Povijesni prilozi, Vol. 35 No. 50, 2016.
Original scientific paper
Wheat Production in the area of Našice during the First Three Decades of the 18th Century (1701 – 1730)
Milan Vrbanus
Abstract
This paper results from an analysis of tithe lists in the area of Našice (individual and collective lists for towns and villages, collective lists for districts) in the period from 1701-1730, as well as two chamber lists of Našice’s nobility, with the aim of determining the amount of wheat produced in this area. The author has used the data on the number of households that paid the tithe in wheat, taken from the individual tithe lists, to determine the amount of wheat grown on the cultivated fields in the rest of the given period. An analysis of the sample size has made it possible to estimate the trends in the size of the crop, whereby the deficiency of such speculations has been clearly indicated. The analysis of the sample has shown decline in the cultivation of wheat over twenty years within the given period, which was somewhat slower in the lowlands. A further analysis of the number of wheat crosses has indicated their decline in the given period, which leads to the conclusion, with regard to the area of the field that had to be cropped in order to create one cross, that the size of the cultivated fields diminished as well. Wheat production fluctuated greatly during the first three decades of the 18th century. In the first half of the given period, the harvest was far smaller than in the second half. Despite these changes in the production size, one can generally presume that most households could barely secure food for their family members from their own production, let alone obtain enough seed for the following year.
Keywords
Našice; wheat; Early Modern Period
Hrčak ID:
167119
URI
Publication date:
29.8.2016.
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