HANDICRAFTS AND INDUSTRIES 
Industries in Iceland are on a very small scale, though some pro- 
gress has been made during the last few years. Forty years ago they 
provided a living for only aboul 2 per cent. of the population; accord- 
ing to the census returns of 1920 they employed 12 per cent. of the 
nation (see article on Population, page 17). Domestic industries 
have, on the other hand, greatly declined of late. Formerly almost 
all the wool production of the country was used in the home manu- 
tacture of woollen goods (socks, mittens, knitted jackets, and vadmél 
or wadmal, a kind of coarse woollen cloth), both for use at home and 
for the foreign market. There was thus a considerable export trade in 
knitted ware and wadmal, and some of these articles (e. g. socks and 
mittens) are still exported, though in very small quantities, and almost 
exclusively from one district. But the decrease in the sale of these 
commodities abroad has been accompanied by an enormous increase 
in the importation of foreign drapery, ready made clothes, and under- 
wear. In recent years aitempts have been made at reviving the do- 
mestic industries generally, and the societies formed for this purpose 
throughout the country have organized themselves into a national union 
{Samband islenzkra heimilisidnarfélaga). They enjov a State grant, 
and have arranged courses in weaving etc. 
By far the most common handicraft trades are tailoring and car- 
pentry; then come black-smithing, shoemaking, bricklaying, stone ma- 
sonry, printing and bakers’ trades; and net-making (braiding), of late. 
Icelandic manufactures are still in their infancy, and the enormous 
water power of the country (see article on Natural Resources, page 9) 
is as yet for the most part unharnessed. During the last few years a 
few factories have been established. Among the first of these were the 
woollen cloth manufactories of which there are 3 at present, two em-