Fehér György szerk.: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 1992-1994 (Budapest, 1994)

11. Nemzetközi Gazdaságtörténeti Kongresszus, 1994., Milánó (llth International Economic History Congress) - FÜLÖP ÉVA MÁRIA: Changing forms of employment at the landed-property of Benedictine Monastery of Tihany (Hungary) after the liberations of serfs (1848-1949)

ders outside of the domain the contractors were generally obliged to perform day labour in mowing or hay gathering, this way lightening the lack in day-labourers and reducing the expenses. In 1905 for example the domain gained 168 days in mowing and 112 days in different operations against the corn lands cultivated in half yield system, demanding 6 mowing and 4 collecting days per cadastral yoke. The -— however slow — progress of mechanisation was partly connected with labour force problems. It was at the end of the 1860s, rather late, that the steam-engine appeared at threshing in the territory of the monastery's estate, replacing the former treading out and manual threshing. Domanial machinist-smith appeared among the employees and „carving" farm labourers (making different implements and tools) slowly disappeared. From the beginning of our century machine power was employed, too, beside the work of farm labourers, and day-labourers to harvest forage, a labour absorbing operation: in 1900 a gathering machine was bought, in 1903 a hay mower, in 1912 a hay gathering machine. The year 1912 shows for example the utilisation of many kinds of work opportunities: harvesters had to mow the meadow at Tótorok; farm hands harvested green maize by manual power, the harvest of clover and lucerne was accomplished similarly with own workforce, but with machine and the mixture of oat and vetch was gathered by contractual work. Paid day labour was mostly employed in vineyard operations demanding special knowledge as well. After the booming developing stage of farming the World War I meant an especially sharp breakage. Callings up caused heavy workforce problems concerning the stewards, yearly and seasonal labourers alike. In the first year of the war the Benedictine estates continued to give the families left home by the permanent employees their allowance. From 1915, when the state started granting subsidy to these families, the payment of allowance was suspended, but they were not evicted from the domanial dwellings. Beginning from 1916 Russian prisoners of war appeared in the farms placed there to perform agricultural work. On the other hand, a more significant change was that the mechanisation of forage harvesting was continued among the sensibly more difficult purchasing conditions as well. From 1916 the production of fermented feedstuffs began and a silo was bought for this purpose. In the period between the two world wars labourers paid in kind were strong relegated to the background among the seasonal workers employed beside the permanent employees. Lack in day-labourers ran through the whole period. In the years of the World War II monthly workers appeared on the territory of the domain (mostly from Zala county, and according to remembrances, not yet verified by our sources, from Upper Northern Hungary as well). The lack in day-labourers in the domain was caused on one hand by the concurrence of other job opportunities, on the other hand by the decline of labour in the war years and the resulting increase of daywages. Many day- labourers were won over by the state nursery garden established near Szántód, which was leased by the state forest directorate of Kapuvár. At that time, from among the properties of Benedictine Abbey of Tihany, the tenancy of Balaton fishing, namely, of the more than seven thousand cadastral yoke wa-