CHAPTER XII 

 SWEDEN AND NORWAY 



THE development of agricultural interests 

 in Sweden has followed the same general 

 lines, especially in regard to co-operative effort, 

 as in Denmark. It was, in fact, the example of 

 Denmark that inspired the action of the Swedish 

 agriculturists, for the double reason that they 

 wanted to meet effectually the threatened com- 

 petition of their neighbours, and that they fur- 

 ther hoped to get a share in the important trade 

 in dairy products which those neighbours were 

 opening up with Great Britain. 



Between the two countries, however, there are 

 some material differences. Whereas Denmark 

 is a land that is almost exclusively agricultural, 

 Sweden, in addition to her agriculture, has very 

 large iron, iron ore, and other industries, which 

 absorb an increasing proportion of the popula- 

 tion, so that whereas in 1870 the number of 

 those engaged in agricultural pursuits stood at 



71*87 per cent., it is to-day only 55*32 per cent. 



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