Page 136 - 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. 136
maize to the people!
usually a supplementary foodstuff, but its value would occasionally spike,
especially when the potato harvest was poor due to potato blight or unfa-
vourable weather conditions. In such difficult times, people would resort to
maize. We can thus state that both maize and potatoes contributed to the
long-term stability of the food supply. The finding that potatoes and maize
initially mostly established themselves in the poorer parts is indisputable
(Makarovič 1991).
By the middle of the nineteenth century, maize had been successful-
ly introduced: by that time, it had already become well known and present
throughout the Slovenian territory. It arrived in this territory from two di-
rections: the Padan Plain and the Pannonian Croatia. The stages of pre-ad-
aptation and adaptation concluded in the eighteenth century. During the
pre-adaptation stage, people familiarized themselves with the advantages
and potentials of maize and introduced it to the fields. In the adaptation
stage, maize production was already established: it was used as livestock
feed and in the daily diet of the population. At the beginning of the nine-
teenth century, there was still much room for the expansion of this crop.
The process was rather slow, the conditions varied from province to prov-
ince, and the central Slovenian territory lagged behind the other parts for a
long time. However, maize kept becoming more popular with time, and in
the last decades of the nineteenth century, its establishment was indisput-
able. Its economic significance kept increasing, and by the onset of World
War II, it had become the most important crop in Slovenia besides wheat
and potatoes.
Similarly as in other countries, the fundamental advantage of maize
was its productivity (Warman 2003). While it called for greater invest-
ment in terms of physical labour, it contributed to the growth of the yield
and to the economic value of arable land. This was a significant develop-
ment for the vast number of small peasants that dominated the land own-
ership structure. In the fields, maize was often accompanied by two other
crops: beans and pumpkins. Maize stalks also provided support to beans
or pumpkin tendrils. It could also serve as a stubble crop, planted after oth-
er sorts of cereals had already been harvested. The fast-growing varieties of
maize, imported from Italy, represented a typical example of this, as they
matured in less than two months. Furthermore, various uses were discov-
ered for dry maize stalks and maize cobs, and nothing was discarded. In
the long term, productivity contributed to the popularity of maize. This
134
usually a supplementary foodstuff, but its value would occasionally spike,
especially when the potato harvest was poor due to potato blight or unfa-
vourable weather conditions. In such difficult times, people would resort to
maize. We can thus state that both maize and potatoes contributed to the
long-term stability of the food supply. The finding that potatoes and maize
initially mostly established themselves in the poorer parts is indisputable
(Makarovič 1991).
By the middle of the nineteenth century, maize had been successful-
ly introduced: by that time, it had already become well known and present
throughout the Slovenian territory. It arrived in this territory from two di-
rections: the Padan Plain and the Pannonian Croatia. The stages of pre-ad-
aptation and adaptation concluded in the eighteenth century. During the
pre-adaptation stage, people familiarized themselves with the advantages
and potentials of maize and introduced it to the fields. In the adaptation
stage, maize production was already established: it was used as livestock
feed and in the daily diet of the population. At the beginning of the nine-
teenth century, there was still much room for the expansion of this crop.
The process was rather slow, the conditions varied from province to prov-
ince, and the central Slovenian territory lagged behind the other parts for a
long time. However, maize kept becoming more popular with time, and in
the last decades of the nineteenth century, its establishment was indisput-
able. Its economic significance kept increasing, and by the onset of World
War II, it had become the most important crop in Slovenia besides wheat
and potatoes.
Similarly as in other countries, the fundamental advantage of maize
was its productivity (Warman 2003). While it called for greater invest-
ment in terms of physical labour, it contributed to the growth of the yield
and to the economic value of arable land. This was a significant develop-
ment for the vast number of small peasants that dominated the land own-
ership structure. In the fields, maize was often accompanied by two other
crops: beans and pumpkins. Maize stalks also provided support to beans
or pumpkin tendrils. It could also serve as a stubble crop, planted after oth-
er sorts of cereals had already been harvested. The fast-growing varieties of
maize, imported from Italy, represented a typical example of this, as they
matured in less than two months. Furthermore, various uses were discov-
ered for dry maize stalks and maize cobs, and nothing was discarded. In
the long term, productivity contributed to the popularity of maize. This
134
