Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN RUSSIA. 



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652. The soil of Russia is almost every where a soft black mould of great depth, and 

 generally on a sandy bottom. In some places it inclines to sand or gravel ; in many it 

 is peaty or boggy from not being drained; but only in Livonia and some parts of Lithu- 

 ania was it inclined to clay, and no where to chalk. The most fertile provinces are 

 those of Vladimir and Riazane east of Moscow, and the whole country of the Ukraine on 

 the Black Sea, and of the Cossacks on the Don. In Vladimir thirty fold is often produced, 

 and still more in Riazane. In many parts of the Ukraine no manure is used ; the 

 straw is burned ; successive crops of wheat are taken from the same soil, and after a 

 single ploughing each time, the stalks are so tall and thick that they resemble reeds, 

 and the leaves are like those of Indian corn. 



653. Landed property in Russia is almost every where in large tracts, and is either 

 the property of the emperor, the religious or civil corporations, or the nobles. There 

 are a few free natives who have purchased their liberty, and some foreigners, especially 

 Germans, who have landed estates, but these are comparatively of no account. In the 

 Ukraine, within the last thirty years, have been introduced on the government estates a 

 number of foreigners from most countries of Europe, who may be considered as pro- 

 prietors. These occupy the lands on leases of a hundred years or upwards, at little or no 

 rent, on condition of peopling and cultivating them and residing there. In the country 

 parts of Russia, there is no middle class between the nobles, including the priests, and 

 the slaves. Estates are therefore either cultivated directly by the proprietors acting as 

 their own stewards ; indirectly by letting them to agents or factors, as in Poland and Ire- 

 land, or by dividing them in small portions among the peasantry. In general the pro- 

 prietor is his own agent and farmer for a great part of his estate ; and the rest he lets to his 

 slaves at certain rates of labor, corn, personal services, and sometimes a little money. These 

 slaves, it is to be observed, are as much his property as the soil ; and in seasons of scarcity 

 or in the event of any disaster, the lord is bound to provide them, and indeed deeply 

 interested in doing so, in order at least to maintain the population, and if possible to 

 obtain a surplus for sale, or for letting out to the towns. As in Poland the lands are 

 <every where unenclosed. 



654. The farmeries attached to the houses of noblemen and the cottages of the paysants 

 resemble those of Poland. They are almost every where constructed of timber ; the 

 stove and its chimney being the only part built of brick or of mud and stones. The 

 noblemen generally reside on their estates, and their houses are surrounded by the village 

 which contains their peasants. These villages (fig. 80.) are in general dull and miserable 



80 



assemblages of log-houses all of one size and shape, with a small wooden church. 

 The mansions of the poorer kind are merely cottages on a larger scale, with two apart- 

 ments ; one used for all the purposes of the kitchen and other domestic offices, and the 

 other for all the purposes of the family living rooms. The more wealthy nobles have 

 wooden or brick houses stuccoed, or mudded and white washed. One nobleman in 

 the neighborhood of Moscow has a British steward, who has drained, enclosed, and greatly 

 improved his estate, and has built some farmeries (fig, 81.), which might be mistaken 

 for those of another country. 



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