Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. Rural Husbandry. Introd. by H. Juhlin Dannfelt - 2. Live-Stock - Reindeer. By E. Bergström - Rabbits. By H. Funkquist
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
104
iii. rural husbandry.
the whole stock of Swedish reindeer may be put at about 4J/s million kronor,
at a rough valuation of 17 kronor per reindeer. The profit on them, however,
may be estimated in normal years at the rate of about 25 %, and thus amounts
to the respectable sum of more than 1 million kronor per annum. About half
of this profit seems to be consumed direct in the shape of food, clothing, and
other necessaries for the Lapps; the bulk of the other half, on the other hand,
is employed in trade, chiefly in the form of entire reindeers, skins, and meat,
to a certain extent also in sinews (for stitching boots and shoes) and horn (for
making glue). Trade is also done in manufactured goods, such as Lapp furriery
and, above all, Lapp shoes. There is also a fairly considerable export of reindeer
products, either direct through Sweden to Germany, or via Norway to France,
England, and even America. This export consists mainly of hides and entire
animals. There are no reliable statistics available, which deal with this export.
The distribution of the reindeer among the different läns is shown by the
following table.
Mountain Forest
Reindeer Reindeer
Number of Reindeer in Norrbotten Län, 1911 ...... 129 500 40 100
> Västerbotten > 1909—10. . . . 74 500 1400
> j » » Jämtland > » .... 25 700 ■—
» > > J Kopparberg > » .... 1600 —
The opinion often expressed, that reindeer-breeding in Sweden is a decaying
industry, which is bound to disappear with a more settled mode of existence,
must unhesitatingly be set down as erroneous.1 On the contrary, it would at
present be more to the point to speak of an over-production of reindeer, seeing
that their numbers overtax the capacity of the available pasture-grounds. As
to the peasants, it is true that a good many disputes occur between them and the
Lapps, but as the subject of these disputes is generally some damage done
to the "grass marshes" (slåttermyrar), and as the utilization of their scanty and
almost worthless grass belongs to a most primitive method of agriculture, which
will certainly disappear sooner or later, these quarrels will probably cease
entirely. Under these circumstances, it is quite unwarrantable to look upon
reindeer-breeding as doomed to extinction. Precisely in virtue of its nomad
character, it has a definite mission to fulfil: for it is only by a nomad mode of
existence that the supply of grass and reindeer moss in the mountains and
pine-barrens can be, economically speaking, utilized to the full. There is therefore
every reason for encouraging Swedish reindeer-breeding, and for regarding it as
a branch of Swedish industry destined to survive, and as one bidding fair for
the future.
Rabbits.
Towards the close of the Middle Ages this ancient branch of industry
underwent a great development in Europe, thanks to the efforts of the monks. In
Sweden, however, the interest in rabbit-breeding has always been very slight,
notwithstanding that private persons and societies have laboured to improve it.
There is no doubt whatever that rabbit-breeding can also be rendered profitable in
Sweden; but rabbit-breeding, like that of all other domestic animals, requires
time and thought, and thus rabbit-keeping is not as well suited for Swedish
a few Lapps have also been included among them. In consequence of certain regulations,
practically all the reindeer owned by peasants are from the Län of Norrbotten. The
remaining 5 800 reindeer were "unknown" or "unmarked".
1 It is not possible to support this statement by statistics, early data as to the numbers of reindeer
being unreliable.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
