RUSSIA. 



787 



over tbe northern, although they are not of such 

 a striking nature as to demand a separation ; it 

 may even be said these advantages are more than 

 counterbalanced by other unpropitious circum- 

 stances, which concur to depress agriculture, 

 especially in Baylo Rossia (White Russia.) The 

 difference between the western and eastern ex- 

 tremities of this region is very striking. The cli- 

 mate of Moscow may be called the medium, or 

 real Russian climate, and is exceedingly favourable 

 for all agricultural pursuits. Towards Siberia the 

 seasons are much more inclement ; while to the 

 westward, beyond the Dneiper and Dwina, they 

 are so mild, that about Grodno and Baylostock 

 plums and pears grow in the open air. Under 

 favourable circumstances, and by means of gradual 

 naturalization to the climate, we meet with fruits 

 even in the northern part of this region, especially 

 apples ; but even they require great care, and 

 sometimes the trees are destroyed by the frost. 

 The provinces situated on the Baltic, besides oc- 

 cupying the extreme west, are favoured by the 

 vicinity of the sea ; their climate is therefore the 

 mildest of any in this region on similar degrees of 

 latitude. The European part, forming one immense 

 plain but little diversified by hills of any considera- 

 ble elevation ; the local difference of climate is not 

 considerable, and arises chiefly from the forests, 

 bogs, and the nature of the soil. Agriculture in 

 in this region is almost, without exception, con- 

 ducted on the most primitive and unimproved 

 plan, called the trekpolnia, or three-field system, 

 especially in the original Russian provinces, where 

 we scarcely meet with any examples of the im- 

 proved methods, except here and there by way of 

 trial, or as a kind of rural luxury on the part of 

 the proprietor ; while, in the Baltic provinces, con- 

 siderable progress has been made in introducing a 

 proper rotation of crops, and in general the 

 modern improvements in agriculture. The breed- 

 ing of cattle has likewise remained in its original 

 imperfect state, without any improvement, and 

 existing only as a kind of indispensable appendage 

 to husbandry. An improved system of forest 

 management is even more necessary than an im- 

 proved system of agriculture, although the latter 

 would doubtless greatly contribute to introduce 

 the former, for, under proper management, much 

 less meadow and arable land would be necessary to 

 produce a given quantity of corn and hay, and the 

 forests would no longer be destroyed merely for 

 the purpose of procuring a piece of fresh land. 

 The distinguishing feature of this region is vast 

 and convenient water communication, without 

 which the useful products of the inland districts 

 would scarcely find their way to any market ; by 

 their means the single article of tallow is ex- 

 ported to the amount of forty millions of roubles 

 annually. 



6. The Region of Wheat and Fruit. It must 

 not be inferred from this appellation that these 

 productions of the soil do not thrive in the last 

 mentioned region, but merely that they are much 

 more abundant here, and that the climate is more 

 genial to their growth. This region may be said 

 to extend to Yekaterinoslav, or to the 48th degree 

 of latitude. Several kinds of grain, as buckwheat, 

 millet, &c., are cultivated here with much greater 

 success than in the last described region. The 

 cultivation of tobacco, although it exhausts the 

 soil, is rapidly spreading, and will eventually 

 become a source of great profit. Hemp is also 



found to thrive better than in more northern situa- 

 tions, but the chief object of the agriculturist is 

 the breeding of cattle. Studs of horses and sheep- 

 farms exist here as separate establishments ; but 

 the breeding of horned cattle is generally connected 

 with husbandry, and on a much larger scale than 

 in the northern provinces. Bee-hives are also a 

 source of no small profit, especially to the peasants. 

 The abundance and cheapness of corn encourage 

 distillation. Spirit is thus the principal and almost 

 only article of fabrication. The greater part of 

 this region was colonized later than the preceding, 

 and the stability of its population in the southern 

 part can only be dated from the conquest of New 

 Russia and the Crimea. This country may be 

 called the granary of the empire, for it supplies 

 not only Petersburg and the army, but furnishes 

 the principal part of the raw productions (except 

 flax) for exportation. 



In consideration of the vast importance of this 

 region, we must extend our observations to several 

 points connected with its husbandry, namely, the 

 steppes, the population, the variations of the cli- 

 mate, the extent of the villages, and the general 

 method of cultivation. The steppes are peculiar to 

 eastern Europe and middle Asia ; and are altogether 

 distinct from the American savannahs, which, dur- 

 ing the tropical rains, are partially inundated. The 

 natural causes of the destitution of forest on the 

 steppes are, 1st, The hardness and tenacity of the 

 earth, which in many places is of such a nature as 

 to prevent the growth of trees without previous 

 digging and breaking up of the soil. 2d, The 

 black loam of which they consist is not favourable 

 to the growth of forest. 3d, The aridity of the 

 climate and the elevated situation of the steppes, 

 which latter circumstance probably occasions the 

 growth of a number of dwarf fruits, especially 

 apples, which are found on bushes no higher than 

 the grass. 4th, The predominance of salt in many 

 parts is not only unfavourable to the growth of 

 trees and grass, but renders the soil unfit for agri- 

 cultural purposes. The accidental causes consist 

 in the destruction of the woods, of the former 

 existence of which there have been discovered in- 

 dubitable traces. Such destruction may be ac- 

 counted for by the nomadic habits of the former 

 inhabitants; by the burning of the steppes in dry 

 seasons, the destruction of the young trees by the 

 cattle, &c. This is the more probable, as, from a 

 very remote period, this country was the abode of 

 various tribes now extinct, who carried on an un- 

 ceasing predatory warfare against their more set- 

 tled agricultural neighbours. Forests once thor- 

 oughly destroyed seldom, if ever, flourish again 

 unless cultivated by the hand of man ; and the 

 country, thus left bare and exposed to every wind, 

 becomes arid, and the climate greatly deteriorated. 

 The steppes, in general, may be divided into the 

 grassy, the heathy, the saline, the sandy, and the 

 stony, not to notice the low grounds covered with 

 reeds. These steppes have considerable influence 

 on the population and husbandry of this sixth 

 region. If, on the one hand, they are favourable 

 to the breeding of cattle ; on the other, their desti- 

 tution of wood, the unfitness of the soil in many 

 parts for farming purposes, the variable nature of 

 the climate, the difficulty of preserving the corn- 

 fields from the inroads of the cattle, and, above all, 

 the scanty supply of water, all concur to retard 

 the adequate increase of the settled population, 

 and to give rise to a wretched method of culture 

 3o2 



