96 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



not get it fit to cut by the first week in September, 

 they would lose their harvest. The barley cer- 

 tainly looked heavier in the head and larger in 

 the straw than I have ever seen it in England, 

 and it was not sown until early in June. I have 

 since heard that the harvest in 1862 was a total 

 failure, and had it not been for an unusual quan- 

 tity of game in the forest in the winter, the poor 

 inhabitants would have fared badly. 



As to the idea of bringing the Lap mosses 

 into cultivation by draining, it is too absurd to be 

 entertained for a moment, and could never have 

 entered the head of anyone but an "armchair 

 humbug. 55 Where are they to get hands to do 

 it ? and how many years would it take to drain 

 an 100-acre moss, when they could oijly work 

 three months out of the twelve, and in a country 

 where labour is so scarce ? Besides, when they 

 were drained, what would be the good of them 

 in a country peopled as this is — where there are 

 no roads, and no means of transport ? I often 

 hear the same tale preached in the middle of 

 Sweden, as if there was not good land enough 

 already neglected ; and I never hear the same 

 without hinting to the farmer, that it would 

 perhaps be cheaper and better for him if he would 

 first turn his attention to the land which he al- 

 ready has under the plough ; and in nine cases 



