Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1946-03-01

! duction. They have established
joinery works with modern equip
ment, in which highly skilled labor
is employed in making such prod
ducts as pre-fabricated houses
windowframes, veneer, woo d.
blocks for flooring, etc.
Sweden's Unique Floating Ways
Double the Length of COuntry's
Railroads
The advent of the new era in
Norrland, which found its first
expression in the steam saws, was
due to accumulation of favorable
conditions. One of them. and a
most important one, had always
been there-the mighty rivers. 1t
so happens that in the matter of
drainage Norrland has been en-
dowed by nature in a manner that
is ideal for the transport of lum-
ber The work of developing these
floa ting ways, which was begun at
all early stage, gained impetus
and reached its full height dur
ing the steam saw period, with
the growth of the companies cap
ital resources and the expansion
of exports.
Norrland's water system is ram
flied all over the forest region.
the rivers running from the north
west to the southeast, lie. the di-
rection most favorable for lum-
bering operations. In the spring
the river mouths are the first wa
tiers to become free from ice, the
melting then proceeding gradu-
ally up towards the sources and
the lingering masses of snow in
the mountain regions. When the
summer reaches h o heights,
the mountain flood descends at
the right moment, adding to the
then diminishing spring flood and
helping the final floating Of the
logs down to the mills on the
coast. The rivers have an even
flow and are as a rule deeply
cut into the terrain. The steep and
frequently gullylike shores along
the lower reaches of the rivers
prevent foundations, so that the
logs do not scatter beyond flood
banks when the spring flood rises.
The often fiord-like mouths of the
larger rivers, and the fact that
the coasts are sheltered by an
archipelago, are two e ture s
which add the finishing touch to
the bounty of Nature, which from
the point of view of numbering,
has made of Norrland a highly
favored forest region without a
counterpart elsewhere.
The length of the Swedish float
ing ways is at present about 49,
800 miles, or practically double the
length of the Swedish railroads.
The costs of developing this unique
system of communications are es-
timated to have been about 200
million kronor (about $50 mil
lions). T e quantity of lumber
floated along it annually varies,
of course, but it generally ranges
around $50 million logs Obvious
ly it is an inestimable advantage
to the Swedish forest products in
dustry to possess such a means of
transport, which receives the lum-
Der up in the forests, and at a
trifling cost, without any reload
ing, conveys it in to the very lum-
Der yards of the various plants. A
log in the Angerman river, for
instance, can now float down from
the Norwegian border to the East
Coast in 3 to 4 weeks. and the
cost of its journey is not more
than few ore Zone cent is about
ore) per cubic foot. Such an
extensive network for water trans
port has been created, that the
average distance from the telling
area in the forest to the place of
discharge at the floating way is
now less than two miles.
Birth and Expansion of the Pulp
Industry
In 1868 the first mill for the
production of mechanical pulp was