NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 97 



earth, in corn, grafs, roots, trees, and every other kind of vege- 

 tables. I fhall give accounts of all thefe from my own know- 

 ledge, or the credible informations of others, not doubting withal, 

 but my fucceffors in this work, will finifh it with much lefs trou- 

 ble, and much greater perfection ; tho' to give univerfal fatisfac- 

 tion, is beyond the moft extenfive knowledge, and the moft cor- 

 rect judgment. 



Having fpecified the diverftties of the foil and air in Norway, 

 which poffibly are greater than in any other country, it will ap- 

 pear, that vegetable products, as dependant thereon, vary in like 

 manner. Norway is almoft every where fo unfit for agriculture, 

 tho' not for pafture, that upon a meafurement of the plowed 

 lands, I do not think, the proportion, in refpect to the meadows 

 and woods, the waftes and barren mountains, would be greater, 

 than as one to eighty; and if the peafants of Norway were not 

 confiderably affifted by the great fiflieries on the fea-coafts, and 

 the timber and charcoal-trade for the mines, the graziery, and 

 the liberty they have of killing game, the country could not be 

 fuppofed to furnifk fubfi/tance for above half the inhabitants • for 

 as thefe vifibly increafe, and fpread themfelves year after year, fo 

 feveral tracts of uncultivated land, have been broke up and tilled- 

 and feveral woods likewife have been burnt, and the land turned 

 to hufbandry; yet, with all thefe expedients, there would ftill be 

 a fcarcity in thofe places, where the nature of the earth and the 

 rocks are not capable of any cultivation. Another misfortune is 

 that in fome parts of the moft fruitful provinces, as Gulbrandfdal' ? ermons 

 Ofterdal, Soloer, and elfewhere, the grain is fubject to mifcarry night froit? ' 

 by fudden frofts, fo that one day it may feem in a flourifhing ftate, 

 and afford the pleafing promife of a plentiful harveft, but by the 

 nipping cold of one night, it appears withered the next day, and 

 drooping, fo as never to attain to its proper ripenefs. It is to be 

 obferved, moreover, that in every century, as far as can be afcer- 

 tained from tradition, the country is vifited with fome unfruitful 

 years, which are remarkably fo, and happen two, three, or four, 

 mcceffively; fuch were the years from 1740 to 1744; when the 

 fun feemed to have loft all its heat and genial power, the vege- 

 tables grew, but fhort of their natural height, and budded, and 

 bloomed, without bearing. In thofe years, the trees, likewife, 

 3 failed 



