In the sightseeing text, a trip to Dublany is introduced. Particular mention is made of the agricultural school in Dublany, which was founded by the Galician Farm Society and mainly due to the efforts of Prince Leon Sapieha. The history of the Society is also presented, as well as the issue of bringing in teachers, including Professor Zelkowski and Professor Niesiolowski (Source: 'Tygodnik Illustrowany', Warsaw 1867, T:16, pp. 31-33, after: Digital Library of the University of Lodz).

A modernised reading of the text

Excursion to Dublany.

Just as the sun was rising, in a larger company, we went on a trip to Dublany. The beaten track from Zhovkva, lined with old lime trees, ran in a straight white line towards Zboiska. The houses and manor houses scattered along the road were lost one after another, like a continuation of the suburbs; nearby a few mills were humming and wide meadows, covered with morning dew, were turning green through the silver mist.

Having reached Zboiska, we turned to the right of the beaten track, and having passed Malechów, behind which the landscape broke into numerous joints, we saw in front of us a wide swamp stretching for several miles beyond Jaryczów. To the left, Grzybowice was whitewashed on a beaten track. To the right, hidden in a bend of the hill, barely a few cottages and trees visible, we saw Dublany. On the meadow in front of the village, a group of dashing young men, in sweatshirts and uniformed cloaks, were busily gathering hay, eagerly outdoing each other in their work. They were pupils from Ljubljana.

They have a dozen or so morgens of fields and meadows allocated separately for the school, which they cultivate with their own hands in order to familiarise themselves practically with farm work, the theory of which they learn at school. The field intended for the Ljubljana school is cultivated by the pupils in an exemplary manner and with particular fondness. A miniature crop rotation has been established on the field, with the pupils working it one by one, under the supervision of the professors. Turning to the right towards the village, we entered the premises.

In front of us stretched a wide courtyard. Opposite the gate was an oblong country manor house, with two porches supported by wooden posts, with a triangular display, reminiscent of our old noble manors. It houses the headmaster's quarters, the chancellery of the establishment, as well as the quarters of one of the professors, the deputy headmaster. On the left side of the courtyard, there is a large quadrangle, which is the main building of the school, with student bedrooms, lecture rooms, professors' flats and kitchens in the basement. In this one large building, everything has been housed as conveniently as possible, with great economy of space, as the limited funds did not allow it to spread too thinly.

The director's quarters and a small annex have been converted from the old manor house; the workshop building, as well as some of the farm buildings, have been newly built, all of them made of wood, as there was not yet sufficient funds for masonry. On the right hand side, along the courtyard, there is a fruit and vegetable garden, planted in several directions with old lime avenues, from between which, at the end of the garden, the pointed dome of the company chapel shines through.

The botanical gardener from Lviv, Mr Bauer, has this year beautified the Dublany garden in the English flavour, and part of the extensive courtyard, adjacent to the establishment of a small botanical garden for the school, with a particular emphasis on farm and fodder plants, and partly also medicinal plants. The foundation of the school in Dublany is due to the Galician Farming Society, and much of the credit for this is due to the efforts of the former president of this Society, Prince Leon Sapieha, who was there for several years.

As early as 1845, the Livonian Farmer's Society had been founded by thirty landowners in Lviv, and already at its first general meeting, the need for an economic institution near Lviv for the training of manly servants had been acknowledged, and the Society's committee was instructed to look for a suitable farm for a similar institution, which could either be purchased or leased for a long period of time. The committee was also instructed to draw up a plan for the establishment, as well as a project to raise sufficient funds for this purpose.

Raising funds presented the greatest difficulties. The Society's income was so meagre that it was impossible to think of opening a factory from this fund alone. The entire income of the Society from the annual contributions paid by its members amounted to a mere 1,500 zlotys, as the number of Society members in the first year was very small. It is true that the income increased gradually, as the number of members increased each year, but it was barely enough to cover the current office expenses.

It was therefore decided to resort to national funds, as in the case of a national establishment, and it was decided to ask the former Galician States for a corresponding allowance, and in addition to this to open excise-signing offices throughout the country, providing their holders with some benefit from the surplus income from the model farm. An important question that the Homestead Society had been dealing with for a long time was whether a higher agricultural school should be established to educate farmers skilled in all branches of agronomy and agricultural industry, preparing them for the management of larger farms; or whether a lower practical school, simply a model farm, should be established to educate the landlords, farmhand and farm servants.

Opinions were divided on this point, but the lack of funds argued in favour of limiting themselves to setting up a model farmstead and a farmhand school. It was decided to do this at first, taking the lower agricultural school in Hohenheim as a model. On this basis, the costs of 15,000 zlotys were calculated, and to raise this amount it was decided to issue an appropriate number of shares at 100 zlotys each, and to apply to the United States for 2,000 zlotys from national funds.

A committee member of the Agricultural Society, Mr Ludwik Skrzyński, had drawn up and submitted to the General Assembly a plan for such an establishment, and had strongly advocated it. According to this plan, the establishment was to consist of two parts, namely, an agricultural college and a model farm, so that the pupils would acquire not only agricultural theory, but also knowledge of farming practice and all technical details; so that they would not only know the rules of rational farming, but also know how to carry them out and apply them to every locality. According to this plan, the teaching was divided into a preparatory course, in which arithmetic, geometry, mechanics and the beginnings of organic chemistry were to be taught, and a farm course, in which farming and cattle breeding, as well as veterinary science, economics, farm technology and rural engineering were to be taught.

Above all, the aim was to raise funds. The announced subscription was extremely successful at first. By the end of 1847, more than 25,000 zlotys had been subscribed, and in the following year this sum had risen to 37,500 zlotys. A member of the Agricultural Society, the Revd Antoni Klima, proposed that he himself undertake the establishment and management of a scientific and agricultural institution, as long as the Society helped him find a suitable place for it.

He expected to cover the costs of the establishment from the income of the model farm. On the other hand, the designer's knowledge of the subject and his love of farming were a guarantee that he would be up to the task. The Society agreed to Fr Klima's idea and leased the village of Łopuszne in the Brzeżany district from Alfred Count Potocki for twenty-four years. An establishment was then opened in Łopuszno, with nine students enrolled.

The location of Lopuszna was not favourable, as the remoteness from Lviv did not allow the committee of the Farm Society to extend proper supervision over the establishment; the lack of buildings did not allow the farm to be developed to an appropriate level, and when Fr Klima himself soon became convinced that it was impossible to maintain the establishment solely on the income from the school and the farm, he was forced to resign. The Lopuszanski school was dissolved after a year of existence, and the Society's committee became convinced that it would be impossible to maintain such an establishment by private efforts.

But even the subscription, which had begun so successfully, did not have the desired effect, because, due to the temporary circumstances, it was impossible to think of collecting the sums subscribed; the committee, therefore, applied to the government for a grant, having shown how great the benefits of a similar establishment would be, and asking at the same time for permission to collect contributions for this purpose. At the same time, a plan for a farm school was submitted to the government, drawn up by a committee appointed for this purpose by the Farming Society, the main outlines of which were based on the above-mentioned project by Ludwik Skrzyński. The Society's efforts were successful, the plan received approval, and in addition, granting the Society's request, the government offered a one-off grant of 3,000 zloty from the treasury, and in addition, for ten years each year, 2,500 zloty, of which 1,000 was for the upkeep of the school, and 1,000 for ten scholarships for excellent pupils. In addition, voluntary contributions were allowed to be collected in the country.

So now, having obtained a permanent basis in the government allowance, it was possible to begin the work. The question of whether to purchase the property in order to set up an establishment or to lease it out for a number of years became an issue. It was decided to proceed in this regard according to the result of the contributions announced nationally and, if sufficient funds were collected, to purchase a suitable property for the Society, otherwise to lease it. The call for contributions was announced in such a way that sums donated to the school, as well as sums not exceeding 25 zloty, were to be considered non-refundable, while larger sums donated to the farm were to be returned from the farm income in the future. The contributions amounted to a considerable sum, with around 7 500 zloty for the school as a non-refundable gift and over 25 000 zloty for the farm.

The result of these contributions, together with the government allowance and the amount that could be mortgaged to the credit society, made it possible to think about buying a suitable property. The Dublany estate for sale was just such a property. They corresponded in every way to the wishes and funds of the Society and the requirements of the intended establishment. Their location near Lviv was most convenient, as it made it easier for the farm committee to supervise the plant, which was only a mile away from Lviv. The duplexes cost up to 180,000 zlotys together with livestock and other purchase-related expenses.

They were in a completely neglected state when they passed into the possession of the Farm Society on 1 November 1853. The farm buildings were almost non-existent and the farm was also in a neglected state. Dublany has 250 morgans of arable land, 100 morgans of forest and 350 morgans of marshy meadows, in the valleys stretching through the Jaryczów muds up to the Bug River. There was an immediate need to erect buildings, drain the marshy meadows and introduce crop rotation.

Jozef Jablonowski donated 500 zlotys for the buildings, and Jozef Nikorowicz donated the quarries in the nearby Grzybowice estate for the Dublans' use; however, as the funds were exhausted after the purchase price was paid, it was not possible to think about constructing the buildings for the time being. A large timbered house to house the plant and some farm buildings were temporarily erected. Alongside these facilities, the committee of the Farm Society took the necessary steps to open the school. Professor Zelkowski was brought over from Grignon in France, as was Professor Niesiolowski. After much effort and several competitions, a practical farmer, Mr Lelowski, was appointed director of the establishment, and on 9 January 1856 the official opening of the Dublin school took place.

In the first year, the Dubliniec school had 23 pupils. The professors were Fałkowski and Niesiołowski; the chaplain and several other teachers commuted from Lviv. As soon as the school was opened, a desire to help poorer young people so that they could be educated at the new institution was manifested among citizens who cared about the welfare of their country. Several people made substantial contributions to provide scholarships for the successful students of the Dublin school. Once a pupil joins the school, if he or she excels in the first half of the year, he or she will receive a sufficient scholarship to cover his or her living expenses for the second half of the year. Although the tuition and maintenance fee is quite high, amounting to about 375 zlotys, poorer pupils who excel in their studies pay the fee out of their scholarships, and in fact receive accommodation in the establishment free of charge.

The Dublin school has twenty such scholarships, namely ten government ones which, after ten years of the school's existence, were changed by a resolution of the Sejm into scholarships from the national fund, and the remainder from the bequests of the late Stanisław Dunin Borkowski, Amelia Stadnicka, the former postal clerk Maciaga, who, on dying, bequeathed his entire considerable fortune as a contribution to the Lubliniec and Czernichów schools, the late Kunegunda Brześciańska, Count Kajetan Lewicki and so on. When the latter resigned as director of the establishment, Lelowski was replaced for a few years by Ksawery d'Abancourt as deputy director, and later by Wojciech Studziński as permanent director.

In the course of these changes, the Ljubljana plant, like any other initial plant, had undergone a number of changes in its development, depending mainly on the extent to which the changing directors were more or less in keeping with the position entrusted to them and the duties they had assumed. The soul of the establishment was always Professor Maksymilian Żelkowski, who, with his high talents and knowledge of things, mostly influenced its entire direction. However, he was reluctant to accept the directorship offered to him on many occasions by the Economic Society committee, on the grounds that it would distract him from teaching school subjects.

However, in the course of time the Ljubljana school itself has produced its own professors and head teachers, which is a fair boast and practical proof of its goodness. The exemplary pupils of the school, Messrs Pankowski, Tyniecki and Strusiewicz, who were subsequently sent abroad at the expense of the Farming Society to complete their knowledge of their profession, having obtained honourable certificates there, took up posts as professors at the same Ljubljana school from which they had emerged, and which had, so to speak, nurtured them. These young people, animated by the spirit of science and progress, brought new life to the establishment, and set about raising it with all the energy of youth. Pankowski was appointed director and, within a few years of his management, the plant was put on the road to real development, and its growth can be seen both in the improvement of the farm and in the scientific progress of the pupils and the disciplinary order in the plant.

In order to be admitted to the establishment, one must be at least eighteen years of age and have completed an initial grammar or secondary school, or have passed an examination in the aforementioned basic sciences instead. The school year begins on 1 October and lasts for eleven months. In September, pupils go on holidays, or make further trips on foot with their professors, to visit the more important farms.Pupils wear a uniform, navy-blue uniforms, with farm emblems embossed on silver plate on the collar and cowl, representing a plough, rake and sickle joined together.

They have linen blouses for summer work, sheepskins and high jucht boots for winter. When entering the workhouse, each apprentice must provide his own uniform and underwear. At the sound of the bell in the dormitory, the pupils get up at half past five in the summer, five in the winter, and having gone to the common room, after a prayer an hour later, they eat breakfast, go by post to the study rooms, and the service pupils to the housekeeping classes. The headmaster assigns two pupils to each department of the farm service for fourteen days in order to familiarise them with farm techniques.

At twelve o'clock, the pupils eat their lunch and go by post back to the study halls for their lectures or to the fields for their own farming practice. The headmaster maintains discipline in the school. He will punish persistent or negligent students with the penalties prescribed by the regulations: a warning in front of the eyes, a warning at school in front of the assembled professors or school board, with simultaneous notification of the parents or guardians, a warning in front of all the students and the loss of the scholarship, and finally expulsion from the establishment within twenty-four hours. A pupil punished in this way may appeal to the committee of the Lviv Economic Society, which shall make the final decision.

In extraordinary cases, when a pupil commits a misdemeanour indicative of his or her incorrigibility and unruliness, the school board has the power to exclude him or her from the establishment at any time, especially if there is a fear that the bad example may influence the demoralisation of other pupils. In any such case, it is incumbent upon the headmaster to simultaneously notify the committee of the Housekeeping Society of what has occurred. To avoid injustice on the other hand, pupils may enter their grievances against the Director in the grievance book set aside for this purpose and bring them before the committee of the Housekeeping Society.

The order of instruction at the establishment is as follows. In the first year: anatomy, animal physiology, mathematics, agricultural theory, geometry, physics, mineralogy, drawing, botany, chemistry. In the second: economics, administration, mechanics, agricultural theory, animal husbandry, horticulture, chemistry. In the third: economics, technology, levelling, animal husbandry, construction, accounting, agricultural theory, drainage, agricultural chemistry. In each year, agricultural practice. The names of students excelling in diligence and exemplary behaviour are entered in the factory's book of honour. Upon completion of the three-year course of study, anyone can apply to become an honoured student and member of the Ljubljana Agricultural School.

In order to obtain this diploma, the pupil must undergo a two-year apprenticeship at a place designated for him by the committee of the Agricultural Society, either in the country or abroad, and on completion of this apprenticeship, he is given a thesis by the school board, which he must also defend in an oral hearing, in the presence of the headmaster, the teachers and a committee delegated by the committee of the Agricultural Society; only then is he awarded the diploma. Accompanied by the headmaster, we toured the science rooms where lectures were being held. Professor Zelkowski lectured on agricultural practice, Tyniecki on chemistry and Strusiewicz on economics. The Ljubljana school still lacks offices sufficiently equipped with auxiliary teaching aids.

The chemistry laboratory is so poor that, apart from a few crucibles and an ill-equipped furnace, it has nothing. There is not even a microscope. This state of the chemical laboratory in Dublany attracted the attention of the Farm Society at the last general meeting in Lviv; a contribution was arranged among the members of the Society, which at the very first meeting brought in over 250 zloty. We then visited the pupils' bedrooms. Everywhere we found exemplary cleanliness and order.

After seeing the factory building, we went to the farmhouse. The Ljubljana barn has about seventy Dutch-bred cattle, well kept, including 40 milking cows, each of which, according to a strict calculation, gave an average of 385 pots of milk a year. This extraordinary milk yield is the result of skilful and careful husbandry. The Ljubljana sheepfold, which was bred from sheep imported from the famous Holšovice sheepfold, stands even higher. Under his careful management the Ljubljana fold has risen so high that today it not only supplies the country with breeding sheep of its own breeding, but also generates a considerable income for the fold.

Last year, fifteen young lambs were sold to various domestic sheep farms, at 150 and 200 zlotys each, so that the pure income from these sales brought in over 1,500 zlotys to feed the farm. Ituna of Ljubljana sheep received a medal at this year's farm exhibition in Lviv. From the farmstead in the evening chill, we went for a walk in the fields. Along a street planted with mulberry trees, we walked first around the field of the pupils of the establishment, and then around the rest of Ljubljana's fields, divided into ten parts of the crop rotation. The exuberance of the crops, the exemplary cultivation of root crops, testified to the care and skilful management of the farm.

For the initial ten years, the Dublansky farm did not make any profit; on the contrary, it required quite substantial contributions. At present, this state of affairs has changed, because this year Dublany has brought in 3,000 zlotys of pure profit, which can be used to further improve the farm and raise the plant. Having visited the drains established according to plan and under the direction of Professor Strusiewicz, as well as the meadows drained by dug-outs, then the greenhouse and a small apiary with hives, we returned to the plant, where we found a snack waiting for us under the shade of the old lindens in the garden, The dishes consisted of the produce of a Ljubljana farm, namely excellent dairy products, next to which baskets of ruby-coloured strawberries, of rare size and goodness, gave the tableware an alluring, even artistic touch.

Having eaten this rural feast, which the kindness of our host treated us to, we left the establishment with the conviction that today it is fully equal to its task and that the efforts made in this direction are not in vain.