AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF EUROPE. 
103 
This seems to be the general tendency throughout the upper Danube 
Basin, including Austria and Hungary. 
THE ORIGINAL KINGDOM OF SERBIA. 
In the old Kingdom of Serbia before the war, the peasants were in 
actual possession of the land; that is, there were no large estates. 
So any recent changes in agricultural conditions are almost entirely 
due to the disturbing factor of the war. Recent statistics show that 
there has been practically no change in the acreage planted to corn; 
there is a slight decrease in the seeding of oats, barley, and rye, and 
a slight decrease, although proportionately an increase, in the wheat 
acreage. Table 135 shows the areas harvested for each of the five 
principal cereals for 1905-1909 and for 1920 and 1921. 
Table 135. — Cereal acreage in Old Serbia. 
Crop. 
1920 
1921 
Wheat. 
Rye.... 
Barley. 
Oats... 
Corn... 
Acres. 
924,315 
117,627 
264, 792 
255,084 
,384,736 
Total 2,946,554 
Decrease from pre-war average 
I 
Per cent. 
31.4 
4.0 
9.0 
8.6 
47.0 
Acres. 
817,642 
88,724 
150,682 
167,709 
1,152,929 
100.0 
2,377, 
568, 
Per cent. 
34.4 
3.7 
6.3 
7.1 
48.5 
100.0 
Acres. 
902,550 
87,224 
157,566 
180,324 
1,211,573 
2,539,237 
407,317 
Per cent. 
35.6 
3.4 
6.2 
7.1 
47.7 
100.0 
This decrease in production is due to lack of man power, a scarcity 
of draft animals, and a shortage of farm implements. Using the pre- 
war norm there was in 1921 a surplus of about 2,000,000 bushels of 
wheat and rye and it seems to be only a question of time before the 
sturdy Serbs, even with their reduced population, will recover their 
pre-war position in cereal production. 
SOUTH SERBIA. 
This territory was liberated from the Turks in 1913. The popula- 
tion is of Serbian blood and speech, but largely Mohammedan in 
religion. Under Turkish rule the land was held under a system of 
feudal tenure. Bondage was hereditary and it was almost impossible 
for any individual to escape from its conditions. The serf was 
obliged to pay to his " beg" or lord, a third, a fourth, or a fifth of his 
crops, but his occupancy of the land was secure since the "beg" 
seldom engaged in agriculture himself, and was content to collect his 
dues. 
In 1919 an agreement was made with the feudal lords of Serbian 
blood by which the serfs were to continue to pay their dues, as before, 
but were to be reimbursed by the State. However, most of the serfs, 
having awakened to the strength of their position, refused to pay 
any dues whatsoever, and have simply remained in possession of the 
land which they were accustomed to cultivate. 
In Table 136 the column headed u pre-war average" is an approxi- 
mation based upon the assumption that the agricultural practice of 
south Serbia closely approached that of old Serbia. It is improbable 
that there have been any marked changes in the agriculture of this 
district, since the land reform produced no changes in the relative 
amounts of land operated by the peasants. 
