Let us now have a peep at the Swede at work, for, although he is very fond of pleasure, he is very hard-working and industrious, and is taking a foremost place among the manufacturers of the world.

Although only about one-tenth of the country is under cultivation, nearly one-half of the people are engaged in the fields. The people are very much devoted to the land. In most cases the farmer owns the farm, and, with the aid of his family, he is able to cultivate all his ground. Farming has changed very much of late years. A great deal of grain used to be grown, but nowadays more attention is being paid to rearing horses and cattle, and dairying.

The farmers are very intelligent and well educated, and employ the latest methods in their work. They have made the export of butter one of their chief industries, and in most districts have erected cooperative dairies. The carts go to the farms, collect the produce, and take it to a central dairy, where the butter is made. This is exported in large quantities, with eggs, to Denmark and Britain. They employ the finest machinery, and have well-constructed dairies. Most of their appliances are made in Sweden. In Stockholm they manufacture a separator which is sent to every part of the world. It was invented by a Swede—Gustaf de Laval—and separates the cream from the milk.

In some parts of Sweden farmers have to be very economical as well as industrious. Sometimes you will see little yellow bundles hanging on trees; these are birch twigs, and when they are thoroughly dried, they are used as fodder for the sheep. In the Far North, the sun is not sufficiently strong to make hay, so they erect poles which look like fences, and as soon as the grass is cut, they hang it on these poles, and allow it to remain until it is cured.

As you sail round the coast and call at the various ports, you see great piles of timber, and ships from many countries loading planks; also huge ponds full of logs, and close at hand sawmills cutting them. You are here reminded that one of Sweden’s greatest industries is the timber trade. You would expect this if you travel through the country, for everywhere you see large forests, especially in the Norrland. More than half of the country is covered with forest. This industry is greatly helped by the many rivers. Men go up in the winter to these forests to cut down the trees, which they haul over the snow, when it is deep upon the ground, to the rivers. They have to make special roads in the woods for this, and in the spring the logs are allowed to float down the river to its mouth, where the sawmills are. Sometimes they take months, sometimes they take years. Very few are lost. At other times the logs are formed into huge rafts, which are kept in the centre of the stream by men with long poles. They usually try to get them done before the end of the summer, or they will need to return the following year, as the rivers are usually frozen every winter. As soon as they arrive at the river’s mouth, they are taken to the sawmills, and cut into planks of various sizes.

What is done with all this timber? A large number of the thin, short logs are sent to Britain to be props in the pits. Perhaps, when you are travelling in the train, the sleepers on which the rails are laid may have come from Sweden. A great deal of the timber is crushed into pulp, and then used for the making of paper. The Swedes make doors and windows for us. They even export wooden houses.

Another great industry is match-making. They do a wonderful thing in this industry. A Swede invented a so-called “complete machine,” which reduces the manual labour very much. The match material, which is first cut by other machines, is placed into the “complete machine” at one end, and comes out at the other ready made and packed in boxes, without a workman having to touch them. A machine can turn out 40,000 boxes in eleven hours.

These are but a few of the occupations of the Swedes. Very many are employed at iron and steel works. There are great ore-mines in the North. Swedish steel is considered the best in the world, and is used greatly in Sheffield for the well-known cutlery. Employment is found for great numbers of men in granite quarries, in manufacturing machinery, and in weaving cloth. Glass-works are numerous, and a great deal of very fine cut glass is exported. It would take too long to mention all the industries. Enough has been said to show that Sweden is not a poor but a rich and progressive country. There is work for all. The one drawback is the want of coal, which has all to be imported, but the Swedes are trying to utilize the waterfalls, and make them provide the power to drive machinery. When that is accomplished they will be able to take a place in the front rank of iron and steel-producing countries.