UDC947:631.584.7(470.22)»19/20″

DOI: 10.22281/2413-9912-2020-04-04-73-83

Krivonozhenko A. F.

CRISIS OF THE SLASH-AND-BURN AGRICULTRE SYSTEM IN OLONETS PROVINCE AT THE END OF THE 19TH – BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Slash farming was used by the peasants of the Olonets province and some other localities in the north of the European part of Russia until the first third of the XX century. The use of slash farming was dictated by the need to compensate for the insufficient productivity of permanent fields in the north. In addition, slash farming did not require significant use of horses, which were always lacking in the peasant farms of the Olonets province. The purpose of the research is to study the state of slash farming in Olonets province at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as to identify the reasons for its decline. The analysis of the identified sources showed that, to one degree or another, slash farming was used in all districts of the Olonets province. In some localities, the organization of another type of temporary arable land took place. It was the fallow. The use of slash farming required a lot of labor from the peasants, so not only men, but also women and adolescents worked to clear the slash. The study identified three main reasons for the decline of slash farming in Olonets province. First, the reform of the state village led to the limitation of the terrain in which subsections could be laid. Secondly, in the context of rising prices for timber in the early XX century. the peasants began to sell it, and not burn it on the undercut. Thirdly, the First World War deprived the Karelian village of the labor resources needed to clear new undercutting.

Keywords: slash farming, Olonets province, peasantry, Karelia, traditional nature management

Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Centre RAS (Russia)

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