A typical plot of land had the area of under 20 hectares, but soldiers with a university diploma could in theory receive up to 45 hectares free of charge, ll to create the so-called "exemplary farms". In reality, however, there were more applicants than free land and even the recipients of the Virtuti Militari medal had to pay for their plots. Although the government promised help to the settlers, most of them received little but the land itself. Some regiments in which the soldiers had served provided them with forage and demobilized horses. The cost of the land itself was to be repaid by the settlers five years after the start of the programme, with the yearly rent set at 30–100 kg of rye per hectare.