Roumania Past and Present

by James Samuelson

If it be difficult to calculate the yield per acre, it is impossible to give a trustworthy estimate of the cost of raising the various cereals. Attempts have been made to do so, and so far as they go they are no doubt accurate. For example, in an article on 'Farming in Roumania,' which appeared in the 'Times' of July 14, 1881, from the pen of its able correspondent, there are estimates of the cost of raising and carrying to market wheat, barley, oats, maize, &c.; but when we state that the yield of wheat is put down at 18.8 bushels, maize at 22.6 bushels, and barley at 37.7 bushels per acre, it will be seen by anyone acquainted with the agriculture of the country that this cannot be used to estimate the average cost per quarter. However, as it stands, the calculation of the total cost per acre is as follows:—Wheat, 66.35 francs, or (at 25.10 per 1l.) 52s. 10d.; barley, 59.70 francs, or 47s. 7d.; oats, 55.09 francs, or 44s. 4d.; maize, 59.29 francs, or 47s. 2d.; and the farmer, who is a large landed proprietor and employs labour, had evidently devoted more attention to the production of wheat than to maize, which is not usually the case. We obtained several estimates whilst in the country, but they differed so widely that it would not have been fair to strike an average, and all that can be safely said on the subject is that the conditions of cultivation are such as to point to constantly increasing production at a diminished cost per quarter for some time to come, inasmuch as the introduction of improved machinery will more than compensate for the gradual application of manure to the soil. There are, however, many obstacles to progress. For political reasons the Government discourages immigration from other countries, and therefore the untilled lands will have to be idle until there is a sufficiently large population to cultivate them. The Roumanian peasant is very conservative and slow to move, but improved communication, modern implements, the encouragement given to agricultural training, and last, but not least, the competition of the Western States of America, cannot fail to act as impulses to spur him on to increased exertions.

Next in importance to the growth of cereals comes the rearing of sheep and cattle; but this is of consequence to the country itself rather than to Western nations, as the export is comparatively small. The number of cattle bred in the country does not appear to increase materially.[57] There are three varieties of oxen, and one peculiar kind of buffalo, of which there appear to be about one hundred thousand in the country. The buffaloes are very dark, almost black, with horns lying back upon the animal's neck, but in other respects they are hardly distinguishable from ordinary horned cattle. The value of cattle naturally varies in different parts; oxen are worth from 3l. to 10l. each, according to their size and capacity for draught, the greater part of the field labour being performed by those animals or by buffaloes. Sheep, goats, and pigs are also reared in large quantities. The wool of the first-named is used for spinning and weaving, and sheepskins with the wool left on are worn as winter garments. Cheese is also manufactured from sheep's milk, and a curious custom in Roumania is to make the cheese in the form of a long thin cylinder, wrapping bark tightly round it in the manufacture. From this slices are cut, bark and all, and served to the guest; this gives the cheese a slight, but not disagreeable, flavour of bark. Of cheese, wool, butter, and lard, considerable quantities are exported annually to Transylvania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.[58] So far as England is concerned, the only other products besides cereals, which we receive, are small quantities of linseed and rapeseed; but Roumania produces millet, which is coming into increased consumption, rye, beans, beetroot, which is converted into sugar in two existing factories, flax, hemp, and, as we have already said, vines and every kind of fruit and garden produce. Her soil is capable of growing, and formerly did produce, very good tobacco; but in this matter she has shared the fate of Ireland, for the necessity of levying a tax on the article led to the suppression of its growth in the country; and, lastly, we were assured by able agriculturists that there is no reason why there should not also be raised in Roumania a plant which, of all others, ministers most largely to the comfort of man and the prosperity of the land of its production, namely, cotton.

II.

No doubt the recent appointment of a Minister of Agriculture in Roumania will impart a considerable stimulus to the most important branch of national industry, but that is a question of the future. At present the only important aids to progress are the agricultural schools; for although there are small autumnal shows of grain and farm products, there has been only one agricultural exhibition, and that, we believe, was far from being a success. Committees are, however, formed in fifteen different districts on a somewhat similar basis to those of our science and art classes, to provide instruction in farming, and the fountain-head and centre of those is now the Agricultural and Sylvicultural College at Ferestreu, about two miles from Bucarest. This institution is well worth a visit, and the stranger is sure of a cordial reception from the director, M. Aurelian, to whose published works we have already made frequent reference. The work is carried on in a handsome building, which stands in extensive grounds not far from the termination of the Chaussée, or promenade, mentioned in our description of Bucarest, and the arrangements and appliances are admirable.

First as to the grounds. These are divided into sections, in which experiments are proceeding in the growth of every tree or plant which the Roumanian soil is capable, or is believed to be capable, of supporting. Besides extensive plots for all kinds of cereals there are small beds and plantations for named plants, flowers, and vegetables. Considerable space is devoted to vine-culture, where, besides many other kinds, we found Californian grapes flourishing; and in addition there are numerous orchards and collections of fruit trees, the variety of which testifies to the richness and productiveness of the soil. Apiaries are not wanting, but no cattle is reared on the grounds.

In the building instruction is given to about 120 pupils living on the premises, of whom one half devote their time to the study of practical farming, and the other to the manufacture of implements, for which there are workshops (ateliers) close at hand. There are ten teachers, of whom six rank as professors. The pupils are nearly all peasants and bourgeois; instruction is gratuitous, and the cost to the State is about 450 francs per head annually. The admission is by competitive examination, and for twenty vacancies in the agricultural section there were last year sixty applicants, whilst in the mechanical school the number of applications is still greater.

The arrangements for tuition in the interior of the building are quite on a par with the external ones. There are collections of dried plants, seeds, sections of wood, &c., and a smaller collection of geological and zoological examples. In one place the history of the plough is illustrated by means of models, beginning with the Egyptian, 2000 years b.c., and going through a long succession; the Greek, 490 b.c., the Roman, the Gallic, the Chinese, the Siamese, the primitive Roumanian (already noticed), with many others of ancient or mediæval times, and ending with a great variety of improved modern construction. Models of fruits, various products of hemp, and other vegetable fibres and tissues, and many other objects of interest to tho agriculturist, are to be found there. The laboratory is good, and the instruction imparted is of a useful and practical kind. In the 'École des Arts et Métiers,' the neighbouring workshops, everything is taught that is requisite for conducting the mechanical part of farm labour. Implements, wine and cheese presses, maize-separating machines, carts, and even tables and chairs for the homestead are made by the students with the aid of excellent machinery. Nor is theoretical training neglected. Besides being instructed in chemistry, plans and elevations of stables, granaries, cottages, &c., have to be drawn by the students, and their work is very ably executed. In fact the parent institution and its branches are exercising a most important influence on the agriculture of the country, and no one who has visited the college of Ferestreu will for a moment feel any doubt as to the great future in store for Roumania. The only matter of regret is that the funds of the institution do not fully suffice to meet its requirements; but it is to be hoped that these will be more liberally supplied than they have been hitherto by wealthy members of the community, such as the larger landed proprietors, and that dependence will not have to be placed on State aid alone. It is through the medium of these institutions that the peasant will have to acquire such instruction in improved agricultural methods as shall cause him to discard his old-fashioned notions, and enable him to secure an adequate return for his labour.

III.

When we come to consider the past history of Roumania, we shall find that in the earlier periods the peasants were first independent tillers of the soil; that later on they were enslaved by the boyards, or sold themselves and their families to secure sustenance; that they were nominally emancipated from the ownership of the native boyards, only to be transferred as scutelnici to officials and other favoured nobles; and that eventually a democratic government and the increasing power of the people secured for them not only actual liberty but a real ownership of the soil which they had for centuries tilled for landlords who lived in idleness.