Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



10 



formation opposed as cliffs towards the sea." (darkens Scandinavia.) This is precisely 

 the case with Sweden : the south-eastern provinces are level and cultivated ; a ridge 

 of mountains on the west separate it from Norway, and the intermediate space, from 

 Gothenberg to Tornea, may be considered as one continued forest, varied by hills, rocks, 

 lakes, streams, glades of pasture, and spots of corn culture. Norway may be consi- 

 dered as a continuation of the central country of Sweden, terminated by cliffs opposed 

 to the ocean, " The tops and sloping sides of the mountains," Dr. Clarke observes, 

 ** are covered with a verdure ; farms are stationed on a series of tabular eminences, 

 and grazing around them the herds of cattle all the way from the top to the bottom, 

 and sometimes in places so steep, that we wonder how they could find a foot- 

 ing. In some places the elevation of 

 these farms is so extraordinary, that the 

 houses and flocks appear above the clouds, 

 and bordering on perpetual snow, and 

 the actual sight of them is hardly to be 

 credited. Every hanging-meadow is pas- 

 tured by cows and goats ; the latter often 

 brousinguponjutties, so fearfully placed, 

 that their destruction seems to be inevit- 

 able ; below is seen the village- church' 

 with its spire, the whole built of plank 

 (fg. 84.); the cheerful bleatings of 

 the sheep, mingled at intervals with the 

 deep tones of the cow-herds' lures 

 (Jig. 85. j, resounding from the woods, 

 of wood, bound together by withy. 

 85 



The lure is a long trumpet made of splinters 



668. Of Finland, which we have included with 

 Sweden and Norway, a considerable part is under 

 corn culture ; the forests cleared, the lands enclosed, 

 and population encreased. The whole country ap- 

 pears decked with farm-houses, and village churches, 

 rising to the view or falling from it, over an undulat- 

 Ijing district, amidst woods and water, and rocks, and 

 fjri' large loose masses of granite : it may be called 

 ^1^ Norway in miniature. Farther up the country, 

 ^ towards the north, there are scenes which were de- 

 scribed to Dr. Clarke as unrivalled in the world. 

 Every charm which the effect of cultivation can give 

 ijj jp' to the aspect of a region where Nature's wildest 

 -' features headlong cataracts, lakes, majestic rivers, 

 and forests are combined, may there be seen." (Scandinavia, sect. ii. p. 459.) 



669. The soil of the yallies is, in general, good friable loam, but so mixed with stones 

 as to render it very troublesome to plough or harrow ; and in many places so much so, 

 that where the vallies are cultivated it is chiefly with the spade. The only exception to 

 these remarks is a considerable tract of comparatively even surface in South and East 

 Gothland, where the soil inclines to clay and is well cultivated, and as prolific in corn 

 crops as any in Europe. 



670. The landed j)roperty of Sweden is generally in estates of a moderate size; in 

 many cases their extent in acres is unknown ; their value being estimated by the number 

 of stock grazed in summer. The proprietors almost constantly farm their own estates, 

 or let them out at fixed rents, in money or grain, to cottagers or farmers. The largest 

 arable farms not occupied by the proprietors are in Gothland ; but few of these exceed 

 two hundred acres. The farm-build- r-^ 86 

 ings and cottages are there almost al- 

 M^ays built of timber and thatched, on 

 account of the warmth of these materials, 

 though stone is abundant in most places. 

 There are a few small enclosures near 

 the farm-yard ; but to enclose generally 

 could be of no use in a country where 

 the snow, during six or eight months 

 of the year, renders them nugatory both 

 as shelters and fences. The fence in 

 universal use is made of splinters of . . 

 deal, set up in a sloping position, and 

 fastened by withys to upright poles 

 (^. 86.) This is the only fence used in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Finland ; 

 and it is very common in Poland, Russia, and the northern parts of Germany. 



