Vanha maataloutemme: Maatalous ja maatalousväestö Suomessa perinnäisen maatalouden loppukaudella 1720-luvulta 1870-luvulle

Authors

• Arvo M. Soininen

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.71864

Abstract

The present study deals with the last continuous period of traditional farming in Finland, where old-type farming ended only in the 1870’s. Farm economy of the period in question was to a large degree based on self-sufficiency which involved many-sided and varied farm activities. At the same time crop husbandry was heavily predominant since the production of bread grain was of foremost importance. Characteristic of the crop husbandry was the use of varied and greatly differing farming methods. Technical development in this sector, as in all farm agriculture, was at the time minimal, and production could be increased only by extending the area under cultivation. The approximately six-fold population increase in Finland between the 1720’s and the 1870’s necessitated a rapid expansion in the area of cultivated land. In the 18th century the production of bread grain seems to have grown at about the same rate as the increase in population, but in the 19th century agricultural production began to lag behind to an increasing degree. The present study attempts to examine the factors that led to this development and to pay special attention to the structure of agricultural farming. Many different factors contributed to the slowing down grain production. The chief factor was the decline in the 19th century of the method of farming based on the bum-beating which had formed the basis of crop husbandry in eastern Finland in the previous century. As a joint result of various factors Finland became in the 19th century a country that had an underproduction of grain, the deficiency was covered by grain bought from Russia. The import of grain was made possible by the increased sales of livestock and forestry products. Independent fanners could cope with this changed state of affairs relatively well, but the landless population, in particular the casual farm workers, was faced with a difficult situation owing to the reduced possibilities of work. By the end of period the landless population already formed a large agricultural proletariat which developed into a heavy burden on the entire economic life of Finland for a long time to come and in fact right until the era of modern agriculture.