the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 369 



the entire population and industry of which is under the control 

 of the stewards of the estate. I ascertained that the popula- 

 tion, all of whom are employed on the estate and its breweries, 

 distilleries, «Scc., amount to 1900 persons, or 5 '25 to the 100 

 acres. 



At the time of my visit (July ord and 4th) harvest was com- 

 mencing. Splendid fields of wheat, of 150 acres and upwards in 

 extent, were inspected, and a field is cut without difficulty in two 

 days. They had at that time 310 pairs of reapers engaged, and 

 most of the corn was being cut by hand. 



I saw 140 fatting oxen in one byre, which were receiving 4, 5, 

 or 6 lbs. of Indian corn each, according to their size and con- 

 dition, 5 to 6 lbs. of hay, and as much draff from the distillery 

 as they could drink. The head steward estimated the cost of 

 the food at Is. 7hd. per day, and the value of the meat produced 

 at Is. 6d. Therefore the dung cost him '2hfl., and this was 

 thought satisfactory. These cattle were increasing at the rate 

 of 2 lbs. per dav. There were in all, at the time of my visit, 246 

 fatting oxen, and 150 more will be fatted in winter. 



At the central homestead is a distillery, where 340 gallons of 

 spirit are made daily ; and a mill, with four pairs of stones, 

 worked bv a 60-horse power engine. 



The following is the substance of a note communicated to 

 me by Mr. G. T. Yull, who has known Kis-Szalas for many 

 years : — 



No great reform took place in Hungarian agriculture before 1851. At the 

 Exhibition of 1851, in London, the show of agricultural implements attracted 

 the attention of Hungarian visitors, and by the year 1852 English threshing- 

 machines, reapers, ploughs, harrows, and cultivators, w'ere at work on the 

 extensive plains of the Danube, Theiss, and Drave. I was employed as steward 

 on this estate in the years 1855-9. 



Szegadin, thirty miles distant, was at that time the nearest railway station, 

 and the roads were (and are to this day) exceedingly bad, being very dusty 

 and sandy in summer, and mud up to the axles of carriages during the winter. 

 There is no material for road-making over t^ie entire plain, and this made — and 

 still makes — communication very difficult, except in frost and snow, when 

 sledges are used. At that time the stock of implements was very poor, and 

 especially of those used in the cultivation of the land, and all were made of 

 wood. Drills were quite unknown. Reform commenced by the introduction of 

 English and other improved cultivating implements, such as Garrett's drills. The 

 automaton reaper, from Garrett's, was indeed on the estate, but was not used. 

 The slovenly system of harvesting led to the purchase of twenty of Baron 

 Ward's reapers, made upon Hussey's principle, in 1857. Each machine cut 

 with a 7-foot knife, and was worked by four oxen, two men, and one bo\-, and 

 cut, on an average, ten acres per day. 



Garrett's drill, horse-hoe, and the ridging-plough, were all found exceedingly 

 useful in the cultivation of Indian corn, and reduced the cost of production 

 very considerably. The difficulty of marketing the produce of such an isolated 

 estate led to the erection of a distillery, and as the land was also well adapted 

 for rape, an oil-mill was added, as was also a corn-mill. 



VOL. X. — S. S. 2 B 



