18 TEN YEARS IN SWEDEN. 



22. It does not, however, seem that the cold is so much 

 more intense up at the North Cape than in the forest some 

 degrees further south. 



It is curious that, owing to the higher average tempera- 

 ture and greater summer heat than in other lands in corre- 

 sponding latitudes, many delicate plants will grow in 

 Scandinavia at a parallel where in Asia and America all 

 vegetation ceases. 



The oak grows in Norway as far north as 63 along the 

 coast ; in Sweden as far on the east coast as Gefle in 61, 

 but on the west coast not further than 59. 



The oak cannot be called a very common tree here, and 

 only two species are indigenous to Scandinavia the com- 

 mon oak (Quercus pedunculata, L.), and the damask oak 

 (Q. sessiflora, L.) This is by far the rarest of the two. 



Wheat, cherries, and apples will ripen as far north in 

 Norway as Trondtheim, 63-^ j in Sweden, up to Hernosand, 

 62i. * 



The beech grows up in Norway as far north as Laurvig, 

 59 in Sweden it ceases at 58, and it rarely grows at an 

 elevation of more than 600 feet above the sea. 



Grapes, mulberries, and walnuts will ripen in fitting 

 localities in the South of Sweden and in Gotland. In the 

 southern Norwegian valleys grapes and almonds have occa- 

 sionally ripened. 



The southern division of Sweden lies in the cold tem- 

 perate vegetation zone, the northern division in the Sub- 

 arctic and Polar zone. 



The pine flourishes at an elevation of 1400 feet above 

 the sea, and ceases to grow about 2800 below the limit of 

 perpetual snow ; and the fir ceases to grow at an elevation 

 of 1000 feet above the sea, and does not flourish higher than 

 2900 feet below the snow region. Strange to say, at 

 Quickiock, which seems to be a perfect oasis in the Lap 

 desert, both fir and pine grow up the fell sides some hundred 

 feet above the village, which itself lies more than 1000 feet 

 over the sea. The pine limit appears in Sweden to be 59 Q 

 north lat., but the fir ceases at 58. 



