Page 111 - Mocarelli, Luca, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2020. Maize to the People! Cultivation, Consumption and Trade in the North-Eastern Mediterranean (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Century). Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 111
innovations in agr icultur e and population growth in fr iuli ...
b) Localization factors
Both Slovenian and Austrian historians point out the importance of the cli-
matic factor influencing and limiting the diffusion of maize, in particular
because throughout the eighteenth century no varieties were present which
could be successfully cultivated in less warm areas. That is why in the ear-
lier phase maize diffusion coincided quite precisely with the areas where
vines would grow, and vines and maize were cultivated together. We could
agree with this, but based on the evidence presented it seems sensible to up-
grade the factors influencing the localization of maize cultivation in the re-
gion between the eastern Alps and the Adriatic, as stated below. By consid-
ering the shared features of the areas where maize first spread and became
established, we may notice they were:
– Climatically suitable (summer and autumn warmth): localization
factor 1.
– Located in lowlands and flatlands (plains and valley bottoms): lo-
calization factor 2.
– By water streams (large or small): localization factor 3.
– Along transit routes connected to areas where maize was already
present (roads, Alpine passes, seaports, rivers): localization factor
4.
c) The ‘potato factor’ and the tripartition of Slovenia at the end of
the eighteenth century.
Lastly, we may perhaps identify another factor influencing the diffusion of
maize. Slovenian historians have identified a factor that limited the affir-
mation of maize in Slovenia in general, the rushed diffusion of the potato
in the eighteenth century. The success of the potato would have hindered
the affirmation of the other ‘new food for the poor’, i.e. maize. However,
considering the evidence we have collected about the western and eastern
Slovenian lands, we may conclude that this may be true for central Slovenia
only and not for the whole country. We may therefore propose a tripartition
of Slovenia by the end of the early period of the affirmation of the two new
cultures (late eighteenth century), in which maize prevailed in the west and
in the east, while the potato dominated central Slovenia.
It is fairly possible that I have overlooked some article or publication,
but exhaustiveness was not among my primary goals. That said, I believe
only renewed research on primary sources could help to draw a more pre-
cise picture of the dynamics and factors of the rooting of maize in Slovenia.
109
b) Localization factors
Both Slovenian and Austrian historians point out the importance of the cli-
matic factor influencing and limiting the diffusion of maize, in particular
because throughout the eighteenth century no varieties were present which
could be successfully cultivated in less warm areas. That is why in the ear-
lier phase maize diffusion coincided quite precisely with the areas where
vines would grow, and vines and maize were cultivated together. We could
agree with this, but based on the evidence presented it seems sensible to up-
grade the factors influencing the localization of maize cultivation in the re-
gion between the eastern Alps and the Adriatic, as stated below. By consid-
ering the shared features of the areas where maize first spread and became
established, we may notice they were:
– Climatically suitable (summer and autumn warmth): localization
factor 1.
– Located in lowlands and flatlands (plains and valley bottoms): lo-
calization factor 2.
– By water streams (large or small): localization factor 3.
– Along transit routes connected to areas where maize was already
present (roads, Alpine passes, seaports, rivers): localization factor
4.
c) The ‘potato factor’ and the tripartition of Slovenia at the end of
the eighteenth century.
Lastly, we may perhaps identify another factor influencing the diffusion of
maize. Slovenian historians have identified a factor that limited the affir-
mation of maize in Slovenia in general, the rushed diffusion of the potato
in the eighteenth century. The success of the potato would have hindered
the affirmation of the other ‘new food for the poor’, i.e. maize. However,
considering the evidence we have collected about the western and eastern
Slovenian lands, we may conclude that this may be true for central Slovenia
only and not for the whole country. We may therefore propose a tripartition
of Slovenia by the end of the early period of the affirmation of the two new
cultures (late eighteenth century), in which maize prevailed in the west and
in the east, while the potato dominated central Slovenia.
It is fairly possible that I have overlooked some article or publication,
but exhaustiveness was not among my primary goals. That said, I believe
only renewed research on primary sources could help to draw a more pre-
cise picture of the dynamics and factors of the rooting of maize in Slovenia.
109
