than before, sowing-seed from Finland, the rye from which country — which is
similar in climate to the north of Sweden — is celebrated for its great hardiness, the
result, in part, of its being kiln-dried as a rule. In consequence of the smallness
of the grains of the sort used and its inclination to stool richly, it is
customary in the north of Sweden to sow only small quantities of seed, which,
in the case of kiln-dried Finnish rye, may be less than 1 ‘2 hectoliters (80 kg)
per hectare, while ' the amount of sowing-seed sowed in Southern Sweden is j
usually about 3 hectoliters (200 kg) per hectare. In consequence of rye ab-
sorbing a great part of its nutriment during the autumn and ripening early, it
is, in these respects, less dependent on climate and on the length of the summer,
and in Northern Sweden, therefore, it usually gives just as rich crops as in the
south of the country, the Lans of Kopparberg and Gavleborg especially bemg
distinguished for their rich rye-crops. Besides winter-rye, there are also cultivated,
although on a smaller scale, midsummer- and spring-rye. Midsummer-rye, which,
from its method of growing, is also called tufted rye (Sw. tuvrag), is-sown
at midsummer or later on in, that season, so that it has time to take good root
before the winter sets in; it is cultivated in Southern and Central- Sweden and
principally on light soils, where the young growth of the ordinary winter-rye
would easily be withered by the frost. Midsummer-rye is sowed with sprmg-seed
(principally oats), too, which in the autumn yields a green-fodder crop, after which
a ripe rye crop is obtained in the following year. In the upper part of Norrland it
¡3 sown in the spring, together with barley, when sowing grass-land, this enabhng
a barley crop to be cut the first year, and then, the following year, such a light
crop of rye that the growth of the grass is not hindered by such a harvest.
Spring-rye, which, as far as the fertility of the land and its manuring are concerned,
is one of the least exacting of cereals, but also one of the least productive,
is nowadays cultivated only to a very small extent, chiefly on poor
sandy soils, either alone or together with oats.
Barley, which was formerly the cereal produced most largely m Sweden, p as
gradually declined in importance, not only relatively to other kinds of gram,
but during the last few decades, absolutely, as regards the area devoted to its 1
cultivation and to the amount of the crop (Tables 10 and 11), so that, nowadays, 1
in consequence of the reasons already given, it is only in Upper Norrland that
any great area is devoted to its cultivation. It has, too, fallen more and more ■
into disuse, with the result that to-day only an inconsiderable amount, is ^em-
T a b l e 18. Imports and Exports of Eye. Q u in ta ls.
I m p o r t s E x p o r t s
Excess of
A n n u a l l y
grain flour total i grain flour total 1
imp, (—),
exp. (+ )
181 6—2 0 ....................
1821 40 ....................
1 841 6 0 ....................
1861 8 0 ....................
1881 .90 ....................
1 891—00 ....................
1901 10 . . J. . .
1 6 0 1 3 1
4 0 2 1 0
8 4 3 3 5
7 1 1 0 4 9
1 4 3 9 989
1 005 974
871 676
642
2 323
36 827
263 769
221 279
1 0 2 1 1 0
54 529
160987
43807
133438
1062 741
1735 028
1142121
944381
1 1 1 3
1 1 1 3 4
130 571
32 411
8 644
923
390
24
999
390
5 661
16 738
16 741
3 6 0 4 0
1145
12466
131091
39 959
30 961
23 244
48443
K -Ä 159 842
— 30 841
— 2 347 ;
- 1 022 782
— 1 7 0 4 067
- 1 1 1 8 877
g l i 895 938
1 9 1 1 .........................
1912 . . ....................
191 3 .........................
46 1 856 49 650
1 068 292 74 502
9 1 1 83 o | 125 913
528 056
1167 628
1079 719
405
438
10 744
2 934
968
14 730
4 350
1290
— 5 1 3 3 2 6
1 - 1 1 6 3 278
— 1 0 7 8 429 |
1 The flour is here increased by Vs of 1 weight, in order to reduce it to unground
grain.
T a b l e 19. Imports and Exports of Barley. Quintals.
Annually ' Imports Exports
Excess of
imp. (—j,
exp. (+ \
Annually Imports Exports
Excess of
imp. (—),
exp. (;+)
1816—20 . . 6 0 8 2 6 2 079 ‘ S - S 5 8 747 1 8 8 1 - 9 0 . . 8 0 330 2 3 5 4 6 7 + 1 5 5 1 3 7
1821—30 ., . 19 085 14 730 — 4 355 1891—00 . . 62 359 20 236 — 4 2 1 2 3
1831—40 . . 3 9 304 18 212 P P 2 1 0 9 2 1901— 10 . . 2 4 871 871 — 24 0 0 0
1 8 4 1 - 5 0 . . 8 618 6 7 1 2 1 + 58 503
1851—60 . . 3 3 9 6 8 1 9 1 0 2 5 + 157 057 1911 . . . . 12 795 5 3 7 9 5 + 4 1 0 0 0
1861—70 . . 50 048 2 4 3 702 + 193 654 1912 . . . . 61 32 774 + ' 32 713
1871—80 1 . 77 372 349 560 . + 2 7 2 1 8 8 1 913 . . . . 122 12 753 i 12 631
ployed for bread, so that the barley-crops, though diminished, have long been
more than sufficient for the home consumption. From the beginning of the
last- decade of the 19th century, however, thè home production has not been
equal to the demand in all years, so that the import of this kind of grain, too,
ofted exceeds the export. In the last years, however, a considerable excess of
exports is again to be noted.
The barley harvest is, nowadays, employed only to a small degree for human
food, and then in the-form of meal and shelled grain; its chief use is for
fodder, and, in the case of the better sorts, for double-rowed barley, for the manufacture
of brewing-malt.
In the north of Sweden, and also in the southern highland districts, the
early ripening bere or six-rowed (very often but incorrectly called four-rowed)
barley is grown exclusively and even on the clayey soils of the plains this
variety is in fairly general use for grain- • and straw-fodder. The two-rowed
barley, which is more exacting as regards the fertility of the ground, and is
especially fond of a soil rich in lime, is cultivated over larger areas, chiefly in
the, marl-districts of the country, South-Western Skàne, Gottland, Öland, öster-
götland, Närke, and Uppland, and in the first three of the tracts mentioned,
yields very fine malting barley. Of the six-rowed barley chiefly old native
varieties are grown, while, on the other hand, the varieties of two-rowed barley
(Sw. gumrik, flättring, grovkom), which have been grown from very early
days, have, in a great measure, been ousted by higher-class, selected sorts,
chiefly obtained from the Sowing Seed establishment at Svalöv. Among these are
new strains of the English Chevallier barley, the Princess- (selected out of
Prentice),\ the Hannchen- and Primus barley.
Oats, which, in earlier times, were grown on only a very small part of the area
devoted to agriculture, and then chiefly on meadow-land temporarily under cultivation,
have since come to occupy an increasingly prominent place among the
cereals of Sweden. While, at the beginning of the 19th century, oats were
grown on only little more than one-fifth of the cereal-bearing soil, and gave a
Table 20. Imports and Exports of Oats. Quintals.
Annually' Imports Exports
Excess of
imp. (—),
exp. (+ )
Annually Imports Exports
Excess of
imp. (—),
exp. (+)
1 8 1 6 -2 0 . . 5 214 4 308 B B 906 1 881—90 . . 29 307 1 977 100 + 1 9 4 7 793
1 8 2 1 -3 0 . . 3 954 15 806 + 1 1 8 5 2 1 891—00 . . 117 735 8 7 8 991 + 7 6 1 2 5 6
1831 — 40 7 992 39 994 + 32 002 1901— 10 . . 690 528 90 218 — 600 310
I 1841—50 . . 109 146 697 + 146 588
1851—60 . 2 099 426 261 H 4 2 4 162 1911 . . . . 1 020 519 2 8 0 918 — 739 601
1861—70 . . 2 851 1 3 8 1 0 5 9 + 1 378 208 1912 . . . . 972 888 52 368 — 9 2 0 520
1871—80 . . 7 970 2 405 272 + 2 397 302 1 913 . . . . 643 362 683 723 + 40 361