Partitio)L of Land 339 



the soil too, throws difficulties iu the wa}^ of valuation 

 and exchange; so that each proprietor is disposed to 

 cling to his own little patches. A traveller along the 

 Norwefjian roads cannot fail to notice some curious 

 evidences of this subdivision of the land ; for by law 

 the peasant proprietors are obliged to keep in repair 

 the roads which their properties adjoin. The result is, 

 that you may see a constant succession of posts along 

 the roadside with such inscriptions as ' Thor Andresson, 

 .3 metres/ 'Knut Fogelberg, 10 metres/ ' Prsestegaard 

 (the glebe lands), 100 metres.' Then may come again 

 Fogelberg with 6 metres more, then a new proprietor 

 with 50 metres, then Andresson with another 4 or 5 

 metres, and so on. In former times there existed 

 restrictions on this continual division of property ; but 

 these restrictions were all abolished before the end of 

 the last century. 



All landed property formerly paid a land-tax, except 

 that in Finmark, which was excepted, it may be pre- 

 sumed, on account of the extreme poverty of the soil. 

 But in 1S3G, this impost, which had undergone suc- 

 cessive reductions, was finally abolished. There still 

 remain succession-duties, and a certain number of what 

 we should call rates levied on land. 



Although, as was said, the system of what has been 

 called the village community did not exist in Norway 

 to the extent that it existed in other European countries, 

 there has been at different times, and still is, a good 

 deal of agricultural land held in common. This is, of 

 course, chiefly the uncultivated pasture-land. In 1870 

 13'4 per cent, of the landed property of Norway was 

 common land. Holdings of this type obtain chieflv in 



