(° 29 ) 
examine the tasiruments employed, the succession of, 
crops, and the condition of laborers. ‘Tried by these 
testsy the agriculture of Russia will be found to be 
in/aistate of great degradation. . The plough (called. 
soka) which is commonly used, is very light, of sim- 
ple construction, and but calculated to enter the 
ground one inch and a half; the harrow consists of 
one or more young pine trees (whose branches are 
cut off about eight inches from the stem) steeped in 
water toadd to their weight, and tied together. With 
such miserable instruments, each drawn by a single 
horse, the farmer scratches the ground, and without 
always covering the seed, which is no noubt the 
reason ithat in dry seasons their harvests are very 
bad. (1) In the best soil their succession of crops is 
of -eght years—two in barley, two in oats, two in 
winter rye, and two in spring rye. Lands of less 
fertility are sown ivo years out of three, and moun- 
tainous tracts one year in three, when they are 
abandoned to weeds, until rest shall have reinstated 
them. To manure them would, in the opinion of 
a Russian peasant, make them poorer ;(2) and 
therefore he suffers his dung bill 10 accumulate in- 
to a nuisance, while he goes on to clear and ex- 
haust new fields.’ “The grains raised are rye, 
spelts, barley, millet. and oats, which, from want of 
sufficient roads.and markets, are often low priced; 
as are horned cattle and horses: an ox selling for 
airouble and a half, a cow for one rouble, and a 
(1) Pallas, pages 3 and 4, vol. i, 
(2) Idem. vol, v. p. 60, 
