88 SIBKIUA. 



liiiid siiirer Iroiii a lack nf niftadows or from an abseiK-u ol troes; otlicrs, on iIil- <uiiiiary, 

 present an unbroken dense forest or are cxci'eilinf,'ly rich in meadows and pastures, but little 

 suited to af,Tieiiltiiial indiisny. It is evident then thai all these and similar distinctions 

 could not fail to he lellccted in tin; forms of land tiMUire. These forms in Siberia exhibit 

 an nninteriiii)leil series, allowing the observation of tlie development of land usufruct under 

 the inllnence of the increasing density of the population. Under such circurastauces the liigh 

 interest all'orded liy tlie investigation of Siberian institutions, that living spray from the 

 history of the j)riniitive forms of land enjoyment, is perfectly intelligible. Here of course 

 it is impossible! to refer to these institutions otherwise than in the most gentiral terms, to 

 characterize the most important types of the use of land, corresponding to the principal 

 stages through which the people of the country are gi-adually passing. 



In loralitiivs eomparatively recently and very sparsely settled, mainly in Eastern Si- 

 beria and on llie Anionr, there predominates a form of land use which externally presents 

 much resemblance to homestead, personal land tenure. The commune here has not yet had 

 time to form, or if it exists, has no need to show its power. There is so much land that 

 each may plough, mow, put under garden or hedge in as pasture lands, any space he likes, 

 without incommoding any one else thereby. As a result of such enclosures, zaimka, or 

 farmsteads are formed. Each peasant, even if he have a home in the village, builds 

 liimself structures in the field or forest wherein he lives in the summer and sometimes 

 all the year round, all the land surrounding such a building becoming his zaimka, 

 his sole property, where he alone plouglis, mows and pastures his cattle. Zaimka, in the 

 sense of actual land enjoyment, is moreover perfectly possible without any buildings. The 

 rights of the owner to the zaimka are almost unlimited. He owns within its bounds not 

 only the land, which he is actually tilling at a given time, but that which lies waste and 

 no one has the right to molest him thereon. Such land passes by inheritance, may be 

 sold and leased, although the right in consequence of the abundance of free lands has rarely 

 an opportunity of being realized. No one interferes with the occupant in his acts or dispo- 

 sitions referring to his land. The extent of the zaimka depends exclusively upon the 

 degree of prosperity of each given owner. The zaimka of a rich man embraces 500 to 

 1,(X)0 or more dessiatines, the average owner occupies 50 to 60 dessiatines, and a poor 

 peasant, 5 to 10 dessiatines; the poor man caiuiot have any grudge against the rich man, 

 as no one prevents him from seizing 1,000 dessiatines or more of the free land, if he wishes. 



However there comes a time when there are no more free lands left, at any rate of 

 good (juality. Every convenient plat of ground has entered into the general total of the 

 zaimka s, but nevertheless the growing population and immigrants require land for their 

 use as well. Then the occupation form loses its r a i s o n d'e t r e, and gradually a new 

 form, the v o 1 n a i a or, free form of land usufruct is introduced. The essence of this form, 

 observed principally in the governments of Tomsk and Tobolsk, consists in this, that everyone 

 has the right only to that land into which he puts his labour, and only so long as he con- 

 tinues to till it. The peasant owns arable land so long as he ploughs it and sows it, but the 

 moment he leaves it to rest, the land becomes free and the first comer may occupy and 

 plough it afresh. Upon meadow lands the grass wliicli has grown without individual labour 



