DOI article:
Szabó, Mátyás: Clearing of stony ground and cultivation in Sweden: an interplay between expertise, organisation and technique
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0009
CLEARING GROUND
7
Fig.4. It took 22 years to build this IV2 km long
stone wall. The wall is c.2 m wide, the height is
the same and it is U m below the surface. Norr-
lida village, Pelarne parish, Smaland, Sweden.
Photo: Nordic Museum 1943.
Der Bau dieser IV2 km langen Steinmauer nahm
22 Jahre in Anspruch. Die Mauer ist ca. 2 m dick
und ebenso hoch und geht I/2 m unter die Erde.
Dorf Norrlida, Pfarrbezirk Pelarne, Smaland,
Schweden.
earth, so that the corn-weevil worm cannot
proceed with such ease, as where there is no
hindrance” (Elgh 1749, 22). But the thought
that the stone definitely “feeds” the earth is
mentioned several times. In Norway there is
a tradition from various parts of the country,
which tells us that people thought they got
more corn when there was stone in the field,
on the grounds that during the day the
stones were heated by the sun which was
good for the crop at night (Visted-Stigum
1951, 143f.).
The matter in question here does of course
concern those minerals that certain kinds of
stones release in the top soil and thus influ-
ence the development of the crop in a
favourable way.5 Obviously this had its ef-
fect also on the amazing fertility of the so-
called beach fields on the island of Gotland.
These beach fields consisted of limestone
boulders, with hardly visible sand or light
soil between the numerous stones. Here rye
was grown every second year. According to
a description from 1841 the fields are kept
“fertile by putting a kind of seaweed on
them”. Beach fields were not only used by
those living in the parishes near the beach
but also by farmers from inland parishes like
Garde, Stanga, Lye, Etelhem and others
(Jirlow 1953, 32 f.). Seaweed fertiliser was
used in many other countries too like for
example Ireland and Orkney and Shetland
(Fenton 274-79).
The importance of stone for cultivation
can also be quite decisive - something that
there are no real parallels for from the Swed-
ish rugged ground. In the province of Kansu
in China there was (and is possibly even
today) “field fertilising” with stones as a
well-known manner of cultivation. In the
surroundings of the city of Lanchow there is
a large belt of around 80.000 ha. of “stone
fields”, the cultivation of which is directly
dependent on the presence of masses of egg-
sized stones. Before sowing the ground is
covered with these stones, which have been
dug out of the soil in the vicinity of the field.
The seed corn is ploughed down together
with the stones, which are considered as a
fertiliser for the soil. Even if a very import-
ant function of the stones is the preservation
of moisture (stone fertilised fields can man-
age without rain for sixty days as against
twenty days without stones), it is the miner-
als, which via the stones are added to the
soil, that are the decisive factor. This is clear
7
Fig.4. It took 22 years to build this IV2 km long
stone wall. The wall is c.2 m wide, the height is
the same and it is U m below the surface. Norr-
lida village, Pelarne parish, Smaland, Sweden.
Photo: Nordic Museum 1943.
Der Bau dieser IV2 km langen Steinmauer nahm
22 Jahre in Anspruch. Die Mauer ist ca. 2 m dick
und ebenso hoch und geht I/2 m unter die Erde.
Dorf Norrlida, Pfarrbezirk Pelarne, Smaland,
Schweden.
earth, so that the corn-weevil worm cannot
proceed with such ease, as where there is no
hindrance” (Elgh 1749, 22). But the thought
that the stone definitely “feeds” the earth is
mentioned several times. In Norway there is
a tradition from various parts of the country,
which tells us that people thought they got
more corn when there was stone in the field,
on the grounds that during the day the
stones were heated by the sun which was
good for the crop at night (Visted-Stigum
1951, 143f.).
The matter in question here does of course
concern those minerals that certain kinds of
stones release in the top soil and thus influ-
ence the development of the crop in a
favourable way.5 Obviously this had its ef-
fect also on the amazing fertility of the so-
called beach fields on the island of Gotland.
These beach fields consisted of limestone
boulders, with hardly visible sand or light
soil between the numerous stones. Here rye
was grown every second year. According to
a description from 1841 the fields are kept
“fertile by putting a kind of seaweed on
them”. Beach fields were not only used by
those living in the parishes near the beach
but also by farmers from inland parishes like
Garde, Stanga, Lye, Etelhem and others
(Jirlow 1953, 32 f.). Seaweed fertiliser was
used in many other countries too like for
example Ireland and Orkney and Shetland
(Fenton 274-79).
The importance of stone for cultivation
can also be quite decisive - something that
there are no real parallels for from the Swed-
ish rugged ground. In the province of Kansu
in China there was (and is possibly even
today) “field fertilising” with stones as a
well-known manner of cultivation. In the
surroundings of the city of Lanchow there is
a large belt of around 80.000 ha. of “stone
fields”, the cultivation of which is directly
dependent on the presence of masses of egg-
sized stones. Before sowing the ground is
covered with these stones, which have been
dug out of the soil in the vicinity of the field.
The seed corn is ploughed down together
with the stones, which are considered as a
fertiliser for the soil. Even if a very import-
ant function of the stones is the preservation
of moisture (stone fertilised fields can man-
age without rain for sixty days as against
twenty days without stones), it is the miner-
als, which via the stones are added to the
soil, that are the decisive factor. This is clear