The article is a review on the history of forestry in Pekkala estate, a private woodland estate in Ruovesi in Southern Finland. The estate had 7,300 hectares of land in 1929, of which 500 hectares were agricultural lands. It was owned by the Aminoff family since 1822.
The household wood harvesting of the tenants was considered a problem until the farms of the tenants (crofters) became independent in 1921, when the farms of the tenants were parceled out from the main estate. The shifting cultivation of tenants was banned already in 1824. Demand of wood was low until 1870s. in 1865 the freeing of regulation of sawmills increased the demand of wood in Finland, and gave start to significant timber sales in Pekkala estate. The first forest officers were hired in the estate at the time. The first guidelines of forest management for the estate were compiled in 1912, and the first survey of the forests was made in 1916, and repeated in 1922 and 1926. The fellings were planned in consideration of the growth of the forests.
The volume 34 of Acta Forestalia Fennica is a jubileum publication of professor Aimo Kaarlo Cajander. The PDF includes a summary in German.
This study was conducted for the request of state forest committee. The aim was to study the economic situation of tenants of state lands in Kuru, Parkano and Ikaalinen, situated in Central Finland. The chosen 30 farms were located in relatively remote parts of the state forests in the area. Half of the farms were established already in 1800-1860 for shifting cultivation or fishing, and the land was not always suited for farming. The state forests were in general on the poorest lands of the areas. They were relatively small; third of them had less than 2 hectares of agricultural land. Household timber harvesting required a permission from a local forest officer of Metsähallitus (Forest Service). The legal rights of the tenants were fairly secured, but many wished to get right to purchase the farm land. Due to the poor lands and insufficient fertilizing, the crops were lower than in small farms in average. The forests around the farms were mixed forests of poor quality, due to the wood utilization of the tenants.
The PDF includes a summary in German.