Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



HI 



within, at least in winter. Tliere are various exceptions, however as to cleanliness, 

 especially among the post-masters, who are all farmers. The post-house at Yfre, 

 north of Stockholm, was found by Dr. Clarke and his party so " neat and com- 

 fortable, and every thing belonging to it in such order," that they resolved to dine 

 there. " The women were spinning wool, weaving, heating the oven, and teaching 

 children to read, all at the same time. The dairy was so clean and cool, that we 

 preferred having our dinner there rather than in the parlour. For our fare they readily 

 set before us a service consisting of bacon, eggs, cream, curd, and milk, sugar, bread, 

 butter, &c. ; and our bill of fare for the whole amounted only to twenty pence ; 

 receiving which they were very thankful. Cleanliness in this farmer's family was quite 

 as conspicuous as in any part of Switzerland. The tables, chairs, and the tubs in which 

 they kept their provisions, were as white as washing could make them ; and the most 

 extraordinary industry had been exerted in clearing the land, and in rendering it produc- 

 tive. They were at this time employed in removing rocks, and in burning them for 

 levigation, to lay the earth again upon the soil." (Scandinavia, sect. i. p. 179.) 



693. The cottages in ^ j. 

 Norway are formed as 

 in Sweden, covered with 

 birch, bark, and turf. On 

 some of the roofs, after 

 the hay was taken, Dr. 

 Clarke found lambs pas- 

 turing ; and on one house 

 he found an excellent 

 crop of turnips. The gaL 

 leries about their houses VjM 

 remind the traveller of 

 Switzerland. " 



694. The cottages of 

 the Laplanders are round huts of the rudest description. (Jig. 84. ) 



695. The agricultural produce of Sweden are the common corns. Wheat and rye are 



chiefly grown in South and East Gothland ; oats 



85 are the bread com of the country; and big, or 



Scotch barley, is the chief corn of Lapland and 

 the north of Norway. The bean and pea are 

 grown in Gothland, and potatoes, flax, and 

 enough of tobacco for home consumption, by 

 every farmer and cottager. Only a few districts 

 grow sufficient corn for their own consumption, 

 l^^ and annual importations are regular. 

 ^ 696. The Cenomyce rangiferma, or reindeer moss 

 ^^^^ (fg' ^^')y *s "ot only used by the reindeer, 

 "^ but also as fodder for cows and other horned 

 cattle. It adds a superior richness to the milk 

 and butter. It is sometimes eaten by the inha- 

 bitants ; and Dr. Clarke, having tasted it, found 

 it crisp and agreeable. 



697. Rocc^lla. tinctbria (Jig. 86.), which abounds 

 near Gottenburg and in other parts of Sweden, 

 was in considerable demand in the early part of last war as a scarlet dye. 



698. The Lycopodiuvi complanatum (Jig. 86.) 86 

 is employed in dyeing their woollen. Even 

 the leaves, as they fall from the trees, are care- 

 fully raked together and preserved, to increase 

 the stock of fodder. (Scandinavia, chap, xviii.) 



699. Tar, in Sweden, is chiefly extracted from 

 the roots of the spruce fir, and the more 

 marshy the forest the more the roots are said to 

 yield. Roots or billets of any kind are packed 

 close in a kiln, made like our limekilns, in 

 the face of a bank. They are covered with 

 turf and earth, as in burning charcoal. At 

 the bottom of the kiln is an iron pan, into 

 which the tar runs during the smothered 

 combustion of the wood. A spout from the iron pan conveys the tar at once into 

 the barrels in which it arrives in this country. 



