THE POLISH GRAIN TRADE 201merchants joined together to form trading companies; but their partnerships
were usually no more than ephemeral ventures formed for specific operations
too big for one merchant to handle alone.
The relations of the Danzig merchant with the Polish producer depended on
an elaborate system of contracting. There were at least four types of contract,
the commonest of which, as far as grain was concerned, the Lieferantzkauf, pro-
vided in advance for deliveries to be made at the producer's risk and expense. In
this case, documents were exchanged, usually in Danzig, stating the agreed
quantity, price, delivery date, financial advance, and conditions. The regular
client, when making delivery one year, could thereby arrange for the disposal of
the next year's produce. Alternatively, the merchant's factor, touring the coun-
tryside, would contract on similar terms for uncut grain to be delivered later in
the season. Less common were contracts where the merchant took the risk and
expense of delivery on himself {kauf auf Abentauer), or where ready grain was
bought on the spot, either 'illegally' outside the city ('unter dem marckte'), or
else in Danzig itself.
Polish grain producers engaged in the Vistula trade can be divided into three
categories. First, there were the great magnates, whose vast estates could pro-
duce a large and regular surplus, even in bad conditions or under poor manage-
ment. Next there were the landowners of lesser standing who depended on
efficiency and personal supervision to produce a surplus from lesser holdings of
two or three villages. Finally, there were the casual producers - minor nobility,
peasants, tenant farmers, who grew corn essentially to feed themselves but who
could, on occasion, produce enough to sell. In the sixteenth century, producers
of the middling sort dominated the market. Later on, the magnates' share
increased significantly.
Magnatial grain production can be illustrated from the latifundium of the
Lubomirski family between 1654 and 1750. The latifundium, which in 1739
totalled 1,050 properties, was spread right across the southern lands of the
Republic. Some estates like Wisnicz, Zator, Baranow, Opatow, and Jaroslaw,
specialized in oats. Others, like Niepolomice or Osiek grew both oats and rye in
quantity. A few, like Nisko, Ryki, Tuszow, and Lubartow, specialized only in
rye. All grew a little barley (c. 10-14 Per cent of production) and a certain
amount of wheat (up to 20 per cent). Some, again, like three in the Sandomierz
region — Kolbuszowa, Rzemien, Tuszow — or three others in the Ruthenian
palatinate - Kanczuga, Kosina, Laka - were large, producing on average over
1,000 kopa* per annum. Most were smaller, averaging 500-1,000 kopa; whilst a
few produced less than 500 kopa. Total production of the four cereals, calcu-
lated over the years 1658-62 reached 40,000 kopa per annum.^4
Fluctuations in production were considerable. Hardly a year would pass
without some disaster, human or elemental, striking at some part of the lati-
fundium. The Swedish invasion of 1654-60, following Chmielnicki's Rebellion,
* The kopa or 'stack' was equivalent to threescore sheaves.