The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-01
FARMING IN NORWAY
PEASANTS LIVING ON LAND THAT
HAS BEEN TITLED 1000
YEARS
BUILDINGS ALMOST AS OLD
Only Country in Europe Where the
Value of Arabic Land Has
Been Steadily In
creasing.

Many Of the farms in the vicinity OF
Nystued, Norway, have been cultivated
for thousand years, says William e.
Curtis in the Chicago Reeord-Herald. Tha
buildings on some of them are seven
or eight hundred years old. Anything
built within a century or two Is con-
sidered modern. The other day an Eng
HShman who was looking at a house to
rent for the, fishing season, complained
that it was too old. The owner was as
tonished at such presumption, and as
sured him that every building on the.
place had been erected since 1915. But
they are built to stay.
At Borgund, a few miles west of this
plaess is 2 church that was built in 1850
or earlier. The antiquarians cannot de-
termine the exact date, and it is men
toned in the official records of the do
cese as far back as 1860. They are care
fully preserved for all the intervening
years. 1t is a singular piece of archt-
lecture, but there are twenty or more
in Norway like it, although. 1 believe this
is the best preserved. 1t is built of logs.
thickly covered with tar on the inside and
the outside. which accounts for its pres
ervation. Che interior consists of a
nave and aisles. with twelve, columns. q
choir and a semi-circular apse. When
the doors are shut the interior is al
most in total darkness. as light is adj
naitted only through tiny openings pierced
through the roof of the dome. The use of
window. glass was unknown in Norway
at the time of it's erection, and the serv-
ice probably consisted soielysef the mass
chanted by candlelight,% while the con-
gregatien knelt deVoutly in the dark nave
Beside the entrance are. two runtG in
scriptiens. carved In the logs in beauti-
full lettering. One of them5r Thor
er wrote these lines on st. Olaf's Fair"
and the other, This church stands upon
holy ground a. a - ,,..rs- .s,>;&
The foundations of all the ancient No
way buildings are of heavy stone. some
of them five or six feet thick The tim
bers of both barns and houses are sof the
full size of the tree squared off. The roofs
are of slate. trimmed by. hand. half Or
three-quarters of an inch thick, and there
are sometimes tiles of baked olav re-
Sembling those Of Spain and Italy. The
poor classes of cabins, especially those
that cling to the mountain Sides are
matched with straw or have dirt roofs
a covering of boards and then a larer
of earth and sod aSfoqt<o or eighteen inch
es thick. At this time of year they are
usually covered with beautiful flowers.
1t is really not good form, but IL is ex-
ceedingay picturesque to have a flower
so much to the attraetivenesse of the Nor
wegian landscape. - -. - .s-.
You find the same; flowers over here that
we have at home in the northern @nart
of the United States, only, they. seem iarg-
er, fuller and more. brilliant in color
BotaniSts tell me that this is actually
true, and account for 1t by, the long DAYS
The flower season is shortrbut7 luxuriant
and when they. have eighteen or, twenty
hours of sunshine they. ought to grow
larger as we'll as lovelier The daisies,
harebelles, dandelions, forget-1ne-nots
coxcombs, golden rod, bachelors s. buttons
or ragged robbins, hoilyhocks and Other.
old-fashfoned garden flowers that you find
IN New England may. ibe seen here in
their greatest glory. The roses seem TO
nave thicker leaves and richer tints the
vlolets are of all colors, the lilacs are tf
deeper pink, the tint they call old rosa
and exhale perfume stronger than T have
ever known. Snowballs, syringas and 9TH
er large shrubs make the best of The
snort summer, but there is nothing in all
the nora that compares with the butter
cup. That humble but beautiful denizen
of the field and forest grows double herr
with dozen or twenty, instead of 3. few
petals. 1t is as full as a peony. Tns
meadows are crimson with clover; and rha
air is loaded with its fragrance. ~ Wild
roses climb nimbly over the great stone
fences and bluebells nestle in the shad-
oWS. Either side, of the road is :insd
with truant flowers and wild strawber-
berries.
Horticulture does not play a prominent
part among the agricultural Industries of
Norway, but in every farm and garden
you ind apples, pears. cherries, currants
gooseberries, raspberries and other large
and small fruits, which, like the flowers
nave more pronounced flavor and =
stronger aroma than the same species
cultivated in milder climates The cher
ries, currants and gooSeberries are par
ucularly- good, and nowhere can YOU find
such delicious strawberries as are served
upon the tables of the hotels At every
meal We have no less than three or four
kinds of preserved fruits offered US, and
the wild strawberries and cream are
worth coming all the way to Norway for.
The waiter does not bring. a qstingy little
jug with five teaspoonfEls of cream but
a great pitcher that will. hold a couple
Of quarts and, lets you help yourself
They serve the strawberries in SOUP
plates, SO that those, who ike that sort
of thing-and L have no respect for a
man who dcesn't-can. just Wallow in the
greatest of luxuries. Dean Swift must
have been in Norway when he said;
ter berry than the strawberry, but doubt
less God never did"
Comparatively little modern machinery
is used by the farmers. Here and there
upon the larger farms you find an Ameri-