The ratio of cultivated, meadow, and pasture land to the unim proved portion of the surface of Sweden is much greater in the southern province. than in the northern. This difference is less the effect of the climate than of the soiL Though in the southern portion there are several extensive tracts which consist of bare rocks, they are small in proportion to tracts of the same kind in the north. The boulders, which are extremely numerous, diminish the extent and value of the cultivable tract. There hardly occur ten square miles, with the exception perhaps of the level plain of Scania, in which there are not erratic rocks in great numbers, and in some places they cover nearly half the surface. These rocks, as well as those ' in situ,' are of gneiss, and the soil derived from their disintegration is barren.
The lowering of the sea along the coast of Sweden is a fact that has been established by continued observations for a whole century. This decrease of water is greatest towards the northern extremity of the Gulf of Bothnia. It diminishes gradually to the southward, and its effect seems to disappear along the southern coast of Sweden ; but it has been noticed in the Cattegat north of Cape Kullen, and still more north of the mouth of the Gdta, where it is about as much as on the eastern coast, under the same parallel. The difficulty of explaining this phenomenon satisfactorily has suggested the notion that the whole Scandinavian peninsula is raised gradually higher by the force of some internal power.
Lakes; firers; Canals; Railways.—The number of lakes in Sweden is very great. It is estimated that they cover 21,916 square miles, or nearly one-eighth of the area of the kingdom.
The largest lake is the 1Vener, which is traversed by 59' N. lat.
The surface is 144 feet above the sea-level. Two headlands projecting from the northern and southern shores divide it into two unequal parts, of which the western and smaller is named Lake Dalbo. Lake Dalbo extends from south to north about 55 miles, and from east to west 20 miles. The strait by which it is connected with Lake Wener is about 15 miles wide, but numerous small rocky islands lie across it, leaving only narrow passages, a circumstance which renders the navi gation dangerous, on account of the gales, which are not unusual on the lakes. Lake Wener is 60 miles long from south to north, and 30 miles wide where broadest. A large part of the shore is lined with rocky islands ; this is also the case with Lake Dalbo. The rivers wbich'fall in from the south have not a long course, and do not bring much water; but the northern rivera flow from other lakes of considerable extent, and contain much more water.
The largest feeder of Lake Wener is the Klar, which rises in Lake Famund, on the confines of Sweden and Norway, 2280 feet shove the sea. The outfall of Lake Eimund is called the Tryssild, and rune southward. After a rapid course of more than 70 miles, it enters Sweden a little north of 61° N. lat., and takes the name of Klar. At this point it is probably not more than 600 feet above the sea-level. Its course in Sweden is generally south-east, and it runs more than 120 miles: In the upper part of its course in Sweden its current is comparatively gentle ; but in the vicinity of 60° N. lat. it descends from a higher country to a lower, and falls more than 130 feet within a few miles, and is broken by rapids and cataracts. Below this place the river runs with less rapidity, but it cannot easily be navigated except in the last 20 miles of its course. Wood however is floated down from the upper country. Near its mouth it divides into two arms, which inclose a small island called Tingwalla, on which the town of Carlatad is built.
The waters of Lake Wener are carried to the Cattegat by the GM, which runs more than 50 miles to the west of south. It has a great volume of water, and about 14 miles from its mouth divides into two arms, which inclose the large island of Ifisingen. In its natural state the river was rendered unfit for navigation by several cataracts—one at Rdnum, 12 feet high, two miles from the lake ; another at Trol batten, where the river descends by rapids 108 feet in 5 miles ; and a third at Lila Edet, where there is a cataract 10 feet high about 18 miles from the lake. But all these obstacles are now overcome by means of canals and locks. Small steamers and vessels of not more than 6 feet draught ply regularly from Goteborg (Gothenburg) to Lake Wener; thence the West (Iota Canal, which traverses Lake Vicken, conveys them to the Wetter Lake; and by the East (Rita Canal, which runs parallel to the Mottala, traverses Lake Rosen, and thence runs east ward to the Bay of Slate Eaken, below Soderkoping, on the east coast of Sweden, the steam navigation is completed between the Kattegat and the Baltic. This important line of internal navigation (260 miles in length, including the lakes), was completed by the English engineer Telford. It shortens considerably the route from Goteborg to Stock holm, and frees the commerce of Sweden from the Sound dues. The navigation is closed from Christmas to May by ice.