THE ELABORATING COMMERCIAL COUNTRIES 123 



cereals for foodstuffs are deducted (in value about 1-8 million) 

 this balance nearly disappears. 



Sweden, taken as a whole, is therefore much less a surplus area 

 in the matter of foodstuffs than Denmark. The causes are obvious ; 

 the population is about twice as great, while the area of fertile 

 agricultural land, though larger than that of Denmark, is limited ; 

 the climate on the whole, even in the southern section, is more 

 continental in type, and therefore less favourable to the growth 

 of grasses and fodder crops for beef and dairy cattle ; the system 

 of animal husbandry is less highly developed and much less inten- 

 sive, as is shown by the comparatively small imports of feedstuffs ; 

 and finally, a larger share of the best energies of the people is de- 

 voted to manufacturing and other non-agricultural occupations. 



The changes in recent years in the ratios of food-producing 

 animals to the population are of interest in considering the prob- 

 able relations between production and consumption in the future. 

 The following table shows the changes in the ratios between two 

 selected years, per 100 of the population. 



It will be seen that in the 21 years covered by this table the per 

 capita ratios of pigs and " cattle units " increased somewhat, 

 while that of sheep, as in the rest of Western Europe, declined 

 considerably. The increase in live stock per capita of the popula- 

 tion was reflected in the rise in the net exports of animal foodstuffs. 

 Thus the net exports of the principal items of such foodstuffs, taken 

 together (inclusive of live cattle and pigs) rose from a value of about 

 2 million in 1901 to that of over 3 million in 1912. 



With regard to the per capita consumption of animal foodstuffs 

 in Sweden, the figures available are those for the year 1902. The 

 meat consumption in that year was estimated at 62 Ibs. per capita, 

 that is, a little more than one half that of the United Kingdom ; the 

 butter consumption was estimated at 15-8 Ibs. per capita and the 

 cheese consumption at 4-6 Ibs. per capita, both of which are 

 moderate compared with other European countries. These com- 

 paratively low figures do not necessarily imply a low standard of 

 living among the people, since the per capita fish consumption is 

 unusually high ; but, on the whole, the population does not appear 

 to have been liberally nourished, and there was room for improve- 

 ment. The figures of the per capita consumption of animal food- 

 stuffs probably rose subsequent to 1902, and may do so still further 

 in the future, if the prosperity of the country continues. On the 

 other hand, the population has increased rather slowly owing to 



