Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Căpleni. Ghid cultural şi istoric (Satu Mare, 2009)
Mlaştina Ecedea şi ocupaţiile tradiţionale
income for the peasants. Due to permanent change of water level, there used to be a permanent battle between man and nature for the cultivable land. After the swamp was drained, many years had passed until the soil would turn into a land favorable for agriculture. As the Schwabs were colonized in the villages of the area, the number of laborer increased, therefore the draining the swamp seemed more and more compulsory, in order to widen the cultivable area. After several attempts with partial success, the Society for Draining The Ecedea Swamp was founded in 1894, presided by count Tibor Károlyi. The major draining works ended at the beginning of the 19th century, causing the disappearance of traditional activities and habits related to the life in the swamp. After draining, the abundant vegetation that survived in the former place of the swamp, would start up devastating fires. It happened so in 1903, when the teritory of Căpleni was destroyed by fire rage. Several years had to pass after the draining of the swamp, until the earth became a fertile agricultural field. This is the memory of the first ploughing: “This time, last summer, I had been plowing. I haven’t seen so many snakes in my life as I’ve seen when I was plowing the swamp, but I was happy because I was on horseback. For several years, as I was plowing here, at every 10-15 paces, the plough would pick out a snake. It happened that some of them were cut by the middle, but most of Cruce Kereszt Cross 35
