The article is a report of land purchases of wood manufacturing industry, commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland in 1935. Second World War postponed publishing of the report. The land purchases of wood manufacturing industry, especially farms with agricultural land, was considered a concern in the end of 19th century, because it caused social problems related to landless people. To solve the problem, the government of Finland enacted in 1915 an act that restricted land purchase of the companies. The aim of this report was to collect statistics on the extent of the land purchases.
According to the investigation, forest manufacturing industry and companies operating on timber sales intensified land purchases in 1890s. After 1894 the companies purchased 80,000-100,000 ha land yearly. When the regulations restricting purchases of land came into act in 1915, the companies evaded the regulations by using private people or other companies to buy the land. Still, the annual purchases decreased to in average 21,000 ha in 1915-1936. The companies were still allowed to buy forest land when it did not affect agriculture in the farm. During and after the war the land purchases were interrupted. The report concludes that the regulations have worked as expected, and suggests some improvements in the legislation.
The PDF includes a summary in German.