En undersökning av SJ:s årsberättelser 1891-1906 - utvecklingen från annueller till perenner

Abstract

The Swedish state railway had a great impact on the Swedish society during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Both in terms of new communication and development of standard time, but also by educating the people about plants through their plantations. Over the years, many have written about the state railways, focusing on everything from individual stations to the organization in its entirety. However, the plant material in itself is less researched. Therefore, this study aims to examine the annual reports that the Swedish State Railways' garden director wrote regarding the railway organization for gardening. The purpose is to see if the reports can provide additional information about which plants were used in plantations and gardens around the railway environment. Furthermore, to distinguish in which way the development from annuals to perennials presents in the material and if more information related to the organization for gardening can be detected, such as pruning or planting. The focus of the study lies on the years when Agathon Sundius (1852-1910) was garden director, mainly the time between 1891- 1906. With a delimitation to six years during the selected time, this study uses archive, literature and qualitative studies to answer the posted questions. The research material consists of anniversary books and photographs, where the information was compiled into diagrams and tables. The results show that the change from annuals to perennials can be seen trough planting lists and small notes made by Sundius. Likewise, the results show that information regarding tasks, like cropping, could be found in the material. Sundius' annual reports provided a better understanding of the plant material used in the plantations, but they did not provide much insight into where specific plants were planted. Future research should analyze the remaining years, review the plant lists with greater precision and compare the reports with similar works