A little agricultural history
The river Kongeå’s lush meadows provided grass and hay for the animals. Both cattle and geese grazed here. The soil was cultivated in the higher-lying fields. In the late 1800s, the soil began to be improved by meadow irrigation and marling.
Agriculture
In the early 1800s, large parts of Jutland were covered by heath. By the river Kongeå, the low meadows were utilised for grazing and hay production. The farmers in the Kongeå area had a diverse agriculture, where they both took advantage of the meadows, fields and river. If you owned land down to the river, you could also fish and set eel traps.
The meadows and the fields were naturally flooded when the Kongeå burst its banks. This was both a blessing and a curse, for the harvest could be destroyed by both too little and too much water. In the outer parishes towards the Wadden Sea, the salt water was also a threat to the harvest.
Soil Improvement
When the Danish Heath Society was founded in 1866, the farmers could get help for soil improvement by many ways including meadow irrigation. In 1874, the company drew up a plan for four meadow irrigation systems by Villebøl-Hjortlund, Villebøl-Jernved, Hjortlund-Brokær and Jernved-Gredstedbro. The long channels from the river Kongeå led the water out to the fields, so the amount of water could be controlled and production became more stable.
Another way to improve the soil was by marling. In West Jutland, the soil is very sandy, and by adding marl (clay soil with at least 10% lime), a soil was made that was easier to cultivate - at least for a period of time, as the effect diminished after a few years.
Animal husbandry
The farmers kept different kinds of animals than the ones they do today, where they either breed pigs, cattle or poultry. Back then you had to use horses as draft animals - both in the fields and in front of the driving carriage. A farmer in Hjortlund was called Nis Andersen, but was called Nis Andersen Gram man, because one of his ancestors had come from Gram. It was characteristic of that time that people who had been in contact with a place or served by a priest or deacon got a nickname that stuck.
This Nis Andersen Gram man had two workhorses. When they were to go in front of the carriage, he always said that ’Plagen’ should go ”closer” - to the left. Plagen was 22-years-old and was still a good workhorse.
The cows provided milk and meat, and the sheep provided wool and meat. The hens took care of eggs, and sometimes geese were also kept, which walked on the low-lying land where there was easy access to water. The geese were slaughtered in the autumn, and when it was done, they were put in a salt basin. They could be kept her for a long time and would last over the winter, when they were to be used.
In Hjortlund there was a man who kept geese. Every year when the geese were slaughtered and lay lined up in a row, he said happily to his wife: "How wonderful it is Trine, with all that goose fat."
Author: Truels Truelsen, Hjortlund Parish archives
Sources and literature:
Hjortlund Parish archives, see http://www.hjortlundsognearkiv.dk/
Kalvslund Parish archives, see http://www.esbjergkommune.dk/borger/kultur-og-fritid/arkiver/arkiver.aspx
Billeder:
11. Lidt om landbrug
a. Filnavn: HM Hjortlund
Tekst: Agriculture by the river Kongeå in the late 1800s. The green meadows go down to the river.
Foto: Kort- og Matrikelstyrelsen
