Sweden. 27 



birch branches gathered and stacked in the autumn ; and in the 

 summer they find excellent picking in the woods and plantations, 

 and on the heather. 



The Swedish horses are compact, docile, hardy little fellows, 

 showing no great breeding, but well adapted for this climate and 

 these roads, and, like the cows, can rough it upon any pasture and 

 in any quarters. They average about 14 to 15 hands. The carts 

 they draw are small, and doubtless, if the larger English cart-horses 

 and our common carts could be introduced into the country, the 

 farmers would get through their work quicker and easier. But I 

 don't believe they would stand either the climate or roads, except, 

 perhaps, in the very south j and instead of trusting too much to 

 foreign aid to improve their breed of cattle, or system of farming, 

 I should recommend the Swedish farmer to do more justice to his 

 own breed, and modify his own style of farming, which is best 

 suited to the country, without introducing fashions and cattle from 

 other countries, which probably would be very unsuited to this. 

 Much as we must applaud the spirit of enterprise and im- 

 provement, we should always bear in mind that there are cer- 

 tain laws of nature which man cannot overstep without paying the 

 penalty. 



Horses are dear here ; about i$l. is the price of a useful country 

 nag, such as we should see in a butcher's or grocer's light cart in 

 England, but without the style. Riding on horseback is not 

 fashionable here, and, except the military, you rarely see a Swedish 

 gentleman " outside a horse." The military seat is in vogue here, 

 and, as there is no racing or cross-country work, when you do see a 

 man riding he seems as if he was trying to take as much out of his 

 horse as he can. Our English cross-country seat, and our style of 

 riding, where the rider tries to ease his horse as much as he can, not 

 being understood, is laughed at here. There is not much work 

 for the veterinary surgeon in the country-stables, for the horses 

 being more naturally treated are much healthier than in England. 

 I believe the Norwegian horses are considered the best, and though 

 they boast of some rattling trotters in that country, I don't believe 



