man for twenty-six weeks. Every farmer has to send a horse to the post-house upon the particular day when his turn comes, on receiving due notice; but the use of the horse is paid for. Every farm also of a certain size must provide a horse for the artillery or cavalry; but as it too is paid for by government while in service, it is considered an advantage rather than a tax.

Upon a property of the net yearly value of 200 dollars, or 371. 10s. sterling, 6l.: 14s. : 5d. is a heavy amount of taxes. But this is nearly all that is paid in any shape; the indirect taxes, such as our Excise and Custom-house duties, being inconsiderable. If our landholder could reckon, besides his poor-rate, tithe, land-tax, window-tax, and direct assessments of every kind, all that he pays upon the commodities he uses, and all that his customers pay, so as to lessen the consumption and price of his produce, what proportion of his income would be really affected by taxation?

Such a property as that now described is considered worth about 4000 dollars. Within a mile or two of Dronthiem, adjoining the coast, I observed an estate advertised, with suitable houses and mills, at 36 dollars per mæling. This price I estimate at 291. 14s. sterling per English acre, The rent of land near a town can scarcely be ascertained; because it is the custom here, as of old in the north of Scotland, to leave a milking and working stock, seed, and implements to the tenant at his entry, he paying back stock to his successor to the same value at the expiry of his lease. The milk near a

town like Dronthiem, of 12,000 inhabitants, gives an important addition to the farmer's receipts; and that depends so much on the quality of his milking stock, that the rent per mæling may depend on the cow that is to eat its produce. I know 16s. sterling per English acre to be paid by one farmer in a favourable situation.

I have been particular in stating all I could learn about this farm, because I consider it fitted to be the representative of a large proportion of the estates into which this country is divided. From 2500 to 4500 dollars include, perhaps, the prices of all ordinary estates, and any thing very much above or below would be an exception. As to the dwelling-houses on such estates, the material for building is so easily obtained, that there is really no difference between the residence of a public functionary, of a clergyman, or of a gentleman of large property, and that of a bonde or peasant proprietor. The latter are as well, as commodiously, and even showily lodged as the former can be, and the properties upon which they dwell are as good. The others may have several of those estates, but seldom connected so as to form one exceeding the ordinary size. The division of property among children prevents the erection of any splendid mansions, or any thing more expensive than is proportioned to the property upon which it stands. As there are no domains to attach to a large mansion, and in a generation or two any estate would be reduced to the ordinary size, a larger house than suits the ground on which it is

situated would be out of place. The Norwegians are, beyond a doubt, the most generally well lodged people in Europe; but none magnificently. Many farmers in Scotland, paying from 300l. to 500l. sterling of rent, have worse accommodations for themselves, their cattle, and crops, than people here whose estates could be purchased for 500%.

The harvest work in this district, and I believe all over Norway, is well done; and parts of their management might be adopted with advantage in our late districts, where so much grain is lost or damaged almost every autumn by wind or rain. For every ten sheaves, a pole of light strong wood, about the thickness of the handle of a garden rake, and about nine feet in length, is fixed in the ground by an iron-shod borer: it costs here almost nothing. A man sets two sheaves on the ground against the stem, and impales all the rest upon the pole, one above the other, with the heads hanging downwards. The pole enters before the band of each sheaf, and comes out at the bottom; the sheaf is put on with a pitchfork, and a whole field is picketted in this way with the greatest ease, and as fast as cut. The crop is in perfect safety as soon as it is on the poles; no rain or damp can heat or make it grow. Only a single sheaf is exposed to the wet. It hangs with its head downwards, is open on all sides to the air and wind, and thus dries as fast as the rain wets it. Gales of wind cannot shake it, making the heads of sheaves dash against one another, which often happens to corn standing in stooks; there is also

not half of the handling and pitching about of the sheaves as in our harvest work; in which each sheaf is first dragged to the stock, and afterwards thrown into the cart. Here a sledge or car, on

low wheels, comes along the pole, which is lifted with all its sheaves, and laid into it at once; and each pole, when in the barn, is a tally for a threave of ten sheaves. The crop is all necessarily brought at once into large barns, on account of the deep snow in winter. The straw must be well withered, and quite dry when housed, which without this plan could seldom be effected. The sheaves are somewhat less than ours.

Shearers here make good work, cut low, and all back handed; that is, they grasp the corn with the back of the left hand towards the hook, not the palm as with us; thus only the stalks contained in the hand can be cut over at one stroke. With us much more, almost an armful, is pressed against the edge of the hook, and cut over; the greater part of which is strewed about the field, and lost in carrying it to the band; for it is only what the grasp can manage that comes safely to the sheaf.

The practical farmer will not think these obser

vations trifling. The loss of grain in Great Britain from the field to the mill, would pay the tithe.

b

Norwegian Plough.

a, Sole, flat and of wood. b, Mould-board plated with iron; and c, share; both fastened to the sole with bolts. d. Regulator, of which the lower part, e, touches the ground. f, Handle, generally wanting.

over.

The Norwegian plough is far from being a contemptible tool: the mould-board has an excellent shape, is clad with iron plate, and turns over the sod completely. It is a kind of paring plough, for the sole is flat, and generally covered with iron plate also, and the ploughing consists in taking the sod or earth at a certain depth, and turning it flat It is in fact the Norfolk system of not breaking the pan, as it is there called, of the soil, and never ploughing up or touching the subsoil. It would be rash to condemn this plan, where the subsoil is porous, as it generally is on the primary rocks, upon which clay is seldom the first layer, at least in this country. It might be disadvantageous to break into such a subsoil, and deprive the soil above of the moisture necessary for vegetation. It appears, at any rate, rational to have a fixed