«stabbur», or store-Louse on posts, is a typical Norwegian building,
and is destined for the storage of snob provisions as can be
preserved, e.g. grain, flour, cured pork, meat, berring and otber
fish, «fladbrod» (a sort of bannocks), butter, cheese,' etc., and in
some parts of the country also sncb clothing and bedding as is
S tab b u r.
not m daily use. The stabbur is as a rule divided into two
stories, of which the top one is used for grain, and the lower
one for other food products. In order to prevent vermin from
entering the house it is built upon massive posts at a height
of 1 or i}/i yards above the ground. In several of the mountain
valleys there is a gallery of more or less artistic design
before the front door of the stabbur. On many farms, especially
in the more thinly populated districts, there is a smithy, sometimes
in connection with a carpenter’s shop. On account of the
small size of the farms and their often isolated situation, the
artisan’s work is here, to a much greater extent than in southern
countries, performed on the farm itself; and a Norwegian farmer
will, as a rule, be able personally to make many of the repairs'
of different kinds that are needed. As an average for the whole
country, it is estimated that the cost of the buildings is about
30 % of the value of the estate, including also that part of the
■value which consists of forestry, fishery, etc.
The price of farms in Norway has been increasing, even at
times when husbandry has been depressed by the low prices its
products fetch, the high wages, taxes, etc. As the standard of
valuation for the properties, we use the sale-price according to
skyldmark (standard of assessment). It was during
the years 1866 to 1870 . . . . . kr. 1,158
» ,» .. .1871 » 1875 . .. . . » 1,309
\ i 1876 18.80-. . . .. .\r 1,491
,» sci 1881 >? 1885 .. . . .. 1,588 ■
» » 1.886 » 1890 .. , . . . . iv. 1,610
»jj*. . 189T » 1895 . . . i i ■•»'. 1,700
In 1896 it was kr. 1676 and in 1897, kr. 1695. While the
price of land in most European countries has been decreasing, in
Norway, as will be seen from the above table, it has been maintained
or has increased. The causes of this are probably several.
Here the farms, on the whole, are small, and the fall in prices
of landed property has chiefly affected the larger estates; moreover
Norwegian husbandry, probably to a larger extent than in
most other countries, is combined with other means of livelihood,
such as forestry and fishing; and when times have been favourable
for the latter, this has also benefited husbandry. Finally,
times on the whole, during the latter part of the period spoken
of above, have been good in the country, as far as money is concerned,
and this, as a matter of course, has reacted on the prices
of property.
In the course of the last twenty or thirty years the state
has by several measures tried to benefit agriculture. Such measures
are under the supervision of a managing director working
under the Department of Agriculture. Public grants for the
advancement of husbandry may be divided into the following