THE CEP.EAUA. 19 



forms the principal object of cultivation; barley being 

 raised in those countries, as with ds, only for the pur- 

 pose of brewing, and the use of oats being limited 

 principally to the feeding of horses. In all these last- 

 mentioned places, wheat is also grown; but its con- 

 sumption is limited, and the principal part is made an 

 object of external trade. 



The winters of Norway are intensely cold, but 

 their summers are, on the contrary, excessively warm, 

 particularly in the vallies, upon which the rays of the 

 sun are reverberated during the day from the moun- 

 tains, while the atmosphere has no time for becoming 

 cool during the few hours when the sun is below the 

 horizon. In such situations barley is generally sown 

 and reaped within the short space of sixty days; 

 sometimes even six weeks are found to suffice for 

 fulfilling the hopes of the husbandman. The Nor- 

 wegian agriculturist is, however, occasionally visited 

 by seasons, th/oughout which the sun appears to 

 lose its genial power, and vegetation is stunted ; 

 blossoms, indeed, appear, but are unsucceeded by 

 fruits, and the straw yields nothing but empty ears. 

 This calamity is happily of rare occurrence ; and, 

 unless when checked by a premature frost, the har- 

 vests of Norway are for the most part abundant and 

 excellent. 



Agriculture is pursued systematically and even 

 scientifically in Sweden, by which means the pre- 

 vailing barrenness of the soil is partially remedied. 

 The province of Gothland is made to produce barley, 

 oats, rye, and wheat, as well as pease and beans. In 

 these climates, the transition of the seasons is always 

 abrupt. Vegetation, when it has once commenced, 

 proceeds with a rapidity unknown in these more 

 temperate regions; and the interval which elapses 

 between committing the seed to the soil and gathering 



