5001-HârnWorld/3rd Edition/17

Manorial lords may cultivate their land themselves by hiring agricultural labor or may farm-out the land to freehold tenants in return for cash rents or crop shares. Most, however, choose a blend of these two extremes, dividing the fief into (roughly) one third demense (lord’s land) and two thirds tenancy, utilizing the custom of serfdom to provide the labor for their own land.

The respective areas of land use depend mainly on the size, location, and fertility of the fief. Long-established fiefs tend to be well populated and favor higher arable land use. New holdings in frontier regions are generally underpopulated and these will have higher pasture and woods acreages.

Agriculture
The manor’s arable land is typically divided into two large fields. The fields are usually open (no fences or hedges) but are divided into strips separated by footpaths. One field will be sown with various crops (rye, wheat, barley, oats, beans, and peas), the other will lie fallow for one year in an effort to keep the soil from exhausting itself. All of the land will be cultivated by freehold tenants or serfs and the holdings of any one family are typically scattered throughout the fief in narrow strips. The lord’s demense will consist of enclosed fruit orchards and lush meadowlands plus numerous small strips dispersed among the lands of his tenants.

The land held by each peasant family is divided between the two fields. So if a family has 30 acres, they can plant only 15 in a given year. Since the average crop yield is about ten bushels per acre and each person requires about 20 bushels of grain a year for the barest survival, an individual needs four acres to feed himself, half under cultivation and half fallow.

Although plowing, sowing, and weeding are generally tasks performed by each individual family on their own land, harvesting is a communal affair. All able-bodied villagers work to clear the fields, then the produce is divided among them according to the amount of land held and labor provided. Harvesting usually begins early in the late-summer month of Agrazhar and takes two to four weeks to complete; three men can reap and bind one acre per day.

Weather is, of course, critical. The crops must be left to mature and this can be delayed if the summer is particularly wet or dry. When ready to harvest, speed is crucial. One heavy rain could batter the ripe crops to the ground and destroy the bulk of the harvest.

Husbandry
Open and common pasture is maintained for grazing sheep, oxen, horses, and goats, some owned by the lord and some by the tenants. The best pasture (10–30%) will be enclosed and reserved as meadowland where winter fodder (hay) is harvested. The fallow fields are also used for grazing animals, partly to keep the weeds down but mainly to manure the resting soil.

Animals are not raised to be eaten, mainly because it takes roughly eight pounds of feed to produce one pound of animal protein. Hogs, which thrive on food scraps and forage in woodland, are the exception. Sheep are raised for wool, cattle as beasts of burden and to give milk, and chickens for eggs. Of course, animals will be slaughtered for meat and hides when they become unproductive.

Most villagers keep chickens and all but the poorest are likely to have at least one cow and several pigs. Oxen are kept as plow animals by richer peasants and rented to others as needed. Horses are a luxury that are usually kept only by nobles; they are not as hardy as oxen and require two or three times the winter fodder.

Livestock populations tend to peak in the summer as a result of spring births. Because the villagers cannot afford to provide winter feed for all the animals born, surplus flocks and herds are driven to be sold or bartered at the nearest market soon after the harvest is completed. Wealthy peasants may slaughter an animal or two, then dry, smoke, or salt the meat for future consumption.

Woodland
The remainder of the fief will be woodland, which may be extensive in recently settled lands. Woodlands are prized and usually zealously protected, as game forms a major part of the noble diet and hunting is the sole prerogative of the lord. Poachers are likely to receive harsh treatment, especially trespassers from outside the estate. Tenants may collect dropwood and graze their pigs in woodland but must pay an annual fee to the lord for this right.

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