Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/844

* SWEDEN. 740 SWEDEN. larly in the upper part of their courses, and the lakes have the efl'ect of equalizing the floods so that the rivers are quite regular in their discharge. The numerous falls and rapids give picturesque charm to the rivers. The Klar Elf ("large stream'), the largest river, flows south into Lake Vener. The Gota Elf, which dis- charges the waters of Lake Vener into the Cat- tegat, is more important, because its falls and rapids have been circumvented by canals, making it a part of the waterway sj'stem of South Sweden. The principal river emptving into the Baltic is the Dal Elf. Many of the Swedi.sh lakes are large and beautiful, and are distinguished by the clearness of tlieir water and their picturesque surroundings. The four great lakes of the coun- trj- lie in the depressed area north of the plateau of Southern Sweden. Lake Vener, the largest of them, is the third largest in Europe (over 2000 square miles). Lakes Vetter (about 700 square miles), Hjelmar, and Millar (about 070 square miles ) drain into the Baltic. Climate and Soil. As the western moun- tains sluit oft" the tempering influence of the At- lantic, the climate is much colder than in Nor- way. The country being in the latitude of Labra- dor, the summer is short and the winter is cold and long. At Stockholm the mean temperature in January is about 25° F. and in July about 61°. Tlie climate of Sweden is very health}-. The mountains prevent the greater part of the precipi- tation from reaching the eastern plateaus and plains, so that the mean rainfall in Sweden is only about 20 inches. The greatest rainfall is on the southwest coast, facing the Cattegat, where the average is 35 inches annually. The country is almost completely covered with snow in win- ter, when snow traveling on ski, or long wooden runners attached to the feet, is a favorite amuse- ment. The splendid and extensive forests and the farms of Gotland and Scania, where the grain fields return as much to the acre as in Eng- land, show that the soils of the central and southern parts of the country are not deficient in fertility. Flora. Forests cover about two-fifths of the country, pines and firs predominating, and extend beyond the Arctic Circle. Over 2000 European plants have their northern limit in the Scandi- navian peninsula. In Sweden beeches are found only in tlie extreme south, the oak disappears a little north of Stockholm, while the pine, fir, and alder extend nearly to the limit of arboreal vegetation. The forests of the southern plains differ little in appearance from tho.se of the more temperate parts of Europe, but farther north, in the region of prevailing conifers, the labyrinth of moss-covered boulders, amid which the towering trees rise, where even a path is scarcely jiossible, gives a special character to the woodlands. The Dal Elf, north of Stockholm, is practically the northern limit of wheat, but barley is grown to the Arctic Circle. F.UNA. The bounties paid for bear, lynx, wolf, and fox skins and for birds of iirey have resulted in nearly exterminating the leading wild animals. The beaver and hare survive, but the wild reindeer is no longer found. Fish are much less abundant in Swedish than in Nor- wegian waters. Geology and Mineral Resources. Archaean rocks are predominant, and in some districts, ee- pecially around the great lakes, they are over- laid l)y Cambrian and Silurian formations. In large areas also the ancient rocks are covered by extensive glacial deposits of clay, sand, gravel, and erratic boulders. Triassic. Jurassic, and Cretaceous locks appear only in Scania, in the ex- treme south. Some time after the glacial epoch the Scandinavian peninsula subsided till the sea level, in relation to the land, stood 500, 700, and in some places 1000 feet higher than before, as is shown by marine deposits resting on rocks that had been scarred by glacial ice. Then the land began to rise again and the gradual upheaval is still in progress. The movement is best observed, of course, along the coasts. It is nowhere so rapid as on the Swedish side of the Gulf of Bothnia, and it is most rapid at the nortliern ex- tremity of the Gulf, where the upheaval is esti- mated at about 5 feet in the past century. In the extreme south no change of level has been ob- served. Thus the Gulf of Bothnia appears to be slowly draining into the southern basin of the Baltic. The mining industry competes with difliculty against the powerful rivalry of the leading Euro- pean countries, although it is more im))ortant than that of Norway. Sweden is poorly supplied with coal (only 271,509 tons having been mined in South Sweden in 1901). Manufacturers are compelled to import coal or use charcoal. The most important and valuable mineral prod- uct is iron. In 1901 2,793,566 tons of iron ore were mined in the kingdom.While about 1,000,000 tons are mined every year near Gefle, Falun, and Dannemora, the largest supply comes from Gel- livare (q.v.), 130 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Swedish iron is regarded as unsurpassed in the world, as it is almost entirely free from phospho- rus (.05 per cent, or less), and is therefore of superior value for the manufacture of steel. For this reason it now rivals the ores of Spain in British and German markets, and large quan- tities are exported. Magnetite and manganese ores (2271 tons of manganese in 1901) used in steel-making also abound. The copper industry of Falun was long widely renowned, but the yield was formerlv much larger than at present "(23,660 tons of ore in 1901). Three-fourths of the total yield of zinc ore (48,630 tons in 1901) is proiluced at the Ammeberg mines, on the north side of Lake Vetter, The silver product in 1901 was 1557 kilograms, and the yield of lead was 988,396 kilograms. The number of persons en- gaged in mining declined from 35,000 in 1890 to 30,776 in 1901, Agriculture, Live Stock, and Fisheries. Three-fourths of the population support them- selves by agriculture, though only about 8 per Area Tield Wheat 192,413 1,015,417 537,225 2,037,503 320,606 114.114 381,862 4,726.700 Hve 21,447,900 12,954,425 65,210.375 8,372,925 1,612,325 Potatoes 44,841,775 cent, of the land area is under cultivation. Hay meadows and pastures cover 4 per cent, of the surface, forests 44.2 per cent., and 43.6 per cent, is unproductive. In 1900, 388.416 farms were