H. Szilasi Ágota - Várkonyi Péter - Bujdosné Pap Györgyi - Császi Irén (szerk.): Agria 50. (Az egri Dobó István Vármúzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2017)

Petercsák Tivadar: Legeltető gazdasági közösség az egri hóstyákon

Varga Gyula

1974 Gazdasági testületek és társulások Hajdú-Bihar megyei mezővárosokban. In: Hofer Tamás - Kisbán Eszter - Kaposvári Gyula (szerk.): Paraszti társadalom és műveltség a 18-20. században. II. Mezővárosok. Budapest-Szolnok, 103-11.

Tivadar Petercsák

PASTURING COMMUNITY IN THE EGER HÓSTYA

(OUTSKIRTS)

Within traditional small-scale farming, pasturing, as opposed to the tilling of arable land, was not done by families, but instead coordinated by economic organisations which represented villages or smaller communities. The study sets out to give a better insight into the traditions of animal husbandry by researching and presenting the document of a pasturing community in one of the towns outskirts, within the context of the agriculture of Eger, a market-town, characterised by grape monoculture.

The economic community (pusztagazdaság, which means ‘puszta farm’ in English), uniting the animal farmers of two districts in Eger’s suburb named Hatvani, played an important role in the 19th century. The assembly of its members decided on the key issues; it hired the cattle, horse and swine-herds for a 1-year period, set the amounts to be paid for the pastured animals and the wages of the herdsmen, made decisions on leasing part of the Bikarét pasture, as well as the continuous maintenance of farm buildings and wells. Pasturing was organised by the annually elected two managers, called pusztagazda (puszta manager), who were in charge of providing forage for the sires, keeping the pastures and the wells clean, managing the farm’s funds and transferring any surplus funds left at the end of the year by handing over the accounts to next year’s puszta managers. During their work they were assisted by the two fertálymester (quartermasters), who were also elected annually. The archived document provides new information by giving an insight into the everyday life and organisational structure of an economic community that was organised from within and was supervised by selected town officials.

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