Agria 37. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2001)

B. Gál Edit: A tiszaabádi uradalom 1835. évi levéltára. Forrásismertetés

Edit В. Gál The 1835 Inventory of the Tisza-Abád Estate Source Material The Tisza-Abád estate was made up of Tisza-Szalók and the Tomaj puszta to which it was attached. The estate covered an area of 23241 "hold" (13247 hectares) in all. How these settlements fell into the hands of the Orczy family, whether they were purchased or endowed, we do not know. István Orczy's will of 1736 already mentions a quarter of Abád, whilst in 1742 he refers to Tomaj puszta together with the buildings and farms in his possession. In 1767, his son, Baron Lőrinc Orczy paid Duke János Forgách and Zsigmond the sum of 160,000 forints for half of Abád and Tomaj, Taskony, three-quarters of Szalók and a quarter of Bura and Bánhalma. Thus it was that in the 1780's the family owned three-quarters of all three villages. In the 1830's, three-quarters of the lands belonged to Baron László Orczy, whilst the remaining quarter belonged to many partowners. László was a particularly bad landowner and borrowed huge amounts of money. In 1835, he asked for an inventory to be drawn up to prove that his estates in Heves County were enough to cover his unpaid debts. The area's economy has always been determined by the River Tisza. During floods, the waters which burst the riverbanks would cover vast territories. These seasonal floods had a positive effect on farming out on the meadows. The landscape was rich in pastures for the free-range cattle and excellent for fishing, and the flooded territories supplied the area with building materials, reeds, wood and mud. Arable farming continued on the higher lying areas, and it was there also that vineyards started to be planted in the area. Most of the arable on the estate was first class, although it was second class in some places. The Tisza floods meant that the pastures were rich and fertile. They produced wheat, spring wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes, corn, lentils, peas, beans, millet, hemp and tobacco. The clear annual income of the estate was 68,667 Ft 40Уг korona. This income partly came from servile tributes and the proceeds from arable lands, the meadows and the hemp fields, and a large percentage (29,500Ft) was made up of the income which came in from letting out the 6000 "hold" (3420 hectares) making up Tomaj puszta. 273