1 84 FINLAND 



from the centres of civilization, there might well 

 seem to be little chance for such a community 

 to establish a position for themselves as pro- 

 viders of food supplies for the people of Great 

 Britain, and, also, to merit the attention of the 

 world in general by the development among 

 themselves of a scheme of agricultural combina- 

 tion under conditions altogether unique in their 

 way. Yet the Finlanders have done both of 

 these things, and in doing them they have found 

 a successful outcome from a condition of agri- 

 cultural depression which at one time was quite 

 as serious for them as anything in this direction 

 that has been experienced in England. 



Finland remained unaffected by the changes 

 brought about in various other countries of 

 Europe by the competition of foreign wheat, 

 for Finland does not grow wheat. But she 

 can grow the rye which forms a staple article 

 of food for her people, and of this she grew a 

 great deal up to about 1880. Then her agricul- 

 turists began to suffer from the abundant sup- 

 plies of rye coming to hand from Russia, such 

 supplies being eventually sold in Finland at a 

 price that represented one-half the sum at which 

 alone the Finnish crops could be produced at a 

 profit. There was no question here of putting 

 a hostile tariff on the Russian rye, since Russia 



