Filvarok

Filvarok (‘homestead’ or ‘manorial farm,’ from the Polish folwark). Large farm on the estates of nobility and sometimes of royalty and church dignitaries. Under the corvée system free labor was used at the filvarok; later, hired labor was used. Filvarky existed in Poland and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They produced mostly grain for the wide market, including export, as well as other farm products, such as industrial crops. Some filvarky specialized in animal husbandry and raised oxen on Ukrainian territory. Sometimes the operations on these manorial farms included such farm crafts as potash mining, beekeeping, and liquor distilling. In the 19th century the agricultural importance of filvarky began to decline because of their unprofitability, lack of modern technology, and the high cost of labor. The farms and fields of gentry were known as filvarky in Right-Bank Ukraine and Galicia until the Revolution of 1917 and in Poland until the 1930s.