THE VITICULTURE
Our region is situated at the extreme North-East of the European region of viticulture. Only few of the hills of the North-Western Carpathian Basin, have a favorable soil for the cultivation of grapevines. The majority of the region is inhabited by a population drinking palinca (a traditional brandy). Satu Mare is situated between the two great regions with different drinking habits: in the South and South-Western region is favored the wine, and in the North, North-Eastern region is preferred the palinca.
Viticulture was important in the every day life and for the economy of the household. Starting with the Middle Ages, wine was the most convenient product to market. Therefore, the viticulture was a main cause of urban development, it generated extra income for the serfs and their families, and it offered a supplementary tax in kind for the nobility which was easy to merchandise. Grapes and wine were basic food, consuming them as drink and less often as fruit. The wine with low alcohol replaced water in many cases, while the quality wine was reserved to the celebrations. Until the middle of the 19th century, the vineyards were separated from the plough-lands, common pastures, or hay fields etc: the grapevines were cultivated where the soil was best for this crop and, due to the position of the land, it formed an enclosed area. The complex of vineyard-buildings was formed, among others, by the wine cellar.
In regions, where the grapevine was cultivated on small plots of land, like our region, the grapes were harvested in common, the work itself becoming like a feast. Relatives, neighbors, friends, and, in need, day-laborers and servants were summoned for help in harvest time. If those summoned for help had themselves grapevines, previous to harvest was established an order for taking turns. There was no payment because those summoned to harvesting were themselves owners of grapevines so that the payment would have been the mutual help. The reapers received three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and a basket of grapes. Even more, everyone could have consumed plenty of grapes during the day of work. SzL
SHEEP BREEDING
Due to the geographical position of the county of Satu Mare, all main forms of sheep breeding were present: the periodic move of the flocks, the breeding in field, or the breeding in farms. The sheep is important for the products obtained: wool, leather, meat, soft cottage cheese (incorporating whey), green ewe cheese, cheese etc. Mutton has been consumed in the countryside, as well as in towns. The pork has become an important part in the daily meal only in the last 150 years. Previously, only beef and mutton have been consumed. In the farms where sheep was breaded, the main period when mutton was consumed lasted from autumn account of flock until the period of slaughter of the pigs before Christmas. Food containing mutton was prepared on occasions like engagement parties, weddings, baptism, harvest, and church inaugurations. Processing the milk was a specific activity for men. Milking was done once, twice or thrice a day and afterwards it was yielded to processing.
The Accounting of the Flock marks traditionally the share of the milk produced by the flock among the owners and the departure of the flocks to the mountain pastures. SzL
THE BEE
Help among the members of a community is a mutual service, especially between participants to the same social class. Although the bee has many functions, the most productive was to fulfill working tasks. For this reason, families send their most representative member to these events. Due to its numerous social functions, the bee became the most complex form of work in traditional society. Its existence emphasizes the unity and homogeneity among the members of the community. That’s why in urban areas, the bee disappear by the end of the 19th century. In Transylvania, although, in the remote areas situated far from towns, the bee manages to gather all members of a village still in the 20th century. SzL
THE COLLECTIVIZATION OF THE AGRICULTURE
The communist ideology is based on the idea of equality among people by integrating them in a single social class and by eliminating the existing economical differences in the society. The first and the most important step to create the ideal society, according to the communist concept, were the elimination of the individual property. Therefore, the two major economical branches, the agriculture and the industry, suffered important transformations, known as the process of collectivization and nationalization.
Members of the cooperative farm should work the land in common, and then they shared the crop equally. In theory, yielding the right of land ownership should have been voluntarily. In fact, to ensure the entrance of the land-owners in the cooperatives, rough methods of constraint were used, resorting even to torture, deportation or killing those who withstood.
In Romania, the process of collectivization began in 1949 and due to the wide revolts, the process lasted longer than before. It was ended officially in 1962. As a result, 60% out of 15.000.000 hectares of cultivable field belonged to cooperative farms, 30% to the state, while only 9% remained in private property. ST