Petercsák Tivadar: Nemesi és paraszti közbirtokosságok Heves Megyében (XVIII-XX. század) - Studia Agriensia 23. (Eger, 2003)
NOBLE AND PEASANT JOINT TENANTRY IN HEVES COUNTY (18th-20th CENTURY)
Archaic common forestry practices and partitioning methods, like for example the dealing (Hung.: nyilas osztás) and the drawing (Hung.: nyílhúzás) of lots for alloting standing trees or the distribution of already cut and sorted wood amongst the members in quantities depending in their woodland rights continued until the end of the 20th century. Animals often grazed in the common woodland, and as late as the middle of the 20th century one sees instances of pigs being fattened on woodland acoms. The cutting of woodland grasses provided an additional source of animal foodstuffs for the villages bordering on the forests, and dry leaves were used as bedding in stables instead of straw (it was put under the animals for them to sleep on). As a result of the laws which came into force after the Second World War the functions of the pasturage associations were taken over by the village councils before being made totally redundant with the formation of the agricultural co-operatives. At the beginning of the 1960s the woodland societies also disappeared, as the forests also came under the authority of the co-operatives. However, following the political changes a law passed in 1994 saw 59 new woodland societies coming into being in Heves County in which one can detect several elements associated with traditional woodland use. The final chapter in the book summarises the role and importance of noble and peasant joint-tenantries in the lives of villages in Heves County. It concludes that the peasant forestry and pasturage communities took many different forms in the county. Their existence was legitimised, legislation at the end of the 19th century providing uniform model regulations at a national level, and making it compulsory to keep both a record and a cash book. The agricultural collectives functioned until 1940, being independent of both the local government and the political community.In addition there were also bodies representing the landed peasants. The activities of the peasant joint tenantries in Heves County regularly worked in tandem with the local, the county and the national authorities, as well as the forestry office. Depending on the possibilities which were available the local government did what it could to help the joint-tenantries: it provided land for breeding purposes, and a venue for meetings in the village hall. 297
