Croatia 



CRO 



find are productive in maize, rye, oats, and other kinds 

 -' of grain; There arc also plenty of fruit trees, particular^ 

 ]y plums, a few vineyards, and immense forests of lofty 

 oaks. But agriculture is here little understood, and meets 

 with many obstructions, as well from the indolence of 

 the peasant, and the nature of the government, as from 

 the .sterility of the soil. In the military districts, the 

 houses, which were formerly scattered over the country, 

 are now collected into villages, which has removed the 

 labourers to such a distance from their lands; .sometimes 

 three or four leagues, that they take little interest in 

 their improvement ; and consequently the only appear- 

 ance of regular cultivation is confined to the vicinity of 

 the villages. The common practice of cultivation in this 

 country is to crop for three years, and then to allow the 

 land to lie fallow for a certain time, according to the qua- 

 lity of the soil. In the military district of Carlstadt, 

 after dunging the land, they sow it the first year with 

 maize, wheat, or barley ; the second with rye, and the 

 third with millet or oats. They then dung it anew, or 

 turn it for several years into pasture. Many of the pea- 

 sants never think of weeding their fields; of clearing 

 them of stones, or of draining away the stagnant water. 

 They cultivate them as long as they will produce any 

 thing; and then leave them to lie fallow for twelve or 

 fourteen years until they recover their strength. The 

 produce of wheat, rye, and barley, is estimated in com- 

 mon years at six for Qne ; maize at forty ; buck-wheat 

 at six ; millet at twenty ; and oats at four for one. 

 Wheat and rye, however, are only cultivated on some of 

 the baronial lands, and in the military districts. The cul- 

 ture of the potatoe was introduced into this country in 

 1780 by the soldiers, who returned from Silesia and Bo- 

 hemia after the war for the succession of Bavaria ; and 

 a considerable quantity is now produced in the county 

 of Agram. In the county of Warasdin, however, a se- 

 vere law was necessary to compel the inhabitants to the 

 cultivation of this useful root. It was promulgated in 

 1802, and enjoins, that every householder shall plant a 

 certain quantity of potatoes, under the penalty of forty 

 strokes of the cudgel. Flax and hemp are cultivated 

 here, but they are neither abundant nor of good quality; 

 and cotton has been attempted in Warasdin, but with 

 very little success. Fruits are also scarce. The most 

 common are plums, from which the Croats distil a fa- 

 vourite beverage called schlitvowitza. They rear also a 

 few cherries, apples, and pears; and near Fiume and 

 Buccari, olives, and figs. The best fruit is produced in 

 the valley of Dragan ; but it is most abundant in the 

 county of Kreutz, where every peasant is obliged to en- 

 graft at least twenty-five trees every year, under pain of 

 as many strokes of the cudgel. Vines are rather plen- 

 tiful in the northern and eastern districts, and afford 

 wine of great strength and excellent flavour. The wine 

 of Moszvina is equal to the best Burgundy ; and that of 

 Vinodol sparkles like Champagne. It is all, however, 

 consumed in the country, ' and, like the Italian wines, 

 will not keep. Mulberries are also cultivated in consi- 

 derable abundance in some districts ; but pulse and kit- 

 chen stuffs are almost completely neglected; and nothing 

 is seen in their gardens but onions, garlick, and cab- 

 bage, of which they make chou-croute, a favourite dish 

 in Croatia. 



A great part of this country is covered with immense 

 forests. The beech is the most prevailing wOod on the 

 mountains, and the oak in the plains ; but there are al- 

 so, elms, ashes, birches, lindens, alders, poplars, pines, 



A T I A. 349 



and firs, which might furnish an almost inexhaustible Oroath. 

 supply for ship-building. Little advantage, however, — ~v"- ■ 

 can be derived from them, on account of their distance 

 from sea-ports, and the difficulties of conveyance. 



The meadows and pasture grounds of Croatia are ve- Afmcul. 

 ry inferior to those of Hungary or Carniola; but this is ture and 

 owing much to the indolence of the inhabitants, and the P roducfg 

 little care that is taken to improve them. Some of them 

 are covered with furze and briars ; and the grass, after 

 it is mown, is in general so completely neglected, that 

 one half of it is .lost, and consequently, even in the most 

 fertile districts, there is always a great scarcity of fod- 

 der. From this circumstance, the cattle of Croatia, 

 though they constitute the chief riches of the inhabitants, 

 particularly in the military districts, are worse fed, and 

 worse managed, than in almost any other country. The 

 horses are small and weak, totally unfit for hard labour. 

 The oxen are also feeble and exhausted, for want of pro- 

 per nourishment; and it often requires six pair of them 

 to draw a plough. The cows are equally bad, and sel- 

 dom give more than two pints of milk a day during sum- 

 mer, and three-quarters of a pint in spring or autumn. 

 There are a few sheep and goats, and a considerable 

 number of swine, which feed and fatten upon the acorns 

 in the woods. The only poultry that is reared by the 

 peasants are turkies, of which there are prodigious quan- 

 tities. Woodcocks are found here in great plenty ; and 

 stags, roe-bucks, and hares, are very numerous in the fo- 

 rests. The rivers abound with all kinds of fish ; and 

 the inhabitants of the maritime districts derive their 

 principal subsistence from the tunny fishing, which is 

 carried on with great success on the coasts of the Adria- 

 tic. Bees and silk-worms are reared here with consider- 

 able care, and are, in general, very productive. In the 

 county of Warasdin alone there are 4000 bee-hives ; 

 and, in 1801, the military districts of Banalgranze and 

 Warasdin exported 971 quintals of honey and wax. The 

 same districts, in 1804, produced 35,958§Ib. of silk 

 pods, which was an increase of 4,413^ lb. above the 

 average of former years. The reader may form a tole- 

 rably correct idea of the agriculture and produce of this 

 country, from the following statement of the productive 

 lands, &c. in the military department for 1 802 : 



Productive lands 2,216,838 acres. 



Of which are, i 



Arable 692,477 do. 



Meadows and pasture grounds . 522,500 do. 



Vineyards 14,887 do. 



Orchards and gardens 13,947 do. 



Forests 973,027 do. 



Produce. 



Grain of different kinds .... 712,453 bushels. 

 Flax and hemp ........; 48,9S3 quintals^ 



Hay 1,331,073 do. 



Wine 150,721 scaux. 



Schliwowitza 14,000 do. 



Cattle. 



Horses 43,383 



Oxen 59,196 



Cows 54,711 



Calves 48,374 



Sheep . 219,535 



Goats . • 4*6,589 



Swine 98,756 



The present inhabitants of Croatia are the Croats, who 



