Cseri Miklós - Horváth Anita - Szabó Zsuzsanna (szerk.): Discover Rural Hungary!, Guide (Szentendre, Hungarian Open Air Museum, 2007)

II Upland Market Town - II-7 Vineyard

During cultivation time and the grape harvest the towns were almost emptied as everyone was occupied in the vineyards. In Tokaj-Hegyalja, large walls or dikes were constructed from locally mined and collected stone to protect the valuable soil from erosion. This was very hard work on the steep slopes. Water was drained by rock-filled dams, built perpendicularly to contour lines. By the road leading from the tithing house to the vineyard grape was trodden by foot in the cobbled cart shed. Must was carried from here to the inner cellars. Along the terraces rockfilled dams, stone steps and settling chambers for slime and water were built. In the museum vineyard various grapes (Kadarka, Juhfark, Leányka and dessert grapes) are planted to produce white and red wines as they are in Gyöngyös. In the terraces representing the TokajHegyalja vineyards furmint and linden-leaf serving the base for Aszú and muscat grape are grown alongside the better known grapes. On the highest terrace there are Piros Bakator Bogdányi Dinka, Piros Otridi. • Vine-pest The Vine louse started to spread in Hungary during the 1870s. The various attempts at its prevention were largely unsuccessful. As in other countries of Europe, the dangerous parasite destroyed two-thirds of the vineyards in 20 years including those of the famous wine-districts such as Tokaj-Hegyalja and the Mátra region. The devastation had a catastrophic effect on the livelihood of the inhabitants of the wine growing regions. However the vine louse could not breed in the sandy , soil areas and there were some species of vine which were resistant (Otelló, Noa, Izabella, Delavári). The Hungarian government ordered 100 000 vines from America and the first grafting plantations were established. From 1900 onwards the large landowners and later smatlhotdII-7 Vineyard