Land Husbandry in Uman County on Materials of Kyiv Provincial Newspapers of Last Quarter of 19th – Beginning of 20th Century
Abstract
The study of an agrarian history of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century continues to be relevant for several reasons. One of them is that the vast majority of the population of Ukrainian lands of that period was engaged in agriculture and lived in rural areas. Therefore, the modern understanding of the historical experience at different stages of Ukrainian people’s life necessitates a comprehensive study of the agricultural sector. And this dictates the need for working out in detail, the application of a microhistorical approach, and the involvement of new historical sources. The latest information on weather conditions, grain yield, and the needs of the grain market was published in the periodicals. Such information is still in little demand by researchers of agricultural history.
The aim of this paper is to systematize the publications of Kyiv provincial newspapers ‘Zaria’, ‘Kievskoie Slovo’, ‘Kievlianin’ devoted to land husbandry in Uman county (povit), which, among the twelve counties of Kyiv province (hubernia), was the third-largest in the area and had rich soils for agriculture; based on the analysis of publications, to identify factors influencing the efficiency of land husbandry.
The scientific novelty is that within the framework of the microhistorical approach, the complex analysis of the grain industry within one county in the system is carried out, namely: natural and climatic conditions – grain yield – state of the grain market – grain prices. The conclusions are based on thirty-eight publications of three provincial newspapers devoted to Uman county. The found and analyzed newspaper materials are introduced into scientific circulation, and expand the source base of the agrarian history of Ukraine.
Conclusions. The publications of Kyiv provincial newspapers ‘Zaria’, ‘Kievskoie Slovo’, ‘Kievlianin’ of 1881-1912 devoted to Uman county make it possible to find out the situation with land husbandry in the complex of factors that had a negative impact or stimulating effect on it. Information about weather conditions, grain yield, and market prices was a fixed reality without correction by statistical bodies (zemstvo, state), and that gives it a greater degree of objectivity. Systematized in the paper material on weather conditions (snowless winters, dry springs, rains during the harvesting period), the expected grain harvest and the actual grain yield, fluctuations in grain prices, and seasonal characteristics of the grain market expand the notion of the dependence of agricultural efficiency on a number of certain factors. Fruitful and unfruitful years are revealed, and the dynamics of prices for the main grain crops is shown. In a well-argued manner, it is proved that grain prices were determined not by the grain crops yield, but by the situation on the grain market. The peculiar feature of land husbandry, in particular grain, is illustrated: although it depended very much on weather conditions, its efficiency was determined not by grain yield but by market demand.
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