110 



HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part I. 



and sometimes in places so steep, 

 80 



that we wonder how they could find a foot- 

 ing. In some places the elevation of 

 these farms is so extraordinary, that the 

 houses and flocks appear above the clouds, 

 and bordering on perpetual snow, and 

 the actual site of them is hardly to be 

 credited. Every hanging-meadow is pas- 

 "~^ tured by cows and goats ; the latter often 

 browsing upon jutties, so fearfully placed, 

 that their destruction seems to be inevit- 

 able ; below is seen the village church 

 with its spire, the whole built of plank 

 {Jig. 80. j ; the cheerful bleatings of 

 the sheep, mingled at intervals with the 

 deep tones of the cow-herds' lures 



(Jig. 81.), resounding from the woods. The lure is a long trumpet made of splinters of 



wood, bound together by withy." 



689. Of Finland, which we have included with 

 Sweden and Norway, a considerable part is under 

 com culture ; the forests cleared, the lands enclosed, 

 and population increased. The whole country ap- 

 pears decked with farm-houses, and village churches, 

 rising to the view or falling from it, over an undulat- 

 ing district, amidst woods and water, and rocks, and 

 large loose masses of granite : it may be called 

 Norway in miniature. Farther up the country, 

 towards the north, there are scenes which were de- 

 scribed to Dr. Clarke as unrivalled in the world. 

 Every charm which the effect of cultivation can give 

 to the aspect of a region where Nature's wildest 

 features headlong cataracts, lakes, majestic rivers, 

 and forests are combined, may there be seen. (^Scandinavia, sect. ii. p. 459.) 



690. The soil of the valleys is, in general, good friable loam, but so mixed with stones 

 as to render it very troublesome to plough or harrow ; and in many places so much so, 

 that where the valleys are cultivated it is chiefly with the spade. The only exception to 

 these remarks is a considerable tract of comparatively even surface in South and East 

 Gothland, where the soil inclines to clay and is well cultivated, and is as prolific in com 

 crops as any in Europe. 



691 . The landed jyropei^ti/ of Sweden 

 is generally in estates of a moderate 

 size ; in many cases their extent in 

 acres is unknown, their value being 

 estimated by the number of stock 

 grazed in summer. The proprietors 

 almost constantly farm their own 

 estates, or let them out at fixed rents, 

 in money or grain, to cottagers or 

 farmers. The largest arable farms 

 not occupied by the proprietors are in 

 Gothland ; but few of these exceed 

 two hundred acres. The fai-m-build- 

 ings and cottages are there almost al- 

 ways built of timber and thatched, on account of the warmth of these materials, though 

 stone is abundant in most places. There are a few small enclosures near the farm-yard; 

 but to enclose generally could be of no use in a country where the 83 

 snow, during six or eight months in the year, renders them nuga- 

 tory either as shelters or fences. The fence in universal use is 

 made of splinters of deal, set up in a sloping position, and fastened 

 by withies to upright poles. (Jig. 82.) This is the only fence used 

 in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Finland ; and it is very com- 

 mon in Poland, Russia, and the northern parts of Germany. 



692. The Swedish cottages are built of logs, like those of 

 Poland (Jig. 83.), but they are roofed in a different manner. 

 Above the usual covering of boards is laid birch bark in the 

 manner of tiles, and on that a layer of turf, so thick that the 

 grass grows as vigorously as on a natural meadow. The walls 

 are often painted red. They are very small, and generally very close 



dirty 



