DOI article:
Kuuse, Jan: Agriculture in interaction with mechanisation: a Swedish example 1850-1920
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0074
68
J. KUUSE
statistics recorded at national and regional
levels but individual units have not in Swe-
den yielded the sort of material for agricul-
ture which has often made it possible, via the
firm, to study the individual industrial units
of production. The great mass of relatively
small producing units did not leave any large
body of source material, but some informa-
tion about farmers’ holdings of implements
and machinery are obtained from the pro-
bate inventories (Kuuse 1,1974).
Fig. 1. Map of Sweden with the districts studied.
Uppsala lan = County C; Kronobergs lan -
County G; Malmohus lan = County M.
Karte von Schweden mit den untersuchten Krei-
sen. Uppsala lan = County C; Kronobergs lan -
County G; Malmohus lan = County M.
The enquiry, basing itself chiefly on the
quantitative method, concentrates on the
types of implements and machinery men-
tioned in fig. 3,4,5.
Agriculture has here been classified ac-
cording to the scale of its operations into
smallholdings (1), small peasant farms (2),
large peasant farms (3) and estates (4), as
indicated by the number of livestock. The
frequency of ownership of implements and
machinery is measured in the form both of
joint ownership and of single or multiple
ownership (see fig. 3,4,5).
By classifying the inventory data accord-
ing to age at death, generalisations can be
made about the corresponding age-groups in
the population at large.1
As to the agricultural estate inventory
material relevant to the present study, it
would seem to be an observation of wide
application that death affected the possession
of means of production only to a minor
extent. The farming was usually continued
by the surviving wife/husband or children,
and so the death or any possible sickness
prior to the death most likely did not bring
about any changes in the forms of cultiva-
tion. The estate inventory material provides
a very reliable and useful source.2
The demand for agricultural products: a
basic factor in the 19th century economy. The
increased demand for agricultural products
constituted a basic factor in the 19th century
economy. The foreign markets increased as a
result of the expansion of and improvements
in transport in general. The expansion of the
export trade, supported by the emergence of
the free trade principle, had a stimulating
effect on the international division of labour
and specialisation. The population under-
went a substantial increase, especially that
part of the population which was not en-
gaged in agriculture. This gave rise to an
initial urbanisation process on the one hand,
and overseas emigration/immigration, on
the other. New centres of demand for ag-
ricultural products thus came into being, but
also new areas for competition on the pro-
duction side. During the latter part of the
19th century competition became more se-
J. KUUSE
statistics recorded at national and regional
levels but individual units have not in Swe-
den yielded the sort of material for agricul-
ture which has often made it possible, via the
firm, to study the individual industrial units
of production. The great mass of relatively
small producing units did not leave any large
body of source material, but some informa-
tion about farmers’ holdings of implements
and machinery are obtained from the pro-
bate inventories (Kuuse 1,1974).
Fig. 1. Map of Sweden with the districts studied.
Uppsala lan = County C; Kronobergs lan -
County G; Malmohus lan = County M.
Karte von Schweden mit den untersuchten Krei-
sen. Uppsala lan = County C; Kronobergs lan -
County G; Malmohus lan = County M.
The enquiry, basing itself chiefly on the
quantitative method, concentrates on the
types of implements and machinery men-
tioned in fig. 3,4,5.
Agriculture has here been classified ac-
cording to the scale of its operations into
smallholdings (1), small peasant farms (2),
large peasant farms (3) and estates (4), as
indicated by the number of livestock. The
frequency of ownership of implements and
machinery is measured in the form both of
joint ownership and of single or multiple
ownership (see fig. 3,4,5).
By classifying the inventory data accord-
ing to age at death, generalisations can be
made about the corresponding age-groups in
the population at large.1
As to the agricultural estate inventory
material relevant to the present study, it
would seem to be an observation of wide
application that death affected the possession
of means of production only to a minor
extent. The farming was usually continued
by the surviving wife/husband or children,
and so the death or any possible sickness
prior to the death most likely did not bring
about any changes in the forms of cultiva-
tion. The estate inventory material provides
a very reliable and useful source.2
The demand for agricultural products: a
basic factor in the 19th century economy. The
increased demand for agricultural products
constituted a basic factor in the 19th century
economy. The foreign markets increased as a
result of the expansion of and improvements
in transport in general. The expansion of the
export trade, supported by the emergence of
the free trade principle, had a stimulating
effect on the international division of labour
and specialisation. The population under-
went a substantial increase, especially that
part of the population which was not en-
gaged in agriculture. This gave rise to an
initial urbanisation process on the one hand,
and overseas emigration/immigration, on
the other. New centres of demand for ag-
ricultural products thus came into being, but
also new areas for competition on the pro-
duction side. During the latter part of the
19th century competition became more se-