Camping Numbers

This past June Land Girl and I went camping in the Northern Highlands-American Legion (NHAL) State Forest. At the campground my wife picked up a copy of the NHAL 2023 Visitor Guide. We have picked up guides in other years, as they contain some useful information. This year's publication contained an article about camping statistics in the NHAL. Similar statistics were not in the 2022 guide. 

First off, let me explore some national camping statistics from a publication by KOA. A few statistics caught my interest. First, is the small percent of campers that were of the baby boom generation. When Land Girl and I camp, understanding this is mainly during the week, most campers we see our in our demographic. Boomers made up 31% of the US population per the 2020 US Census, but only 18% of the campers. The oldest generation, the Silent/mature made up 5% of campers, with 11% of the population; given the age that seems quite high. Many older campers own the largest rigs in the campground. Gen X and Millennials, were over represented compared to their level within the general population.  Of the Millennial cohort, 37% of them camp, compared to having made up 31% of the population in the nation in 2020. This should put to rest the idea that millennials just want to vacation on their smartphones. It makes some sense that they are camping above their demographic number as they are still young and active,  have now settled into a lifestyle, which apparently includes outdoor activities. 

Campers by Generation, Nationally

I was further astonished by the household income of campers. In 2020 29% of those that camped had a household income of $100,000 or more, 8% greater than their level in the general population. Camping is a rather inexpensive activity, but those who had incomes <$25,000 and $25,000 to 49,999 camped at levels below that of the general population. The $100,000+ income group also made up an astounding 41% of new 2020 campers. 

Of first time campers in 2020 the main choice of living accommodations was a tent, which is a much higher percent than prior years where the tent choice ranged from 39 to 48% (2015-2019). Tents make sense for first timers, as the cost of even a good tent is not too out of reach. In many of those years the second choice was cabin camping, with RV's being third. Until I saw this, I never thought of staying in a cabin as camping. it then occurred to me, if a 35' fifth wheel RV with washer/dryer, internet, fireplace and other amenities is considered camping, so could staying in a cabin. I mean, they even contain a kitchen sink! Many have pullouts which make the space even larger. Everything is dependent on how something is defined. Is staying in a cabin camping? Many, if not most, cabins probably have fewer amenities than RV's. When doing the boundary waters many years ago, before going on the water, and getting off the water, we stayed in a cabin, which was walls, a roof, a wood plank floor, with a cot. I don't even recall it having lights.

We consider our small RV to be glamping, although it is basic, and we have never used it to its full potential since only once did we use electricity (a Army Corps campground where the electric sites were priced slightly more than a non-electric site). We turned on the radio once or twice, we have never used the television or the DVD player. We mainly use it for sleeping, and when going to bed we set up solar powered Luci lights to avoid using the LED lights in the camper. When camping, we cook outside. My in-camp meteorologist keeps track of the weather, and if a storm is predicted we have our dinner for lunch and our lunch sandwiches for dinner. We cook outside on the campfire or our cookstove. We used the air conditioner once (at the Army Corps campground), for fifteen minutes, to see how it worked (it is very loud). We used the heat for two nights (hydroponic heat is nice and quiet). We have never used the sink to wash dishes, and we have not used the toilet for #1 much less #2. We have used the shower, which is a nice amenity. Can one stay at their own cabin up north and that be considered camping, or is the camping the rental of a cabin at a resort or a state/national park? I am not sure how the studies metrics worked. The Porkies, in the UP, have yurts and cabins to which one hikes or skis to, I would suspect those count as camping. 

Preferred first time camper accommodation

What the statistics do show is how much camping took off during the pandemic. RV sales went way up, which is an indicator. Yet, the NHAL numbers, from the 2023 Visitor Guide are also instructive. Even though the state forest was closed for camping until June 14 of 2020, 2020 saw just over 55,000 campsite nights in the NHAL.  A 10,000 camp night increase over 2019. The 2020 and 2021 increases, I am sure were in part due to persons having more flexibility in their work schedules and remote work. I am aware of persons on a camping Facebook page that would camp and work from their campsite--provided they had internet. 2021 saw the greatest number of campsite nights accounted for in the NHAL for the 10 years of stats provided, at about 62,000. There was a 4.2% drop in campsite nights from 2021 to 2022 in the NHAL. 

The NHAL has 900 campsites. The total number of campsites in Wisconsin state parks, forests, flowages and recreation areas is 6,428. Saturday, July 30, 2022 the NHAL document reports, had the greatest use with 793 of the 900 sites occupied. This year looks to repeat that as the busiest time of the year. I examined the NHAL campsite availability on Tuesday 7/25 at 4:00 pm and found that if you have a small RV there are only a total of 13 campsites in the whole NHAL if you wished to arrive Friday 7/28 and depart Sunday 7/30. Of course, no telling how many go unused, but it would be interesting to know. Some may not be booked for both nights, but just one, yet it shows how many sites are claimed. The problem is one cannot go by reserved as we clearly know from experience that a reserved site is not necessarily an occupied site. For example, when at Cunard Lake this year most all sites, but a few, were reserved. However, many, including some lake sites went unoccupied. Pre-pandemic we got a site at Peninsula State Park that happened to open the week before we went, but everything else was reserved. We get there and the number of unoccupied sites was much greater than I would have thought for our few night trip. The reserve, but not occupy is a problem in the State park system. People reserve, but do not cancel meaning others are out of luck for use of the site. Part of me thinks the state does not care, because if the site is not canceled they still get their revenue. Many complain that the 11 month limit is a problem, but according to the NHAL stats, 28% of their sites were booked at the 11 month maximum. Only 6% were booked the day of. Our trip to Cunard we booked by phone when we arrived. Land Girl was unable to get sufficient internet access to do it online.

Camper household income

The worst part about our Cunard trip was the grilling by the campground host, who I later found out is a former Eau Claire County Sheriff. We got our reservation before 2 pm, and then setup. And just after 6:30 pm the camp host shows up, and parks right in front of my Jeep. It was an odd exchange; he claimed he and headquarters at Clear Lake, had no record of us, but after several questions, he then asked who was Toni (Tony) basically admitted he did know we were registered. I had only given my last name. I wanted to tell him to get off my back. When I was working, I was cross-examined in a trial on a zoning matter by a future WI Supreme Court judge (she represented a developer), and a few times I went head to head with a former Dane County DA (who was in private practice at the time), who was later elected Attorney General and Governor of Wisconsin. I was deposed several times, mainly in actions before the PSC on transmission lines. Not only that, I grew up with a brother who became a lawyer and any argument with him was like getting cross examined. 

I did not retire to get cross examined by some guy flouting his position, and, who now lacking his former authority, wants to puff out his self-important chest. I am still trying to figure out if he wanted to be combination of Roscoe P Coltrane, Deputy Dog, and the sheriff of Nottingham. I think I would have found it more amusing if he was more like Barney Fife. If Roscoe lacked a record of our site reservation, all he had to do was ask for our confirmation or registration number. If has a problem with the inadequacy of the state reservation system, he should talk the WIDNR. He never asked for our confirmation or reservation number. As he was "interrogating" me my wife pulled up the confirmation email, which completed downloading after he completed his prying. Turns out, he looked at his piece of paper and mentioned my wife's first name, which had not been told to him. The reservation uses her name. Not having asked for the confirmation number, and knowing my wife's first name, he had to have some ulterior motive. What I will do in the future at the NHAL, or perhaps any other state park we visit where we make reservations the day of, is to write the reservation number on a piece of paper and put it on the post by the camp site. With all sites requiring a reservation you no longer have the days of arrival and departure which used to be common. If Roscoe comes by again to ask if we reserved the site, and to continue his interrogation, I will simply suggest he look at the reservation number on the post. Reserving the day of arrival, and time of arrival allows us to pick a site we like. We write down the available sites when we leave home and then go by the sites, and select one best fitting our needs.

Cunard Lake Campsite, author photo 2022

The NHAL has a variety of campsites.  The Modern family (flush toilets and showers) in four campgrounds, contain 352 of the 900 sites, so well over 1/3. These campgrounds are heavily used and this time of year, you may find only one site available in one of the campgrounds, particularly the three near Sayner.  The 14 Rustic campgrounds, hand-pump water and without flush toilets or showers, range from 20 to 70 sites, so they are smaller than the modern family campgrounds. Rustic sites comprise 513 of the 900 sites (57%). The remainder are primitive sites that are widely separated, for tents only, and have an open box latrine, a fire rang and picnic table. There are also a two group campgrounds. 

The least busiest campgrounds in the NHAL were Big Lake (30.1% camp nights), Cunard Lake (35.4%) and Sandy Beach (37.3%). The busiest campgrounds were West Star (76.6%), Firefly (75.8%) and Crystal Lake (75.1%).  Cunard and Starrett Lake campgrounds in the NHAL are the two quiet campgrounds, meaning no generators and no loud music. Although, that apparently does not apply to varied vehicles driving through blasting their radios. Finding a campsite in the whole state is often difficult for a summer weekend. 

Cunard Lake, 2022 author photo

State legislation limited the number of electric sites to 35%, but recently the cap was removed, per the Governor's budget message. The Gov said more electrification will allow the DNR to better respond to campsite demand from visitors. But, it is more about revenue. Per the DNR, electric sites generate more revenue for the state park system, so the extra electrification is said to be worth the cost of installation, energy cost, and maintenance. The State Fiscal bureau in May estimated an extra $420,000 if the cap is raised from 35 to 40%. This is based on the WIDNR estimate that each electric site makes $2,100 more a year than a non-electric site, even net energy cost. Just under 35% of state park sites are now electric, with 27.1% of forest and flowage sites being electric. The  recently signed state budget allocated 29 million for capital development projects, including $1.5 for electrification of more campsites. The increase in electrification means money, and more use of the park. 

Since the DNR is adding additional electric sites, they should also revisit, or tighten, their generator use policy and add more quiet campgrounds.  With more electrical sites available, there should be less need for generators. On the one hand, I am not sure I like electrification of more sites, but cutting down on the use of generators would make it more palatable.  

State campgrounds are in high demand, and Covid increased the demand. The state has now reacted by setting money aside for more electric campsites. It was ten years ago that the percent allowed to be electric sites was increased from 30 to 35%. There are campers that like the luxury of home, and those that like more primitive camping. It will be interesting to see if the increase in camping, whether tent, RV, or cabin continues to decline as COVID has become less of a concern, or will a new, higher, sweet spot, of the number of campsites be found. Camping numbers are up more than they were in 2019, and they may not go back down.

Moms

On her daily walk last week my significant other commented on something she saw that was rather interesting. She twice saw a robin chasing a squirrel. Yes, a robin was going after a squirrel. The significant other concluded that to get a robin so ticked off the squirrel had been bothering her nest. That got me thinking about mothers. There are mothers one just does not wish to tick off.

Think about it, mothers protect their young. Often, the male is there is due his duty of fertilization and then departs, leaving the mother with the chore of protecting the young. Like mother robin. The most dangerous mother to humans are momma bears. One does not want to pick on, or really pose any dander to a cub as momma bears are very protective of their young. Bears will tend to leave humans alone, preferring to look for food, but if an offspring is threatened they take action.  It is not only bears, but also other wildlife. A while back there was a video of some person trying to get close to some bison in South Dakota, and the mother bison perceived the person as threatening and went after the person. I think that person probably dirtied their pants. Mothers, of the human variety, have a long history of cleaning up dirtied pants--think diapers. Although today most children probably use disposable diapers.

Marie Barone, the famous television mom in Everybody Loves Raymond, is one well known mom who well protected her two boys, particularly the younger son Raymond. I am not sure what it is about the youngest son, but they seem to be the aspect of a mother's affection. It was that way when I was growing up, the youngest brother was always viewed as mom's favorite. It may be because she was too tired to enforce rules, but he did not have the bed times we had, or other aspects, he pretty much had the rule of the house. 

Marie Barone, played by Doris Roberts, Google images

There are also tiger moms, a moniker given to Asian mothers, and now others, where there is very strict parenting to ensure their children's success. This trait manifests itself in academics, sports and music. Amy Chua, a law professor at Yale popularized the term which was in the title of memoir she wrote. The tiger mom philosophy is said to go back to the time of Confucius. I tend to think some households can be too strict and can tamper innovation and creativity. Not to mention many lessons are learned by mistake. 

Amy Chua, Google Images

Nests are like houses to animals. Last year at one of our favorite campgrounds, we saw a loon nest. Later the most significant other saw the mother loon with two juveniles clinging under her wings. They were hitching a ride, to young to be out on the water much on their own. All of a sudden Land Girl became Water Girl and was out in the kayak on the lake. While out she enjoyed watching the loons. However, she also saw an eagle circling over and then in a tree keeping an eye on the mother and loonlets. The loons, both parents, were making quite a bit of noise. After that day, we saw the mother loon, but only with one loonlet. It made Water Girl very melancholy to think that the other loonlet had been savaged by the eagle, or perhaps a large fish or other predator. Loons are said to be very good parents and very protective of their young. This summer I met a fellow camper, at a another campground who was telling me of a PhD friend who studies loon calls and what they mean, and the lake where I met this man was one that his friend studied.  

Loon on Nest, Author photo 2022

The takeaway from this blogpost is that the moms of varied species have a similar characteristics in care and protection of their offspring. Part of an inbred instinct that is intended to guide survival of a species. All creatures are in need of the care and comfort of a Marie Barone. Moms make the world run. The squirrels learned that from the mother robin.

Smoldering

My wife and I have been camping for a number of years. We have morphed from taking our own firewood to purchasing firewood. Not that we took all the required fire wood, but enough that would generally last two to three days, or the equivalent of about two bundles we purchase today. We also scrounged firewood, generally small branches for starting fires. I do pack scraps of dimensional lumber to have dry kindling on hand to start a fire. So, we know purchase wood, but that wood, more often than not, seems to smolder rather than burn with a flame. 

I am not sure when our purchasing all firewood began, but it was probably with the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Wisconsin. The EAB is not the only destructive pest, and since such pests live in wood, and with such infestations becoming more common, something had to be done. The EAB has wreaked havoc on Wisconsin forests, and suburban lots and street trees. An invasive species from the Far East, it came to Wisconsin from Michigan. Yet, you see other effects on the forest from other pests, like Birch Leaf Minor Borer, which has ruined many a stand of birch. Add all the dear, and it is a wonder how a forest can survive. Years ago, street trees were devastated by Dutch Elm Disease. 

You can no longer haul firewood more than 10 miles from its source. The state, rightly, put in restrictions on moving firewood. Hence, the only campground that we take our own firewood is Lake Kegonsa State Park. All other locations we buy firewood. Occasionally we get a jackpot of pieces left behind. 

From Arndt website

Firewood is available from different sources at the varied far-flung campsites across the state: at some state parks or national forest campgrounds (not many), at roadside stands, and at varied grocery, or convenience stores. The National Forest campgrounds we use lack firewood sales, so we tend to buy from local roadside stands within a couple miles of the park. I guess we take the word of the seller that the wood is from within 10 miles This is hit and miss and we have noticed that more recently the wood does not burn well. I think the wood is getting greener at some of these locations, and of lesser quality. A few times you get a good batch.

The sad thing is I see campers pull in with large loads of firewood--like half a face cord. So, for some reason, I have a great suspicion that the wood is coming further than 10 miles distant from the campground. The 10 mile rule applies to both state and national forest campgrounds. 

Arndt website, Firewood certifications

When we camp at a state park (or forest) we tend to purchase at the park, or forest. Some parks, like Hartmann Creek, the funds support the Friends group, others I am not sure. More and more I find the results of state park wood vary, too. The southern part of the state the wood seems to be sourced from a kiln in Milton, while in the north most wood seems to come from an Antigo kiln. A few years ago at Mirror Lake state park I was so  impressed with the wood, it was like in a big onion bag, from I think the Milton kiln, I bought a couple bundles for use at the National Forest campground we like to visit. 

At a state forest campground we recently visited we purchased firewood at Buffalo Lake Campground, a few miles from the campground at which we were staying. The kiln that dried the wood is in Antigo. Purchasing kiln dried wood means that if we don't use it all we can take it with us for use elsewhere. The kiln drying kills any bugs that may have been present in the wood. It is also certified. For example, on that trip we bought two bundles, but only used one so we took the other one home with us for future use. A bundle typically costs from $6 to $7.  Up from $4 to $5 a few years past. 

Label of Firewood purchased at Buffalo Lake Campground

I have found that even some of the kiln dried wood does not burn well. The kiln in Antigo states "Fast Starting...Long Burning"  I can say it last longs, because most of the pieces just smoldered. When a piece of wood smolders it lasts a long time, I guess that is where they get their statement "Long Burning". We had to supplement with scrounged twigs and small branches we gather off the ground. I guess, it started to smolder fast, so perhaps it is fast starting. The problem is if you do not have a good flame you get a great deal of smoke. Regardless of where you sit, the smoke will follow.

Smoke can have a good odor, think of smoked meats, or a bad odor, think of the burning "plastic" odor that seemed prevalent with the Canadian wildfires when they were reeking havoc on air quality on its southern neighbor. Luckily for us, the smoldering wood did not have that burnt plastic odor. I do know that my hat smells like smoldered wood from our camp trip. 

Glimpse into 1654

The year 1654 is not very remarkable, at least according to a Google search and my Timetables of History book. But, sometimes non-remarkable years allow focus on the more mundane and ordinary aspects of life. Being a rather low-key, mundane, not to mention average, person, I tend to think mundane can be good. Not all strive to dominate headlines. Much of history is written about the dramatic, when in fact most of the work gets done by those who make no headline and go about their daily, ordinary lives in a manner newsmakers would consider non-remarkable. This blogpost will be about some ancestors of mine and some of their faming activities in 1654. 

A glimpse into 1654 is possible due to the Berni Rula, a census of communities, housing, trades and occupations. Accomplished mainly for taxation purposes there, due to the rural nature of Bohemia, there was concentration on area of arable land and livestock. Area was calculated from sow rates, but it is thought some of those sow rates were over 100 years old and not highly reliable. Farm livestock and draft animals are also listed, which are important to gain knowledge of diversification. From this, we can get an idea of what farming was accomplished in Southern Bohemia in the mid-17th century.

Part of Img 308 Berni Rula, shows village of Malovice
 with Trobl and Havel Vrbsky (aka Kavan) Ancestors

1654 only six years after the end of the Thirty Years War, it was also one hundred years into what is referred to as the second serfdom. The second serfdom is important to how our ancestors lived at this time. The second serfdom involved extraction of money from rents, required labor services, heavy burdens on new economic activities, intensified market monopolies, and imposition of heavier constraints on their serf's economic and demographic decisions. Demesne farming, or the use of serf free labor, is often associated with the "existence and use of high labour rents" (ie free labor) (Cerman, 2011, p. 240). Serfs had to provide free labor and goods to the domain in exchange for some land to farm and a house to live.  If one were a good farmer that land could stay in the family. Our ancestors did not own land as we know it, but had more like a long-term lease. While Cernam says there is not full agreement on what led to demesne farming, most scholars agree that lower population and higher grain prices during the sixteenth century were factors. Of course, the Thirty Years War, in the 17th century, contributed to the population shortage. The Berni Rula, verified by land registers, shows almost whole communities having been burned and abandoned. We saw that with the village of Hlavatce. The Simon Saubar holding, which was acquired by our ancestors, the Jodl familly, in 1720 was burned in 1626 and remained abandoned until 1662. 

Portion of Hlavatce in Berni Rula (1654)
All the bottom holdings are vacant.
Relative Slama is first listed

This is the situation in which our Bohemian ancestors found themselves. 1654 could not compete with the years 1618 to 1648 (Thirty Years War), and it was a difficult to obtain good grain harvests on the generally poor soils of southern Bohemia. Our ancestors needed to provide for themselves and also provide free labor, and goods to the domain. Of course, nothing is really common or mundane about farming. Animals, crops and people are all subject to disease, weather, and other conditions that affect one's livelihood and way of life. Many of our ancestors lived a life of quiet desperation. Poor weather of temperatures, drought, or too much rain, could easily affect the already on-the-edge living conditions of  of our ancestors. Of interest is that the second serfdom, which is said to have run from 1550 to 1781 (1781 saw partial emancipation of the serfs by the Empire) corresponds so well with a period often referred to as the Little Ice Age, which ran two hundred years from 1550 to 1750. Grain prices could easily have risen due to effects of the Little Ice Age. 

Livelihood for the ancestors discussed here was pretty much dependent on farming. Those that were smaller farmers would have had to engage in a secondary occupation. Tailor, weaver, or carpenter were common secondary occupations. A village often had its own blacksmith, and a sheepherder, ,meaning it was less likely of a person to engage in either of those as a secondary occupation. Some villages had expert fishermen, who would raise fish in the pond of the village. Vavřinec Fištmistr, and 8th great grandfather in the Stieka line, was a fish master before taking on a farm in Libejovice. At times we can find the secondary occupation identified in a Seigniorial or parish record. The Havel family, for example were weavers, and Jakub Span, who also had Tesar or Zimmerman as a surname, indicates carpentry as a side occupation. Many of our ancestors were generally subsistence farmers. However, there were a few that were large farmers (50 or more acres) and some research indicates such farms may actually have had a "marked commercial orientation" (Cerman, 2011, p. 244). Large holdings likely had paid day laborer to assist in farm operations.

Author Compilation of Berni Rula of Ancestors
part 1. Yellow line are ancestors with 75 to 99% confidence
Lavender line 99.9 to 100% confidence as ancestors

While the Berni Rula provides an indication of area of a farm in arable land, we know that is not fully accurate, given later data. However, while not accurate as to area, I think the levels provided are still accurate for comparison purposes--for example a farm of six strich in arable area, was smaller than one identified as 12 strich. 

Part 2, Author Compilation

Looking at the area calculation used, that is strich, the seventeen farms (or holdings), from fourteen villages, for which I so far have information, the arable land ranged in size from 6 strich (about 4.2 acres) to 54 strich (about 37.8 acres).  The average area of all seventeen farms was about 22.36 acres. While the time frame is over a century later, extrapolating from William Wright we can see about 15 acres of quality arable land was required for a farm family to maintain payments and fees and eek out a out a living. Not a very good living, but they may have been able to survive in good times. Five of the seventeen holdings were less than 15 acres in area. That assumes good quality land, which was in short supply in southern Bohemia. A farm of about 20 acres, Wright indicates could produce a fairly comfortable living. Hence, about five acres was the difference between subsistence and being somewhat comfortable. Some of our ancestors were on the edge, where a bad year of weather, or some other catastrophe, could make the difference between life and death. Of the farms, six of the seventeen were noted as having arable land holdings of 48 strich  (33.6 acres), per the Berni Rula. The five holdings represented at 48 strich is the mode, while the median is 30 strich. 

Hence, from this research we can divide the ancestral farms into categories which I will call Unsustainable (not likely to produce a living for the family without another occupation) and Sustainable (likely to provide a living). I will use 22 strich (about 15 acres) as the cutoff. In this case of the 17 farms examined for my ancestors five were under 22 strich, meaning 12 were above. However, two additional farms are at 24 strich meaning they were at the edge and with unreliability of the strich in this instance, may well have been smaller farms. 

Part 3, Author Compilation

The effect of living on edge can produce severe consequences for a family, when tragedy strikes. A second tragic event can be catastrophic. We see this in the case of Sebastian Hauser, who purchased the holding of Jan Fisar in 1654 which was 12 strich, or 8.4 acres and saw the farm burn down twice within a three year period, (1672 and 1675), leaving him destitute and absconding from his family, which you can read about here. 

In all but two cases the small farms had all types of livestock recorded--cows, heifers, sheep and swine. One case that did not was  Matous Fucik who only had two cows and three heifers, and Fisar/Fencl holding only had cows and heifers--no swine or sheep. In all other cases, the small farms showed diversification of animals, likely to help meet the food needs of the household. As Cerman points out , larger farms may have been involved in the market, but the smaller farms most crops and animals were for the family, and what they had to provide to the domain.  Yet, two out of five is still 40% so rather significant,. These small farms would have had to rely on other sources for some of their sustenance. Only one of the sustainable farms did not have all of the livestock and that was the Havel Vrbsky, which is the Kavan farm, that did not produce any sheep. 

All of the farms practiced conservation in terms of having about one-third of the area not under cultivation every year, that is one-third of the arable land was fallow. I suspect they also practiced crop rotation. We know from records a century later that the oats, rye and wheat were the main grains grown. The Berni Rula does record what area was sown in spring compared to fall. The seventeen holdings together sowed 155 strich in the spring compared to 139 in the fall.  It was also common for each house to have a garden.

Grain was produced by sowing on the turned fields. The beast of burden of choice were oxen rather than horses. Settlers travelling on the Oregon trail tended to use oxen due to reliability, less likely to be stolen, content to forage on grass at the road edge, ability to handle more difficult and muddy terrain, and generally stronger. This may well have applied to our Bohemian ancestors, too. Only two farms owned any horses, while all farm holdings owned at least two oxen. Of the holdings, 63 total oxen were held, or an average of 3.7 oxen per holding, with nine farms owning two or three (4 or 6) pair of oxen. Lacking horses, foot was the method of travel for the bulk of our ancestors, and later research indicates into the 19th century. All of the 17 farms had at least one pair of oxen, although ten had two pair, one had three oxen, and two farms had three pair. 

Oxen may have been the choice for beast of burden, but generally, the farms were diversified in terms of animals, although that is not to say that some farms seemed to have some specialization in 1654. For example, we see that Joachim Fitzl in Dolni Chrastany had four cows, eight sheep and three swine. However, he seemed to be moving more to dairy as he was reported to have ten heifers. Havel Vavruska of Nestanice, while having twice as much arable land, had five cows and heifers, but ten sheep and 17 swine. The Trobl farm, the same reported area as Vavruska, had 12 sheep, four cows, three heifers, and four swine, along with their four oxen. Adam Slama, is reported as 54 strich of arable land, and he had six cows and heifers, but 18 sheep and three swine. Slama had the largest of all the farms identified in the Berni Rula for 1654.

From available information, it can be concluded that many of our ancestors (mainly Kamen and Jodl lines) possessed sufficient arable acreage on which to produce a living.   Nine of the 17 holdings appear to have provided at or near 20 acres or greater of arable land meaning they were able to live somewhat comfortably. Yet, as we know, soil and weather were variable, and even the best farms were to struggle in years too dry or two wet. The conditions of the second serfdom would have meant that our peasant (serf) ancestors had to provide labor first to the domain and then to their own farm. The more arable land the more labor typically required. Yet, their standard of living was more like that of the middle ages than that of the late 19th century. They led ordinary and mundane lives working to provide for their domain and their family. The 1654 Berni Rula provides a glimpse into the farm type and conditions of our ancestors. 

Sources:

Cerman, Markus, 2011 "Demesne Lordship and Rural Society in early Modern East Central and Eastern Europe: Comparative Perspectives." Agricultural Historical Review, British Agricultural History Society vol 2.

Haas, Dr Antonin. 1954, 1654 Bernia Rula 27, Prachensky

Klein, Alexander and Sheilagh Ogilvie 2016, "Occupational Structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom." Economic History Review, vol 69.