Roads, Railways, etc.—The high-roads and lesser country reads, together measuring upwards of 1000 m. in length, are in general in excellent condition. At the present time there arc about 850 m. of railroad in the islands and Jutland. In 1875, the tele graphic lines extended to a length of 1734 m.; while the number of telegrams transmitted was 886,917.
Climate, Soil, Productions, etc.—The climate of D. is modified by vicinity to the sea, and is considerably milder, and the air more humid, than in the more southern and continental Germany. The cold is seldom very intense before Christmas, or after the middle of March. The summers are occasionally very hot; the weather generally may be characterized as very variable; rain and fogs are frequent. The main temperature in Copenhagen, whose climate may he regarded as representing an average of that of all D., is, in winter, 82.9'; spring, 43.5'; summer, 63.5% autumn, 49.3' The alternations from winter to summer are rapid, and scarcely broken by the interven tion of spring or the succession of autumn. Westerly winds prevail in the proportion of 48 per cent to all others. The total absence of mountains and large rivers, and the alluvial character of the soil, by precluding all operations, of necessity lead the peasantry to follow agriculture, in the pursuit of which more than half the population are engaged. The drought of the spring and the short and sudden heat of the slimmer are often detrimental to the grass; but there is seldom an absolute failure in the supplies, and the cereal crops are generally good. During the last half century, the cultivation of wheat has increased nearly 200 per cent, while that of rye and barley has decreased rather than augmented.
Rye is more extensively used for bread than any other of the cereals, the average returns for the last ten years showing that about 3 millions of tons were raised in the kingdom annually,. valued at nearly 19 millions of rix-dollars; while, in spite of the relatively increased cultivation• of wheat, the quantity and value of the latter scarcely reached the half of the above figures. Barley and oats, for which the Danish climate seems to be specially well adapted, yield the largest annual average returns—viz., for the former, 61 millions of tons, valued at 29 millions of rix-dollars, and for the latter 74- millions of tons at 21 millions of rix-dollars. Since the potato crops were attacked by disease in 1847, the cultivation of this tuber has declined, but the average yield may be reckoned at about 400,000 tons. According to the census of 1870, there were in D. 316,1370 horses, 1,238,898 horned cattle, 1,842,481 sheep, and 442,421 swine. Of these there were exported in the same year 12,500 horses, 50,200 homed cattle, 21,000 sheep, three fourths of which belonged to Jutland, while the 60,600 swine exported had been nearly all raised in the islands.
The Danish fisheries are not so important a branch of industry as might be expected, when we consider the extended coast-line of the country. But it was recently calculated that the Danish fisheries had an annual value of £150,000, and employed 6,500 men. The principal fish in D. are porpoises, herrings, whitings, cod, flounders, mackerel, salmon, and eels. Oyster beds, which are included under the royalties of the Danish crown, are met with at Frederikshavn, Skagen, and in the Limfjord. No part of the Danish territories is rich in minerals; some coal is found in the island of Bornholm, gypsum at Segeberg, and salt at Oldesloe. Amber is collected on the western shores of Jutland. Peat is got wherever there are swamps; and from the absence of productive coal-mines, and the increasing scarcity of wood, it is of great value for fuel, and every village in the vicinity of such land has a certain portion assigned for its supply. Beech and birch are the prevalent trees, but oak, pine, and larch are also indigenous, and grow to perfection. Agriculture has been steadily improving in D. of late years, but the land is too much subdivided to admit of the expenditure of great capital; and, moreover, is seldom cultivated by the owners. The condition of the laboring classes is happy; they are more roomily and warmly lodged, and better clad, than in Great Britain, and their dwellings are always clean. The peasants still eontinne to manufacture much of what they require within their own homes, the women weaving linen and woolen stuffs for the use of the household, and the men making their own furniture and simplest farm implements, and the wooden shoes which are worn by men, women, and children, Almost two thirds of the entire area of the country is arable land. The Dimes have not hitherto availed themselves of the great natural advantages which the country possesses for manufactures and trade; and notwithstanding the rich porcelain clays in Bornholm, which afford valuable. materials for the manufacture of earthenware, and the abundant water-power in every part of the kingdom, the industrial operations are very incon siderable. There arc, however, a few good porcelain and glass works, and iron-foundries, chiefly in Seeland and near Copenhagen; and of late years the manufacture of cards and ornamental paper has been brought to great excellence in Copenhagen, and at Silkcborg, in Jutland. Linen is the principal article of domestic manufacture in Seelaud, but the supply does not suffice for the home-demand. Many of the restrictions which formerly cramped foreign commerce have of late years been removed, but the commercial legis lation is still too protective to give free scope to individual enterprise.