I7 6 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



having few requirements and knowing nothing of luxury, they 

 naturally made agriculture subservient to the enjoyment of their 

 freedom. Withheld from all knowledge of progress and pur- 

 posely kept ignorant, they were scarcely able to bear the burden 

 of their own existence, let alone fight for betterment. Conse- 

 quently, it cannot be said that the hopes of the pioneers of 1861 

 have been realised. The onus of failure must rest with the 

 clergy and the bureaucracy ; had it not been for the ignorance 

 and arrogance of a host of subordinate officials, the peasantry 

 would long since have been in a better condition ; as it is, they 

 remain a sad monument of the past — crushed and kept crushed. 



As a class they are careless and lazy, accepting defeat by any 

 difficulty with a sigh of relief. Circumstances of government 

 and conditions of climate have moulded them a listless people, 

 whose annual office it is merely to scratch over the ground, sow 

 seed and invoke the aid of the Almighty to afford them sufficient 

 supplies to tide them over from harvest to harvest. 



Such are the majority of Russian agriculturists but a minority 

 are lifting themselves and among these the pessimism and apathy 

 that have so long prevailed are giving place to a spirit of hopeful 

 enterprise. Signs are not wanting, in fact, that Eastern languor 

 is departing before the encroaching influence of Western ideas. 

 In some districts, more especially in the south and south-eastern 

 provinces, agriculture has been raised to quite a high level, the 

 people being-no longer satisfied to supply only the bare neces- 

 saries of their own household or the requirements of the village 

 community; but on the whole, the standard of agriculture is 

 still very flow, only about ten or tw T elve per cent, of peasant 

 farmers being able to afford to sell part of their produce. 



The Russian Empire is so vast in extent and includes so 

 many varieties of soil and extremes of climate that to generalise 

 further would be to create a false impression. It is, however, 

 necessary to realise how great are the undeveloped agricultural 

 resources of the country and these forewords may assist readers 

 to view things Russian in their proper perspective. 



In the north of Russia, forest extends for hundreds of miles 

 with scarcely 5 any interruption and it is said that the greater 

 part of ithe xegion has not been explored by civilised man. 

 Winter^continues through nearly eight months of the year, so 

 that it is doubtful whether any attempt will be made to carry on 

 farming operations against such heavy odds. To the south of 



