4G4: 



EUâSIA IN EUROPE. 



becomes a village, with exclusive communal right to the currounding district. 

 The mir, or commune, thus consists of all the village peasantry, and while freely 

 administered; it is still responsible for the well-being of each of its members. All 

 capable of work receive a share of the land, though the forests often, and the 

 pastures nearlv always, remain unallotted. The house, the ground on which it 



Fio;. 249. — Progress of the Chief Russian Industuies, exclusive of Polam), from 1855 to 1874. 



Cotton. 



Beet-root Sugar. 

 Castings. 



->.o..-.— — .. Leather. 



— — "• — - Machinery. 



stands, and the adjoining gardeti plot are private property ; but until the owner 

 has redeemed his share of the land he belongs to the commune, and can sell his 

 house and garden only with its consent. Theoretically the distribution is made 

 according to the number of male adults in each family, and, as the Innd is also 

 taxed according to the male population, a fresh division is required after every 

 census. But the disturbances created by deaths, births, migration, necessitate 



