SIDE ARMS AND CUTLERY. 



161 



production of which is about 18,000 sickles and 35,000 scythes, and finally, Sonne- 

 ken's manufactory in Riga also claim attention. 



The household industry of the manufacturing of scythes is mostly developed in 

 the village Kharitonovo in the Shouisk district of the Vladimir government; its pro- 

 duction amounted formerly to 60,000 pieces yearly, but has greatly decreased of late. 



The same can be said of the household production of sickles in the Pavlovo 

 region. It should be noticed that besides the manufactory of Mossiaghin a great 

 quantity of scythes and sickles is produced in Ostashkov, government of Tver, at the 

 smithies of the town inhabitants, and that this industry is widely spread among the 

 peasants of many governments, especially in Viatka, Perm and Yaroslav, and in Fin- 

 land as well. 



The scythe made by the peasants has an iron body with a steel edge welded 

 thereto, which in the best implements covers half the width of the blade. The scythes 

 manufactured at Kharitonovo, when from 8 to 11 vershocks in length, are sold 

 at 25 to 35 roubles per hundred, when from 11 to 13 vershocks in length, at 40 to 

 50 roubles per hundred. Fi'om the given data it can be stated that the home pro- 

 duction of scythes and sickles in Russia reaches the sum of 250,000 to 300,000 rou- 

 bles per annum, while the import of these instruments greatly exceeds this sum. 



The import of various hand implements, the surgical excluded, as well as that 

 of scythes and sickles for the years 1886 to 1892 is shown in the annexed table. 

 It should be noticed that according to the classification of the Russian tariff in the 

 column of scythes and sickles, sheep shears, spades, rakes, pitchforks and other im- 

 plements of the kind for field and earth work, are included. Although these articles, 

 sheep shears excluded, are brought from abroad in no considerable quantities, never- 

 theless the amount of the import given in the table, if refeiTing only to scythes, 

 sickles and sheep shears, should be lessened about 15 per cent for the years when 

 the crop is good, and 20 per cent when it is bad. 



The greatest part of the instruments imported comes from Germany ; England 

 takes the second place, while scythes and sickles are mostly imported from Austria, 

 chiefly from Styria, England furnishing very few, and in general less scythes than 

 sickles. The export of various instruments, as well as of scythes and sickles, from 



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