Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/747

* NORWAY. 635 NORWAY. $35.G44. Fine marble, buildin;; stone, roofing slate. soai)stone. and millstones are proiluced in larpe (juautities and are ini|i<jrtant exports. Fi.siiKHiKS. Fishing is among the oldest of the country's industries. The value of the large fisheries has averaged for 31 years $5,7i)(j,400 a year. This does not include the catch (daily fishing, as the Norwegians call it) which sup- plies the wants of the home population. The value of all the fisheries, including the Arctic fisheries and various extra sources of profit, such as oil and fish guano, is about $13,400,000 a year. The cod is the largest fishery, the num- ber of persons engaged in it in "l!)00 being 82.0ns, and the value of the catch $3,03(3,402, The largest centre of the industry is the Lofoten Islands, wlicre. in the first few months of the year, about 40.000 men are engaged in fishing or in preparing the catch for market. The average per man for the whole of the fishing is from ilOO to 1000 cod. The fish are sold partly to traders on the islands who have warehouses with salting and storing rooms, and partly to merchant ve.ssels, which carry their purchases to other ports. The herring fisheries, ne.xt to the cod in importance, are carried nn all along the coast, the summer fisheries employing over 20.- 000 men, and the value of the product being usually over $2,400,000. The catch in recent years has not been so large as formerly, but is now improving. The mackerel is rare north of Trondhjein Fiord, and is fished chiefly in the Skagerrak and the fiords off it. The "industry in 11100 employed 2741 men, the product being worth $1.52,402. The salmon, sea trout, lobsters, and oysters (small yield) also figure in the total pniduct <if the large fisheries, the total value in 1.S00 having been $6,510.2.56. The mackerel is also caught in the North Sea. and the Arctic fish- eries engage every season about 2000 men who sail over the Arctic Sea from Greenland and .Jan Alayen Island in the west to Spitzbergen and Finmarken in the east, for sealskins and oil, whale oil. and bearskins. AoKicTLTURE. Of the total area, .59 per cent, is bare mountain, 21 per cent, woodland, and only 10 per cent, is in pastures, hay lands, and fields. In the southeast cultivated plants and fruits ripen in the open air, but in the north and on the bigber tracts there is little or no agricul- ture. Crop and cattle raising are usually carried on together. Oats is the chief grain, init none of the cereals suffices for the needs of the coun- try. Bai-ley and rye are grown miieb farther north than oats, but wheat is rarely found north of the Trondhjem Fiord. The area annually sown to wheat is about 10.000 acres, with a yield of about 255.000 bushels. Rye is the great bread cereal, its cultivation extending to the 70th parallel, the area annually sown being about 34,000 acres, and the yield 'about 000.000 busliels. Among root crops only potatoes are cultivated to a large extent, and they are one of the chief foods. The average production is about 23,000,000 luishels. The yield of the different kinds (if ;;rain is large compared with that of most Riircipean coimtrics, due to careful cultiva- tion and heavy manuring. Live Stock. Norway has only about one-third Of the cattle of Scandinavia, but the pastures pive adcfiuate grazing for most of the sheep. In 1900 there were in the country 172,999 horses, Vol. XI v.— 11. 050,201 cattle, 908.819 sheep. 214,594 goats, 165,- 348 swine, and 03,57(! reindeer. Of the two types of horses, the small fiord horse is an excellent working animal in the mountain districts, where good roads are lacking. The larger Gudbrand.sdal is (|uiek and strong ,as a farm and carriage horse. The cattle of several diU'erent breeds are small, but good milkers. They often seek their foo<l over large areas of sparse pastures. Attem|)ts to imjuove them by an ad- mixture of foreign blood have not lieen very suc- cessful. Most of the butter and cheese is made in cooperative dairies with the best eiiiiipment, and brings the highest price in the British mar- ket. Norwegian sheep are small, slender, and fine wooled. They have been crossed with foreign breeds to their advantage. The gross return of the live stock industry annually averages about $37,520,000, which, added to the average return of $18,760,000 a year from the farm crops, gives a gross income from Norwegian husbandrv of over $56,000,000 on an average. The buildings on Norwegian farms are comparatively expensive on account of the severity of the winter. Domes- tic animals require ^^•arm barns, and everything, including hay, must be housed. The number of farms in 1890 was 236,286. Forest Industries. Lumbering has always been one of the greatest industries. The large forests lie far from the inhaliited districts as a rule, and the timber-cutters and log-drivers live in huts, most of them being strong and hardy single nie.i. Three-fourths of the forests are pine lands, btit the Norway pines and spruces convenient to Christiani.-i and other shipping points hiive been depleted in many places so that the more northern forests in Sweden are now the larger source of Scandinavian lumber. Nor- way's forest products, however, form about one- third of the country's total exports. The value of the unwrought or partly wrought timber ex- ported in 1901 was $0,539,888. and of wrought timber (mostly wood jjulji) $6,436,448. Other Indistries. About 50,000 persons are engaged in the manufacturing and other indus- tries outside of those mentioned above. The production of lumber and wooden ware is the oldest and largest branch, employing in 1895 12.073 work people. There are many saw and planing mills, chiefly along the rivers. The most important machine shops are in f'hristiania. Iron ships arc built and there are carriage and car works. In machine production Norway has yet much to learn from other countries. The tex- tile industries, spinning and weaving mills, jer- sey factories and roperies, employ about 9000 persons, and number 64 establishments, most of them situated in the outskirts of the towns. Paper-making derives its importance from the large resources of wood pulp. Small tanneries ami (lour mills are scattered all over the country. Breweries, tobacco and tinning works, are chiefly in the larger towns, and particularly in Chris- tiaiiia. Potteries, china factories, iron foundries, nail-rolling and wire mills, have a considerable outjiut. Only about 2000 persons are employed in making articles of attire, .^s the country is deficient in industrial development, the imports of mamifactures are large. Commerce. Tlie growth and average annual amount of Norwaj's trade may be seen from the following table: