Page 146 - 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. 146
maize to the people!
Meanwhile, maize and potatoes with their high yield represented typical
examples that confirmed the pattern. The expansion of surfaces dedicated
to wheat was encouraged by its high price, however. Furthermore, the data
reveal that the (poorer) population of (central) Slovenia increasingly prior-
itized potatoes, which assumed the role of staple food as the beginning of
the twentieth century drew closer. Maize, on the other hand, was primar-
ily used for animal consumption. The percentage of fields dedicated to po-
tatoes tended to increase until World War I, which was a general Slovenian
trend. Thus, it is not surprising that the majority of Slovenia soon attained
the reputation of a land of potatoes in the self-image of its population. The
western parts of Slovenia, where maize had an indisputable primacy, were
too small to change the impression of Slovenia as a land of potatoes.
Regarding the yield per hectare, we can note an interesting tenden-
cy that maize yield was, in comparison with other cereals, the highest in
the 1880s and 1890s. Later, it was characteristic that the differences in the
yields between cereals, with the exception of buckwheat, diminished, but
maize still retained an obvious advantage. If we also take into account
the possibility of combining maize with beans and pumpkins, the advan-
tage of maize was indisputable. However, neither other cereals nor maize
could match potatoes in terms of productivity. In the case of potatoes, the
yield per hectare gradually increased throughout the nineteenth century.
This fact further contributed to Slovenia’s eventual reputation as a land of
potatoes.
Interesting relations surface when we only observe the data for maize.
It is completely obvious that during the decades leading up to World War
I, maize production kept changing in relation to weather conditions. After
the beginning of the twentieth century, production and yield per hectare
stabilized, indicating that in the context of the production technology at
the time, further growth in productivity could not be expected. At the lev-
el of the entire Slovenian territory, the percentage of surfaces dedicated to
maize remained more or less the same throughout the period under con-
sideration. Only minimal deviations in individual years are notable, but
they disappear when we calculate the areas as average five-year sequences.
Maize prices were directly dependent on production, demand, mon-
etary value, and general economic circumstances. The long-term trends of
maize prices in the Slovenian territory can be analysed based on the dis-
cussion by Vlado Valenčič (1977), who published the movements of cere-
al prices in Ljubljana spanning almost two centuries prior to World War I.
144
Meanwhile, maize and potatoes with their high yield represented typical
examples that confirmed the pattern. The expansion of surfaces dedicated
to wheat was encouraged by its high price, however. Furthermore, the data
reveal that the (poorer) population of (central) Slovenia increasingly prior-
itized potatoes, which assumed the role of staple food as the beginning of
the twentieth century drew closer. Maize, on the other hand, was primar-
ily used for animal consumption. The percentage of fields dedicated to po-
tatoes tended to increase until World War I, which was a general Slovenian
trend. Thus, it is not surprising that the majority of Slovenia soon attained
the reputation of a land of potatoes in the self-image of its population. The
western parts of Slovenia, where maize had an indisputable primacy, were
too small to change the impression of Slovenia as a land of potatoes.
Regarding the yield per hectare, we can note an interesting tenden-
cy that maize yield was, in comparison with other cereals, the highest in
the 1880s and 1890s. Later, it was characteristic that the differences in the
yields between cereals, with the exception of buckwheat, diminished, but
maize still retained an obvious advantage. If we also take into account
the possibility of combining maize with beans and pumpkins, the advan-
tage of maize was indisputable. However, neither other cereals nor maize
could match potatoes in terms of productivity. In the case of potatoes, the
yield per hectare gradually increased throughout the nineteenth century.
This fact further contributed to Slovenia’s eventual reputation as a land of
potatoes.
Interesting relations surface when we only observe the data for maize.
It is completely obvious that during the decades leading up to World War
I, maize production kept changing in relation to weather conditions. After
the beginning of the twentieth century, production and yield per hectare
stabilized, indicating that in the context of the production technology at
the time, further growth in productivity could not be expected. At the lev-
el of the entire Slovenian territory, the percentage of surfaces dedicated to
maize remained more or less the same throughout the period under con-
sideration. Only minimal deviations in individual years are notable, but
they disappear when we calculate the areas as average five-year sequences.
Maize prices were directly dependent on production, demand, mon-
etary value, and general economic circumstances. The long-term trends of
maize prices in the Slovenian territory can be analysed based on the dis-
cussion by Vlado Valenčič (1977), who published the movements of cere-
al prices in Ljubljana spanning almost two centuries prior to World War I.
144
