A COMPARISON WITH DENMARK 177 



Then, again, in the neighbourhood of large 

 towns, and especially Stockholm, it is found 

 more profitable to-day to sell milk and cream 

 to householders than use it for butter-making. 



These various changes in the economic position 

 have affected alike production and home con- 

 sumption, leaving a smaller relative proportion 

 of food products available for export. The fact, 

 also, that Sweden imposes duties on imported 

 feeding-stuffs (thus increasing the cost of pro- 

 duction), while Denmark admits them free, has 

 undoubtedly told against agriculture in the 

 former country, as compared with the latter. In 

 1895, for example, prior to the imposition of 

 a duty on maize, Sweden exported 22,000,000 

 lbs. of bacon. In 1901 the total was only 

 2,200,000 lbs., a falling off which cannot be 

 adequately accounted for by the greater local 

 demand, especially as the industrial workers in 

 the northern districts prefer American bacon to 

 Swedish. * 



In all these circumstances it is assumed that 

 Sweden will not be likely to send to Great 

 Britain larger quantities of food supplies than 

 she is doing already. All the same the Swedish 

 agriculturists benefit to the extent of close on 

 £1,000,000 a year from the trade they do with 

 Great Britain in the one item of butter alone, 



N 



