12 
BULLETIN 1234, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table 10. — Area seeded to cereals by the Peasants in Hungary, 1914 and 1921 
{1921 boundaries). 
Crop. 
1914 
1921 
Wheat 
Acres. 
2,310,642 
1.114,584 
Per cent. 
37.6 
18.2 
Acres. 
1.S15.459 
'917,613 
Percent. 
33 5 
Rye 
16 9 
Bread cereals 
3, 425, 226 
S65, 628 
461,469 
1,390,323 
55.8 
14.1 
7.5 
22.6 
2,733.072 
807,636 
455,489 
1,428,574 
50 4 
Barley 
14.9 
Oats - 
8 4 
Corn 
26 3 
Total 
6, 142, 646 
100.0 1 5.424 771 
100 
Decrease from pre-war average, 717,875 acre*: per cent of decrease, 11.7. 
Referring to Table 4, in 1921 the total decrease in cereal area in 
Hungary was 13.3 per cent below the pre-war average. The general 
agricultural crisis following the period of Bolshevism in 1918, which 
in turn was followed by the Rumanian invasion, is one of the prime 
causes of this decrease in the area under cereals. The estates re- 
sponded to this and other influences to a greater degree than the 
peasants, the former decreasing 18.4 per cent while the latter seeded 
only 11.7 per cent less than pre-war. The relative decrease in wheat 
and rye on both large and small holdings was about the same; from 
56.7 per cent to 50.3 per cent in the one case and from 55.8 to 50.4 
per cent in the other. Both estates and peasants increased the 
relative rate at which they seeded their fodder cereals — barley, oats. 
and corn. There appears to be a slight preference for oats on the 
estates where horse breeding is a specialty and for corn on the peasant 
holdings where hog feeding is popular. 
The heavy decreases in both cereal acreage and livestock indicates 
a general depression in agriculture affecting barley, oats, sheep, and 
horses on the estates, and corn, cattle, and hogs among the peasants, 
while wheat and rye have decreased about equally in each case. 
So many causes have united to influence the Hungarian agricul- 
tural depression that it is difficult to place an exact interpretation 
on the situation, or to venture an opinion as to how long it will continue 
in its present critical state. 
The depreciation of the currency has caused the farmers to withhold 
stocks of grain from the market, excepting such as were absolutely 
necessary to sell for current expenses and taxes. They preferred to 
hold their wealth in a form that was stable rather than to exchange 
it for a constantly depreciating currency. This has accentuated the 
other factors tending to decrease areas seeded to wheat and rye and 
has affected estates and peasants in about the same manner. The 
estates are not seeding their extensive areas formerly under wheat and 
the peasants are not renting land to plant to crops that they formerly 
sold for cash. United States Consul Edwin C. Kemp, of Budapest, 
referring to the agricultural depression states: 
This situation may be attributed, in part, to the land reform law which has 
caused certain areas, usually sown, to remain uncultivated in view of the attempt 
made by the Government to divide the estates among inexperienced persons, 
with the result thai very little land was leased to those peasants qualified to 
receive i1 under the law. * * * Well informed members of Hungarian 
agricultural circles believe that the land reform law, if put into operation as 
intended by the Government, will cause a very large amount of laud to go out of 
production lor tome years to come. 
