farmers. Scania and the Baltic islands are the 

 most productive regions. Much of the marsh 

 land in the lowlands is being reclaimed and 

 cultivated. The principal crops are rye, oats, 

 barley, wheat and sugar beets. Barley is the 

 only cereal raised in the north, and the cultiva- 

 tion of sugar beets is largely confined to Scania 

 and Gotland, the latter the most valuable of 

 the Baltic islands. 



Over three per cent of the land is in natural 

 meadow, and cattle raising and the herding of 

 swine are important. Sweden produces two- 

 thirds of the cattle of the Scandinavian penin- 

 sula, and quantities of dairy products are ex- 

 ported to England and Denmark. There is a 

 state department of agriculture, and there are 

 many agricultural high schools and societies. 

 Horticulture is also important; there are large 

 botanical gardens at the universities, and nurs- 

 eries are maintained by the government. 

 Primitive methods of cultivation are now seen 

 only in isolated districts. 



Forests. More than one-half of Sweden is 

 timberland. The uplands and mountains are 

 clothed with dense growths of pine, spruce, 

 birch and mountain ash; thick groves of oak 

 border the lowland lakes, and beech forests 

 separate the cultivated fields of Scania. One- 

 third of the woodlands are public, the larger 

 part of which belongs to the Crown and is con- 

 trolled by a large forest service. Excessive 

 cutting of timber and other abuses character- 

 istic of America are prevented by law. An ex- 

 tensive area in the north has been ma.de a na- 

 tional park, where hunting and logging are pro- 

 hibited. There is an institute of forestry at 

 Stockholm, and other minor forestry schools 

 are maintained by the government. 



Fisheries. The calm waters of the sea inlets 

 are excellent fishing grounds, and sea fishing 

 has long been one of Sweden's principal indus- 

 tries. Herring is the most important product, 

 and there are large salmon fisheries in the 

 mouths of the northern rivers. Sweden's export 

 of salt and canned fish is not as large as that 

 of Norway, and in recent year,s the annual 

 catch has decreased in value. There are not 

 nearly as many fish in Swedish as in Norwegian 

 waters. 



Mining. Sweden's mines are one of its chief 

 sources of wealth. The northern and midland 

 regions are especially rich in iron, and with the 

 introduction of modern machinery the develop- 

 ment of the mines has been rapid. Swedish 

 iron ore is noted for its purity, and it excels 

 that of any other European country. The an- 



nual output of iron is almost 7,500,000 tons, of 

 which 6,500,000 tons are exported. Copper is 

 mined extensively in Falun, and deposits of 

 silver, coal, lead, zinc and sulphur pyrites are 

 found in various parts of the country. There 

 are schools of mining at Stockholm, Falun and 

 Filipstad. 



Manufactures. The vast power furnished by 

 the southwestern rivers and the cheap electrical 

 power developed by its use are building up 

 large manufacturing industries. Factories are 

 scattered throughout the small towns and rural 

 districts, and a great many of the employees 

 live in the country. In the north, especially 

 along the Gulf of Finland, there are numerous 

 sawmills. Lumber and timber products, in- 

 cluding furniture, wood pulp, paper and paste- 

 board, are the chief manufactures of Sweden. 

 There are large iron smelting plants and found- 

 ries in the midland districts, and the porce- 

 lain and glass factories, flour and woolen mills 

 and sugar refineries are also important. Troll- 

 hattan, Norrkoping, Stockholm and Gothen- 

 burg are the chief manufacturing cities. 



Transportation and Commerce. Besides many 

 excellent roads and about 9,000 miles of rail- 

 road, Sweden has 2,500 miles of inland water- 

 way afforded by the many rivers, canals and 

 lakes. The Gota River, Lake Wener and 

 smaller lakes and canals form a continuous 

 highway from the Skagerrack to the Baltic, 

 only fifty-six miles of which is through arti- 

 ficial canals and in which there are fifty-eight 

 sets of locks. The canals of Southwestern 

 Sweden are traveled in normal times by 128,000 

 ships annually. As the Baltic Sea was unsafe 

 for traffic during the War of the Nations, new 

 railroad lines between Swedish cities and Rus- 

 sian ports were opened in 1915, and a railroad 

 now encircles the Gulf of Bothnia, affording 

 transportation from Stockholm to Petrograd. 



The commerce of Sweden is important for a 

 country of its size, and its large merchant ma- 

 rine, consisting of over 2,800 ships at the out- 

 break of the War of the Nations, carries much 

 foreign as well as domestic trade. Since 1911 

 there has been a uniform tariff on all Swedish 

 imports, and a national trademark, adopted 

 by the General Commercial Association of 

 Sweden, is placed on all Swedish exports. The 

 chief imports are coal, metal goods, machinery, 

 raw textiles and foodstuffs, and the principal 

 exports are timber products, paper, iron, live 

 stock and dairy products. The chief ports are 

 at Gothenburg and Stockholm, but Malmo and 

 Helsingborg are also important. 



