Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Blaðsíða 163

INTER-NORTHERN COMMERCE
H3
On one point, however, the conditions under which the agri-
culture of the two countries works exhibit a difference: Swedish
agriculture has a large home market, because the population of
Sweden is twice as large as that of Denmark. This home market
is effectively protected by tariff walls. Danish agriculture, on the
other hand, is forced to look for the greater part of its markets
abroad, and Danish agriculturists are therefore naturally free
traders. 'W'hile agricultural produce constitutes three fourths of
the Danish exports, it now constitutes less than 10 per cent. of
those of Sweden.
During late years Sweden has been exporting agricultural pro-
duce to an annual value of a little over 100 million kroner, but
at the same time she has imported agricultural produce to an
annual value of between 300 and 400 million kroner. She has thus
a considerable adverse balance of trade as far as agricultural pro-
duce is concerned, which is, however, more than met by her ex-
ports of forestry produce, minerals, and products of the wood-
working, paper, and iron industries. But unfortunately it is not
to any appreciable extent Danish agricultural produce that Swe-
den stands in need of. On the contrary, she is one of Denmark’s
many competitors on the British and German markets as far as
bacon and dairy produce are concerned. What Sweden wants
from abroad is corn, especially wheat and maize, and a large
number of tropical and subtropical agricultural products, which
Denmark is not, of course, in a position to supply.
As agricultural producers, Sweden and Denmark have thus
much in common. Both have been forced by natural conditions
to specialize in animal husbandry and dairying. It is true that the
home market plays a much greater part in the agriculture of Swe-
den than in that of Denmark, but both countries are exporters
of animal produce, especially bacon and butter. They are thus
competitors on the international market and cannot supplement
each other’s agricultural production to any appreciable extent.
When we turn to Norway, we find that the agriculture of
that country has a much smaller productive capacity than that
of Sweden or Denmark, but that, like them, it has had to spe-
cialize in animal husbandry. Danish agricultural exports have
therefore no more chance of obtaining a footing in Norway than
in Sweden.
The arable area of Norway is only one third of that of Den-
mark. Only 2V2 per cent. of her total area is under the plough