256 Report on the Agriculture of Sweden and Norway. 
The taxes levied in money are now paid by the landowners 
direct to the Crown, which in turn pays to the various local 
authorities what is due to them ; but formerly these also were 
paid to the authorities in kind, each substance being redeemable 
at a certain price. All occupiers of land have to pay 1 per 
cent, income tax according to assessment ; but in assessing the 
amount on which this tax must be paid, the burden of other 
taxes is taken into account. 
Instead of a highway rate, all public roads, whether " high- 
roads " or " parish roads," are kept in repair by the occupiers of 
the land. The unit of administration for this purpose is the 
County Court district, by the authorities of which portions of 
the roads are allotted amongst the various Hemman, according, 
not only to the length and width of the roads, but also to the 
difficulty of keeping them in repair. As a consequence of this 
system the roads are unequally kept, and macadamising is the 
exception in the rural districts. As a rule, the roads of a 
Hemman fall to the level of the worst work that can pass the 
Government inspector ; and where there is a long stretch of 
good road, it is because its repair devolves upon the owner of 
a large estate. The only redeeming feature of the system that 
occurred to me was the regulation that, in case of a severe snow- 
storm, the farmers in the district are bound to keep the whole 
of the roads clear, each furnishing his due proportion of men, 
horses, and waggons ; although it may happen that the portions 
of the road blocked up by snow-drifts are otherwise under the 
charge of only a few of those called upon to assist in keeping 
it available for traffic under such circumstances. 
In Norway, the basis of taxation is the Skylddaler, each of 
which was originally of the estimated purchase-value of 1000 
specie daler (225Z.) as an investment ; but the actual value of 
which is now very diffi'rent. The local taxes include school, 
poor, church, and other rates, and amount to 10 or 12 specie 
dalcrs (45s. to 54s.) per Skylddaler per annum. The arrange- 
ments as to road-keeping are similar to those in Sweden. 
The fences in Sweden and Norway are almost invariably con- 
structed of wood, and the accompanying sketch (Fig. 18) will 
give a better idea of their ungainly appearance than any amount 
of description. 
The recent increase in the value of wood and in the price of 
labour has raised the cost of these fences very considerahly, 
especially in the south ; and farmers are now relying to a large 
extent upon their open drains as divisions between their fields. 
The roads, however, are still bounded or crossed by these weird- 
looking fences; and tlie termination of each holding, at least, is 
still marked, as when the late Robert Chambers wrote 'Tracings 
