igo6.] Wheat Cultivation in Russia. 



547 



acre, which, with an entire average yield of 8 to 9 bushels, is not 

 a small difference. The winter yield shows a difference of 3 

 bushels, which is an evident result of the fact that the private 

 estate owners manure their winter fields, while the peasants often 

 do not. The bulk of the area is, however, in spring wheat, and 

 in some of the provinces the average yield on the peasant land 

 is extraordinarily low ; for instance in the Middle and Lower 

 Volga regions the average for nine years was scarcely higher 

 than 6i bushels, and this notwithstanding three very good crops 

 in the period ; twice it fell below 5 bushels. Even in New 

 Russia, where the great extension of area has taken place, the 

 yield which the peasants secured four years out of the nine was 

 between 5 and 9 bushels. 



While the influence of climatic conditions cannot be 

 altogether denied, yet it is generally acknowledged that, aside 

 from occasional total failures of crops, the low average yield is 

 caused by the primitive Russian agricultural methods. Improve- 

 ments in this direction would therefore be likely to produce a 

 marked development in the yield. 



Rotation of Crops. — The three-field system is the most 

 prevalent system of agriculture in Russia, and almost univer- 

 sally so in the centre of the wheat-belt. Under it, the land is 

 planted with a winter crop, generally rye, one year, a spring 

 crop during the next year, and lies fallow during the third. 

 Improved systems of crop rotations and new crops have been 

 introduced on the large estates, but on the communal lands 

 individual members are obliged to conform to the system 

 of agriculture followed by the entire community. This 

 is one of the main reasons why the transition to better 

 systems of agriculture has been practically limited to those 

 parts where household or private ownership is met with. 

 Thus peasant agriculture is most advanced in Poltava, 

 where household ownership is much more widespread than 

 the commune. 



Machinery. — Insufficiency of proper agricultural machinery is 

 one of the most observable features of Russian agriculture. 

 Even the modern plough is still a luxury in many parts, while 

 drills, harvesters, threshers, &c,, are comparatively but little 

 known. The imports and the manufacture of implements of all 



X X 2 



