66 RUSSIA THEN AND NOW 



in the fields a most miserable prospect for the 

 approaching crop of grain. Cattle were very few, 

 but here and there I saw some thin, half-starved 

 cows rooting in the ground, literally "rooting,' 

 for only roots were to be found to eat as a result of 

 all their labour and pains. Many cottages had been 

 dismantled by the horses eating the straw from 

 the roofs. From all of this I was quite prepared 

 to hear as I did through letters from Russia, that 

 the crops well-nigh failed again and that the 

 destitution of the peasant was as great as ever. 



We stopped for the night in Orlovka, at the resi- 

 dence of Mr. PizarefT, who, as Chairman of the 

 Red Cross Association for his district, was actively 

 engaged with his wife in every branch of the relief 

 work. 



