Page 387 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 387
household income str ategies in the lombar d valleys ...
duced the market for the Alpine forges. The availability of energy sources
(wood and water) became less important in a context where, in addition to
the negative effects brought by the improvement of the railways, new in-
novations concerning electricity and new fuels allowed them to create new
factories far away from the valleys (where new dams were built). This also
favoured the transfer on the plain of some rentable activities which previ-
ously were diffused in the valleys, in particular the dairy sector. The main
producers of cheese and butter created new large factories on the plain
while in the Alpine valleys only a small part of the total production re-
mained, reducing the earnings linked to the sales of dairy products in the
Alpine villages.12
Thirdly, the introduction of new agrarian machines and, in particular,
the great agrarian crisis of the 1880s reduced the need for peasants and so
the need for temporary workforce on the plain for seasonal work. Besides,
in the eastern Lombard countryside there was no more a lack of peasants,
which existed before the agrarian crisis. This obviously reduced the wages
for people living in the countryside and decreased the competition and op-
portunities of Alpine workers in the labour market. This trend continued
until the foundation of the first catholic and socialist peasant unions. How-
ever, their arrival did not create new workplaces for migrant peasants: new
agrarian contracts regulated the hiring of temporary agricultural workers
(avventizi) and gave priority to the inhabitants of the villages where the
farms were located (Tedeschi 2002b; 2008c; 2015).
Fourthly, the Italian government did not modify the Austrian legis-
lation which favoured the progressive sales and privatisation of common
land and in general the abolition of most of the common rights previously
reserved to the people living in the Alpine communities. Besides, the tax-
ation on industrial and commercial activities increased. All this implied a
strong reduction in the resources available for Alpine communities and in
particular for the poorest families. In the past, they in fact could survive
thanks to the rights on the common land such as the erbatico (the right
to pick wild grass, healing herbs and sods), the legnatico (the right to col-
lect shrubs, firewood and waste timber which could not be used to produce
charcoal), the pascolo (the right to put out to pasture their cattle, but there
were limitations on sheep and goat grazing was forbidden) and the spigolat-
12 About the Lombard dairy sector during the 19th century and the progressive delocal-
isation of the Alpine dairy factories on the plain see: Rosa 1888; Mocarelli 2009; Te-
deschi and Stranieri 2011; Besana 2012.
385
duced the market for the Alpine forges. The availability of energy sources
(wood and water) became less important in a context where, in addition to
the negative effects brought by the improvement of the railways, new in-
novations concerning electricity and new fuels allowed them to create new
factories far away from the valleys (where new dams were built). This also
favoured the transfer on the plain of some rentable activities which previ-
ously were diffused in the valleys, in particular the dairy sector. The main
producers of cheese and butter created new large factories on the plain
while in the Alpine valleys only a small part of the total production re-
mained, reducing the earnings linked to the sales of dairy products in the
Alpine villages.12
Thirdly, the introduction of new agrarian machines and, in particular,
the great agrarian crisis of the 1880s reduced the need for peasants and so
the need for temporary workforce on the plain for seasonal work. Besides,
in the eastern Lombard countryside there was no more a lack of peasants,
which existed before the agrarian crisis. This obviously reduced the wages
for people living in the countryside and decreased the competition and op-
portunities of Alpine workers in the labour market. This trend continued
until the foundation of the first catholic and socialist peasant unions. How-
ever, their arrival did not create new workplaces for migrant peasants: new
agrarian contracts regulated the hiring of temporary agricultural workers
(avventizi) and gave priority to the inhabitants of the villages where the
farms were located (Tedeschi 2002b; 2008c; 2015).
Fourthly, the Italian government did not modify the Austrian legis-
lation which favoured the progressive sales and privatisation of common
land and in general the abolition of most of the common rights previously
reserved to the people living in the Alpine communities. Besides, the tax-
ation on industrial and commercial activities increased. All this implied a
strong reduction in the resources available for Alpine communities and in
particular for the poorest families. In the past, they in fact could survive
thanks to the rights on the common land such as the erbatico (the right
to pick wild grass, healing herbs and sods), the legnatico (the right to col-
lect shrubs, firewood and waste timber which could not be used to produce
charcoal), the pascolo (the right to put out to pasture their cattle, but there
were limitations on sheep and goat grazing was forbidden) and the spigolat-
12 About the Lombard dairy sector during the 19th century and the progressive delocal-
isation of the Alpine dairy factories on the plain see: Rosa 1888; Mocarelli 2009; Te-
deschi and Stranieri 2011; Besana 2012.
385
