|
|
In Hungary
|
In Hungary, chestnut fruit growing did not develop on a large, industrial-sized scale. The only harvests taking place were the gathering of uneven, low fruit-quality produce in ancient scattered areas and parklands, on pastures and in mixed-tree forests. These were, of course, not profitable plantations, since the only farming that occurred was by way of the ax - characteristic of ancient foraging economies. In other words, in very changing populations the low-productivity and low fruit-quality individual trees, sprung from seeds, were cut down.
Most of the chestnut trees (81.3%) are sparsely located. As the number of agricultural plantations increases and this ancient growing technique is eliminated, a decrease is expected in the number of older chestnut stands, as demonstrated by the proportion (81%) of older, mature-age trees in such sparsely populated areas.
Contiguous, larger-area chestnut plantations can exclusively be found in
Transdanubia, of which the most significant ones are located in western Transdanubia, 51% of them in Zala county.
In case of organized plantations, it would be expedient to locate a larger proportion of the plantations in Zala county.
|
|
|
|
Source: Szentiványi, Péter, Dr. - Chestnut - Agricultural Publisher -
How did the sweet chestnut come to Hungary?
There are several opinions about where the sweet chestnut came to our country.
According to the legend, however, the sweet chestnut in Hungary during the time of King Mátyás, in the XV. was established in the century. Like many other things, it is said that Queen Beatrix brought this with her from Italy. Thanks to Italian cuisine, King Matthias's favorite dish, kappan stuffed with chestnuts, that is, rooster. The sweet chestnut has been living in Central and Southern Europe since ancient times, and it was an important food for the people living here already in prehistoric times.
Another point of view is that chestnuts were already widespread on the continent in prehistoric times. The Greeks also liked it and it was an important food for the Romans. It is believed that the optimal conditions for humans are where chestnuts live, which is why they were
continuously planted throughout the Roman Empire.
The Romans also had important food; flour was ground from its seeds. It is likely that they also introduced it to the British Isles and the Carpathian Basin - thus, the remains of Roman plantations on the southern slopes of Börzsöny (thus on the slopes above Nagymaros) and green sweet chestnut groves at the bottom of Naszály. It has become wild in many places from cultivation.
On the other hand, according to Miklós Páll, the sweet chestnut was already known to the ancient man in our country, because a charred tree was found in the Hámori cave in Bükk, today's Anna cave. KonKolynéis shares the same opinion, according to whom sweet chestnuts have been a delicacy known since the Neolithic.
More significant sweet chestnuts are found in Alpokalja in Hungary. The chestnut varieties are well representative of the main domestic growing regions, the Alpokalja region named here, which is represented by a variety from
Kőszegszerdahely, the South Transdanubia, which is represented by the Iharosberényi varieties, and finally, Northern Hungary, which is represented by the Nagymaros varieties
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
