EN
Anzelm Gostomski, the unquestionable father of Polish agricultural writing, lived in the XVI century. He was a soldier, politician and dignitary - he attained the rank of „wojewoda". Above all, however, he was famous for being an agricultural farmer and his fame stemmed mainly from his written work „The Farm", first published in 1588, which encompassed almost the whole spectrum of problems connected with farming. This work was totally original and equalled those written by Western European authors. The main theme of this work is the regulation of administration and economical matters of landowners in such a way as to exploit villein service maximally, but at the same time not to go over the limit. Thus the landowner would lead a comfortable life and grow rich. Good organization of work and thrift are to be the way leading towards this aim, as well as rational plant cultivation with stress put on the agrotechnique of grain production. This was connected with the favourable circumstances for grain exporting. Gostomski's views in many ways were advanced with respect to the state of knowledge and practice of his times. ,,The Farm" had seven editions in the years 1588-1951 and thus served first practice and later science for over 300 years.