Forestry

Before the 19th century, almost all everyday items were made of wood. In Loimaa, concerns about the sufficiency of forest resources arose as early as the 17th century, as good-quality timber started to become scarce. Timber was transported to Turku for shipbuilding purposes.

Tar was a major export of the early modern Finland, but in Loimaa, it was but a minor produce, mostly distilled for household use. Large-scale tar burning took place in Virttaa, northwest of the Loimaa proper.

Wood had little monetary value in pre-industrial Finland. Buyers of timber paid for the labor, not for the raw material itself. By the end of the 19th century, the demands of the forest industry had grown and wood began to acquire a market price. Trees and other standing timber were treated as valuable commodities in themselves, known as stumpage.

Caption: “Loimaa. A severe amount of forest has been cut here as well.”
Photo: Lusto – The Finnish Forest Museum.
Photographer: Peitsa Mikola, 1938.