Evening journal., 1901-09-05
MANY THINGS OF INTEREST
ABOUT PARKWAY NOR'

Many of the farms in Norway have
> been cultivated for a thousand years, u
discloses a man who has just returned
; from that Interesting land. AS numer.
Gus Wilmington people have visited
, that region, they will be interested in
what he has to say further about the
land Of the pines and sturdy, blue
eyed, fair-haired people. He goes on
II say:
The buildings on some of them are
even and eight hundred years old.
Anything built within a century or
two is considered modern. An Eng
ishman who was looking at a house to
ent for the fishing season complained
hat it was too old. The owner was
astonished at such presumption. and
ssured him that every building on the
Place had been erected since 1915. But
hey are built to stay.
] AT Borgund is a church that was
built in 115O or earlier. The antiduar-
ans cannot determine the exact date.
nd it is mentioned in the officials rec
y rds of the diocese as far back as 1860
They are carefully preserved for all
ne intervening years. 1t is a singular
piece of architecture, but there are twen-
ty or more in Norway like it, although
/ believe this is the best preserved. II
S built of logs, thickly covered with
tar both on the inside and the outside
which accounts for it's preservation.
The interior consists of a nave and
aisles. with twelve columns, a choir
and semi-circular apse. When the
doors are shut the interior is almost
in total darkness. as light is admitted
only through tiny openings pierced
Through the roof of the dome
Inc use of window glass
was unknown, in Norway at
the time of it's erection, and the SER
vice probably consisted solely of the
mass. chanted by candlelight, while
the congregation knelt devoutly in the
dark nave. Beside the entrance are
two runic inscriptions, carved in tn
logs in beautiful lettering. One of
them reads 'Thorer wrote these lines
on st. Olafs Fair and the other.
This church stands upon holy ground
The foundations of an the old Nor
way buildings are of heavy stone. some
Of them five or six feet thick. The
tlmbers of both the barns and the
houses are Of the full size of the tree
squared of. The roofs are of slate,
trimmed by hand, haf or three-quar-
tiers Of an inch thick, and there are
sometimes tiles of baked clay resem-
bling those of Spain and Italy. Porr
lasses OF cabins, especially those that
ling to the mountain sides, are thatch-
ed with straw or have dirt roofs-a
covering OF boards and then a layer of
earth and sod foot or eighteen inches
thick. At this time of year they are
usually covered with beautiful flowers.
II is really not good form, but It is ex-
,ceedingly picturesque to have a flower
garden on top of your house. and it
adds so much to the attractiveness of
the Norwegian landscape.
you find the same flowers over here
that we have at home in the northern
part OF the United States, only they
seem larger. fuller and more brilliant
n color. BOtanits tell me that this is
actually true. and account for it by the
long days. The flower season is short
but luxuriant. and when they have
eighteen or twenty hours of sunshine
they ought to grow larger as well as
,lovelier. The daisies. harebells. dande-
lions. forget-me-nots, coxcombs, gol-
den rod. bachelors buttons or ragged
robins, hollyhOcks and other old-fash-
ioned garden flowers that you find in
New England may be seen here in
their greatest glory. The roses seem
to have thicker leaves and richer tints,
the violets are of all colors, the lilacs
are of a deeper pink, the tint they call
old rose. and exhale perfume stronger
than / have ever known. SnOwballs,
syringas and other large shrubs make
the best of the short summer. but there
is nothing in all the fora that com
pares to the buttercup. That humble
but beautiful denizen OF the field and
forest grows double here, with a dozen
or twenty instead of few petals. It
is as full as peony. The meadows are
crimson with clover and the air is
loaded with its fragrance. Wild roses
climb nimbly over the great stone
fences. and blue BELLS nestle in the
shadows. Either side of the road is
lined with truant flowers and wild
Strawberries.
Horticulture does not play a promi-
nent part among the agricultural in
dustries of Norway. but in every farm
nd garden you End apples, pears,
cherries. currants. gooseberries, rasp-
lberries and other large and small
fruits. which, like the flowers, have a
more pronounced flavor and stronger
aroma than the came species cultivat-
led in milder climates. The cherries
urrants and gooseberries are particu-
arly good and nowhere can you md