Because of this, the Southern colonists made their living off farming cash crops, such as rice, usually in plantations. The Middle colonists also shared a prosperous growing season because of their mild climate. However instead of cash crops, the Middle colonists would grow wheat and grains, being the “breadbasket” of the colonies. New England colonists didn’t have much prosperity in agriculture. They would instead participate in subsistent farming, meaning they grew only what they needed to feed themselves.
“Because of the worldwide demand for wool was growing rapidly, landowners were converting their land from fields for crops to pastures for sheep” (Brinkley, 2010). With land plots decreasing for crops and the effects of a war-torn Europe upon them, migration to new lands became more and more enticing. As migration took place, new land was obtained. With the new land came an expansion in economic incentives, from new trade to new crops. “Second, the discovery of the Americas provided the Old World with vast quantities of relatively unpopulated land well-suited for the cultivation of certain crops that were in high demand in Old World markets.” (Nunn & Qian, 2010).
Another difference was the difference between who did the work in developing the colony. The colonies differing views on religion also helped shape the way each colony developed economically. The Virginia and Massachusetts Companies both realized that they would need to have a strong economic system, but their views on religion and profit had too many differences and resulted in different systems. The Puritans did not feel the need for “excessive profits” and lived by the belief of self control. The use of company labor and overpricing caused a lot of problems with Virginians.
This was beneficial for them, because the climate prevented the spread of life-threatening diseases; however, severe and freezing winters killed and weakened many New England colonists. The New England colony lands’ mainly consisted of hills and rocky soil. The Middle colonies had milder temperatures than the New England colonies, although, it was somewhat colder than the South colonies. This weather made for perfect farming conditions. The land here was more fertile and was perfect for farming.
While this policy had stood the German farmers were gaining a profit and making a decent living for they were able to sell their produce as it was the best and most locally available to the people. This move by the SPD gave Hitler a considerable berth within which he could forge a link with the rural community, which he did, very effectively. He and his party began attacking high interest rates imposed by banks and promised a people’s community in which tariffs would be restored,
The increase in state procurement also meant that exports of grain increased. Grain exports peaked in 1931 with five million tonnes sold abroad. Although five million tonnes was the peak, 1931 was at the beginning of the Wall Street crash meaning that the grain would have been sold for minimum value. With machine tractor stations put in place to hand out fertiliser and other resources to the collectivised farms it was much easier for the government to keep control and watch over the peasants. The kolkhozy and sovkhozy collective farms were much easier to watch and control than traditional peasant villages.
As well as this collectivisation doubled the amount of grain production in the years 1928 to 1935 meaning more grain was exported. This funded capital investment which was needed to provide resources for industrialisation. Agricultural reform is the most important result of collectivisation as although it had negative consequences such as famine and the decline of living conditions in cities, Stalin had met his aim as mass migration from the countryside to the city had accelerated urbanisation because it provided a workforce in the cities and reduced the amount of peasants. At the beginning of
To what extent was collectivization a success? Collectivization was a process which meant that small farms joined together to create larger farms in order to improve efficiency, another reason for it was to destroy the Kulaks. Stalin wanted to gain control over the countryside, this give him the ability to fulfill this, finally collectivization was used to increase the production of grain to sell to foreign countries. . Stalin achieved most of his aims; Grain production rose to nearly 100 million tones in 1937, although the numbers of animals never recovered.
By enforcing Collectivisation productivity was supposed to increase, pooling resources would produce fewer losses â by eradicating individual barns and housing then it had be harder for peasants to withhold grain and work against the government. Collectivisation would also free up many peasants to leave the rural areas of Russia and work in the factories of the cities, this was incredibly important for the success of modernising Russia. An increase of grain production was also necessary for cash crops â Stalin needed to sell grain to fund the industry side of the 5 Year Plans, this would not be achievable under NEP. However there were other reasons for
Moreover, rapid mechanical agriculture development resulted in over-cultivation, so that the soil was exhausted. Furthermore, the keen world market completion aggravated the problem. J. Laurence Laughlin said that “the price of the whole crop is determined, not by the markets within this country, but by the world-market”. In fact, most of the US agriculture crop was exported. However, the advancement of agriculture technology also benefited other countries, such as Canada, Argentina and Australia.