Kalinderu largely owed his ascent into prominent positions to his work at the crown domains and his influence with Carol I. However, his activity in agricultural and social improvement earned him respect.
As early as 1898, Angelo de Gubernatis referred to his "powerful and positive work", calling Kalinderu "one of the most noble figures in today's Romania".
Another visitor, André Bellessort, joked that the perpetually youthful "Mr. Kalindero" resembled "a rustic god", a patron of the farmers with "nitrogen eyes".
Kalinderu's contributions to agricultural science and his activism, covered in a 1903 monograph by the agrarianist Vasile Kogălniceanu, were praised by the sociologists: Dimitrie Drăghicescu saw them as marked by an "entrepreneurial spirit, unrelenting in its activity"; Nicolae Mihăescu-Nigrim called Kalinderu "one of the country's most eminent economists" and an "indefatigable administrator".
As chemist Amuliu Proca notes, Kalinderu turned the domains into an "institution for defeating poverty, a factor in educating and culturally improving the villages".
It "set an example of what may be accomplished, in a short while, by a country that was taking major steps in her development."

As summarized by the official press of his time, he "put all his efforts into directing peasants toward the cottage industry", created "home economics classes and adult education courses", and "was the first to speak" at educational conferences.
He established a dairy factory, as well as shops for weavers, ropemakers, wainwrights and woodturners, and showcased their products at the 1900 World's Fair.
Following Julius Kühn, Kalinderu insisted that the precondition of a "rational economy" was good livestock, so he inaugurated a freely accessible breeding program, also providing tenants with cultivars, or with beekeeping and sericulture implements.
He also reintroduced reforestation and forest farming where bad practices had affected the environment.
Kalinderu held the notion that the Romanian peasant was miserable for being illiterate, and that "all it takes is a set of favorable circumstances for him to display [his] talents".
The efforts to educate his tenants were conjugated with those of Steaua's Haret, by then National Liberal Minister of Education, providing young students with work experience and physical culture, as well as inculcating in them a patriotic awareness.
A significant portion of his time was spent on teaching peasants to diversify their diet, including providing hired hands with daily rations of vegetables, meat and milk.
This helped to prevent outbursts of pellagra.

In 1901, agronomist Constantin Sandu-Aldea acknowledged that there was a stark difference between "the mass of cultivators, who fall behind progress", and those living and working on crown lands.
As he noted, the "intelligent and energetic" Kalinderu was managing his estate and his tenants backed by "all scientific data in modern agriculture."
Modeling his effort on the Austrian colonization of Bosnia, Kalinderu financed research projects for his employees, sending many of them to study in Austria-Hungary.
On crown estates, management was divided between networks of forestry engineers, agricultural engineers, and accountants, who decided working hours and met budgetary requirements; workers received social security, including disability insurance.
These and other contracts excluded drunkards and unmarried couples, with a view to promoting a stringent moral code.
However, his attempts to uproot alcoholism and promote personal hygiene had mixed results, according to the left-wing Mihail Sadoveanu, who noted, sarcastically, "true enough, these days taverns have been replaced by bathhouses and libraries."
Likewise, a 1901 project to set up rural theaters was derided and parodied by Ion Luca Caragiale, in Moftul Român.
Reportedly, his order to build model libraries on the domains was actively sabotaged by the local curators, who would not allow peasants to consult them, or even to set foot in the buildings.

Kalinderu took over his father's seat at Creditul Ru
Kalinderu largely owed his ascent into prominent positions to his work at the crown domains and his influence with Carol I. However, his activity in agricultural and social improvement earned him respect. As early as 1898, Angelo de Gubernatis referred to his "powerful and positive work", calling Kalinderu "one of the most noble figures in today's Romania". Another visitor, André Bellessort, joked that the perpetually youthful "Mr. Kalindero" resembled "a rustic god", a patron of the farmers with "nitrogen eyes". Kalinderu's contributions to agricultural science and his activism, covered in a 1903 monograph by the agrarianist Vasile Kogălniceanu, were praised by the sociologists: Dimitrie Drăghicescu saw them as marked by an "entrepreneurial spirit, unrelenting in its activity"; Nicolae Mihăescu-Nigrim called Kalinderu "one of the country's most eminent economists" and an "indefatigable administrator". As chemist Amuliu Proca notes, Kalinderu turned the domains into an "institution for defeating poverty, a factor in educating and culturally improving the villages". It "set an example of what may be accomplished, in a short while, by a country that was taking major steps in her development."
As summarized by the official press of his time, he "put all his efforts into directing peasants toward the cottage industry", created "home economics classes and adult education courses", and "was the first to speak" at educational conferences. He established a dairy factory, as well as shops for weavers, ropemakers, wainwrights and woodturners, and showcased their products at the 1900 World's Fair. Following Julius Kühn, Kalinderu insisted that the precondition of a "rational economy" was good livestock, so he inaugurated a freely accessible breeding program, also providing tenants with cultivars, or with beekeeping and sericulture implements. He also reintroduced reforestation and forest farming where bad practices had affected the environment. Kalinderu held the notion that the Romanian peasant was miserable for being illiterate, and that "all it takes is a set of favorable circumstances for him to display [his] talents". The efforts to educate his tenants were conjugated with those of Steaua's Haret, by then National Liberal Minister of Education, providing young students with work experience and physical culture, as well as inculcating in them a patriotic awareness. A significant portion of his time was spent on teaching peasants to diversify their diet, including providing hired hands with daily rations of vegetables, meat and milk. This helped to prevent outbursts of pellagra.
In 1901, agronomist Constantin Sandu-Aldea acknowledged that there was a stark difference between "the mass of cultivators, who fall behind progress", and those living and working on crown lands. As he noted, the "intelligent and energetic" Kalinderu was managing his estate and his tenants backed by "all scientific data in modern agriculture." Modeling his effort on the Austrian colonization of Bosnia, Kalinderu financed research projects for his employees, sending many of them to study in Austria-Hungary. On crown estates, management was divided between networks of forestry engineers, agricultural engineers, and accountants, who decided working hours and met budgetary requirements; workers received social security, including disability insurance. These and other contracts excluded drunkards and unmarried couples, with a view to promoting a stringent moral code. However, his attempts to uproot alcoholism and promote personal hygiene had mixed results, according to the left-wing Mihail Sadoveanu, who noted, sarcastically, "true enough, these days taverns have been replaced by bathhouses and libraries." Likewise, a 1901 project to set up rural theaters was derided and parodied by Ion Luca Caragiale, in Moftul Român. Reportedly, his order to build model libraries on the domains was actively sabotaged by the local curators, who would not allow peasants to consult them, or even to set foot in the buildings.
Kalinderu took over his father's seat at Creditul Ru
Ioan Kalinderu