272 ARCTIC HAY CROPS. 



are rendered susceptible of cultivation. Thanks to the 

 midnight sun, very fair crops of hay, and several sorts 

 of grain can be raised within certain areas very far 

 to the northward, where the frost never quits the deeper 

 subsoil; nevertheless the genial influence of the sun's 

 life-giving rays permeates far enough into the frozen 

 surface to render a rude agriculture and an actually 

 somewhat luxuriant vegetation still possible. Speaking 

 of the country between the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, 

 and the White Sea, M. Du Chaillu, who has himself 

 crossed its entire extent, thus describes it: 



" The country which extends from the Gulf of Bothnia to the 

 northern extremity of Europe is almost entirely within the 

 arctic circle. Vast areas are covered with forests of pine and 

 fir, the latter predominating, while many hills are clad with 

 the white birch to their very top. On the banks of some 

 of the rivers are numerous farms and hamlets, often surrounded 

 by fine meadows, and fields of rye, oats and barley. Vege- 

 tation is wonderfully rapid under the influence of almost 

 constant sunshine, 7 or 8 weeks only (according to M. Du 

 Chaillu) intervening between the sowing and the harvest." * 



These remarks of M. Du Chaillu afford valuable 

 evidence of the fertility which may exist in certain 

 districts within the arctic zone, and upon which books 

 have sometimes cast a doubt. 



The average length of time required for the raising 

 of similar crops in our own country is of course very 

 much greater, and may be set down at more than 

 double that required during ordinary years for an 



* The Land of the Midnight Stm, by Paul Du Chaillu, 1881, Vol. 

 i P- 53- (We think, however, that the time is here slightly under- 

 stated, as we should feel inclined to extend the interval between sowing 

 and harvest by another two or possibly three weeks). 



