Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/527

SWEDEN 503 Kopparberg, and Westmanland. Taberg is a mountain of magnetic ore 1,129 ft. high. At Gellwara, near the Lulea river, in Norrbotten, is also a mountain of nearly pure magnetic iron ore, with some specular ore. Swedish iron is not excelled by any in the world, and is largely used in the manufacture of steel. Nearly 500 iron mines were open in 1873 ; the total yield of rock iron ore was 18,170,000 cwt., and of bog iron ore 117,793 cwt. The principal cop- per mines are at Fahlun in Kopparberg, at. At- vidaberg in Ostergottland, at Flogforss in Ore- bro, in Jamtland, and in Westmanland. Silver is mined in small quantities at Sala in Westman- land and in Orebro, and zinc near Askersund in Orebro and other places. In 1873 the yield of copper was about 5,000 cwt., of silver 16 cwt., of zinc 602,883 cwt, of nickel 24,420 cwt., and of manganese 6,713 cwt. Coal of inferior quality is found near Helsingborg in Malmo, and large veins of better quality have been discovered lately in other parts. The yield in 1873 was 2,406,486 cubic feet. Marble is quar- ried in Ostergottland, and at Elfdal in Kop- parberg are the celebrated porphyry quarries, where many varieties of that stone are found. In 1872 14,734 mining licenses were issued in the kingdom. An interesting geological change in the coast line of Sweden is the gradual rising of the land along the gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic sea. This was first observed in the beginning of the 18th century by Celsius, who attributed it to the subsidence of the waters of the Baltic ; but in 1807 Von Buch made a care- ful examination of the coast, and announced his conviction that "the whole country, from Frederikshald in Norway to Abo in Finland, and perhaps as far as St. Petersburg, is slowly and insensibly rising." According to later ob- servations, the greatest rise is further N. at the top of the gulf of Bothnia, where it amounts to about 4| ft. in a century ; at Gefle, 90 m. N. of Stockholm, it is from 2 to 3 ft. in a cen- tury ; at Stockholm it is scarcely 6 in. ; and at Malmo the movement seems to be downward. The soil is generally not very fertile, much of it being the result of the disintegration of prim- itive rocks, and containing a large proportion of silex. The productive soil constitutes about 53 per cent, of the entire area, the remainder being sand barrens, rocks, and heaths. Of the productive parts about 13 per cent, are arable, 5 per cent, meadow lands and pasturage, and 82 per cent, forests. The climate of the Scan- dinavian peninsula is generally milder than that of other countries in the same latitude. The average winter temperature in the more populous portions of the country is but little lower than that of the state of New York. At Stockholm, in lat. 59 20', the mean annual temperature is about 42, that of winter 25 and of summer 62 ; at Lund, lat. 55 42', the annual mean is 45, that of winter 30 and of summer 62; at Fahlun, lat. 60 36', the an- nual mean is 40, that of winter 22 and that of summer 58-30 : and at the Russian frontier village Enontekis, lat. 68 30', and at an eleva- tion of 1,440 ft., the annual mean is 27, the winter temperature 2 and the summer 55. In Swedish Lapland there are scarcely two months of summer. In Norrland, in nine weeks, hay will have been cut twice and the year's seeding and harvest completed. At Stockholm the longest day is 18 hours and the shortest 5 hours ; at Tornea 22 hours is the longest ; and at Enontekis the sun remains above the horizon about seven weeks. The pine and fir forests of Sweden furnish a great abundance of timber, which is largely ex- ported. In the middle province there are also considerable quantities of ash, linden, willow, maple, and the weeping birch, one of the most beautiful of northern forest trees. In the southern province the oak attains great size and beauty, and the beech and elm are com- mon. With the exception of the cherry there are few fruit trees N. of the 60th parallel, and scarcely any trees grow N. of the 64th parallel. Barley is cultivated in all parts of Sweden, and rye, wheat, oats, beans, peas, and pota- toes are successfully grown in the middle and southern provinces. Apples and pears grow in the southern districts, and cranberries and other berries in the northern. The goose- berry grows all over the country. Tobacco is raised in the vicinity of Stockholm. Eoot crops are largely cultivated. The agricultu- ral crops in 1874 were as follows, in imperial bushels: wheat, 4,000,000; rye, 20,000,000; barley, 12,000,000; oats, 30,000,000; potatoes, 52,000,000. Large quantities are also raised of peas, beans, mixed grain, buckwheat, hemp, and hay. During the year ending Sept. 80, 1873, 11,852,049 bushels of cereals were ex- ported from Sweden ; and the total imports of grain, flour, and meal during the same time were 2,326,581 bushels. The crops of 1874 were below the average, and the importations of grain were larger than in 1873. The fauna of Sweden is not so numerous as that of some of the other northern countries of Europe. The principal quadrupeds are the brown bear, wolf, lynx, fox, glutton, deer, reindeer, elk, marten, otter, beaver, sable, hare, and squirrel. Bears, elk, deer, and beavers are now scarce. Wild reindeer are sometimes met with in the northern provinces. Lemmings occasionally come down in droves from the Kiolen moun- tains and lay waste the country in their path. Among the indigenous birds are the eagle, eagle owl, falcon, hawk, swan, goose, eider duck and other species of wild ducks, gull, ptarmigan, capercailzie and other grouse, woodcock, black- cock, and snipe. The sheltered coasts of the Baltic and the gulf of Bothnia are the resort of immense flocks of sea fowl. The lakes, rivers, and seas abound with fish. Many of the rivers contain fine salmon, trout and gray- ling are caught in every mountain stream, and pike and perch abound. The turbot, cod, mackerel, ling, and herring are taken in con- siderable quantities, and lobsters, crabs, and