18 



going areas. In the interior the snowless period averages 175 days, 

 on the coast it is 10 days longer. In the greater part of the area, the 

 birch is in leaf about as long as further north, only in the southern 

 and western parts does the period last 125 128 days. The average 

 temperatures for May, June, July, August and September at Kajaani 

 (Kajana) are 6.2, 12.5, 15.3, 12.4 and 7.2 C and at Oulu (Ulea- 

 borg) 6.0, 12.4, 15.7, 13.2 and 7.9 C. In a botanic geographical 

 sense, this area forms the connecting link between the northern and 

 the southern portions of the country; in the south of the area the fo- 

 rest-types of the latter are typical, in the north those of the former, 

 and over large areas intermediate types prevail. The best lands are 

 situated east of Lake Oulujarvi and on the Bothnian coast. Regene- 

 ration-years recur also considerably oftener in the south of the area 

 than in the north. The north-east portion is the site of the most 

 southern fells (mountains) in Finland, on the slopes of which the 

 spruce is the prevailing species in most cases, similarly, also, in the 

 Hylocomium-Myrtillus type forests of the heights and ridges further 

 south, which are covered with moraine strata. The pine often forms 

 comparatively large pine forests in the heath-forest types. On ac- 

 count of cuttings, barkings for resin-wood, etc., the forests particu- 

 larly of the southern and western parts of the area are more variable 

 and of less age than further north. Floating conditions are fairly good, 

 inferior in the lijoki river, however, until the necessary improvements 

 in the floating channel have been made. The market for smaller 

 timber is better than in the foregoing area, but the timber that might 

 be reckoned in this class has for the present been exported in an un- 

 refined state, or sent to the industrial works further south. Thus, 

 as might be expected, only sawmills are met with at the mouths of 

 the rivers, among them, however, certain of the largest in Northern 

 Europe. 



The Pohjanmaa (Osterbotten) area (area 5 in Fig. 5) 

 comprises the coastal belt between the Gulf of Bothnia and the long 

 watershed called Suomenselka. Many small rivers divide the area 

 into different portions. The snowless period varies here between 

 215 225 days and the birch is in leaf on an average 128 days. The 

 temperature during the season of growth is shown by the mean tem- 

 peratures at Vaasa (Vasa) for the months mentioned earlier, viz., 

 6.7, 12.5, 15.5, 13.6 and 9.2 C. Barrenest are the lands on the Suo- 

 menselka watershed, the spreading of swamps being also greatest 

 here; the district is actually the one richest in swamps in Finland. 

 Further west, the land is generally flatter, inferior in the northern 

 and central portions of the coastal district to that further south, 

 where the most fertile lands lie around the town of Vaasa (Vasa). 

 The forests are comparatively young pine or mixed pine forests. In 

 places, however, the spruce predominates. The transport of timber 



