The prevailing characteristic of the climate of Denmark is humidity; it is also remarkably temperate for so northerly a re gion; both the result of the lowness of the land and of its proximity to the sea on all sides. The heats of summer are great, sometimes ex cessive. The mean temperature of the year is 47°. The shortest day is about WA hours, the longest 17% hours. Heavy rains arc frequent in autumn, and mists in summer, especially on the west coast of Jutland. The annual rainfall ranges from 21 to 27 inches.
Animal and Vegetable Products.— Horses and cattle are reared in great numbers, and both are excellent. Large flocks of sheep are kept; but rather for the flesh than the wool, which is coarse and short. Swine are also reared to a great extent. Deer, stags, roes, hares and a variety of other game are met with in the royal and other forests, but do not abound anywhere else. Wild fowl —including the eider-duck, so famous for its down — are numerous. Poultry of all kinds are raised, particularly geese. Potatoes, barley, oats, rye, beans, pease, tares, flax, hemp, madder and tobacco are raised; wheat in Laaland and buck wheat in Fiinen. Among the garden fruits, are; apples, plums, cherries, pears and nuts. Few of the great forests with which the country was once covered now remain. Government, however, has of late years paid some attention to this source of national wealth, and has taken measures for the protection and better. management of the forests. The larger forests are now confined to the east side of Jutland and to Seeland.
Agriculture, Cattle-Breeding, etc,— Al though not particularly favored by nature, Den mark is yet pre-eminently an agricultural country. Of the total area 80 per cent is pro ductive; about one-sixth of the unproductive area is bog. The land is greatly subdivided, as the law interdicts the union of small farms into larger and encourages the division of landed property. The kinds of grain most largely cul tivated are barley, oats, rye and wheat, the greatest area being occupied by oats, the second by barley. Rye is grown throughout the whole peninsula and in the islands of Fiinen and See land, and some of the islands on the west coast. From this grain the greater part of the bread used in Denmark Is made. Wheat, which occu pies but a comparatively small area, is grown chiefly on the islands of Laaland and Lange land, and on large estates in other quarters of the kingdom. The yearly yield of the cereal
crop is said to be larger than that raised by any corresponding European population except that of Mecklenburg. The oats crop of 1917 amounted to 273,270, the barley crop to 194,660, that of rye to 112,659 and that of wheat to 58,466 tons. Buckwheat is culti vated to some. extent in Jutland, as also in the island of Fiinen and elsewhere. Fotatoes, which were introduced into Denmark early in the 19th century, are now very generally culti vated. Herbage plants and grass are carefully cultivated. Beans, pease and tares are also ex tensively , cultivated throughout the , whole country and form an important article of food. Flax, hemp, hops, tobacco, madder, lavender and mustard seed are grown, but not in suffi cient quantities to supply the home demand. The part of the kingdom best adapted for the production of fruit is the island of Fiinen. Cattle-breeding, grazing and the dairy engage the greatest share of the farmer's attention in Denmark. Large and increasing numbers of cattle are annually exported from the country. A great increase has of late years taken place also in dairy produce, and the export of butter is now the main source of the wealth of Den mark. The rearing of horses is extensively carried on. The old Danish breed is found chiefly in Jutland. Those from the islands are said to be of Tartar descent and are small but strong and active. Sheep-rearing is on the decline in Denmark. Eggs are now largely exported and the rearing of hogs is much attended to; the greatest number are reared in the vicinity of the woods in East Jutland. The rearing of bees occupies a large sare of atten tion, particularly in the island of Fiinen, and Wax is largely exported.
Fisheries.— The fisheries are an important branch of national industry. Next to the her ring the turbot, torsk and salmon are the most abundant sorts of fish. Oyster banks occur on the east coast of Jutland, near its northern extremity, and near the island of Less6e. Fish ponds were at one time very general over the country and were profitable. The seal fisheries of Denmark are considerable. The value of its fisheries in 1916 was $16,053,225.