History of South-Savo and Lake Saimaa
ON THE PIER
Living on the shores of Lake Saimaa

 

AGRICULTURE

Burn-beating remained the main industry for crofters in Savo until the 19th century. Adopted from Karelians in medieval times, the method made the Savo folk settle in the wilds. Two main factors brought it to an end: common land was divided up for private ownership during the Great Northern War; and the price of wood escalated with the growth of the wood processing industry.

The oldest fields were not much different from burn-beaten areas. Burn-beaten land was cleared for cultivation, swamps were reclaimed, and meadows tilled. The stony moraine soil of southern Savo and short growing season set its limitations on the variety of grain, and rye and barley were the main cereals. The conditions of the Saimaa archipelago with its rocks, islands and sandy ridges were highly unfavourable for cultivation. Horse-drawn machinery became more common at the end of the 19th century for tillage, sowing and harvesting, and human and horse labour were increasingly replaced by machines in the 1950’s.

Pastures and meadows were prerequisites for animal husbandry. Hay, leaves, straw and reeds provided supplementary nutrition, vital in feeding cattle on uncultivated islands. Sheep and small cattle were taken to islands for the summers, where they could roam freely getting by on leaves and grass.

Due to poor winterfeeding, cows produced milk only in summertime. Most of the milk was churned into butter. The main duty of cows was to produce manure for areas of cultivation. Barns were often called ‘mixed muck barns’, some of which were still in use in the 1960’s. The cattle would stand on an earth floor with hay and pine figs laid as litter between piles of manure. The manure was shovelled away when the cows’ backs began to touch the ceiling.

 

29.7.2005