AGKICULTURE. 51 



AGRICULTURE. 



As I shall have occasion to go more deeply into this 

 subject in a future chapter, I shall only here trouble the 

 reader with a few statistical observations, but I may 

 remark that although the export of corn is yearly on 

 the increase, and great improvements are yearly being 

 made in the system of agriculture throughout the land, 

 Sweden can never, in my opinion, become a great corn 

 exporting country. The climate, except just on the south 

 and south-eastern coast, and the hard nature of the soil, 

 both forbid it. The timber crop is the true harvest of the 

 north, and if this is neglected, the loss can never be 

 replaced by any amount of corn that may be grown in 

 Sweden. 



Still, the well-doing of the country is all dependent upon 

 a prosperous state of agriculture, and as nearly seven-eighths 

 of the population live in the country, and are more or less 

 interested in the culture of the soil, it behoves every Swede 

 to do his best to uphold the plough, for it is my opinion 

 that two-thirds of the farms in Sweden could be brought 

 to bear much heavier crops if the land now under cultiva- 

 tion were made the most of. 



That there are great defect sin the management and farming 

 of estates here cannot be denied. These defects can, however, 

 be all remedied, and doubtless, in ten years, we shall see a 

 decided improvement in the agricultural statistics of this 

 country. But be this as it may, the Swedish farmer will 

 still have the climate and the nature of the soil to contend 

 against, and in no other country that I know of, are capital, 

 practical experience, attention, energy, and down right 

 hard labour, more required in the management of a farm 

 than in this. Sweden is no country for gentlemen farmers 

 without capital. 



Respecting the present state of agriculture here, it ap- 

 pears, from the statistics quoted below, that the import of 

 dairy produce into Sweden in the year 1862, exceeded the 



