10 TEN YEAftS IN SWEDEN. 



This is by far the most fertile and populous part of Sweden. 

 The country is flatter and more open than in any other 

 part, is much better adapted to agriculture, and much of 

 it lying on the coast, the climate is milder than in the 

 interior. 



Norrland is divided into eight provinces Gestrikland, 

 Helsingland, Herjedalen, Jemtland, Medelpad, Angerman- 

 land, Westerbotten, and part of Lapland. 



This is the wildest, barrenest, and yet, perhaps, the most 

 picturesque part of Sweden. It is little adapted to agricul- 

 ture, but is in many parts rich in minerals, which cannot, 

 however, in the present state of the country, be rendered of 

 much use to man. The forests are large, but inaccessible in 

 many places. The timber gradually seems to become poorer 

 the further north we travel ; and in the very north the land, 

 save that it affords a scanty sustenance to the few inhabitants 

 that are scattered over its surface, appears to be of very little 

 value to the rest of the country. 



The Climate. As may well be expected, in such a diver- 

 sified and wide- stretched land, the climate is very variable ; 

 and the north, the middle, and the south of Sweden have each 

 a climate of their own. The difference of the mean yearly 

 temperature in the south of Sweden and the north (Lund 

 and Enontekeis) is 10 04' : in Norway, between Christi- 

 ania and the North Cape 4 1'. Still the Swedish climate 

 may be considered as healthy, and, for its high northern 

 latitude, mild. In the south and south-eastern provinces it 

 differs little from that of many parts in north Scotland. The 

 cold is never very severe in the winter. There is rarely any 

 sledging. The spring comes on at least a month earlier 

 than in the midland districts (where the snow generally lies 

 on the ground till far into April), and by about April the 

 spring sowing in the south is usually finished. The country 

 in the south is open, and many of the woods have a true 

 English character. The soil in some places is rich and good, 

 but there are many large open sandy plains and turf mosses, 

 and wide barren tracts of heather mark the spot where the 

 southern forest once stood. The mean yearly temperature 



