L'ÀPAT

6 7 Raimat, one of the first experimental farms in Europe PROTAGONISTS Raimat Castle Castillo de Raymat (1914) by Jesús Raventós Fatjó written in 1932 Planting of all types of trees My father was in contact with the main Spanish and foreign nurseries in order to maintain what, after so much effort, finally looked sustainable. He selected different kinds of trees and Bordils, Poncella and Vimera poplars were planted; French Écorce Blanche and Robusta, the latter undoubtedly the best for our lands; as well as Canadian and Lombardy variations, which did not grow as well as the previous ones. In the humid soils, various types of Dutch White were planted, and it was a Dutch one that gave the best results. A great number of pine trees of various kinds were also planted; the Monterey cypress; the Aleppo pine for the arid lands; the wild Scotch, the Austrian and cedar of Lebanon did well; cherry trees, eucalyptus, ash, mulberry, elm, acacia, lime, etc. There is hardly a tree listed in the catalogues that had any chance of success due to climate and soil quality that has not been tested on the farm, both on irrigated and rain-fed sites, so that Raymat can be said to be a veritable testing ground for amateurs. Today, there are over one million trees of all species planted on this model farm. The estate’s transfer to the children After the reforestation of a large part of the land, my father thought that the time had come for his children to demon- strate their affection and aptitude for agriculture and, dividing the property into eight plots, he left it in their care so that they could transform and cultivate it as they saw fit. On the land considered unsuitable for reforestation, the cultivation of cereals was attempted with increasing success every year. At present there is an area of 400 hectares devoted to these crops, which will gradually be transformed into vineyards of which there are already some 300 hectares planted with Macabeo, Morastell and Parellada or Montóneo vines, all of which are the offspring of a single vine of each type that my father had selected for 20 years from among the best on the Codorníu estate in San Sadurní de Noya. The first grape harvest: 6 baskets of grapes The day of the first grape harvest in Raymat was truly exciting, with only 6 baskets of grapes being harvested as a re- ward for so much effort. The elders of neighbouring villages confirmed that they had never seen grapes harvested from the barren Raymat land in their lives, although a centuries-old stone showing a hand and a bunch of grapes was found on the façade of the castle, suggesting that the land was once famous for its wines. A nyone who has had the chance to travel along the Lleida to Zaragoza railway line over the last fifteen years will have been able to observe the slow and gradual transformation of some vast, previously barren and deserted lands, with a solitary castle –almost demolished by the years and lack of care– becoming over time a model farm. Over time, it has become a model example of farming, which contains such a variety of crops, cereals, vineyards and forestry in its 32 square kilometres, that it is today considered one of the first experimental farms in Europe. Two decades ago (towards the end of 1900), the Raymat lands were known only to a few hunters whose hobby was shown grace by the great stepped plains and the shepherds of the region who must have been passing through with their herds in search of a more hospitable country for their cattle where the pastures were lacking. The guards who lived in the castle only took care of sowing a little land when it rained, quite a rarity in that land with nary a tree on the horizon. Such was the prospect of life in Raymat then, and no one ventured alone through its labyrinthine mountain ranges and featureless plains. My father, Manuel Raventós, repopulated the Raymat mountain in 1914. My dear and unforgettable father, Manuel Raventós Domènech, former director of the School of Agriculture of the Mancommunity of Catalonia, acquired the estate and, during the years of First World War, undertook the noble task of repopulating the Raymat mountain and the surrounding lands with engineers under his command. It is almost impos- sible to enumerate the setbacks and difficulties caused by such a laudable purpose – not only morally – but also due to the unforeseen factors that wiped out all the efforts devoted to transforming of those wastelands. The terrible state of the roads at that time and the lack of coal caused by the war, meaning trains arrived 8 and 10 hours late, were a major obstacle for my father, who, in addition to the projects to be developed on the recently acquired estate, had to manage the Codorníu company in San Sadurní de Noya. Shortly afterwards, he left the company in the care of my brother Manuel (Raventós Fatjó) to devote himself fully to the transformation of Raymat. Evolving from a desert to a farming colony: salt, rabbits and caterpillars My father began by laying out acequias (irrigation ditches); digging machines dragged by 32 mules opened the ditches and more than 100 km of them were made, each one and a half metres deep, with their corresponding embankments, aqueducts and pumps. 75 hectares of poplars were planted, most of which died due to salt, the deadly plague of the lands of the Aragon and Catalonia Canal, destroying their roots. They were planted again the following year and on a larger area, with the land well-prepared, and the soil was broken up by a winch that ploughed 5,000 to 8,000 m2 in a long day's work. It could almost be said that efforts and energy were wasted because, although more than 100 kilo- metres of drains were made to combat the brackish water, nobody considered it could be the rabbits, destroyers of the bark and trunks, and the caterpillars, known in French as "Chenille du Sphinx", who ate the leaves and tender branches and caused the disaster. Brigades of men with shotguns and dogs put an end to the former, but no humane means were considered to combat the latter, until flocks of crows, after a fewyears, ate the caterpillars; a beneficial visit made by these birds every season to the benefit of these plantations.  Jesús Raventós Fatjó