d out the
widest avenues to personal advancement, even from the plough. They no
longer live by bread alone, and therefore their artificial wants have
been increasing at a greater ratio than their means of satisfying them
out of the produce of the land. Without entering here upon the important
effect of the corn supplies from America, and of the depreciation of the
value of the Norwegian timber, owing to the increased competition of
America and other countries, we may sum up this imperfect prefatory
sketch by stating that, from a general point of view, the Gamle Norge
(Old Norway) of Mr. Laing's days has for many years been passing through
a process of transformation, the latest results of which we shall now
describe.[12]

Mr. Laing's contention, that when land is held in freehold, not as a
rule in tenancy, the relative size or value of the estates into which
the land is divided will remain the same at one period as at another, is
entirely refuted by the official statistics of Norway. In the first
place, the total number of properties, which was about 111,000 in 1838,
had grown, in 1870, to 149,000 (34-1/2 per cent.), and is still higher
at the present day, with a continued tendency to multiplication by
partition. Secondly, the proportion that existed in 1838 between the
various sizes of agricultural holdings has undergone a notable change,
marking a very considerable increase in the relative number of small
plots.

As it was found practically impossible to estimate the value of landed
property on the basis of its acreage (the physical conditions of the
country giving such great variety to the value of estates), the
'Cadastre' introduced in 1836, established, for purposes of assessment,
a classification based on 'skylddaler,' or taxable, value. This unit of
taxation was assumed to represent a mean capital value of about 89l.,
arrived at by estimating the net income derived at that period from the
working of land during an average year.

The following statement exhibits the cadastral classification of
properties,[13] and the changes that have occurred in the several groups
between 1838 and 1870.

1838. 1870.
Estates below 0.2 skylddaler in value 8,866 26,048
" between 0.2 and 1 " 31,265 52,067
" " 1 " 2 " 28,652 33,427
" " 2 " 5 " 32,854 29,498
"