his respect, I was struck with the
difference between Sweden and Germany. The German peasantry, as a
general thing, live in villages, and carry on their farming outside,
sometimes at a distance of several miles. In the Thuringenwald, the
Schwartzwald, the Spessart, and some other mountainous districts, it
is true, exceptions may be found to this rule; but throughout the best
cultivated districts of Germany there are but comparatively few
farm-houses in which isolated families live. Hence villages, and, in
many cases, large towns, form the head-quarters of each agricultural
parish. The pedestrian, in traveling through Germany, is scarcely ever
more than a "halp-stund" from one town or village to another. I think
the longest stretch I ever made between two villages was two hours, or
six and a half miles. In Sweden (and the same may be said of Norway)
the farming districts have more of an American aspect. The houses are
scattered about on the different farms, and the peasants do not seem
to be so gregarious in their habits as those of Germany. This arises
in part from the fact that the population is not so dense in Sweden as
in the more central parts of Europe, and in part from the greater
abundance of wood and pasture, and the predominance of the lumbering,
mining, and stock-raising interests. Many of the farmers are also
lumbermen and miners, and nearly all have a good supply of blood
cattle. The extent of arable land in Sweden is comparatively small. It
presents few attractions as an agricultural country. Its chief wealth
consists in its vast forests and mines. The climate is too severe and
the production of cereal crops too uncertain to render farming on a
large scale a profitable pursuit. This is especially the case in the
northern parts. South of Stockholm, between the lakes of Wettern and
Wenern, and along the banks of the Gota River, farming is carried to
considerable perfection; but with this exception, and some small and
sheltered valleys to the north, in which the peasants manage with
great care and labor to raise a sufficient supply of grain and
potatoes for domestic consumption, but little is produced for
exportation. The land generally throughout Sweden is barren and rocky,
and it is only by great labor and constant manuring that fair crops
can be produced. In the populous districts, where the soil possesses
some natural advantages, the farms are mostly small, averaging from
ten to seventy-five acres. A tract