the grand totals for 1900 and 1913 is explained by the fact that a great
deal of Crown leased farm-land has passed to the category of taxed land
now owned by the farmer (Sw. “ skatte”).
Under division A above, are given the forests-lands belonging to, or
leased out by, the State itself, while division B shows the land let for other
purposes. The Crown islands belong to the former category; the Laplanders’
tax-fells (“lappskattefjall”) to the latter group. Some of the lands
given in group B do not belong to the State.
The direct revenues from the Crown parks, from forests reserved by the
•State when leasing out Crown domains, and from the remaining nonorganized
Crown lands, etc. (the “Forest revenues” of the Public Treasury)
were as follows:
1890 1900 , 1913
-Gross re c e ip ts ........................................ 3190426 kr. 8318927 kr. 14 878 818 kr.
Expenses of forest administration . . 947 883 » 1855 284 » 5 ¿oU ol» >
Met receipts............................................ 2 242 543 > 6 463 643 » 9 598199 .
These figures show a considerable increase in the income received by
it was impossible for the State to carry on business enterprizes with
years, is partly the result of the unusually favourable state of the markets
-everywhere in the world.
The Crown Parks.1 Influenced by the political-economical views, that
it- was impossible for the State to carry on business enterprizes with
-any great amount of success, the greater part of the Crown forests in the
.southern provinces of Sweden, during the period 1810—30, was either
given away, or sold to private individuals at exceedingly low prices. In
the northern Lans, too, at the great “ delimitation”, when vast tracts of
land not under cultivation were divided between the Crown and private
■owners, the rights of the Crown were for a long time quite neglected, and
sections of forest-land were apportioned to farads which were altogether
out of reasonable proportion to the value of the farm as a whole. After the
rase in the value of forest-products which everywhere took place about
the middle of the 19th century, the forests in question became the objects
o f brisk speculation, and soon passed into other hands for the purpose of
•cutting, very often without any regard to the future prosperity of the
farms. This called public attention to the fact that the State should, for
-the future, take care of and utilize its supply of forest-land, especially as
it still possessed vast tracts of land in .Norrland and in a part of Dalarne.
Consequently, ever since the decade 1860—70, the Swedish State has
acted on altogether new principles as regards the care of its forest domains,
and with very evident results, as will be seen when we state that, such a
short time back as in 1870, the total area of the Crown parks amounted
to no more than 425 794 hectares, while, in 1913, as shown above, the
domains in question covered 4 679 968 hectares. At the present time, this
area is steadily increasing, partly by the addition of the remaining Crown
1 Fully organized State forests.
land to. the total, whenever delimitation is carried out, and also by the
addition to these Crown parks of timbered land belonging to the Crown’s
former agricultural estates.
The area of the land purchased since 1875 by the State for the purpose
of adding to the Crown parks is shown by the following figures:
Year Area Price Per hectare
1875-t . . . . 1 876'09 hectares 51634-00 kr. 28 kr.
1876-80 t m 11368-20 > 778 558-98 . 68 >
1881—85 . . . 952 60 > 100487-36 > 105 >
1886—90 . . . 44 660-69 1 353 823-70 > 30 >
1891—95 . . . 46 995-72 > 2 530 689-42 . 54 >
1896—00 . . . 134 451-69 > 7 889 068-38 • 59 «
1901—05 . . . 54 75609 5 249 207-60 » 96 >
1906—10 . . . 49 855-98 5 024 716-65 > 101 >
1911—13 . . . - 38 258-41 4 208 988-39 » 110 »
Total 383175-47 hectares 27187174-28 kr. 71 kr.
These purchases of land have, for the most part, been made in the
southern and central parts of the country.
Space does not allow of more than the following short remarks concerning
the remaining part o f th e State forest land.
The area of the Crown “ ilverlopps” -lands (v. note, pi 168) amounted in 1913
to 1 204 051 hectares, of which, however, no less than 884 112 hectares consisted
of irreclaimable land.
Woods belonging tp the Crown agricultural domains le t on lease have a total
area of 136 565 hectares. The area of these woods diminishes, partly in consequence
of the sale of the farms, and also because* certain of the woods are
reserved to add to the Crown Parks.
The forests held on civil tenures are, as a rale, attached to the residences
of rangers and constables, and have a total area of 12 105 hectares. This area
is growing less, however, in consequence of the resumption by the Crown of
.such residences, these being then either sold or let.
The drift-snnd plantations, situated in the Lans of Blekihge, Kristianstad, and
Halland, embrace 1.349 hectares.
Forests belonging for the most part to the State and under its administration,
and which have been devoted to various other purposes, are, in
the, tabular summary on page 168 entered in division B. Under this
heading come the different kinds of forests mentioned below.
The Laplanders’ tax-fell or reindeer-grazing fell-forests, as they are also called
had in 1913 an area of 1 051 065 hectares, of which 163 667 hectares were
timbered. The revenues from these woods are paid into a fund, which is employed,
amongst other things, for the purchase of the land necessary to provide
grazing grounds and wandering-roads for the reindeer.
The forests assigned by the State for the support o f the mining industry
embrace 36 109 hectares. A part of this area has been re-appropriated by the
Crown, however; the conditions as a result of which the grant was made no
longer existing.
The area of forests allotted for supplying saw-mills with timber amounts to
52 959 hectares. At the close of the 18th century and during the first part