Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-10-08
AGRICULTURE IN NORWAY.

a : v 70
HE more fully acquainted we be-
come with methods pursued In
other lands than ours, the better able
we are to shape our own work to our
surroundings. This Is true of the shop.
and no less true OF the farm. Norway
would seem to be one OF the most
unpromising Of lands from nm ngri-
cultural point Of view. barren and
mountainous country. stretching along
the North Atlantic and the northern
Polar sea, 1t would seem that ngri-
culture must play q very unimportant
part In the life Of the people.
OF her 125.O0O square miles, $4,000
square miles, or more than ha!.. are
bare mountains, nearly 5000 are lakes
and as much bog. and 1000 are under
snow and ice. The woodland area. &c.
coo square miles, must then be sub
tractcd, and we have remaining, with
out taking into account tho town terri
tory, the following areas of interest
TO agriculture: Grain fields, 300 square
miles; cultivated meadows, 1850 square
miles; natural meadows, 1000 square
miles, and pastures, mostly mountain
side, $3.50 square miles; In all $4,000
square miles, or about seven-tenths as
large as the states of New Hampshire
and Vermont. If we except the noun
tain pasture, the farm area would be
but 2,272, 900 acres, or about quarter
Of the farm area In those two mountain
states, and including the mountain pas
ture the farm area would he Just about
equal. In spite of the small area in
grain fields and meadow land, only 3
per cent OF the whole, nevertheless this
Is the principal resource OF the country.
notwithstanding its fisheries, not only
because moro people are engaged In as
riculture than In any other pursuit, but
also because Its aggregate annual yield
represents nvalue that is about equiv
alent to the yield of the three other
largest sources of income combined.
namely, shipping, export, Of fish and
timber According to the last census,
$4,000 people gained their livelihood
by agriculturc. cattle farming and for
est cultivation, or nearly half OF the
population OF 100000 people. In Nor
way there is, however, the same drift
uf the people from the farms to the
towns that Is tho subject of complaint
IN England and In America. In 1876
tho proportion of unsupported pcO-
njc was IS per cent, while In 1891 1t
was 4S.6 per cent Comparing again
with our two small mountain states,
We find that they have farm working
nopllntion OF $500 while the working
arrcultural population Of Norway is
All. OOO 1t Is evident that they man
age to scratch a living from their snow
covered mountains and narrow valleys
In that most northern Of all white peo-
pied countries.
The kind Of living that the Norwe-
einn farmers make for themselves Is
an interesting study. The Eskinos
can scratch living Oft the Ice and out
OF the sea, but It Is hardly the living
that people down this way care for.
ono thing Is noticeable at the start,
md thatSis that you do not find the
Norwegian, as d rule. plowing another
mans land. II farm ownership amounts
to anything, here Is; a good example
md 1T dates from the earliest days.
THE feudal system, which was adopted
IN most European countries, never OK
listed in Norway, and villannge,i Or bond
service. never existed there, Thus, from
the early middle ages. the Norwegian
peasant has always enjoyed a greater
freedom than the, same class elsewhere
In Europe. To-day. out of 900 firm
sers OF the country. 100000 are free
holders, d record that we cannot begin