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RU.^SIAN SOCIALIST FEDERAL- SOVIET REPUBLIC

THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE
IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA

THE RESTORATION OF
AGRICULTURE IN THE
FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA

BEING THE INTERIM REPORT OF THE
STATE ECONOMIC PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE COUNCIL FOR LABOUR AND
DEFENCE OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIALIST
FEDERAL SOVIET REPUBLIC

TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN

EDEN AND CEDAR PAUL

PUBLISHED FOR

THE INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF
THE RUSSIAN TRADE DELEGATION

THE LABOUR PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD.

6, TAVISTOCK SQUARE, LONDON

1922

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Foreword. By S. P. Sereda, President of the Section for
Rural Economy of the State Economic Planning
Commission ....... 9

The Characteristics of the Soil in the Area suffering
FROM Failure of the Crops in the Year 1921
By Professor V. N. Bushinsky

Introductory .
, Samara Province

Orenburg Province

Saratov Province

Uralsk Region

Turgai Region

Astrakhan Province

Stavropol Province

The Soils of the northern Provinces suffering from
Failure of the Crops in 1921

Vyatka Province

Kazan Province

Simbirsk Province .

Ufa Province ....

The Agricultural Characteristics of the South East
and the Extent of the Failure of the Crops
By J. V. Blyaher

Introduction ....

General Characteristics

Characteristics of the two Sub-Areas

The Extent of Agricultural Activity and the Diminution
of sown Areas ....

Draught Beasts and Farming Implements

Relative Proportions of sown Crops .

The total Amount of the Grain Harvest and the Extent
of the Suffering resulting from the Failure of the
Crops ........

Vegetables ........

Grass Lands and the Supply of Farm Beasts with Fodder

The Future of Agriculture in the South East and
THE Methods of its Organisation. By Pro-
fessor N. Tulaikoff ......

The Need for transforming the Systems of Tillage and
Rural Economy ......

A Plan for the Transformation of Rural Economy
Measures requisite for effecting the Reorganisation of
Agriculture .......

15
16

17
17
19
20
21
23

23
23
23
24
24

25
26

28
29
30

32
33
34

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Probable Yield of the Crops when the Agricul-
ture OF the South East has been rationalised
By Professor V. N. Bushinsky .

Introduction .......

Probable Yield of the Crops in the South East .

Agrarian Reorganisation .....
Introduction .......

PAGE

The Tasks of agrarian Reorganisation

Benefits accruing to Agriculture from the Dispersal of

the closely aggregated Farmsteads
A Plan of agrarian Reorganisation for a brief (Five

Year) Period ......

Amount of Materials and Labour annually required for

the ReaUsation of this Plan
Conclusion .......

Soviet Farms in the South-Eastern Area.
Turchaninofi

By N. V.

Number

General Condition .

Farming Implements and

Sowings .

Technical Equipment

Live Stock

60
61

65
65

68
73

74
75
75
76
76

The necessary Improvements in the South East. By
Professor A. N. Kostyakoff

Climatic Conditions of the South East : Water Supply
Improvements in the Water Supply .
Improvements in the agricultural Conditions of the Area
Scale of the Work ......

Material and technical Requirements
Arrangement of the Work ....

77
77
79
83
85
86

Irrigation Works for the South East in the Basins of
the Great Uzen, the Little Uzen, and the
Kushum. By Professor R. P. Sparro

Basins, Rainfall, and Soil
Agricultural Conditions in the Basins
Irrigation Works ....
Prospects .....

Estimated Cost ....
The Order of the Work

Improvement Schemes in the Volga Delta and in the
Alluvial Strip of the Volga and the Akhtuba.
By Civil Engineer B. H. Shlegel ....

The Delta and the alluvial Strip ....

An Oasis of Horticulture .....'.
Surveys ........ |

89
89
90
93
94
94

95
95
97

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Electrification in the South East. By Civil Engineer
A. V. Vinogradofi

PreliminEiry Considerations ....

The Need for mechanical Energy
The general Need for electrical Energy in Industry
The technical Conditions of Electrification .
Shale as Fuel .......

The Power Stations and their Distribution
Wind-Power .......

PACB

99
99

lOO
lOI
102
102
103
104

Electric Power Stations in the Volga Valley.
Professor K. A. Krug ....

Sizran. Station ......

Saratov Station ......

The Svyaga hydro-electric Station .

Vegetable Gardening and its Possibilities,
fessor P. G. Shitt

Areas ....

Suburban Vegetable Gardens

Rural Vegetable Gardens .

Area needed .

Live Stock and Farming Implements

By Pro-

Agricultural Machinery
V. G. Gan

Ploughs .
Tractors

Harvesting Machines
Additional Requirements
Financial Outlay

required

By Professor

106

106
107

109

no
no
III
III
112

118

118
120
121
121
122

The Production and Export of Hides in the South
East ; the Restoration of Stock-Raising in
that Area. By Professor G. Povarnin . . 124

General Considerations . . . . . ,124

The Restoration of Stock-Raising . . . -125

Conclusions ........ 129

The Fisheries of the South East.

General Characteristics
The Astrakhan Area
Uralsk and other Areas .
Conclusions ....

Professor A. Meisner

The Home Industries of the South East

Area ....

Home Industry

Woodwork .

Metal Work .

Clay, Stone, and Slate Work

Work upon Animal Products

130

130
130
132
132

133

133
133
133
135
135
135

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Home Industries of the South East — contd.

Spinning, Weaving, Fulling, Hosiery, Tailoring, and

Rope making ....
Condition of Home Industries .
Productivity at the present Time
Importance of increasing Productivity

PAGE

Railway Construction
Waterworks .
Home Industries
Local Undertakings

136

137
138
138

The local Shale Beds and their Exploitation. By

Professor I. I. Gubkin I39

Local Distribution of the Shale Beds . . . -139

Simbirsk Area . . . . • ■ -139

Sisran Area ......•• 140

Transvolgian Shale Beds of Samara and the Obshchi

Syrt 140

The Possibilities of utilising the Volga bituminous

Shales . . , 141

Public Works in the Famine Area . . . .142

The Area in which public Works must be undertaken . 142
Timber Work ........ 142

Land Improvement Schemes . . . . .142

Preparation of Building Materials . . . .142

Public Buildings
Road Repair

Appendix I. — List of Experimental Institutions in
THE South East .......

Supplementary Notes by the Translators :

1. Methods of Irrigation in Russia

2. Russian Weights and Measures

143
143
143
143
143
143

Sketch of the Industries of the South East. By

P. Kolokolnikofi . . . . . -147

General Survey . . . . . , .147

Industries concerned in elaborating the Products of

Agriculture . . . . . . .150

155

Appendix II. — Items relating to the Surplus and the

Deficit, respectively, of the chief Products . 1=7

165
167

FOREWORD

The agriculture of south-eastern Russia, affected
during the current year by a failure of the crops unpre-
cedented in its severity, has received a staggering blow.
The extent of the crisis and its extraordinary acuteness
are partly due to the drought of this year, but are partly
dependent upon social and economic conditions. The
south-eastern area is a typically arid one. It contains
a vast extent of cultivable land. Good harvests in
favourable years, and a vigorous demand for cereals
(especially for wheat), have, in conjunction with the
foregoing circumstances, promoted the development of
an unstable system of peasant agriculture, of the extensive
type, and characterised by an extremely low level of
agricultural technique.

Wheat is here the main crop (55 per cent.). In the
region of the steppes this harvest is dependent upon the
rainfall of two months — May and June. The uninter-
mittent succession of wheat crops has exhausted the soil,
and has led to so terrible a contamination of the peasant
sowings that the 3aeld has been reduced from a possible
92 per cent, to 46 per cent.^ The conditions under which
the land is exploited are extremely unfavourable to the
progress of agriculture. The villages in the Volga region
are excessively large, or rather, such large villages form
70 per cent, of the total. As a result, many of the fields
are a long way from the villages, sometimes ten miles or
more. There have been frequent redistributions of land
among the peasants, and these redistributions have caused
economic instabihty in the utilisation of the soil, with all
that this instabihty entails. The lack of the most
elementary improvements in agrarian technique, and the
lack of any organised assistance to the agricultural
population, have Mkewise influenced the general economic
level of the area. Such have been the leading features
and conditions of peasant farming in the arid South East.

* S. Bazhanoff, Observations on contaminated Vegetation, made in
the Year 1913 in the Buzuluk experimental Field and in its Neigh-
bourhood (Samara Province) .

10 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

After the revolution, the farming of the South East
deteriorated even more. Gravely affected by the world
war, it was then still more gravely injured by the civil
war and by the economic blockade of Russia. For a
considerable period, the South East was the arena of
fierce struggles between the Red Army and the eneniies
of the working population. Thereby peasant farming
was completely disorganised. The civil war continued
on other fronts, so that the peasants of the South East
were compelled to devote all their energies to the aid of
the Republic and the Red Army, and this led to a still
further diminution of the productive and victualling
resources of the South East. Finally, the discontinuance
of the importation of agricultural implements and
machinery which was a consequence of the blockade
rendered the restoration of peasant farming quite impos-
sible. The disrepair of farming implements and machinery
has now reached catastrophic proportions — 50 to 70 per
cent. Such have been the causes of a great decline in
the extent of land sown in the area now affected by the
failure of the crops, and such were the causes of the
reduction in the number of farm beasts. In 1921, as
compared with 1916, the area sown has been reduced to
37 per cent., the number of draught beasts to 46 per cent.,
and the number of cows to 30 per cent. The reduction
in the sown area was even greater than this in Lower-
Volga, which is ordinarily more productive.

Such was the condition of rural economy in the South
East when the terrible blow of the drought, with the
consequent famine, was superadded.

In the above-described natural conditions of the area,
and in the way in which its rural economy is organised,
we discern, not merely the essential causes of the present
distress, but also the essential preliminaries to the correct
formulation of one of the chief problems which has to be
solved in the economic hfe of our Repubhc, namely, the
restoration and the further development of the farming
and of the productive forces of the South East. The
Soviet Power cannot rest content with furnishing direct
relief to the hunger-stricken population. It would be
impossible to abandon the peasantry of this area, which
has been ruined by failure of the crops and by famine, to
the slow processes of a protracted restoration, without
any decisive and purposive economic aid from the State.
The economic life of the South East has been shaken
to its foundations, and the interests of the Republic

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA ii

imperatively demand that the restoration shall be as
speedy as possible. Nor is this all. The Republic must
perseveringly devote its energies to a difi&cult task, must
grapple with this problem of drought in a way that will
render impossible any recurrence of the misfortune from
which the provinces of Mid- Volga and Lower- Volga are
suffering at the present time.

The South East contains enormous natural resources.
If the problems above outlined are satisfactorily solved,
it will become a granary, not merely for the Republic, but
to a great extent also for the industrial regions of western
Europe. Furthermore, it will prove a valuable source
of other important products of husbandry and stock-
raising, and also of the fishing industry.

The amoimt of territory in which the crops have failed
extends (without including Uralsk province) to 56,400,000
desyatinas.^ Its population is 19,000,000, which com-
prises one-seventh of the population of the Republic.
The average annual export of grain from this area during
the years 1909-1913 amounted to 188,000,000 poods,
being 24 per cent, of the total Russian grain export ; and
65,000,000 poods of grain, or 35 per cent, of the surplus
grain production of the South East, went to the foreign
market. The importance of this area in the general
economic life of the country has led the State Economic
Planning Commission of the Council for Labour and Defence
of the R.S.F.S.R. to regard as matters of immediate
practical importance the restoration of agriculture in the
South East and the vigorous exploitation of the natural
resources of this part of Russia.

The first essentials are, to ascertain the causes of the
present trouble and to discover remedies. With this must
go hand in hand the, development of the rural economy of
the area, the encouragement of its agriculture in a manner
which shall be equally harmonious with the special needs
of the locahty and with the general economic interests of
the Republic. We must elaborate a comprehensive plan
of practical measures which will enable us to perform
these tasks and to promote a far-reaching development
of the productive forces of the South East. The State
Economic Planning Commission does not underestimate
the intricacy, the difficulty, and the responsible character
of the problems awaiting solution. AU the members of
the Commission are aware that these problems have to

1 See page 167, Russian Weights and Measures.

12 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

be formulated and solved in accordance with the interests
of the Republic and of the hard-working peasant farmers.

The subjoined symposium, the work of eminent
specialists, does not represent the entire scope of the pro-
posed undertakings. But the urgent needs of the moment
in conjunction with other practical considerations have
necessitated the pubUcation of the present brief sketch,
pending the time when the Section for Rural Economy
of the State Economic Planning Commission will have
been able to elaborate a finished general plan for the
restoration of the South East.

One of the items in the program of our studies has
been to ascertain the extent of the disaster affecting the
Mid- Volga and Lower- Volga regions, basing our conclu-
sions upon precise statistical data. Another has been,
to determine the physical and economic conditions of the
area and to estimate its productive resources. A third
has been, to decide upon the measures immediately
essential for the assistance of the famine-stricken popula-
tion, by the organisation of such works as are economically
expedient — ^these undertakings to form Hnks in a system
of measures for the restoration of the peasant economy
as a whole and for the protection of the working strength
of the rural population. In addition, the symposium
aims at emphasising the need for the rationalisation of
husbandry in conjunction with agricultural reorganisa-
tion and the inauguration of land-improvement schemes ;
at the demonstration of concrete technical undertakings ;
at formulating precise calculations as to the need for
rehabihtating the stock of agricultural implements and
machinery, farm beasts, technical instruments and
appliances, materials, etc. The basis of all these estimates
has been the consideration of what will be requisite to
restore the area of sown land to the proportions which
obtained in the year 1916. Data are furnished concerning
the possibihty of promoting horticulture, concerning the
industrial elaboration of the products of agriculture,
concerning the development of the fishing industry^
concerning the output of raw materials of animal origin,
concerning the working of the shale deposits, concerning
the development of home industry, etc.

None of the important problems of the Republic can
be solved except in conformity and in harmony with the
general scheme for the electrification of the R.S.F.S.R.
This scheme is the starting-point of aU the further economic
development of the country. Upon the basis of concrete

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 13

calculations and of a consideration of measures tha,t are
practically realisable, the report formulates a minimum
program for the electrification of the South East.

As far as possible, in connexion with the various
schemes, estimates as to cost have been incorporated,
worked out in gold roubles. This will give a clear idea
of the scope and hmits of the suggestions as to immediate
work for the restoration of economic stability to the South
East, with a view to the subsequent purposive encourage-
ment of the energies of the area.

Pressure of time and the urgent need for having the
subjoined report printed without delay, made it impossible
to include a number of studies by experts relating to such
subjects as road construction, stock-raising, various
branches of large-scale industry, etc. These gaps wiU be
fiUed by the subsequent pubUcation of another important
symposium which wiU be issued by the Section for Rural
Economy of the State Economic Planning Commission.

S. P. SEREDA.

President of the Section for Rural Economy of the
State Economic Planning Commission.

Moscow, September lotfa, 1921.

12 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

be formulated and solved in accordance with the interests
of the Republic and of the hard-working peasant farmers.

The subjoined symposium, the work of eminent
specialists, does not represent the entire scope of the pro-
posed undertakings. But the urgent needs of the moment
in conjunction with other practical considerations have
necessitated the pubhcation of the present brief sketch,
pending the time when the Section for Rural Economy
of the State Economic Planning Commission wiU have
been able to elaborate a finished general plan for the
restoration of the South East.

One of the items in the program of our studies has
been to ascertain the extent of the disaster affecting the
Mid-Volga and Lower- Volga regions, basing our conclu-
sions upon precise statistical data. Another has been,
to determine the physical and economic conditions of the
area and to estimate its productive resources. A third
has been, to decide upon the measures immediately
essential for the assistance of the famine-stricken popula-
tion, by the organisation of such works as are economically
expedient — these undertakings to form Unks in a system
of measures for the restoration of the peasant economy
as a whole and for the protection of the working strength
of the rural population. In addition, the symposium
aims at emphasising the need for the rationalisation of
husbandry in conjunction with agricultural reorganisa-
tion and the inauguration of land-improvement schemes ;
at the demonstration of concrete technical undertakings ;
at formulating precise calculations as to the need for
rehabilitating the stock of agricultural implements and
machinery, farm beasts, technical instruments and
appliances, materials, etc. The basis of aU these estimates
has been the consideration of what will be requisite to
restore the area of sown land to the proportions which
obtained in the year 1916. Data are furnished concerning
the possibihty of promoting horticulture, concerning the
industrial elaboration of the products of agriculture,
concerning the development of the fishing industry,
concerning the output of raw materials of animal origin,
concerning the working of the shale deposits, concerning
the development of home industry, etc.

None of the important problems of the Republic can
be solved except in conformity and in harmony with the
general scheme for the electrification of the R.S.F.S.R.
This scheme is the starting-point of all the further economic
development of the country. Upon the basis of concrete

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 13

calculations and of a consideration of measures that are
practically realisable, the report formulates a minimum
program for the electrification of the South East.

As far as possible, in connexion with the various
schemes, estimates as to cost have been incorporated,
worked out in gold roubles. This wiU give a clear idea
of the scope and hmits of the suggestions as to immediate
work for tiie restoration of economic stability to the South
East, with a view to the subsequent purposive encourage-
ment of the energies of the area.

Pressure of time and the urgent need for having the
subjoined report printed without delay, made it impossible
to include a number of studies by experts relating to such
subjects as road construction, stock-raising, various
branches of large-scale industry, etc. These gaps will be
filled by the subsequent pubUcation of another important
symposium which will be issued by the Section for Rural
Economy of the State Economic Planning Commission.

S. P. SEREDA.

President of the Section for Rural Economy of the
State Economic Planning Commission.

Moscow, September loth, 192 1.

i6 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

ever they are vital to the issue. This method of exposition
will enable us to grasp the peculiarities of each province
as regards soil and agricultural methods, and then to draw
up a general balance-sheet for the agriculture of Russia
as a whole and of the south-eastern area in particular.
Samara ^ considerable part of Samara province, together with

Province. ^^^ northern margins of south-eastern Russia, hes outside
the area of typically dry soils and barren steppes. Only
the southern margin of the province (formerly known as
Nikolayevsk county, but now renamed Pugachevsk)
belongs to the typical south-eastern region. The pre-
vaiUng type of soil in Samara province is that known as
black earth. The central clayey region of the black earth
occupies a premier place, and in virtue of its physical and
chemical qualities can be regarded as an extremely fertile
soil. Even when drought prevails, there is usually quite
a good harvest in most parts of the province. In this
respect the northern and eastern counties are the most
dependable. Here in patches we find the fertile soil of
the northern parts of south-eastern Russia — ^the so-called
t37pical black earth, the fat land noted for its strength and
rich in fertilising elements.

Into the northern parts of Samara there intrude strips
from the adjoining provinces, strips of the so-caUed dark-
grey forest steppes and grey wooded clay lands. These
require much less expenditure of manure, and less atten-
tion generally in the way of special agricultural measures,
such as the systematic import of artificial manures, or the
organisation of an elaborate system of rotation of crops.

In the western parts of the province, quite close to
Samara county, we find for the most part sandy varieties
of black earth — sandy black earth and black-earthy sand.
Though they resemble the dominant tj^e of clayey black
earth in their quaUties, these soils are distinctly inferior in
respect of fertility.

In the southern part of the province, beginning with the
coimty which used to be called Nikolayevsk and is now
known as Pugachevsk, and especially in the basin of the
Irgiz, we have akeady entered the region of the dry
steppes. Here we find varieties of chestnut-brown clays
and of the so-called chocolate (or southern) black earth.
In this county we find saline earths of various grades. In
reasonably moist seasons the sometime Nikolayevsk
county yields a fairly good crop of cereals, including a
certain amount of wheat.

We must note that alUiough throughout a considerable

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA

part of Samara province there prevails the black earth of
the meadow steppes, nevertheless the influence of the
south-eastern peculiarities of soil is plainly perceptible.
We note a dazzling character of the surface ; in places, a
rapid loss of the friability of the soil ; here and there a
partial caking ; and sometimes we note the appearance of
an efflorescence of salt, showing that the soil is strongly
sahne. Thus, although Samara province is one of the
most fertile and richest of the provinces, in its eastern and
especially in its south-eastern portions we enter the
precincts of the arid area, encountering the breath of the
desert with all its consequences. As far as Samara
province is concerned, in addition to general measures for
the improvement of agriculture, the essential requisites
would appear to be the introduction of plough cultivation
and of a system of rotation of crops — ^meadow land
alternating with a many-field system.

A considerable part of Orenburg province (in especial the Orenburg.
Orenburg and Orsk counties) belongs to the region of Province.
perennial drought with aU its consequences in the pro-
duction of dry and desert steppes. In this respect, the
province resembles the neighbouring provinces of Russia
in Europe and Russia in Asia. Apart from the extreme
dryness, the salient characteristics of the soil are the
prevalence of chestnut-brown clays and sands, but we
sometimes encounter light-brown clays and sands. The
soil of this province is fairly fertile, but it needs careful
handling, and the adoption of those measures which were
indicated above as appMcable to Samara. Salt deposits
of various kinds are found in Orenburg, including table
salt.

Saratov province exhibits numerous varieties of soil.

In the northern part of Kuznetsk county, in the forest
belt, we reach soils of the northern t5^e, grass-covered and
alkaline sands, quite different in respect of fertility from
the soils t37pical in south-eastern Russia. For this reason
Kuznetsk county must be excluded from consideration
when we are concerned with the soils of the dry and desert
steppes. Inasmuch, however, as this county belongs to
south-eastern Russia in respect of its geographical situa-
tion no less than of its administration, it must be provi-
sionally included, bearing in mind the characteristics of
the province. In dry seasons this county is less exposed
to vicissitudes in the harvest, partly, because the whole
harvest of the region is scanty, and partly because the
arable area is comparatively small. The region is inter-

Saratov
Province.

i8 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

mediate between the cultivated lands and the forest lands.
For the proper exploitation of the soil of this county, the
import of artificial manures is essential, in addition to the
organisation of plough culture and of a rotation of crops.

In the northern and western parts of the province we
find a whole series of counties belonging to the region of
the different kinds of black earth. These form an almost
continuous strip. Here are sandy black-earth soils and
black-earth sandy soils, interspersed with dark-grey
forest lands and grey wooded clays (Volsk, Khvalinsk, the
northern part of Petrovsk) ; the clayey black earths of
the Petrovsk, Serdobsk, Atkarsk, and Balashov counties.
Balashov county contains strips of a stronger and more
fertile black earth resembling the southern black earths.

In view of the character of the soil and in view of other
physical characteristics, the whole of the before-mentioned
region can be included in the typical South East. It has
of late been so included by many investigators, on the
ground of serious and fundamental considerations. Nature,
however, makes no leaps. In nature, things shade into
one another insensibly. Only, therefore, by the study of
various phenomena, only by very careful examination of
this strip of black-earthy soil bordered by areas where the
soil is typical of arid zones, can we grasp the full signi-
ficance of the pecuMarities of the black earths of Saratov.
Thus only are we enabled to differentiate the soil of this
province from that of the adjoining western and southern
provinces.

A great deal of what was said above regarding Samara
applies also to Saratov. In addition we have to note the
low fertihty of the black earth in Saratov province. Or
rather, we have to note that the yield of the soil here has
become stabihsed at a low level. The level is low because,
although the soil contains a fair quantity of fertihsing
elements (about 6—10 per cent.), its friabihty disappears
wholly or partly after a few years of persistent planting
with cereals. Nevertheless the growing of such crops is
esseiitial if the advantageous physical qualities of the
province are to be turned to good account.

The black-earth areas of Saratov province are subjected
to the influences characteristic of regions where drought
habitually prevails. We do not find in Saratov the
regular harvests which are met with in the more typical
black-earth regions. The questions which are of urgency
in the typical regions of the South East are pressing also
in Saratov province. I refer to the drought ; to the need

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 19

for increasing fertility by restoring the friability of the
soil ; to the need for putting large areas under grass for
many years in succession, and the need for plough culture
with rotation of crops. Here and there salt begins to
show itself in considerable quantities. For example, in
Balashov county, among the typical black earths we find
scattered areas oiE salt lands and salt marshes.

The remaining counties (Saratov, Kamishin, Novo-
uzensk and the sometime Tsaritsin) may be almost entirely
assigned to the typical region of the South East. Among
the soils of these regions we encounter : in the black-earth
region, weak black earths, black earths, pseudo-black
earths, and southern black earths (Saratov county and
part of Kamishin county) ; typical chestnut-brown soils
of the dry steppes, together with various clays and sands
(Novouaensk county) ; a whole series of salty varieties,
Ught-brown and brown clays, and parti-coloured soils
(Kamishin, Tsaritsin, and South Uzensk counties).

The whole of this area (especially Novouzensk county)
yields a fairly good harvest in favourable years ; but when
the rainfall is low and a dry period sets in, the yield rapidly
falls. Frequently, after two or three years of tillage, the
local soils are allowed to He fallow for several seasons in
order to restore their fertility. In severe droughts, the
whole of this belt, notwithstanding the richness of the
local soils in nutritive materials, suffers terribly.

All these considerations show that, with good will,
Saratov province might produce a more stable though
not very considerable harvest, if better systems of agricul-
ture were adopted. Nevertheless, the introduction of
up-to-date methods of tillage, pa3dng due account to the
local peculiarities of the land and guided by the experience
of the neighbouring black-earth regions, could not ensure
that there should be really stable harvests even in seasons
of average rainfall — ^to say nothing of the years of drought.

Among the measures essential for Saratov province,
and in part for the dry belt, must be mentioned the intro-
duction of plough culture, the organisation of a suitable
rotation of crops with drought-resisting varieties of grain,
and (no less essential) the systematic putting of land under
grass.

Uralsk region lies adjacent to Novouzensk county. Uralsk
Naturally, therefore, it shows itself to be a continuation Region.
of that county in respect of the physical conditions of the
sou. To an even greater degree it exhibits the specific
characters of the d^ soils and the desert steppes.

20 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

The northern part of the region consists of chestnut-
brown earth. For the most part it Hes within the area
of the Transvolgian watersheds. The remaining strip
of this, practically all that lies southward of the line from
Novouzensk to Uralsk, hes within the area of the desert
steppe. Here we find many varieties of soil : light-brown
clays ; typical brown soils ; innumerable transitions
from slightly saline to more saline soils — sahne earths,
salt marshes, salt ooze, etc.

In the south of Uralsk region we find sandy soils of
varying consistency and in various states of aggregation,
ranging from strongly aggregated brown sands to shifting
sandhills.

In this region there are numerous depressions and
lagoons, together with a considerable number of streams
without beginning or end, and chains of lakes with
characteristic springtime floods. This is a suitable area
for land-improvement schemes with the aid of various
irrigation works. In view, however, of the local pecuhari-
ties of the soil, and more particularly in view of the wide-
spread impregnation with salt, detailed study is requisite
before such measures can be instituted on a large scale.
As regards improvements in Uralsk region and Novouzensk
county, we have as yet few data, but there are possibilities
in the way of forming oases and of other improvements.

Generally speaking, down to the present time, the
entire Uralsk region (if we except isolated cultivated
oases) presents itself as t37pical desert steppe, refractory
to cultivation. Parts of the south and the east of this
region are continuous with the Transural desert areas of
Turgai and other regions.
Turgai Turgai region may be characterised as an area of dry

Region. ^nd partly desert steppe. Its soils are those appropriate

to the steppes. We find chestnut-brown and brown earths
with various transitional varieties ranging from weakly
saUne earth to different sorts of Ught-brown saUne earths,
salt marshes, salt ooze, intermittently flooded areas, etc.
It is typical steppe, and in parts quite unsuitable for
ploughing. Nevertheless, with an appropriate form of
tillage it is fertile, and competent to yield a stable and at
times a considerable harvest. In its productivity, much
of the land in Turgai is nowise inferior to the black-earth
region. For its fertiUty, however, Turgai will be depen-
dent : first, upon a seasonable water supply, either the
natural local rainfall which is not considerable, or upon
irrigation; secondly, upon the organisation of rotation

Province.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 21

of crops, of a many-field system alternating with putting
the land under grass.

Such districts as Uralsk and Turgai regions are capable
of producing enormous quantities of agricultural products
under suitable conditions, when their agriculture has been
organised in various ways and when farming has been
universally systematised. For the successful exploita-
tion of these regions, however, it is necessary that there
should be a careful study of the local physical conditions.
Further requisites are the introd action of skilled labour,
the organisation of weU-considered measures for wresthng
with the salt lands, and the widespread adoption of
scientific agricultural technique.

On the whole it may be said that these vast areas of
dry and desert steppe, suitably exploited, offer extensive
prospects to agriculture. In fact, they are regions with
immense agricultural possibilities.

The vast expanses of Astrakhan province (using the ^f^^^^^f'"
term for the whole administrative area formerly included
under that name) are typical dry steppe. The southern
regions are desert steppe. Astrakhan is almost entirely
devoid of vegetation throughout. The predominant soils
are brown earths and various and many-coloured earths
more or less impregnated with salt (the extant Astrakhan
province, Buk-Arda, Tsaritsin province).

In the south and east of the province we find huge areas
of salt marsh, swampy lagoons, and numerous lakes.
Adjacent to the Caspian Sea are loose sandhills and dunes.
Towards the west, in the Cahnuck borderland, the soil
contains a considerably larger amount of fertiUsing
elements. Here we find chestnut-brown earth and black
earth.

The area of the province lying along the Volga consists
of an unending chain of lagoons, a belt of land liable to
inundation. Here are the parallel channels of the Volga
and the Akhtuba. Much of the land is waterlogged in the
region of the Volga delta. Throughout the whole area
we find the darkish and at times excessively damp soil
of the Volga aUuvium, in places considerably impregnated
with salt.

The foregoing description, however, does not sufiice to
convey an adequate idea of the agricultural possibilities
in this province. After an extensive survey of the
province as a whole and of certain counties in particular,
we gain a very different impression. In the spring and
the autumn the whole of this apparently desert steppe

22 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

comes to life. In normal conditions it is covered at these
seasons with a carpet of ripe vegetation. Through this
rapid development followed by a swift dying down of
verdure in the beginning of summer, the province naturally
seems, in the height of summer, to be a desert. But
throughout this area, in the summer taken as a whole,
there live and flourish large quantities of perennial vegeta-
tions weU adapted for agricultural purposes. However,
they fade to yellow and grey tints, and on the various soils
(yellow, yellow-grey, and tawny-brown clays and sands)
there results a general aspect of monotony in colour.

On the low-lying lands (in the ravines and adjoining the
lagoons) herbage grows almost throughout the summer.
Among these areas (especially in the sometime Tsarevsk
county) we find a number of belts suitable for plough
culture, and here in normal years considerable crops are
raised. The general defects of such soils are as follows :
they are poorly suppHed with fertilising elements ; their
consistency makes them unsuitable for cultivation ;
almost everywhere they contain compacted strata ; they
are overloaded with mineral substances and are lacking in
humidity.

The belt lying along the Volga is a flowery oasis at its
margin. Here, together with cereals and hay, a consider-
able space is, even under present conditions, allotted to
melon growing, to gardens and vegetable gardens. The
growth of all these crops is quite satisfactory and stable,
for the local soils are fertile, and with a skilful rotation of
the crops they yield good and often quite dependable
harvests. We must devote serious attention to all this
region of the Volga alluvium, to the chains of lagoons, and
to the Volga delta, and we must adopt measures for the
improvement of the agriculture of the district — measures
of an original character, but comparatively inexpensive.
Such improvements will give an impetus to the whole
area. They will undoubtedly stimulate agriculture,
enabhng larger crops to be produced.

Speaking generally, Astrakhan province merits serious
and many-sided attention. The physical conditions of
the region and the characteristics of its soils are such that
(notwithstanding the pecuharities of these soils and in
especial their high impregnation with salt) we can confi-
dently anticipate great improvements in this extensive
area, where very diversified conditions prevail. If the
matter be taken in hand on the proper hues, the results
are Ukely to be of considerable value to Russian agriculture

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA

as a whole. Nor must we forget — to pass beyond agri-
axlture for a moment — that the fisheries of Astrakhan are
of great importance.

Stavropol province lies outside the typical region of the
arid South East. It has the aspect of a continuation of
this region to the south, for it resembles the above-
described provinces in its physical and geographical
conditions, and has much in common with them. How-
ever, the influence of the neighbouring Caucasus already
begins to make itself felt, especially in the character of the
soil.

In this respect, the province may be briefly characterised
as a steppe region with southern black earths, chestnut-
brown clays, and clayey black earths. There are numerous
transitional grades between these varieties, but the general
qualities of the soils are those of steppe black earths and
chestnut-brown clays.

The land is fairly fertile, and j^ields a good harvest in
years of average rain-fall. Nevertheless, in default of
suitable measures for the improvement of agriculture in
the drier regions, this province must be included within
the area where the harvest is unreliable, within the area
exposed to the influences of a dry climate.

We need not pause to give so detailed an account of the
physical characteristics and the soils of the northern
provinces suffering from failure of the crops in the year
1921. It will suffice to give a brief account of the soils of
the following provinces : Vyatka, Kazan, Simbirsk, and
Ufa.

In Vyatka the soils are of the northern type. Here we
often find grass-covered and alkaline clays superposed
upon lighter sandy clays. To a lesser extent, we find here
and there grass-covered and alkahne sands and sandy
soils. In places we encounter dark-grey forest steppes
and grey wooded clays.

The before-mentioned soils need, as a rule, the intro-
duction of artificial manures, the use of farm-yard manure,
sowing with fine hay-seed, and other measures for the
proper organisation of agriculture. The local soils
exhibit a fair average fertility.

The soil of Kazan province is somewhat diversified.
Occupying an intermediate position between the northern
areas on the one hand and the southern and south-eastern
areas on the other, Kazan naturally gives the impression
of the physical and geographical qualities of both these
areas. The fertiUty and the productivity of the land in

Stavropol
Province.

The Soils of
the northern
Provinces
sufiEering
from Failure
of the Crops
in 1921. '

Vyatka
Province.

Kazan Pro-
vince.

24 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Simbirsk
Province.

Ufa Pro-
vince.

this province depend upon the latitude, upon cUmatic
conditions, and upon other peculiarities of the countryside.

We find the following soils : dark-grey forest steppes
and grey wooded clays ; clayey black earths ; sandy
black earths and black-earthy sands ; here and there,
stronger black earths. Along the rivers there is an
abundance of water meadows and meadow land, where
excellent hay crops are grown.

In Simbirsk province we find a considerable variety of
soils, including those characteristic both of the northern
and the southern steppes. Part of the province is occupied
by various soils of a sandy type. We find grass-covered
and alkaline sands, a number of sandy soils, sandy black
earth and black-earthy sand ; here and there, a more
compacted clayey black earth is met with, and occasionally
the so-caUed fat and strong black earth. Along the rivers,
a more notable quantity of water-meadow land prevails.
The diversified character of the soils, both in aspect and
in structure, definitely indicates that their fertility cannot
depend upon any one series of causes. We find in Sim-
birsk extensive variations in quality and structure not
due to the occurrence of drought.

It is needless to describe Ufa province in detail, for the
region is fairly fertile. Suffice it to say that to a consider-
able extent Ufa can be assigned to the steppe region,
with the exception of the counties adjoining the Urals.
Speaking generally, there prevails throughout the province
a tolerably fertile soil having steppe characteristics, but
in certain locahties steppe is replaced by wooded areas.

The following soils are found : an average clayey black
earth ; in places a stronger and fatter black earth ; dark-
grey forest-steppe clays and grey wooded clays ; sandy
black earths, and grass-covered and alkahne sands ;
here and there, gravels and coarser varieties of soil of
the before-mentioned kinds ; alluvial soils in the meadow
lands and riverine areas.

THE AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
SOUTH EAST AND THE EXTENT OF THE
FAILURE OF THE CROPS

J. V. Blyaher

We have to examine the economic and agricultural introduc-
characteristics of the area affected during the current *'°"-
year with a complete failure of the crops. It embraces
the following provinces and regions : Tartar Republic,
the Marii and the Chuvash regions, Simbirsk province,
Vyatka province together with the Votyak region, and the
provinces of Ufa, Samara, Saratov, Marxstadt, Tsaritsin,
Astrakhan, and Uralsk. The areas enumerated do not
comprise the entire district suffering from failure of the
crops, for we must also include therein some of the
provinces of the Kirghiz Republic, certain counties of
Stavropol province, Penza province, Don Cossacks pro-
vince, etc. We Hmit ourselves to the consideration of the
area thus specified because here the failure of the crops
has been most intense and has prevailed throughout the
whole countryside. We thus exclude from consideration
detached counties that have suffered from the drought.

The aforesaid area can be divided into two more or less
sharply distinguished sub-areas, respectively exhibiting
fairly uniform characteristics. In one of these we may
include the Tartar Republic, the Marii and the Chuvash
regions, Simbirsk province, Vyatka province together
with the Votyak region, and Ufa province ; this may be
provisionally named the Mid-Volga sub-area. In the
second we may include the provinces of Samara, Saratov,
Marxstadt, Tsaritsin, Astrakhan, and Uralsk ; this may
be provisionally named the Lower- Volga sub-area. It is
true that if we were to abide by the old dehmitations of
the above-mentioned provinces, we should have to divide
the areas in a rather different manner. For example,
Vyatka province would have to be excluded from the Mid-
Volga sub-area and transferred to the Ural area if we
wished to avoid violating the estabUshed grouping of
provinces. However, most of the provinces with which

26 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

we are concerned have had their boundaries modified to
such an extent that the old groupings are no longer
accordant with present needs. Provisionally, therefore,
we may group them in the before-mentioned sub-areas.
General Before discussing the characteristics of the respective

Character- sub-areas, we may point out that the territory suffering
IS ics. iroxn failure of the crops embraces about 56,430,000

desyatinas (not counting Uralsk region, as to which data
are lacking). The rural population is 16,180,000, and
the urban population is 2,080,000, making a total popula-
tion of 18,260,000. According to the reports for the year
1920, this constitutes 16 per cent., or approximately one-
seventh, of the population of the Russian Socialist
Federal Soviet Republic together with Ukraine.

The chief occupation of the inhabitants of this area is
the tilling of the soil. Barely 4 per cent, of the rural
population is engaged in non-agricultural work.

That we may better understand the significance of the
area now under consideration in relation to the economic
life of the country in general and to its agricultural
production in particular, it may be pointed out that,
according to agricultural data of the year 1916, the rural
population of this area amounted to 20 per cent, or one-
fifth part of the entire rural population of what was known
as European Russia at that date. Its cultivated area
comprised 24 per cent, or very nearly one-fourth of the
whole cultivated area of European Russia. Its taxable
strength was computed upon the basis that it contained
23 per cent, of the draught horses and 17 per cent, of the
oxen in what was then known as European Russia.

The annual export of grain from this area (excess of
exports over imports), according to the transport statistics
for the period 1909-1913, attained the notable amount
of 187,821,000 poods, comprising 24 per cent, of the total
export of the then Russian empire, and 55 per cent, of the
export of the productive provinces of European Russia
(not counting Ukraine and northern Caucasia). Turning,
now, to Saratov, Samara, Ufa, and Simbirsk provinces,
which also have been exporting areas, the data show that
out of a total export of 188,000,000 poods, about 35 per
cent, was destined for the foreign market. This means
that every year there was sent abroad from the provinces
just enumerated a quantity of grain amounting approxi-
mately to 65,000,000 poods.

The foregoing figures suffice to show that the agriculture
of this area^played an extremely important part in the

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 27

agricultural production of Russia in general, and conse-
quently in the whole economic life of the country. But
the imperialist war and subsequently the civil war,
together with the failure of the crops during the past
year, brought about a terrible disturbance of the economic
life of this area, and in particular of its main prop, agricul-
ture. Thus, in the year 1916 the average amount of
land under cultivation per hundred of the rural population
was 92 desyatinas. In 1921, although in the interim the
landlords' estates had been transferred to. the peasants,
the area under cultivation per hundred of the rural
population had fallen to 58 desyatinas, this being a reduc-
tion of 37 per cent. The number of draught horses and
oxen fell from 26 in 1916 to 14 in 1921, a reduction of
46 per cent. The number of cows fell from 23 to 16, a
reduction of 30 per cent.

This decrease in the scale of production may legitimately
be termed catastrophic. Accompanied as it is by a
quantitative decline in the instruments of production
showing itself in the form of a falling off in the number
of horses and likewise of cows (this implying the deteriora-
tion of peasant agriculture), it cannot but arouse alarm
as to the future of the aforesaid area, which is one of the
granaries of the Republic.

Let us now turn to consider the characteristics of the
respective sub-areas. The figures in the following table
give a picture of the contemporary state of affairs.

A Comparison of the fundamental Elements of
Agriculture. ^

Per 100 of Rural Populatiqn.

Per 100 Desyatinas Sown.

•s

Among

■g

which are

Per 100

•a

Desyatinas

Sub-Area.

of Ploughed
Lands t.iat

■s

•g

■g.

■s

■3

are actually

l§

Sown.

l§

■s

l-l

Q C4

01 p.

Mid-Volga

118

O-OI

I-I

Lower-

Volga

173

6-9

Character-
istics ot the
two Sub-
areas.

^ The figures in the table are based upon data obtained from the
Central Statistical Board for special investigation in the summer of

28 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

The Extent
of Agricul-
turalActivity
and the
Diminution
of the sown
Areas.

A Comparison of the fundamental Elements of
A griculture — continued .

Per 100 Desyatinas Sown.

Oleaginous Plants.

U3
O-I

Sub-Area.

1
m

3 -.5

2-8

I '4

1-3

0-2

Mid-Volga

■iZ'S

S-Q

1-2

27-6

Lower-

Volga

41-9

297

0-3

14-4

0-8

0'4

0-2

O'l

o-»

The first thing to attract our attention in the foregoing
tables is the notable difference in the extent of agriculturd
activity in the respective areas. In the Mid- Volga sub-
area there are 138 desyatinas of ploughed land per 100 of
the rural population, whereas in the Lower- Volga sub-area
there are 173 desyatinas, or 25 per cent. more. Manifestly,
the vast steppes of Lower- Volga give more scope than the
higher reaches of the river for the free development of
agriculture.

Turning, however, to the comparative sowings, we find
that, in 1921, per 100 of rural population, in Mid-Volga
62 desyatinas were sown, but in Lower- Volga only 52 desya-
tinas. In other words, notwithstanding that there are
far greater ploughing possibilities in Lower- Volga, the
actual amount of land sown here in 1921 was consid|rably
less than in Mid- Volga. This is not because of the system
of extensive agriculture which predominates in Lower-
Volga, but mainly because (for the reasons previously
specified) during the last year the sown area has been
reduced to an enormously greater extent in Lower- Volga
than in the higher parts of the Volga basin. In fact,
whereas the sown area per hundred of the population fell
from 84 desyatinas in 1916 to 62 desyatinas in 1921 (a
reduction of 26 per cent.), during the same period in

1921. The plan according to which the investigations were carried out
'was to take in each rural district a record of the work of thirty farms.
For each district, parallel reports were drawn up, showing the condi-
tions in 1920 and 1921 respectively. In this way materials were
accumulated permitting a determination of the coefficient of the
changes which took place during the period 1920-1921 : (i) in the
amount of land under cultivation and in the sowing of various crops ;
(2) in the number of different sorts of farm beasts. By means of this
coefficient, with the assistance of the data in the consecutive All-
Russian Agricultural Reports for 1920, it was possible to calculate the
absolute magnitudes of the. various items for the year 1921.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 29

Lower- Volga the reduction was from 104 desyatinas to
52 desyatinas (nearly twice as great). It is obvious that
in Lower-Volga the civil war, and to an even greater
extent the failure of the crops of the last year, have
played an extremely disastrous part. The dispropor-
tionateness in the reduction of the sown area in the
respective regions amounted to this, that whereas in Mid-
Volga out of 100 desyatinas of ploughed land 45 were sown
in 1921, in Lower- Volga in the same year only 30 desya-
tinas were sown. In Mid- Volga under normal conditions
the three-field system prevails, so that there the sown area
was not less than 65 per cent, of all the ploughed lands.
In Lower- Volga, however, side-by-side with the three-field
systeni there is a system of leaving areas entirely untilled,
so that here in normal times the sown area usually fell to
50 per cent, of the ploughed lands but not lower.

Owing to this curtailment of the sown area, we find both Draught
in Mid-Volga and in Lower- Volga, but especially in the Beasts and
latter, a ratio between the quantity of farm beasts and of pie™nfs. ™"
farming implements, on the one hand, and of sown areas,
on the other, which exceeds the maximum requirements
of agricultural technique. In fact, in Mid-Volga, per
100 desyatinas of sown land in 1921 there were 19 cart-
horses, this being about 5 desyatinas per horse. One
horse normally suffices for the work of 6 desyatinas. As
far as ploughs were concerned, in the same district there
were per 100 desyatinas 12 swing-ploughs and hook-
ploughs and 9 wheel-ploughs ; hkewise, that is to say
about 5 desyatinas per plough. Normally we reckon
10 to 12 desyatinas per plough. In Lower- Volga the facts
are even more remarkable. Here there are 26 cart-
horses and 4 oxen for every 100 desyatinas of sown land,
this being less than 4 desyatinas per head of draught
beasts. Per 100 desyatinas of sown land there are 7 swing-
ploughs and hook-ploughs and 11 wheel-ploughs. It may,
of course, be contended that the swing-ploughs and hook-
ploughs which survive in the countryside are merely
venerable antiques, and that nowadays ploughing is
exclusively done with wheel-ploughs. If this be so, the
stock of ploughs closely corresponds to the demands of the
now diimnished sown areas. It is, however, an obvious
deduction from the foregoing argument that the restora-
tion of the sown area to its pre-war dimensions is incon-
ceivable without an increase in the number of ploughs —
all the more inasmuch as a considerable proportion of the
wheel-ploughs is only fit for the scrap-heap. Despite

30 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Relative
Proportions
of sown
Crops.

what we have said above concerning the excess in the
quantity of draught beasts on the farms when the land is
sown only to the present amount (so that the cart-horses
are eating their heads off even more than ever before), it
is obvious in view of the necessary ratio between the
number of draught beasts and the area of sown land, that
the sown area cannot be restored to the dimensions of the
year 1916 unless there is an increase in the number of cart-
horses. But owing to the failure of the crops and the
scarcity of fodder there is a danger that the number of
cart-horses in the area under consideration will be con-
siderably reduced in the near future.

As regards harvesting machines, the number of these
has always been so small that even for the diminishing
area of land sown we must admit the quantity to be
utterly insufficient. In Mid-Volga, per 100 desyatinas
sown there are i-i reaping machines ; in Lower- Volga,
for the same area, there are 2. Manifestly the dearth of
these machines (to say nothing of the fact that they are
wearing out) will become yet more obvious when the
pre-war extent of sowings is resumed.

The resumption of sowings on a pre-war scale is a
conditio sine qua non of the re-estabUshment of more or
less normal agricultiiral conditions throughout the whole
of this territory. It is essential to the increase of pro-
duction, which will itself serve as the starting point of a
vigorous industrial development.

With what crops was this greatly reduced area planted
in the course of the year 1921 ? What changes, if any, in
this respect had there been since 1916, the year in which
the conditions were nearest to those of the pre-war
period ?

The answer is given by the following figures : —

Per 100 Desyatinas Sown.

Sub- Area.

S
^

1
.3

«1

1
S

Mid- (
Volga \

1916

2 ' 2

0-3

1921

52-2

3'9

1-2

27-6

3-5

5-5

1-4 , 1-3

O'l

Lower- j
Volga 1

1916

48-1

I 0-2

2-5

2-2

1921

41-9

29-7

2-7

0-3

14-4

0-8 0-4 2-8

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 31

Both the sub-areas are characterised by an extremely
monotonous system of crops. This cannot fail to lead to
an increasingly poor yield, inasmuch as year after year
the same chemical substances are withdrawn from the
ground, and thereby the soil is utterly impoverished. The
foregoing data show that in the period 1916-1921 a few
changes occurred in the relative proportions of the various
crops sown ; but the poverty of the sowings, their oppres-
sive monotony, remained quite unaffected. As it was in
1916, so was it in 1921. Mid- Volga may be spoken of as
the rye-oats sub-area, seeing that 73 to 79 per cent, of the
sown fields are occupied by these two crops. In 1916,
Lower- Volga might have been termed the rye-wheat sub-
area, and in 1921 the wheat-rye sub-area, seeing that from
72 to 76 per cent, of the sown land was under these two
crops. In both of the sub-areas, out of all the other
crops, not one occupied any considerable space ; they
ranged to 3 or 4 per cent, of the sown land, and in one or
two cases to 10 per cent, or more.

The before-mentioned changes in the proportions of the
various crops sown in the period 1916-1921 were
comparatively more extensive in Mid-Volga and compara-
tively less extensive in Lower-Volga. They amounted
to this. In Mid- Volga the sowings of rye increased from
45 per cent, to 52-2 per cent, and those of millet from 3 per
cent, to 5-5 per cent. These increases ensued upon the
diininution, principally in the sowings of wheat, and
partly in the sowings of barley and potatoes. In Lower-
Volga, the sowings of rye were likewise increased, but in a
much greater proportion, namely, from 28 to 41-9 per
cent. In hke manner there was a greatly increased
sowing of millet, from 5 per cent, to 14-4 per cent. At
the same time, the area under wheat was reduced from
48-1 per cent, to 297 per cent., and the area under oats
from 8 per cent, to 5 per cent.

There were two factors of these changes. First of all,
there was a reduction in the general size of the sown areas,
and this reduction depended primarily upon a diminished
sowing of wheat, which in pre-war days was grown chiefly
for export. With the discontinuance of foreign trade,
there vanished the stimulus to the production of cereals
for export. A contributory cause was the equal distribu-
tion of bread among the population, a system that
remained in force down to the present year. This like-
wise suppressed all stimulus to the production of grain
for the market. Consequently the peasants began to

32 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

The total
Amount of
the Grain
Harvest and
the Extent
of the Sufier-
ing resulting
from the
Failure of
the Crops.

restrict their agricultural operations to the growing of
the com requisite for the satisfaction of their immediate
personal needs. This resulted in the sowing of more rye
and less wheat. The second factor was that the peasants,
partly in order to increase their own food supply and
partly because of the years of drought, began to increase
the sowings of millet, which is a drought-resisting crop.

What quantities of grain were harvested, and what
is the extent of the suffering in the area with which we
are concerned ?

We have at our disposal two kinds of statistical data
issued by the Central Statistical Board. The data of the
first kind relate to the period when, upon the foundation
of harvest prospects, that is to say, before the population
was seized with panic, estimates of the impending harvest
were drawn up without any deductions such as obviously
became necessary when there was a likelihood of the com-
plete ruin of the crops in various parts of this or that
county. The data of the second kind relate to the period
when, upon the basis of hew calculations, there seemed
to be a possibiUty that the failure of the crops might prove
less complete than had previously been feared. The
difference between the first set of data and the second is
clearly shown by the following figures. According to
the first estimate it was believed that the grain harvest
would amount in Mid-Volga to 118,039,000 poods, and
in Lower- Volga to 61,913,000 poods ; accorchng to the
second estimate, the figures were 69,075,000 and 33,725,000
respectively. Even if we take the more optimistic
estimate as a basis for our calculations, we must obviously
admit that there will not be enough corn to provision this
granary of Russia until next year's harvest. There is a
deficit of many millions of poods. If from the total
harvest we deduct the amount necessary for seed corn,
and calculate the quantity of grain required to provision
the inhabitants (using a very low estimate of individual
requirements, namely, ten poods per head — an aUowance
very near to famine), we find that the victualling require-
ments until next year's harvest work out to the following
figures :

Sub- Area.

According to first

Estimate of gross

Corn Harvest.

According to second

Estimate of gross

Corn Harvest.

Mid-Volga -
Lower Volga

Poods.
23,049,000
23,206,000

Poods.
72,013,000

5r,394,ooo

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 33

It is true that to compensate the above-mentioned
deficit there are still potatoes, to the amount of 18,991,000
poods in Mid- Volga, and 9,782,000 poods in Lower- Volga.
These quantities are, however, inadequate. If we reckon
that, as far as food values are concerned, four poods of
potatoes are equivalent to one pood of corn, we see that
the supply of potatoes would not suffice, to any notable
extent, to make up the deficit.

The extent of suffering involved for this part of Russia
stands out even more clearly if we ascertain the net
harvest of the current year per head of population. Here
are the figures in poods :

Sub-Area.

More favourable
Estimate.

Less favourable
Estimate.

Potatoes.

Mid Volga .
Lower Volga .

7-6
6-4

2-3
2-2

2-6
1-6

In view of the extreme difl&culty of estimating the
grain harvest of the current year with real precision, the
Central Statistical Board, making the best of the avail-
able statistical material, was compelled to issue its calcula-
tions in the form of two variants. But in view of the
practical needs of the situation, in order to ascertain the
precise quantity of grain which it would be essential to
import into the locality suffering from failure of the crops
(if the population were to be fed until the garnering of
next year's harvest), it was necessary that an attempt
should be made to draw up one single estimate of this
year's harvest. For this purpose a great deal of special
work was imdertaken in the way of collating statistical
information. These investigations have shown that the
data of the second group — data of a pessimistic character —
must be regarded as approximately 40 per cent, too low.

When the due corrections have been made in the fore-
going estimates, and when a final result has been worked
out as regards the net corn harvest per head of population,
the following figures are secured : Mid- Volga 5-3 poods ;
Lower-Volga 4-3 poods. In other words, the total
deficit of cereals in the former district is 43.557.ooo poods,
and in the latter district is 37,912,000 poods.

Vegetables and grain harvested in the vegetable gardens Vegetables.

34 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

can to some extent make good the failure of the crops, but
it is self-evident that the supplies from this source will
not go far towards compensating the immense deficit in
the food supply shown by the above calculations.

According to the reports of 1920, the total area covered
by vegetable garden amounted to 107,400 desyatinas in
Mid-Volga, and 102,900 desyatinas in Lower- Volga. As
regards the proportions of the various crops sown in the
vegetable gardens, no great difference is observable
between the two sub-areas. In both, the main crop
consists of potatoes, occupying 49 to 52 per cent, of the
land ; next comes hemp (21 to 26 per cent.). None of the
other crops occupies a notable proportion of the remaining
land. We may mention : cabbages, 4-5 to 4-8 per cent. ;
cucumbers, 2-2 to 3-6 per cent. ; and onions, o-8 to 1-5 per
cent.

The general production of vegetables, estimated in

terms of cereals, amounts to a total of 9,175,000 poods in

Mid- Volga, and 10,697,000 poods in Lower- Volga ; per

head of population this is from 07 to 0-9 of a pood.

Grass Lands In Mid- Volga there are 1,129,000 desyatinas of good

Su'^pi^^of ^^y lands, and in Lower- Volga there are 2,373,000 desya-

Farm Beasts tinas. This amounts in each sub-area to 7 to 8 per cent.

with Fodder, of all the good land. Out of the aforesaid grass lands, in

Mid- Volga 43 per cent, consists of water meadows, and

57 per cent, of ordinary grass fields. The corresponding

proportions in Lower- Volga are 35 per cent, and 65 per

cent.

The total hay crop for the present year can be reckoned
at 61,240,000 poods for Mid- Volga, and 92,985,000 poods
for Lower- Volga.

The amount of straw available can be determined upon
the basis of calculations concerning the normal ratio as
between the weight of grain and straw. Consequently,
from the two variants of the grain total, two variants of
the straw total can also be worked out. According to the
above data concerning the grain harvest, the straw total
works out, in the case of the higher estimate, at 153,451,000
poods for Mid- Volga, and at 86,684,000 poods for Lower-
Volga ; in the case of the lower estimate, the corresponding
figures are, 89,797,000 and 47,217,000, respectively.

Summing up the total of hay and the total of straw
estimated in terms of hay, we secure a grand total of
fodder which, per head of the larger farm beasts, amounts
according to the foregoing harvest estimates in Mid- Volga
to 49 poods (or 37 poods) ; in Lower- Volga the corre-

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 35

spending figures are 51 poods (or 42 poods) per head of
large farm beasts.

' If we adopt the before-mentioned correction, in accord-
ance with which the lower harvest estimates were to be
increased by 40 per cent., the supply of fodder per head of
farm beasts would work out at 44-2 poods for Mid- Volga
and 46-4 poods for Lower-Volga.

If we assume the period of stall feeding to last six
months, and if we suppose that for the remaining half of
the year the beasts can live exclusively by grazing, the
fodder available per month per head is only 7 to 7-5 poods.
This works out at approximately 9 lbs. per day, which is,
of course, practically a starvation allowance.

If we lump the victualling resources — the cereals,
potatoes, and vegetables — ^we find that they work out per
head at 8-8 poods for Mid- Volga and 7-2 poods for Lower-
Volga. This is even less than a hunger ration. We must
bear in mind that we have been deaUng with average
quantities. Actually, the quantities vary widely from
place to place, so that in certain provinces, and d fortiori
in certain counties and rural districts, the available
resources must be considerably lower.

All the foregoing considerations lead us to the con-
clusion that, in the above-named sub-areas, and especially
in Lower- Volga, the population wiU suffer terribly from
the dearth of food and fodder, and that in certain provinces
there will be positive starvation. In the struggle with
famine, the population will necessarily have recourse to
substitutes. In part they wUl compensate for the lack of
bread by eating meat. This wiU lead to a stiU farther
reduction in the number of the farm beasts, aU the more
seeing that these, as we have just learned, are already in
large part doomed to destruction owing to the insufficiency
of fodder.

36 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

S .

M-

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IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 37

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38 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

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IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA

Table V. — Comparison of the fundamental Elements of
Agriculture [according to the Data of the special In-
vestigation in the Year 1921).

Per 100 of Rural Population.

Per 100 Desyati

aas Sown.

•d

Among

which are

^A.

Per 100
Desyati ^as

Sub-Area.

of Ploughed
Lands that

■3

are actually

d
3

l»

Sown.

Si ^
Qi-I

Mid-Volga

1,8

O-OI

I-I

Lower-

Volga

173

6-9

Per 100 Desyatinas Sown.

Oleaginous Plants.

Sub-Area.

&
S

Mid-Volga
I^wer-
Volga

52-5
41-9

3-9
29-7

1-2
27

27-6
5

3-5
0-3

5-5
14-4

2'8

1-4
0-8

1-3
0-4

0-2
0-2

2-7

O-I

0-8

THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTH
EAST AND THE METHODS OF ITS ORGANISA-
TION.

Professor N. Tulaikoff.

The Need for EvEN before the War, and still more during the war, it
the°SystTms^ ^^4 ^lecome obvious to local workers in the domain of
of Tillage agriculture that a change to new methods of tillage, a
and Rural transformation of the whole rural economy, was essential,
conomy. -pj^g abundance of unfilled land in association with a

comparatively sparse population (the total area of Samara
province is 14,231,900 desyatinas, of which according to
the reports of 1916 there were sown 4,098,129 desyatinas ;
the total population of the province at that date was
recorded as 3,053,854) and an extensive type of agriculture
made it possible for Professor A. N. Chelintseff to assign
Samara province to the region of " superabundant
fallows." In his work The Agricultural Regions of
European Russia^ he writes : " We see a superfluity of
fallows, interminable sowings of grain upon the newly
broken land or upon the land which has been lying fallow ;
manure heaps, grass fields, no sign of root crops or tubers,
fields and fallows positively drowned in perpetual grain
crops. The production of cereals, ever more widely
diffused, ousts stock-raising — though this is here of the
utmost importance. The total area under grain con-
tinually increases."

From the point of view of the development of stock-
raising this author assigns Samara province to the " petty
cow-keeping, petty pig-keeping, petty sheep-keeping
area." He means that the stock-raising, like the tillage,
is carried on extensively n6t intensively.

The general condition of agriculture in this locaUty is
dependent upon the climate as well as upon the great
extent of uncultivated land. The Samara chmate is very
variable, being extremely dry in some years and very
favourable to agriculture in others. This has encouraged
haphazard methods of dealing with the land. The

* Selskohozyaistvennye Raiony Evropeiskoi Rossii, published in June,
1911; p. 131.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 41

farmers have devoted their attention to the cultivation of
summer com, and in especial to the cultivation of summer
wheat. According to the 1916 reports, the latter crop
occupied 55 per cent, of all the sown area in Samara
province. Thus, when seasonal conditions led to the
failure of the summer corn crop, the whole agriculture of
the locahty was ruined, and the peasants were compelled
to seek State aid if they were to live through the winter.
Everyone will recall what happened in 191 1, when Russian
society had its attention riveted upon eastern Russia.
The region had been devastated by a failure of the harvest,
and the peasants had to invoke State assistance upon the
grand scale.

I was then living in the centre of the affected area, and
was myself a recipient of " food for the hungry." I had
first-hand acquaintance with the conditions of this failure
of the crops. At that time, with the aid of the data col-
lected from experimental farms, I was endeavouring to
work out a system through which the pecuHarities of the
local cHmate might be counteracted by pecuHarities in the
local methods of husbandry.

In my report to the Agricultural Conference in Samara,
and to the Annual Congress of the Russian Agriculturists'
Mutual Aid Society, held in Moscow in November, 1911,*
I endeavoured to outline a system of husbandry by means
of which the agriculture of Samara province would be
enabled, with a fair prospect of success, to make headway
against the extremely unfavourable climatic conditions
of the locality. The leading thoughts of my report were
as foUows. First of all, it was essential to introduce a
great diversity of crops into the farming lands of Samara
province. Secondly, in arranging the rotation of the
crops, it was essential to search for combinations in which
the crops would be very various in respect alike of their
rapidity of growth and of their need for moisture ; they
must also have a capacity for being turned to account in
numerous ways in farm hfe. By means of such a combina-
tion of crops it would always be possible, however unfortu-
nate the weather conditions might prove, to avoid the
ruin of the entire harvest. Some of the crops would
survive, and this would save agriculture from utter
disaster.
At that date it had akeady become apparent that the

' Neurozhai igii goda i zadachi agronomii Yugo-Vostoka Evropeisko
Rossii [The Failure of the Crops in the Year igii and the Agronomic
Problems of the South East of European Russia], Moscow, 191a.

42 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

A Plan for
the Trans-
formation of
Rural
Economy.

most reliable crops for the locality we are now considering
were of the fodder kind. It was manifest that the trans-
formation of the system of husbandry would necessarily
lead to a complete revision of the rural economy of the
area. Current events have merely confirmed our views
as to the need for such a revision.

The present condition of experimental science in the
domain of agriculture renders it possible to engage in a
struggle against the unfavourable pecuUarities of nature
in the South East of Russia. At the present time, the
creation of improved experimental farms is notably
facilitated by the fact that extensive prospects are opening
up for stock-raising in the very near future. This develop-
ment is fully accordant alike with the economic require-
ments of the situation and with the natural peculiarities
of the area.

If a vigorous development of stock-raising in Samara
province can and must provide the egress from the
present situation, it is first of aU essential to note the
subordinate requirements of such a development and the
direction in which the expansion must proceed. Whatever
the perspectives which may be showing themselves in this
matter as far as the future is concerned, the practical
workers of to-day must study the happenings of the past,
must be guided by experience. Then only can they form
their plans for current work. Here, more perhaps than
in any other department of our labours, it is necessary
that we should be able with sufficient clearness to outline
the prospects of the future, so that with perfect precision
we may determine the practical steps which are necessary
for the attainment of what may be called our working
ideal.

Samara province occupies an immense tract of country
lying lengthwise along the Volga. Its extent from north
to south is about 800 versts, and from east to west about
450 versts. The natural conditions of the province are
diversified. For this reason, the agriculture necessarily
varies in different parts of the province. In the north,
it is possible to look for an increased production of fodder
from the land, so that this area can be utihsed for dairy-
farming and pig-keeping. In the southern and eastern
parts of the province, where there are huge expanses of
grassy steppe, we think rather of stock-raising for the
meat supply, on the one hand, and of sheep-farming
for the wool supply, on the other. The scheme we are
about to outline cannot, of course, serve as a general

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 43

model for the reconstruction of rural economy throughout
Samara province. Its task is different — to supply what
may serve as the foundation of a purposive system of
measures for this locality. Let us attempt to expound
these initial steps.

The natural conditions, and in especial the extremely
dry cHmate of Samara province, as far as agriculture is
concerned, urgently impose the idea of an extensive
diversification of the crops in order to avert the danger of
complete failure of the harvest. Many data in support
of our thesis have been furnished by the local experi-
mental farms, but the practical experience of summers
when the crops have failed is especially calculated to
underline the accuracy of our views. The data of the
experimental farms show, above all, that the contemporary
methods of working the land can be greatly improved.
This would lead to much more dependable harvests.
The organisation of the local farmers would make it
possible to place at their disposal sturdier varieties of
crop, and (this is especially important) to introduce
many different sorts of seed which have hitherto been
httle known to local agriculturists.

By a suitable rotation of his winter and summer crops,
both as regards cereals and fodder, the farmer can with
positive certainty ensure the fruitfulness of every corner
of his land, with due regard to the climatic peculiarities
of the year. This will enable him to guarantee the
stability of his husbandry. Hitherto, however, there
has been a definite obstacle, owing to the impossibility
of adequately utilising on an individual farm the bulkier
products of husbandry (such as root crops, tubers, maize,
and hay), and owing to the extremely low prices obtainable
for such products when offered for sale. In most cases
they have had no market value because there have been
no buyers. While the pre-war price of meat still prevailed,
the farmer had no incentive to convert the products of
husbandry into the products of stock-raising. As a
consequence, he had no incentive to adopt a more intensive
system of culture, one which would require more labour
and more capital.

At the present time the fundamental objection is practi-
cally invalid. There is a widespread shortage of animal
fats and albumens, a demand which cannot be met in the
near future ; but for this very reason high prices will
reign for the products of stock-raising, and this will induce
the fanners, whether individual or co-operative, to do all

44 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

in their power to adapt themselves to the needs of life.
If, however, the development of stock-raising becomes
the practical program of the farmers, the appropriate
remodelling of the system of husbandry will be a simple
matter. The system of tillage we are considering will
undoubtedly involve the adoption of the more diversified
crops which were discussed in previous paragraphs, and
this in its turn will give greater stability, not only to
husbandry, but to rural economy as a whole.

The farming industry of Samara province wiU then be
able to supply the home market, and perhaps the foreign
market as well, not only with wheat, but also with
products which are more easily transportable and com-
mand a higher price — with meat, fats, wool, etc., for the
production of which local natural conditions are extremely
suitable.

Let us now try to sketch out a scheme for the future
of farming in various parts of the province, availing
ourselves for this purpose of the extant experimental
material, which unfortunately relates only to husbandry.
The data furnished by Bezenchuk experimental farm
in Samara county may be regarded as applicable to those
parts of the province, comprising about one-third of its
area, where approximately similar natural conditions
prevail.

The work of the Bezenchuk experimental farm has
made it clear that by certain methods of tillage it is possible
to secure reliable harvests of winter and summer corn,
other products of the ploughed lands, and hay. The
experiments have been conducted for a sufficiently long
time to prove that we can choose, from among these
various crops, series which will give a proper rotation.
We are able to quote certain data relative to fertility.^

At the Bezenchuk Experimental Farm.

Winter rye

Spring sowing .

114-5 Poods

I9II — I9I6

Summer wheat

Sown in widely

separated. Drills.

717 »

1909— I9I5

Oats .

jf It

107-6

1907— I9I5

Millet .

$1 If

IIO-I

1909— I9I5

Maize .

)« »i

140 „

I9I2— I9I5

Potatoes

—

830

1905— I9I5

Sunflowers

—

101-5

I9I3— I9I5

1 Sm. Otchet Bezenchukskoi selskohozyaistvennoi opytnoi stantsii za
1915 goda, Vyp. VI. [Report of the Bezenchuk Experimental Farm
down to the year 1915].

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 45

Ai the Bezenchuk Experimental Farm — continued.

French lucerne

Sown in widely

separated Drills

205

Poods

1911 — 1914

Brome-grass .

—

200

Annual Fodder

Growth : —

Sorghum

Weighed Green .

1.520

1912 — 1915

Mogar

It »t

1,072

1912— 1913

Chumiza^ .

>t ft

1,030

1912— 1915

Gaelyai

If ft

1,322

1912— 1915

Maize.

If It

1.340

1912 — 1915

Above aU it is important to note the great diversity in
the harvest of cereal crops at the experimental farm.
Speaking generally, the same thing applies throughout
the province. We must not lose sight qf the fact that in
striking an average for the province we have included data
from Nikolaevsk and Novouzensk counties, where the
harvest is in general far more scanty than in the northern
counties. In no case does the harvest exceed 50 poods
of each cereal per desyatina, so that in the very best event
there is secured barely half of the fertiUty attained in the
fields of the experimental farm. This is especially true
of summer wheat, which is a very unreliable crop upon the
steppe land prevaiMng so widely throughout the province.

If, as the basis for the organisation of rural economy in
the middle and northern parts of Samara province, we take
the development of varieties of stock-raising to the degree
which is demanded by contemporary economic conditions,
and is, furthermore, indicated by the actualities of the
physical conditions of the area and by vital conditions
which though transient are nevertheless sufficiently stable,
we shall find it necessary to plan the organisation of
husbandry in such a way that there shall be an adequate
amount of land planted with cereals. As part of the
system of rotation of crops, we must imdoubtedly include
winter crops, for these are more dependable in our practical
struggle wititi meteorological conditions. For a winter
sowing we can as yet think only of rye, seeing that the
researches at the experimental farm have not hitherto
shown it to be possible to select for or to introduce into
this part of Samara province hardy varieties of winter
wheat, capable of enduring the winter of this locality,
which is extremely cold, with Httle or no snow.

Among the groups of summer com, together with the

46 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

ordinary summer wheat, which must constitute the main
cereal crop, we might recommend the sowing, in poor (and
not only in rich) soil, of hard or flint wheat [triticum
durum]. For a long time, of course, the sowing of summer
wheat wiU continue to predominate in Samara province,
and the advantageous natural pecuharities of this grain
are such that its extensive utiUsation is of the utmost
importance. Concomitantly with the reduction in the
area of land lying fallow, the sowing of hard wheat almost
entirely ceases, for theSamarafarmerregardsitas absolutely
impossible to sow hard wheat except upon land newly
employed for a wheat crop after it has been lying fallow
or under a perennial grass. Indeed, the long-continued
experiments at the Bezenchuk farm, and the experience
gained upon the more progressive private farms of the
locahty, combine to prove the possibihty of sowing hard
wheat [triticum durum] in rotation not only upon land
newly employed for wheat, but also upon poor soil, for
instance upon the summer strip of the four-field area.
Inasmuch as hard wheat fetches a considerably higher
price than soft wheat in the local market, part of the wheat
field can always be devoted to hard wheat as well as to
soft ; all that is requisite is that the farmer should pay
attention to the possibihty of improving his methods of
sowing, and that he should be more assiduous in the
struggle with weeds during the early days of the growth of
the crop — for otherwise his wheat will have a poor chance.

The second matter of importance to local husbandry is
the introduction of winter wheat among the sowings, side
by side with winter rye. The local farmers have a special
predilection for wheat ; they are Mttle interested in rye,
and the latter grain, although it yields such reliable
harvests, has never become well estabUshed on the farms
of the central and southern parts of the province. For
this reason it is essential to discover varieties of winter
wheat resistent to local climatic conditions. If we could
succeed in introducing a hardy kind of winter wheat, the
farmers would be perfectly willing to sow it in their
fallows. To grow winter rye, which fetches what the
Samara agriculturists regard as a poor price, has not
seemed worth while ; but the price obtainable for winter
wheat would be a sufficient inducement.

Oats is especially suitable for spring sowings in the
middle portions of Samara province. It yields excellent
and quite dependable crops. As far as the inauguration
of stock-raising is concerned, we have to remember that

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 47

oats will meet the requirements of the local stock-farmers
alike in the matter of grain and of straw. From this point
of view, oat straw is far more valuable than wheat straw,
and is especially useful in sheep-farming.

On the ploughed lands of this part of the province the
most varied crops can be grown. First of aU let us con-
sider miUet. Both miUet and hard wheat [triticum durum]
have hitherto been locally regarded as suitable only for
virgin soil. Detailed study of the growth of miUet has,
however, shown that, with due care in sowing it (adequate
attention to weeding in the early stages of growth), this
grain can yield a stable and quite considerable crop. In
the experimental farms of the locality there has been
worked out a definite system of sowing (widely separated
drills, single-hne sowing and weeding-out between the
drills) and of care for the miUet. This results in very
satisfactory crops. In Samara province, and generally
speaking throughout eastern Russia, good qualities of
millet command a very high price. At Sizran, in Simbirsk
province, there existed before the war a considerable trade
in the various grades of millet.

Among the cereals suitable for our com lands, maize in
particular has attracted the attention of the farmers in
this part of the province. A comparatively short time
has elapsed since the plant was introduced into Samara,
but it has already recommended itself very strongly for
the dry climatic conditions of the locality, on account of
its drought-resisting quahties. A hindrance to its wide
adoption in the farming of this part of the country has been
the ignorance of how to use the grain when it has been
grown, for maize has not hitherto formed part of the
regular diet of the population. Maize can be used with
great advantage for feeding pigs, kine, and horses. Its
high fodder value in this respect opens extensive prospects
for the cereal in the near future in connexion with the
reconstruction of rural feconomy which is iiow beginning.
Very remarkable are the uses to which maize is put in the
United States. Much can be learned from American
farmers should this staple be introduced into Samara
province.

Among root crops and tubers, potatoes, mangold
wurzels, and carrots are hkely in the near future to attract
the attention of the local farmers. According to the data
furnished by the Bezenchuk farm, the potato can be
successfully cultivated by comparatively simple methods.
The ground does not need elaborate preparation. The

48 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

potato is easy to plant and requires very little care. The
experimental farm has worked out a sufficiently detailed
technique for the cultivation of potatoes, and has secured
satisfactory results. The same remarks apply to the
cultivation of mangold wurzels and carrots, which in the
fields of the experimental farm have yielded crops ranging
from 1,000 to 1,200 poods per desyatina. Hitherto
potatoes have in Samara been cultivated only in kitchen
gardens, while the mangold wurzel and the carrot are
practically unknown in our fields, for these crops require
much care and attention, and need to be intelligently
used. The possibility of the latter is, of course, wanting
in the case of primitive stock-raising, in the case of stock-
raising of the consuming type ; and the farmer has no
adequate motive for the cultivation of fodder crops in his
ploughed lands.

An additional difficulty is that these crops demand a
considerable amount of labour, and that there has been
no particular place for them in the prevailing system of
farming. Of course, all these considerations will be
modified by the organisation of a new type of rural
economy, one which will imply the equal development of
stock-raising and husbandry.

Among fodder crops, we may mention pumpkins, which
yield excellent harvests, and are of great value for feeding
horned cattle and pigs.

For the middle part of Samara province at the present
time, French or Turkestan lucerne and brome-grass can be
strongly recommended as fodder plants. These grasses
have been studied for a considerable time at the local
experimental farms, the ways of cultivating them have
been worked out with sufficient care ; their fertility has
proved quite satisfactory, so that they may be assigned a
definite place among the crops suitable for this locality.

As green fodder and for the pasturing of cattle, we can
recommend various annual growths which provide feeds
of every kind for farm beasts, and yield sufficiently good
crops ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 poods of green stuff per
desyatina.

Finally, among'^plants from which valuable products
can be extracted, two may be mentioned ; first of all sun-
flowers, which are already grown to a considerable extent
in Samara province, and are likely to be still more widely
diffused in the near future owing to the immense demand
for oils ; and secondly, the sugar beet, which is new to the
locaHty, but which evidently has a great future. It is,

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 49

however, an overstatement to say that the sugar beet is
quite new to Samara, for at the end of the last century it
was extensively cultivated on the Timashevsk estate in
the western part of Buguruslan county, for the use of the
Timashevsk sugar refinery. The cultivation was aban-
doned owing to various difficulties of a technical and
economic character, but the experience gained was suffi-
cient to show that in this locality it is easy to grow sugar
beets which peld a good crop and contain a sufficiently
high percentage of sugar. Of late, the question of culti-
vating the sugar beet in the province has been revived,
and in 1918 collective experiments were proposed, but the
realisation of this scheme was frustrated by extraneous
influences. The experiment of growing sugar beet on
Bezenchuk experimental farm was a great success, and
it is eminently desirable that the matter should be fully
reconsidered. We must not forget the existence of two
splendid sugar refineries (Timashevsk and Bogatovsk) in
central Samara. These used to manufacture brown sugar.

In this manner the farmers of the central and northern
portions of Samara province wiU be provided with a
sufficient diversity of crops. By various combinations of
these, in conformity with the general plans of their
farming, they wiU be able to organise a suitable intensive
rotation of crops, and will be in a position to guarantee for
themselves stable results alike from ordinary husbandry
(by the diversification of the crops} and from stock-
raising (by the growing of suitable fodders).

This is not the place in which to recommend to the
Samara farmers any specific rotation of the crops. The
rotation of the crops is the reflection of a whole series of
individual peculiarities of the farm and the farmer. From
farm to farm and from farmer to farmer these vary
enormously. Consequently the rotation of the crops must
likewise vary greatly from one farm to another. More-
over, the decision of this question is exceptionally difficult
at the present moment, inasmuch as the new forms of
fanning (communes, soviet farms, artels or co-operative
farms, etc.) can take advantage of the experience gained
in various kinds of large-scale agriculture, both in Samara
and in other parts of Russia.

For the southern and eastern portions of the province
there is a rather more limited choice of crops, for here
the climate is characterised in winter by extreme cold
and the absence of snow, and in summer by great heat and
a very low rainfall. Furthermore, the land of this locality

50 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

is far less suitable for cereals, owing to the great quantity
of salts in the soil. We must not, however, forget that
wheat of good quality can be grown in Nikolaevsk county,
and, in especial, in Novouzensk county. It is of the
utmost importance that the technique of wheat sowing
should be improved as far as possible. Extreme care
must also be taken to maintain the right quantitative
relationship between the sowings of cereals (which are
comparatively unreliable in this locaUty) and of fodder
crops (which are more dependable) .

There is one advantage in this part of the world, as
concerns the struggle with the drought which is the curse
of local agriculture. The farmers long since began to
have recourse to irrigation, and of late years (before the
war) the practice had attained considerable proportions.
Of course, the problem of improving the local soils assumes
a prominent place in relation to the farming prospects of
the locality, and this matter must receive due attention.
But we must bear in mind that the area in question can
never be very fruitful, for in the middle of Novouzensk
county, where irrigation is especially needed, there are
very few springs from which the requisite water can be
obtained.

Whereas the climate of these parts of the province is
comparatively unfavourable to the growth of cereals, the
prospects of the development of fodder crops are far more
hopeful. Among fodder crops we may count maize, for
the successful cultivation of which suitable varieties must
be introduced. Among fodders we think of brome-grass
and yellow lucerne. Experience has been gained at two
experimental farms of this locality, Krasnokutsk and
Kostychevsk, furnishing positive data justifying the
expectation of satisfactory results. The root crops
suitable for fodder cannot be introduced in notable
proportions into the ploughed lands of the area ; for any
considerable development as far as they are concerned
irrigation would be essential.

Thus the natural and the agrarian conditions of the
southern part of the province indicate the need for a
rural economy different from that of the northern part.
In the south, undoubtedly, stock-raising wiU predominate,
stock-raising of a comparatively extensive type. The
cattle will be stall fed in the winter upon steppe hay,
sown hay, and chaff ; and put out to grass in the summer
and autumn.

Not being an expert in the subject of stock-raising, I

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 51

shall not try to specify the types of organisation in this
doihain of rural economy, but as an agricultural expert
I should like to deal with the question from a general
point of view. In the central parts of the province, and
still more in the northern parts, it is obvious that special
attention should be given to the promotion of dairy-
farming, to the making of butter and cheese, and to the
utilisation of the waste products of these manufactures
in pig-farming. If there were considerable quantities of
comparatively cheap cereal fodder for pigs, these animals
being kept in conjunction with dairy stock, it would be
easy to organise the rearing and fattening of pigs.
Extremely interesting attempts have already been made
in this direction. M. L. Frankfurt, the agricultural
expert of the Samara county council, organised a co-
operative creamery in the north of the county which
collected milk from the peasants in Grachevk. When
the creamery was broken up, some of the farmers that
had been concerned in it established a five-field rotation
of crops in conjimction with the growing of fodder in
part of their ploughed lands. The creamery was very
successful for a time, and similar co-operative undertakings
began to develop before the war and in the first years of
the war in Samara and Stavropolsk counties. There
was even talk of building factories for the making of pork
sausages, potted meats, and ham. For this purpose,
funds were suppHed by the Department for War Schemes
of the Ministry for Agriculture, but the whole movement
was arrested by the outbreak of the revolution.

In any event the ground is prepared. As soon as
normal conditions of transport are restored, the area we
have been considering, since it is excellently served by
waterways and railways, will readily be able to send the
products of stock-raising far beyond its own borders, and
to supply the needs of large towns.

While engaged in the study of the local breeds of sheep,
the workers at the Bezenchuk experimental farm have
discovered, and have introduced into these parts of the
province (Samara and Stavropolsk counties), certain
varieties of WaUachian and Circassian sheep, possessed
of notable qualities. The peasants and other local
agriculturists have been supplied with whole flocks of
these. Sheep-farming, alike in the northern and in the
central parts of the province, can obviously become a
matter of considerable moment, for, however the rural
economy is organised, there wiU always remain consider-

52 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

able quantities of coarse fodder. These residues can be
used for feeding sheep, animals which require the minimum
amount both of fodder and care, and are by no means
fastidious as to the local conditions. Doubtless in this
locality sheep-farming will play only a modest part in
the rural economy, for the population is rather thick on
the ground for this branch of stock-raising. Moreover,
the land is arable, and is suitable for crops which can
provide feed for other kinds of live stock. There are,
however, excellent possibiHties in this part of the province
for the organisation of the petty kinds of stock-raising —
poultry-farming, for instance, which has already been
attempted in various localities.

In the more southerly parts of the province, with vast
though hitherto comparatively unproductive areas of
steppe land in the form of pastures and meadows, the
organisation of stock-raising must take another line.
In addition to directing his attention to the possibility
of getting milk of prime quality and noted for its richness
in cream, the farmer will obviously be mainly interested
in stock-raising for the meat market, inasmuch as the
conditions are exceptionally favourable for the rearing
of homed cattle and of sheep. The existence of drier
sorts of feed, the sufficiency of steppe land upon which
beasts can graze in the summer, the possibility of securing
the necessary amount of coarse feed (straw and hay) in
the winter, together with a supply of concentrated food-
stuffs (oilcake and grain) for the later stages of fattening,
combine to guarantee the possibility of an extensive
development of this branch of stock-raising.

In addition to the fattening of homed cattle, there is
obviously scope in the south and the east of the province,
in the more favourable localities, for sheep-farming both
for mutton and for wool. In fact, sheep-farming has of
late played a considerable part in the rural economy of
this area.

I shall not pause to consider in detail what are likely to
be the results if the foregoing ideas are realised, if in the
southern part of the province stock-raising is to assume,
if not the predominant role in rural economy, at least a role
co-equal with that of husbandry. The improvement of
the local breeds with the aid of stud-farms, or in some
other way ; the building of commodious premises for the
live stock ; proper arrangements for railway transport
in suitable trucks, cold-storage vans, etc. ; improved
slaughter-houses ; arrangements for the adequate utilisa-

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 53

tion of the various waste products of the stock-farm — all
these matters, all these politico-economical problems,
must be dealt with in the way most accordant with local
requirements. As an illustration of the sort of thing
which must not be allowed to happen, I may mention the
following incident connected with the transport of grain,
which occurred just before the war.

Of the grain despatched to the Baltic ports for the
foreign market, the average contamination with fouled
grain was about 3 per cent., and the quantity of small,
broken, and inferior grain might be as much as 7 per cent.
If, therefore, from the grain exported from the province
we were to deduct the amount which would be removed by
proper sifting appliances (with which all the State elevators
of Samara province are adequately furnished) as much as
10 per cent, of fouled and inferior grain would be set aside.
AU that is removed in the sorting can be very well utilised
for the fattening of live stock, and would thus be trans-
muted into an extremely transportable form. However,
before the war, the grain was sent unsifted from the Volga
region to the Baltic, needing approximately 10 per cent,
more roUing stock, while the quality and repute of Russian
grain upon the foreign market were lowered.^ It need
hardly be said that if these parts of the State machinery
were properly organised, such occurrences would not be
tolerated. A more rational organisation of all branches of
agricultural production upon a State scale must be one of
the principal tasks of the governmental authority.

Turning to the question of the organisation of the whole
rural economy of the population of Samara province, we
must not fail to note that various parts of this province
seem rather favourable to the development of such
branches of husbandry as horticulture. Samara and
Stavropolsk counties contain numerous orchards, and
some parts of Samara county, especially Obsharovsk rural
district, used before the war to send large quantities o*
apples, pears, and other fruit across the Urals. The
attention of the population has perforce turned to the
matter, and although there is no reason to expect extensive
developments in. this direction, in various parts of the
province horticulture can play a considerable role in rural
economy. In the southern part of the province the
cultivation of other fruits assumes more importance.
Here the greater quantity of hght and heat and the com-

' During the years igog to 19 13 the average annual export of grain
from Samara province was about 92,000,000 poods.

54 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

parative dryness of the atmosphere make it possible to
grow excellent melons and water-melons. Unfortunately
the question of transport is a very troublesome one in the
case of these bulky fruits, and it is desirable to utilise
them on the spot by converting them into a syrup known
as water-melon syrup, for which there is now a great
demand owing to the scarcity of sugar.

When planning new forms for the rural economy of this
area, as in all similar cases, we must not overlook the
manners and customs of the population, or attempt to
change these too rapidly. Hitherto, the peasant of this
region has been a tiller of the soil, and nothing more,
except that in the south he was something of a herdsman
as well. He knew nothing of other occupations and trades.
There was no dearth of utilisable land. Life did not
demand much exertion from him for the simple task of
ensuring a subsistence for himself and his family. In
general, therefore, he did not put much labour into his
farm.

Nowadays, of course, great changes have occurred in
all the external conditions of hfe, but there is no particular
reason to suppose that in the near future the local popula-
tion will be inclined to devote more energy and time to
farm work. Undoubtedly, laborious form's of husbandry
will force themselves upon the local rural economy, but
in the planning of all systems of farming the projector
must reckon with the habits of the population, which can
be changed only by degrees.

Consequently, in aU our calculations for the future, we
shall be compelled to provide for a notable increase in the
use of machinery in farming, for this will enable us to
economise considerably in human labour. Owing to the
comparative sparseness of the population of this locality,
the increase in the amount of sown land and the general
introduction of more arduous methods of cultivation into
husbandry, can only be effected in virtue of a fundamental
change in modes of life. At the present time this is
exceedingly plain. Agricultural machines are now wanted,
not only by the soviet farms and communes, but also by
the ordinary private farmer, who knows quite weU how to
make a good use of them. Already before the war, steam
threshers were co-operatively owned by the peasant
farmers. During the war, this system was yet farther
extended. The ordinary farmers began to hire cutters-
and-binders for the work on their farms, being unable
to buy the machines for themselves. Under present

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 55

conditions, necessity has made the collective utilisation
of agricultural machinery a rule of life, and this will
familiarise the population with the idea of adopting
similar methods when normal times return.

In the purposive organisation of the measures whose Measures
essential aim it is to increase the productivity of the rural requisite for
economy throughout Transvolgia, we must bear in mind Reorganisa-°
the totality of measures tending towards this end. It tion of
would be futile to expect that the productivity of the land Agriculture,
of this area wiU increase simply because we direct the
attention of agricultural organisations to the improvement
of the technique of husbandry, stock-raising, etc. The
primitiveness of rural economy in Transvolgia (which
prevailed before the war thanks, in great measure, to the
ignorance of the rural population, and thanks also in part
to the extremely difficult climatic conditions) really
depended upon the existence of a definite trend in the
general economico-political administration.

We may now expect a more reasonable regard for local
needs. The time has come when we can turn our eyes
towards the safeguarding of the purposive development of
Transvolgia and towards the utilisation of the wealth of
its productive forces. Agricultural production, rightly
organised, presupposes a healthy co-operation on the part
of the land, the labour, and the capital participating
in production. In planning a system of measures for the
improvement of agriculture in the locality, we must not
overlook any one of these essential factors, and we must
not fail to give each its due share of attention. It is
obvious that these factors cannot aU be included within
the domain of the guidance of agricultural organisation ;
but it is no less plain that in default of the regulation of
aU the elements of production, we can hardly expect any
one of the factors to produce its full effect.

Let us consider the land first of all. At the present
time agrarian reorganisation must be the chief task of the
central government and of its local organs.

Besides agrarian reorganisation in the strict sense of
the term, serious attention must be given to every kind of
improvement of the soil, beginning with the construction
of the most elementary wells and watering places, arid
going on to large-scale irrigation schemes, especially in
the southern area, which is extremely dry and very hot.
In the Cisvolgian area, the organisers of agricultural im-
provements must devote serious attention to the radical
amelioration of the hay lands which are annually flooded

56 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

by the rising of the Volga and its tributaries. At present
the water-meadows of the Volga are of very httle agri-
cultural value, for no attempt at their systematic study
and improvement has yet been made. However, the
radical improvement of the flooded meadows l5nng along
the Volga could play a considerable part in the develop-
ment of stock-raising in this riverine strip, the population
of which has for the most part been derived from the
pastures and haylands of the steppes.

As regards the third factor in agrarian production, the
main task of the government at the present time is assist-
ance in the matter of capital, which here takes the forms
of live stock, farming implements, and farm buildings.

The imperialist war and the civil war have everywhere
played havoc with the weak organisations of agricultural
capital. The requisition of draught beasts (oxen and
horses), especially in 1920 when the war ravaged the
area with which we are now specially concerned, has had
a very injurious effect upon the local farms.

During these years, the farming implements have
suffered even more grievously than the live stock.
Whereas the natural increase in the hve stock has to a
certain extent compensated the war-time wastage in
draught beasts and other farm animals, as regards farming
implements (which for lack of machine shops in this area
it has been impossible to repair) we may say that these
have for the most part become utterly worthless.

Transvolgia presents everywhere an eager market for
agricultural machinery. Not only have there been vast
numbers of travellers in agricultural machinery going to
and fro in Samara, but throughout the more thickly
populated parts of the province the emissaries of all the
Russian and foreign engineering works have made their
way. Year by year, before the war, their enterprise in
this respect was increasing. .<j

The war interrupted the renewal of worn implements,
and checked the natural growth of the demand. At the
present time the agriculture of the locality is stagnant
owing to the impossibility of satisfying the prevalent
hunger for machinery.

It is essential that there should be an abundance of
repairing shops, distributed throughout the area in
accordance with a definite plan. These must render
every assistance to the population in the repair and
fitting of farming tools and machinery. Furthermore, all
possible help must be given to small private workshops

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 57

for the repair of threshers, winnowing machines, etc. Such
workshops can be organised quickly, though on a modest
scale. They can give help to the local farmers, and can to
some extent satisfy the pressing need for machinery.

During the war no repairs took place owing to the
general difficulties of the situation ; and, owing to the
dearth of building materials the farm buildings were
terribly neglected. At this time, the lack of imports of
wood and other building materials into the province
compelled the farmers of the steppes, generally speaking,
to renounce all attempts at rebuilding or repair. In some
cases, where the need for repair was extremely urgent,
they were able to botch up matters with the use of local
materials.

At this juncture, we could regard it as the best con-
tribution to the success of any propaganda on behalf of
the renovation of farm buildings, if, in conjunction with
the propaganda, the population were to be supplied with
the necessary building materials.

In this department of the rural economy of Transvolgia,
I regard it as essential that there should be taken in hand
the organisation and the regulation of the transport of
harvest produce and of the products of stock-farming in
the widest sense of the term. The difficulty of working
an area which, though rich in agricultural products
suitable for export, is badly served alike by waterways
leading to the Volga and by railways ; the extreme
badness of the roads along which the grain has to be
carted for tens or even hundreds of versts ; the proverbial
Russian mud on these roads ; the no less proverbial
telegas [Russian country carts] in which the grain is
conveyed ; the methods special to the locality by which
the grain depots and the grain trade have been organised
(methods now, it may be hoped, vanishing into the limbo
of the past) — all these peculiarities of the way in which the
harvests have been handled have in their day played a
great part in determining the lot of the local husbandmen.

Hence it is absolutely indispensable that the Soviet
Power should see to the organisation of the methods by
which the produce of agricultural activity is disposed of ;
that the government should place the matter upon
foimdations which will be more purposive and more
accordant with the needs of the State.

There must be an adequate provision of depots in the
great trading centres, depots to which the farmers will
naturally gravitate. There must be an adequate number

58 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

of elevators, properly supplied with machinery for
cleansing the grain, and in some districts for drying the
grain. The roads must be radically improved. Here are
the indispensable conditions, which must be realised in
the near future if the agriculture of this area is to be
placed upon a rational foundation.

As far as concerns the transport of the products of stock-
raising much not only could be done but must be done in
the immediate future. The roUing-stock of our railways
is not in a position to transport live beasts to the slaughter-
houses of great cities. Large local slaughter-houses must
be built, furnished with an up-to-date technical equipment,
and providing for the full utihsation of all animal products,
including the refuse (blood, bones, hair, horns, etc.).
Cold-storage vans for the transport of meat, fat, and the
other products of stock-raising, must be regular appurte-
nances of the railway transport system.

Nor must we overlook the installation of factories for
the working-up of agricultural products on 'the large scale.
In this connexion we think chiefly of flour-mills and cream-
eries ; in the northern part of the province where potatoes
are ciiltivated we think of distilleries ; and in the south
it wiU be possible to instal beet-sugar factories. In
connexion with potato growing, it is desirable to erect
starch factories and glucose factories both on the small
and on the large scale. In this direction, the local schools
of agriculture have hitherto taken no steps, for, under the
old regime, the organisation of the manufacture of agri-
cultural products was left to the large private landowners.
This matter must now be dealt with by co-operatives of
small farmers, which must organise the business to the
necessary extent, bearing in mind that only the manu-
factured products of local agriculture must be exported
to an extraneous market, and that the waste products of
these manufactures must be utiUsed by the peasants
upon their own farms.

A fundamental factor in the agricultural Ufe of the
locality and one whose significance is especially manifest
would seem to be its natural conditions, which down to
the present have not been sufficiently studied. Conse-
quently, the widespread inauguration of experimental
farms in Transvolgia on the part of the government would
appear to be urgently necessary. At these institutions it
wni be possible to undertake a detailed study of the
environment ; to elaborate a series of rational measures
for the struggle with unfavourable natural conditions,

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 59

and for the turning to full account of those conditions that
are favourable. In the second place, in my view, comes
the furnishing of expert agricultural advice to the popula-
tion upon a scale proportionate to the needs of the moment.
Neither as concerns the foundation of experimental farms
nor as concerns the extension of their work, should the
government be troubled by doubts or fears. Already, the
agricultural experts of Samara province have secured a
considerable amount of material firmly grounded upon
experiment, and this they can unhesitatingly commend
to the attention of agriculturists.

In addition to providing for an ample supply of expert
advice to the population, the authorities must arrange for
the widest possible diffusion of agricultural information,
both scholastically and extra-scholastically. To this end
aU possible ways and means must be devised at the present
jimcture.

THE PROBABLE YIELD OF THE CROPS WHEN
THE AGRICULTURE OF THE SOUTH EAST HAS
BEEN RATIONALISED.

Professor V. N. Bushinsky.

Introduc- The Statistical data of the harvests during recent years

*^'°°- show clearly that in the south-eastern area in the course

of every ten years there are at least two years in which the
crops fail. Then, owing to the insufficiency of food and
fodder, millions of persons and cattle go hungry. Some
of the inhabitants endeavour to migrate to more fertile
regions. Much of the agriculture of the affected area is
completely ruined.

These periodically recurring crises, these failures of the
harvest during many years, upset the established con-
ditions of agriculture in the affected area, and at the same
time they unsettle the whole agricultural system of the-
country, inasmuch as they withdraw the products of one
of the most fertile granaries of the Republic from the
general agricultural yield.

What systematic measures is it necessary to adopt in
order that in the immediate future (and as far as the nature
of the local soils, the climatic conditions of the area, and
the contemporary achievements of science and technique
permit) we may prevent the recurrence of such failures
of the harvest ? What crops is it expedient to introduce,
what rotation of crops should we recommend, and so on,
in order to save the vegetation from the effects of the
customarily inadequate rainfall in the dry areas, and in
especial from the consequences of the occasional extreme
drought ? What measures have we at our disposal for
the preservation of the humidity of the soil and for a
sufficient reduction of its salinity ?

This essay is an attempt to answer such questions, and

in especial it is an attempt to determine the probable

yield of the crops when agriculture has been completely

rationaUsed in all directions.

The area affected with drought in the eleven provinces

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 6i

comprises neariy 170,000,000 desyatinas. Taking into
consideration that in some of the provinces a continuous
failure of the crops does not occur, we must reduce to
150,000,000 desyatinas, the area in all these provinces
actually suffering from failure of the crops. This is
17 per cent, of the whole area of the eleven provinces. In
a survey of these provinces we find a quite characteristic
law for the distribution of population. As we pass from
the North West to the South East, the area under cultiva-
tion and the density of population progressively diminish.
The phenomenon is directly dependent upon the conditions
of «oil and chmate.

To estimate the probable yield of the crops, our calcula- Probable
tions must be based upon the data of considerable periods ^^f\ °^ the
of time. Attention must be paid to numerous considera- south East.
tions. In especial we are concerned with the application,
throughout the south-eastern area, of a carefully thought
out and purposive system of agricultural production
applied for a number of years.

This work is closely associated with another work,
always interconnected with it in the arid south-eastern
area. I refer to measures for the struggle with drought,
infertility, and consequent famine. These matters fall
under two heads : (i) failure of the crops and drought ;
(2) the consequences of failure of the crops and drought.
And until the foregoing measures have been reaUsed in
the South East in a practical form, estimates of the
probable harvests in this area will remain mere guess
work.

At the present time we are already arranging to a
sufficient degree for quite a number of experimental,
scientific, and technical innovations. Though, of course,
these are not yet in full working order, we are entitled
to make a favourable forecast for the agriculture of the
South East.

To this end it is necessary that new elements should be
introduced into agriculture, that time-honoured and
routinist practices should be discarded. We must seize
the propitious moment for the introduction of the new and
appropriate measures without which it would be idle to
expect the rationalisation of agriculture. It is no less
important to consider the factors of this transformation.

Among the desirable measures we must reckon (i) : the
utihsation of such results obtained in the experimental
agricultural institutions of the South East as have already
been pkced on a secure foundation ; (2) a careful study

62 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

of the area in respect of its physical, agricultural, and
economic peculiarities ; (3) a change in the system of
husbandry ; (4) the introduction as far as possible
throughout the South East of the putting of land under
pasture for several years in conjunction with rotation of
crops ; {5) the improvement of the methods of tillage
and the adoption of those suitable to the local soils ;
(6) the cultivation on the ploughed lands of other crops
besides cereals ; (7) the restoration of fertility to the
surface and to the exhausted deeper layers of the soil,
and above all the breaking-up of the compacted masses
and the renewal of friability ; (8) the retention of moisture
in the soil and its skilful utihsation ; (9) the introduction
of drought-resisting crops ; (10) the waging of a struggle
against the refractory physical and chemical qualities
of the soil — measures for the cultural improvement of the
salt lands and salt marshes ; (11) the improvement of
stock-breeding by the introduction of carefully selected
breeders ; (12) insuring that both in respect of design
and of execution all the ameliorative measures adopted
shall accord with a weU-considered plan ; {13) the
inauguration of land settlement and land construction
works, etc.

It is essential that all these measures should be carried
out for a number of consecutive years in accordance
with a definite system. The work in this region can be
summed up as a struggle with the waterless steppe, as an
extension of the area under cultivation by way of an
increase in the putting of land under perennial grass, by
way of the sowing of early-ripening crops on lands that
have been lying fallow, and by way of the creation of
oases.

Guided by the above considerations, and without
introducing further details (for which space and time are
lacking), we will draw up a general estimate of the agricul-
tural production of this district.

The table on p. 63 shows clearly that even under the
unfavourable conditions that obtain in arid south-eastern
European Russia, agricultural production can be con-
siderably increased at a moderate material expenditure
within the course of a few years. We see that the yield
can be raised to a level from 25 to 35 per cent, higher
than the average yield of previous years. For the whole
area of the eleven provinces the yield will become more
than one milliard poods. As far as the arid south-
eastern provinces are concerned (groups II. and III. in

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 63

Aieat.

TiUed Land
in Desyatinas.

Production
in Thou,
sands of

Poods when
Fertility
has been

increased

by 25 per
cent.

Increased Area of
Land under Cultiva-
tion in Desyatinas.

Production

of the

enlarged

tilled area in

Thousands

of Poods.

I. Kazan, Simbirsk,
Vyatka, Ufa and
Orenburg

II. Samara, Saratov
and Stavropol .

III. Astrakhan, Uralsk
and Turgai

9,445,001
8,667,925
2,021,510

522,756

371.653

58.927

+
10%
20%
30%

10.389.501

10,401,510

2,627,963

575,031

445.984

76,605

Total of all the Areas .

20,154,436

953.336

23,418,974

1.097.620

Total of Areas in Groups
II. and III. .

10,689,435

430,680

13,088,443

522,589

the table) the peld wiU reach a total of more than five
hundred million poods.

A yield according to these estimates would not merely
suffice to feed the local population, to provide fodder for
the beasts, and seed, in addition to furnishing a reserve
of grain for any future period of failure of the crops.
Furthermore, the yield of the whole area, and especially
the increase in the crops in groups II. and III., would
render it possible to export a considerable quantity of
cereals from the South East, either for the home or for
the foreign market.

We must point out that in three of the areas named,
Astrakhan, Uralsk, and Turgai, no considerable increase
in the extent of land under cultivation can be expected
in the immediate future without a complete change in the
system of husbandry. It is true that in these areas the
amount of land under cultivation is very smaU, only
2,021,510 desyatinas, not more than 3 per cent, of the
whole territory. In this part of the world, cattle-raising
has hitherto predominated over agriculture, for the former
is preferable in dry cUmates where harvest prospects are
extremely uncertain. The association of all these things
is quite possible, provided that the system of husbandry
is changed and that new economic plans are adopted for
the national agriculture.

64 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

In years of average harvest, Astrakhan alone among all
the eleven provinces has, in general, suffered from any
lack. It did not provide sufficient cereals for its own
inhabitants, and the import of grain was therefore requisite.
In 1917, for example, about 8,000,000 poods of cereals
were imported into Astrakhan province.^ There was a
similar lack of grain in previous years. Regarding the
other ten provinces few details are obtainable, but in years
of average harvest they produce more than sufficient for
local needs.

Samara, Saratov, Orenburg, and Ufa do especially well
in this respect.

In Astrakhan province, and above all in the riverine
area, notwithstanding the lack of cereal culture, there
flourishes the intensive culture of vegetables, fruit, and
flowers. Even to-day, these are produced in considerable
quantities. This is rendered possible by the local condi-
tions of soil and cUmate and by the abundant moisture in
the riverine soil. The valley of the Volga and Akhtuba
and the delta of the Volga form an oasis of flower, fruit,
and vegetable gardens amid the encircUng desert of the
Caspian littoral.

In this area there are approximately 70,000 desyatinas
under intensive culture in thoroughly well-watered land.

The whole area of the valley and the delta comprises
nearly 1,600,000 desyatinas. The greater part could be
used for the extension of flower gardens, vegetable
gardens, melonries, vineyards, etc.

^ Lositsky, The Russian Grain Harvest in the Year 1917.

AGRARIAN REORGANISATION.

We shall consider the problem of agrarian reconstruction introduc-
only as far as concerns the typically dry area of the South *'°°-
East. We shall deal with the provinces according to
their old boundaries. Thus defined. Samara comprises
15,000,000 hectares ; Saratov, 8,000,000 hectares ; Astra-
khan, 23,000,000 hectares ; Turgai, 47,000,000 hectares ;
and Uralsk, 31,000,000 hectares. The whole area com-
prises 124,000,000 hectares.

After the revolution, about 97 per cent, of all the land
of the above-defined area was concentrated in the hands
of the peasant farmers and of the nomadic population.
The remaining 3 per cent, was at the disposal of the
instruments of State. According to the census of the
year 1916, there were in the aforesaid territory, in all,
1,367,044 peasant farmers, and the total rural population
was 7,900,000 persons of both sexes. According to the
reports of 1920 the population last year had fallen to
7,200,000. The relative proportions of settled and
nomadic population, with the respective amount of land
they occupied, are shown in the following table : —

Settled agriculturists . . 5,881,000

Occupying . . . 39,400,000 hectares.

Nomads .... 1,319,000

Occupying . . . 84,600,000 hectares.

In the territory occupied by the nomads, the work of
agrarian reconstruction has not yet begun. In the
territory occupied by the settled population (inasmuch as
the area was for a long time one of those directly affected
by the civil war) the work of agrarian reorganisation did
not begin until 1920. It then comprised preparatory
measures of State activity on behalf of agrarian reorganisa-
tion upon a large scale. At the present time, in the
riverine area, the work of agrarian reorganisation in the
form of agricultural unification has been completed in ten
rural districts with an area of 375,000 desyatinas.

The fundamental task of agrarian reorganisation is the The Tasks
overcoming of the existing insufficiency in the utiHsation ^ agranan
of the land, to the end that more favourable conditions ^0^^^*"^'^*'

66 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Benefits
accruing to
Agriculture
from the
Dispersal of
the closely
aggregated
Farmsteads.

may be created. As far as the nomads are concerned,
wherever the natural conditions render it possible, they
should be gradually transformed into a stock-raising
population settled on the land. As far as the settled
peasant farmers are concerned, they must be guided to
the adoption of more intensive methods of utihsing the
land, a change which will above all be associated with the
aboUtion of the unduly close aggregation of the farmstead
into huge villages. Simultaneously, agrarian recon-
struction must pursue the aim of apportioning the surplus
areas of free land in those regions where land is abundant
so as to form a State colonisation land reserve for the
population of those provinces of European Russia where
land hunger prevails.

The huddUng together of the population into closely set
aggregates of farmsteads forming huge villages in the
before-mentioned area is concentrated along the lines of
the river Volga and its tributaries, and also in those parts
which come within the influence of the railways. The
general ratio of the villages comprising many farmsteads
to the villages comprising few farmsteads (taking the
latter at 200 farmsteads on the average) will be as 2 : 3,
The transference per settlement will be 400 farmsteads.
The economic results of such a dispersal are obvious,
(i) If we assume that the size of the settlements is
restricted to an area ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 desya-
tinas, this would reduce the distance of internal fanning
transport from 50 — 100 versts to 2 — 4 versts, this being a
reduction of at least 25 times.

(2) The settlement enables the population to irrigate
poor and salty soil.

{3) The increase in the area, the sowing of drought-
resisting lucerne for fodder (experiments in AstraMian
province) ; experience shows that in this respect the
ploughed land per settlement is increased 5 or 6 times,
concomitantly with the reduction in transport.

(4) There spontaneously arises in the settlement a
development of gardens, of the setting of trees ; to a
considerable extent, also, the cultivation of melons,
cucumbers, etc., is undertaken.

(5) In ■tJie small settlements, ranging from 1,500 to
2,000 desyatinas, there is an improved rotation of the
crops owing to the transition to a three-field or a four-field
system, with sowings of lucerne, clover, etc.

(6) Stock-raising shows a strong tendency to be trans-
formed from the keeping of herds on pastures to the

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 67

keeping of stall-fed beasts ; in this way the supply of the
animals with fodder is safeguarded, the transport of fodder
is diminished, and there is less driving of cattle to and fro.

(7) The steppe becomes less arid, for the rainfall
(especially the winter snowfall) is more rationally utilised
by means of irrigation channels, etc. — ^by primitive
methods which render it possible to equaUse the distribu-
tion and expenditure of the stores of water, and definitely
to increase the harvest.

The plan of agrarian reorganisation includes the A Plan of
following items : (a) as far as concerns the Kirghiz and agrarian
Kalmuck elements in the population, the marking-of£ of ^on'^fo^a*'
a land reserve for their especial use ; (b) as far as concerns brief (Five
the peasant population, the breaking-up of the existing ^^^^K
great settlements into a nvunber of small settlements, each ®"° '
comprising from 1,500 to 2,000 desyatinas ; (c) a systematic
search for water in all the areas, the inauguration and
carrying out of the simplest possible methods of regular
water supply (wells, reservoirs, etc.) ; (d) the upkeep of
the necessary high roads, the building of new bridges, and
the repair of old ones.

(Work for the realisation of these aims may be classed
under three main heads.

I. Agrarian reorganisation in the agricultural areas
where there is a superabundance of land, those in which
part of the land can be assigned to the State colonisation
reserve.

II. Agrarian reorganisation in the other agricultural
areas.

III. Agrarian reorganisation in the areas inhabited by
Kirghiz and Kalmuck nomads.

Under the first head comes an area of 15,000,000
hectares, distributed as follows :

Saratov .
Samara .
Tsaritsin
Turgai .
Uralsk .

2,800,000 hectares.
2,000,000 „
2,800,000 „
6,000,000 „
1,400,00b „

Out of these areas, 3,780,000 hectares can be assigned to
the State reserve, as foUows : ^

Saratov . . . 500,000 hectares.
Samara . . . 700,000 „

* In two instances the above figures relate to the newly delimited
provinces.

68 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Tsaritsin .
Turgai .
Uralsk .

730,000 hectares.
1,500,000 „
350,000 „

Under the second head comes an area of 24,400,000
hectares, and under the third head an area of 88,600,000
hectares. The work in the third division, however, does
not concern the entire area in question, but only those
portions of it which are essential to the requirements of
the existing nomadic population. Estimating this popula-
tion at 1,319,000 of both sexes, or 263,800 kibitkas (tents —
famiUes), and the normal requirement of land per kibitka
at 50 hectares, the amount of land required for agrarian
reorganisation works out at 13,190,000 hectares.

Under the first head, the area annually dealt with
in the work of agrarian reconstruction wiU amount to
3,000,000 hectares.

Amount of
Materials
and Labour
annually
required for
the Realisa-
tion of this
Plan.

Hectares
per Year.

s.|l

Needed

Carts and Horses
Needed

worker.

in all.

per
sloUed
worker.

inaU.

Surveyors

Hydraulic Engineers
Road Experts

4,000
30,000
50,000

750

100

7
20

5.250
2,000
1,800

3
4
4

2,250
400
240

Totals .

—

910

—

9,050

—

2,890

Under the second head the area annually dealt with in
the work of agrarian reconstruction will amount to
4,880,000 hectares.

Hectares
per Year.

Skilled
Workers
Needed.

Labourers
Needed

Carts and Horses
Needed

per
skiUed
worker.

InaU.

SkiUed
worker.

inalL

Surveyors

Hydraulic Engineers
Road Experts

4,000
30,000
50.000

1,230
150
100

7
20

8,540
3.000
3.000

3
4
4

3,660
600
400

Totals .

—

1,480

—

14.540

—

4,660

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 69

Under the third head the area annually dealt with in
the work of agrarian reconstruction will amount to
2,638,000 hectares.

Hectares

Skilled
Workers
Needed.

Labourers

Needed

Carts and Horses
Needed

per
skilled
worker.

in all.

sl^Ll
worker.

inaU.

Surveyors

Hydraulic Engineers
Road Experts

8,000

60,000

100,000

330
45
25

7
20

2,310
900
750

3
4
4

990
180
100

Totals .

—

400

—

3.960

—

1,270

The total annual demand for skiUed and unskilled
workers and for carts and horses under all three heads
will amount to :

Surveyors .... 2310
Hydrauhc engineers . . 295

Road Experts . . . 185

Total of skilled workers . 2,790
„ labourers . . 27,550
„ carts and horses 8,820

Financial Requirements. ^

UNDER THE FIRST HEAD.

A. Outlay on technical Work.

Per Hectare,

Annual Require-

meats for t^e

3,000,000 Hectares,

in Roubles.

For a Five- Year
Period, that is for

15,000,000 Hec-
tares, in Roubles.

Surveying
Irrigation Works
Road Construction .

Roubles, Kopecks,
a 55
I 30
I 65

7,650,000
3,900,000
4,950,000

38,250,000
19,500,000
24,750,000

Totals

5 50

16,500,000

82,500,000

' Cost estimated in gold roubles.

70 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

B. Outlay necessary to provide the new Settlements
with Buildings.

Cost per

Building in

Roubles.

Buildings
Needed
per Year.

Total Cost

per Year in

Roubles.

Total Cost for the

Five-Year Period

in Roubles.

Dwelling-Houses built of
Clay, with tiled or
thatched Roofs, and

an Area of 90 square
arshins .

300

20,000

6,000,000

30,000,000

Cowhouses, Stables, Pig-
styes, etc.. Bams, etc.

— all with Lofts.

100

—

2,000,000

10,000,000

Sheds for Farm Imple-
ments

—

1,000,000

5,000,000

Totals .

450

20,000

9,000,000

45,000,000

N.B. — The above estimate of the buildings needed is based upon
the following calculation. We suppose the normal share of land per
head to be 7-5 hectares and the average family to consist of 5 persons.
Per family, therefore, the amount of land required will be 37-5 hectares.
Consequently, if every year the amount of land brought under settle-
ment be 750,000 hectares, the number of famiUes settled on this land
will be 750,000 -r 37'5 = 20,000,

C. Outlay for supplying the^Settlers with Implements
and Live Stock.

For one Family.

For so.ooo

Families per

Year, in

Roubles.

For 100,000

Anixnals.

Number.

Cost per
head in
Roubles.

Total in
Roubles.

the Five-Year
Period, in
Roubles.

Horses . , .
Cows .
Sheep
Rams ,

I
I
I

75
50

5
5

150
50

5
5

3,000,000

1,000,000

100,000

15,000,000

5,000,000

500,000

Totals .

— "

—

4,200,000

21,000,000

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 71

C. Outlay for supplying the Settlers with Implements \
and Live Stock — continued.

For one Family.

For 20,000

Families per

Year, in

Roubles.

For 100,000

Families in

the Five- Year

Period, in

Roubles.

Implements.

Number.

Cost per
head in
Roubles.

Total in
Roubles.

Ploughs

700,000

3,500,000

Harrows

500,000

2,500,000

Farm Carts

1,200,000

6,000,000

Sleds .

,500,000

2,500,000

Tools .
Threshers

V ^

25
150

500,000
600,000

2,500,000
3,000,000

Harvesters

for

150

600,000

3,000,000

Horse-threshers .
Winnowing-

machines

> every
five
families

300
50

—

1,200,000
200,000

6,000,000
1,000,000

Totals for Impl
Totals for Live

ements
Stock

•

6,000,000
4,200,000

30,000,000
21,000,000

Grand 1

'otals

•

10,200,000

51,000,000

D. Outlay for Supplying the Settlers with Seed.

Area sown

amiually, in

Hectares.

Seed for
I Hectare
in Poods.

Total Seed
'in Poods.

Cost of
I Pood in
Kopecks.

Total Cost

per Year in

Roubles.

Total Cost for

the Five-Year

Period in

Roubles.

75,000

450,000

337.500

1,687,500

TOTAL OUTLAY UNDER THE FIRST HEAD :

for one year .

for the five-year period

36,037,500 roubles.
180,187,500 „

It is desirable to add to this sum, for organising expenses,
25 per cent., which wiU give a revised total of 225,234,375
roubles.

72 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

UNDER THE SECOND HEAD.
A. Outlay on technical Work.

Per Hectare.

Annual Require-
ments for the
+,880,000 Hectares,
in Roubles.

For a Five-Year
Period, that is for
24,400,000 Hec-
tares, in Roubles.

Surveying
Irrigation Works .
Road Construction .

Roubles. Kopecks.
2 55
I 30
I 65

12,444,000
6,344,000
8,052,000

62,220,000
31,720,000
40,260,000

Totals .

5 50

26,840,000

134,200,000

B. Assistance given to the Settlers.

Taking the quantity of population in the area of
24,400,000 hectares to be 2,000,000 persons or 400,000
farmers, and estimating the cost of the aid to each farmer
at 250 roubles, we arrive at the following sum :

400,000 X 250 = 100,000,000 roubles.

Adding to this the sum of 134,200,000 roubles in the
above table, we obtain a sum of 234,200,000 roubles.

Adding, as under the previous head, 25 per cent, for
organising expenses, we reach a revised total of expen-
diture UNDER HEAD TWO amounting to :

292,700,000 roubles.

UNDER THE THIRD HEAD.

A. Outlay on Technical Work.

Roughly estimating that the total cost for technical
work under this head will be twice as much proportion-
ally as the cost of the same work under the first and second
heads, we find that the corresponding total cost for the
area of 13,190,000 hectares wiU be 38,225,000 roubles.

B. Outlay for Supplying the Nomads with Farm Implements.

For every 5 kibitkas.l

For 263,800 kibitkas.

Number.

Cost in Roubles.

Machine Mowers
Scythes

I
5

150
10

7,914,000
527,600

Totals .

—

8,441,600

* Kibitka = tent, or family.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 73

TOTAL COST OF WORK UNDER THE THIRD HEAD :

46,666,600 roubles,
adding 25 per cent, for organ-
ising expenses . . 11,666,600 „

Revised Total 58,333,200 „

General cost under all three heads wiU thus amount, in
round figures, to :

576,000,000 roubles.

If the agrarian productivity of this dry area is to be Conclusion,
increased, it is indispensable that all the before-mentioned
measures for agrarian reconstruction should be put into
operation. Any one of them, taken by itself, wiU be far
from exercising a decisive influence. The fact that the
locaUty Ues within the area of inadequate rainfall dooms
its peasant farming to the periodical recurrence of grave
crises unless there be undertaken a series of widely con-
ceived amehorative measures in the form of irrigation
works, unless the methods of husbandry be improved, and
unless the whole rural economy be rightly organised.

In default of the preUminary realisation of these
measures, any fiurther colonisation of the dry area would
merely serve to widen the basis for such catastrophes as
this year's failure of the crops.

SOVIET FARMS IN THE SOUTH-EASTERN AREA.

N. V. TURCHANINOFF.

Number. WiTHiN the limits of the area affected by the failure of the

crops of the year igzi there are 654 soviet farms com-
prising 1,115,861 desyatinas, that is to say one-half of all
the State lands of the R.S.F.S.R. actually at the present
time incorporated in soviet farms. Out of this number in
those provinces and regions classed in the first category
as poor provinces, there are 377 soviet farms, comprising
959.695 desyatinas ; and in the provinces classed in the
second category there are 277 soviet farms, comprising
156,166 desyatinas.

In the various provinces and regions the distribution of
the soviet farms and of the lands belonging to these is as
follows :

First Category.

Number of
Soviet Farms.

Desyatinas.

Samara ....

Saratov ....

German Volga Commune .

Tsaritsin

Astrakhan

Chelyabinsk (part of Turgai)

109
123

5
20

136,000

511.750
12,000

170.597
38.903
90.445

Totals .

377

959.695

Second Category.

Number of
Soviet Farms.

Desyatinas.

Vyatka
Kazan .
Simbirsk
Ufa
Orenburg

45
93
73
40
26

12,943
37.064

23.394
20,765
62,000 (approximately)

Totals .

277

156,166

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 75

Many of the soviet farms alluded to in the foregoing General
tables have not yet been inaugurated. The land is stiU Conditions.
to be surveyed and the farms exist only in embryo. This
remark applies especially to the Transvolgian group of
provinces, where vast areas have been assigned to the
soviet farms, but where comparatively little has yet been
done in the way of getting to work. For example, the
Novouzensk belt has been handed over to the Gomza
[State Machine Shops] to the extent of 452,358 desyatinas,
and no more than 11,000 desyatinas of this are under
cultivation. Out of the 170,597 desyatinas assigned to
the soviet farms in Tsaritsin province, the greater part
consists of steppe pasture land, and no more than 32,000
desyatinas are cultivated. In Astrakhan province, where
horticulture is the predominant form of husbandry the
cultivated land amounts to little more than 2,500 desya-
tinas.

Some of the soviet farms are very large estates, especially
in Saratov, Samara, and Tsaritsin provinces, where they
sometimes attain the size of 20,000 desyatinas or more,
as for instance in Novouzensk, Melekesk, Leninsk, and
Tsaritsin coimties.

The largest soviet farm in Ufa province has an area of
2,200 desyatinas, but in the Iletsk county of Orenburg
province all the soviet farms extend to 6,000 desyatinas.

The foregoing data show that in the impending survey
on behalf of the restoration of the farms suffering from
failure of the crops, great attention must be given to the
large soviet farms of the locaUty, for these, if suitable
methods are employed, can be transformed into under-
takings which will not only give a satisfactory return from
the productive point of view, but will be extremely advan-
tageous to the whole region as examples of agricultural
technique.

As yet the work of these farms is only in the initial stage. Farming
They are engaged in setting their house in order, as we and Live"**
learn from tiie following figures. In the year 1920, iii
the six provinces classed in the first category as poor
provinces, upon the 95,000 desyatinas of arable which are
here under the administration of the Department of
Agriculture, there were 5,657 cart horses, 3,495 oxen, and
204 camels, making up a total of 9,356 draught beasts.
As far as the larger homed cattle are concerned, there
were 5,544 head, and of these 3,028 were milch cows.
Of smaller farm beasts there are 1,571 pigs, and 5,668
sheep.

76 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Sowings.

Technical
Equipment.

The farming implements are shown in the following
table :

Tools and Implements for breaking

up new Land
Tools and implements for ordinary

farm Work
Drillers
Harvesters .
Threshers

Winnowing Machines
Tractors

Chaff-cutters, etc. .
Separators .
Churns,

3.826

6,626

1,429

2,191

236

618

5
233
198
III

In these provinces, during the year 1920, there were
sown 17,969 desyatinas, comprising 18-9 per cent, of all
the arables of the soviet farms of the locality. Summer
wheat was the principal sowing. Only in Saratov province
was a considerable area (1,282 desyatinas) put under rye
as a winter sowing.

The second distinctive feature of the soviet farms in the
Transvolgian provinces must be their adequate equipment
with all kinds of technical apparatus, and in especial with
mills, repairing shops, and smithies. Furthermore in
nearly all the soviet farms there must be a number of
factories for the elaboration of agricultural products.
These can be set agoing at a comparatively low cost.
They cannot fail to play a decisive part in the reanimation
of the whole area, which is greatly in need of assistance in
respect of the technique of these types of manufacture.

To sum up, in the plans for the restoration and improve-
ment of the area affected by the failure of the crops in the
year 1921, especial importance must be assigned to the
soviet farms. As the foregoing considerations show, they
offer splendid possibilities and are destined to play a
dominant role.

THE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
SOUTH EAST.i

Professor A. N. Kostyakoff.

The south-eastern area of Russia has very marked
peculiarities in respect ahke of climatic conditions and of
water supply. On the one hand we have a lack of humid-
ity in the soil, and an uncertainty of the water supply in
the summer, with all its consequences. On the other
hand we have an excessive and utterly unprofitable flood
of surface waters in the spring and during heavy rainstorms.
These peculiarities of the south-eastern area impose the
task of strict attention to the matter of water supply.
The measures which should be adopted may be briefly
summarised as follows : the regulation (by retardation,
management, and storage) of the flow of surface waters
(by reservoirs in the ravines and river beds) ; the right
utilisation of the water, thus rendered available, for the
tilling of the soil. By these measures would be secured :
first, the extension of the area of cultivation, with a con-
sequent increase in the humidity of the climate ; secondly,
the regularisation of the flow of the rivers. In this way
it would be possible to cope with the most unfavourable
among the natural conditions of the south-eastern area.

The carrjing out of these vitally necessary tasks
involves a complete system of concrete measures for the
improvement of the water supply in the south-eastern
area. The most important of these measures will be the
following :

(i) The storage of the rainfall and the snowfall in the
localities where the fall takes place, whether in the high-
lands or in the lowlands, by special methods of snow-water
retention and rain-water retention.

(2) The formation of lagoons in the straths and the
wadis for the purpose of flooding the meadows and the
ha37fields. In addition to their use for irrigation by
flooding in situ, the formation of these lagoons at the
higher levels reheves the strain upon reservoirs lower down.

(3) The utilisation of the ravines in all possible ways,
and especially by the building of dams in their higher

^ For an explanation of the terms used in connection with irrigation
schemes (lagoon, etc.), see p. 165.

Climatic
Conditions
of the South
East : Water
Supply.

Improve-
ments in the
Water
Supply.

78 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

parts, both for the storage of storm-waters, and for the
safeguarding of the lower parts of the valley.

(4) The construction of embankments in the lower
reaches of the valleys and also in the wadis and on the
smaller, non-navigable streams ; also the formation of
great reservoirs where water can be stored for the irriga-
tion of adjacent areas, either from natural heads of water
or by pumping up water to attain the higher levels. These
various works will place at our disposal a considerable
quantity of water-power, of which adequate use must be
made.

We see, then, that the main object of the system of
measures above described is to retard the natural flow of
the upland waters to the sea. In the spring,^when the
supply is abundant, these waters must be stored in
special reservoirs, for use in summer, when there is a
dearth of water, for the irrigation of the land. Only after
this function has been fulfilled, only after the water has
been used for agricultural purposes, should it be allowed
to flow into the rivers and towards the sea. The water
must not be permitted to make its way seaward until it
has done its duty by the crops.

Such are the measures we have to employ for the
distribution of the waters in the ravines, the wadis, the
smaller, nOn-navigable streams, and the higher parts of
the river basins. As far as the larger rivers are concerned,
in their case hkewise there is necessary a whole series of
measures. These measures are connected with the
general problems of the utilising of the rivers in agriculture
(for navigation purposes, as sources of water-power, and
in farming operations). Essentials to the regulation of
navigation are : the construction of reservoirs for feeding
the channels (when the waters are low) ; and the preven-
tion of silting-up. Another part of the scheme, as concerns
the larger rivers, is the use for irrigation purposes of such
a part of their waters as is not essential to navigation.

Without pausing to consider in detaU the utilisation of
the south-eastern rivers for navigation purposes and their
use as sources of water-power, we must emphatically
insist that the full irrigation of all the land of the south-
eastern area that is in need of irrigation for the complete
development of its agricultural possibilities, cannot be
achieved if we simply depend upon the winter rainfall and
snowfall. In fact, the records show (see Table I. below)
that the entire available amount of spring-time waters in
Samara, Saratov, Astrakhan, and Uralsk, amounts in

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 79

average years to about 1,100,000,000 cubic sazhenes. If
we suppose that one-fifth of this water is needed in order
to keep the rivers navigable, and if we deduct this amount,
there remains available for other purposes about
850,000,000 cubic sazhenes. Now there are needed for
irrigation (direct irrigation and lagoon irrigation) and for
the ordinary water supply of the area in question about
1,080,000,000 cubic sazhenes. Thus there is a deficit of
nearly 250,000,000 cubic sazhenes. This means that
about 500 desyatinas of land must remain unirrigated,
imless we take water for the purpose from the rivers
flowing through the area, to the amount of 25 cubic
Scizhenes per second.

The undertakings sketched in the foregoing paragraphs
comprise in their totality a system of radical measures for '
deahng with the water supply of the South East. In
carrying out this work of amelioration, we must proceed
systematically and in accordance with a definite plan.
We must give careful attention to details, whatever the
demands upon our time.

Such are the amehorative measures which are imposed
by the natural conditions of the south-eastern area. Let
us now turn to consider what sort of improvement works
are demanded by the agricultural conditions and prospects
of the South East.

The first place must be given to work for the restoration improve-
of existing agriculture and for the improvement of its '"^c^iturli*
conditions, and consequently to ameliorative measures conditions
tending towards the agrarian reorganisation of the local of the Area,
population — ^in the sense of a redistribution but not
of an increase in the areas of extant agriculture. Work
tending to promote the creation of a colonisation land
reserve for the settlement of an immigrant population can
be organised at the present time only in the form of
preparatory studies and schemes for prospective under-
takings, in so far as a skilled personnel and financial means
are available.

In conjunction with this task — ^the improvement in the
conditions of existing agriculture in the South East — ^there
is necessary in the first place the introduction of the
before-mentioned system of radical measures for the
improvement of the natural conditions. Thus for the
realisation of our aims, the following steps are requisite :

(i) Irrigation works taking the form of means for the
retention of the snow-water and the rain-water in the
fields of the catchment area and on the uplands — a region

8o THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

in which this kind of work must be inaugurated on a large
scale, as can be deduced from the following calculations.
Observation and experiment (by P. V. Yankoffsk and
others) have shown that good methods of irrigation can
ensure in average years a grain harvest ranging from
20 to 35 poods per desyatina according as the local condi-
tions vary. If we take the minimal annual production
requisite per farm or family to be 50 poods of grain, we
see that to guarantee this amount the average farm must
have at its disposal from i| to 2| desyatinas of irrigated
land. Upon this basis we can calculate the number of
farms and areas of the stated size needing irrigation works
in each of the provinces under consideration. The total
area where such irrigation works are requisite amounts to
approximately 3,400,000 desyatinas in Samara, Saratov,
Astrakhan, Uralsk, and Don Cossacks (comprising the
more arid sub-area) ; and to approximately 2,800,000
desyatinas in Simbirsk, Orenburg, Penza, Ufa, and Kazan
(comprising the less arid sub-area).

(2) The formation of lagoons for the flooding of the
meadows and straths in an area of about 1,500,000 desya-
tinas in the five provinces where the conditions are those
typical of the South East, and in an area of about 1,300,000
desyatinas in the adjoining provinces where the aridity is
less marked. The extent of the lagoons is calculated upon
the basis of what is necessary in the years of minimum
rainfall for the watering of the Mve stock (horses and cattle)
and for the growing of the requisite average amount of
fodder. Detailed calculations for the various provinces
will be found in Table II.

(3) Direct irrigation of the fields with water taken
from : (a) reservoirs in the ravines and wadis ; (6) in
many cases, from the rivers and streams. The former
method of obtaining water for irrigation is only now being
inaugurated, and must henceforward be vigorously
developed to the very Hmit of its possibilities. But, as
has already been pointed out, the snow-waters will not
suifhce for the irrigation of the whole area which needs to
be irrigated, and by degrees it wiU become necessary to
have recourse to flowing waters and to distribute these
waters through aqueducts, or in case of need with the aid
of mechanical power. AU this must go hand in hand
with the development of intensive culture and with a
general improvement in the economic conditions of the
South East (communications, markets, etc.). The figures
show that even in unfavourable years when the harvest

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 8i

is very low, a direct irrigation system wiU serve in each
of the provinces of the South East to make good the
general requirements of the population ; that is to say,
the crops from the irrigated areas in conjunction with the
minimal crops derivable from the non-irrigated sown areas
will suflSce to supply the minimum victualling needs of the
popidation — ^namely, 8 poods of grain per head per annum
— ^with sufficient over for seed com. Table I. shows that
the extent of ground requiring direct irrigation in the
more arid sub-area, totals about 650,000 desyatinas ; and in
the less arid sub-area, totals about 400,000 desyatinas.

(4) The mechanical irrigation of areas under intensive
culture (fruit, flower, and vegetable gardens ; fields sown
with fodder plants ; and ploughlands) with the aid of
artificially stored water distributed from pumping stations.
The extent of this intensive culture in the more arid sub-
area of the South East is as follows : fruit, flower, and
vegetable gardens, about 233,000 desyatinas ; sown hay
and root crops, about 135,000 desyatinas. In the less
arid sub-area, horticulture covers about 20,000 desyatinas,
whilst hay and root crops occupy about 35,000 desyatinas.
In the future, the extent of tiiese kinds of cultivation
must be greatly increased, and their development in the
South East is a matter of State importance. The hus-
bandry of the South East can only be stabiHsed by means
of a sotmd system of irrigation. The land thus improved
by irrigation must be consistently exploited by intensive
methods, and this is tantamount to saying that favourable
results can be secured only by intensive culture. Then
there wiU be in the South East an abundance of vegetables,
fruit, and flowers ; lucerne and sugar beet will be grown.
The last-named may be regarded as especially suitable
for the irrigated areas. The total extent of mechanically
irrigated land under intensive culture (horticulture, hay-
lands, root crops) wiU amount in the more arid sub-area
to about 330,000 desyatinas, and in the less arid sub-area
to about 70,000 desyatinas.

(5) The inauguration of a system of direct irrigation
in the South East, in conjunction with the institution of
large numbers of reservoirs for the storage of rain-water
and snow-water, particularly the latter. The ratio
between the irrigated areas and the reservoirs must be
such that for each storage unit of from 400 to 600 cubic
sazhenes there must be one desyatina of irrigated land.
Apart from their function in the matter of irrigation, the
reservoirs are Ukewise needed for the purposes of ordinary

82 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

water supply, the watering of farm stock, combating fire,
etc. The total requirements of the locality for water
for such purposes, in view of the number of persons and
farm beasts to be supplied, may be estimated at approxi-
mately 27,000,000 cubic sazhenes of water per annum
in the more arid sub-area, and approximately 21,000,000
cubic sazhenes in the less arid sub-area. Consequently,
the work under this head consists of the building of
reservoirs in the wadis and ravines for the collection and
storage of the waters when freshets occur — and this will
serve in addition to prevent the occurrence of wash-outs.
The total number of these reservoirs will amount, in the
more arid area, to 11,400, of which 8,000 wiU be compara-
tively smaU ; and in the less arid sub-area will amount to
about 7,000. The number required will be proportional
to the degree of immigration into the various provinces.

(6) Various other engineering works connected with the
making of reservoirs are required in the ravines. We
need not lay much stress upon their importance to
agriculture, but nevertheless such work will prove of
great value in the struggle with drought. The ravines,
like drainage canals, are responsible for a great drying
of the soil. They cause a fall in the level of the ground
water ; through them large quantities of water run to
waste ; they lead to wash-outs ; and they lead to the
silting up in the river beds. We have to bear in mind
how thickly set the ravines are in all these provinces, that
frona one-fifth to one-third of the whole catchment consists
of ravines, that the total length and the number of them
are considerable in every one of the provinces. The total
number of the ravines in the more arid sub-area is over
33,000, and in the less arid sub-area it is over 20,000.
Engineering works are needed in them all. Full numerical
details for the various provinces and regions are given in
Table I.

(7) The regulation of the flow of the rivers and streams
of the area, the clearing of their channels, the utilisation
of their water-power, are further essentials, together with
the construction of reservoirs and the use of river water
for irrigation. From one-seventh to one-fifth of the total
length of the streams and rivers is in need of such regula-
tion. The particulars given in Table I. show that the
length for which regulation is required amounts to about
6,000 versts in the more arid sub-area, and to about 8,000
versts in the less arid sub-area.

(8) Work of great importance is the provision of good

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA

drinking water throughout the locality, by the sinking of
wells. The number of wells can be definitely calculated
upon the basis of the assumption that on the average one
well win be required for 50 farms. We find, therefore,
that for the more arid sub-area about 33,000 wells will be
needed, and for the less arid sub-area about 37,000.

(9) Finally, when we are considering work for the
improvement of the South East, certain special points
must not be overlooked. Such are the following:
(i) improvement of the salt lands and salt marshes, which
are found in great numbers in various parts of the South
East ; (2) drainage and irrigation works in the extremely
rich and fertile soil of the Volga delta, and the delta
regions of the Don and the >ycsai; (3) measures for
deaUng with the sandy areas of Astrakhan province.
In so far as these areas contain land capable of being put
to immediate use, their improvement must form part of
our general plan. For the most part, especially in the
case of the shifting sand hiUs and sand dunes, these areas
may be the object of colonisation in the future. More
will be said of this matter below.

We have given a general sketch of the most important Scale ot the
ameUorative measures essential to the regulation of the Work,
water supply of the locality, to ensuring a stable supply
even in times of drought, and to the safeguarding of the
agriculture of the area. We have confined ourselves to
the consideration of the most essential needs. The various
measures requisite are summarised in the following table :

(i) Irrigation Works,
mainly for the Fields

(2) Lagoon Irrigation,

mainly for the
Meadows .

(3) Direct Irrigation of

Ploughlands

(4) Mechanical Irrigation

of Land under inten-
sive Culture . ,

(5) Construction of Reser-

voirs of various kinds

(6) Engineering Works in

the Ravines

(7) The Regulation of the

Flow of thh Streams
and Rivers
(8] Supply of drinking
Water for the Settlers

The more arid Sub-Area,
comprising Samara, Sara-
tov, Astrakhan, Uralsk,
and Don Cossacks.

3,400,000 Desyatinas

The less arid Sub-Area,

comprising Simbirsk,

Penza, Ufa, Kazan, and

Orenburg.

2,800,000 Desyatinas

1,500.000

1,300,000 „

640,000

400,000 „

330,000

70,000 „

11,400 Reservoirs.

700 Reservoirs

33,000 Ravines.

20,000 Ravines.

6,000 Versts.

8,300 VSMtS.

33,000 Wells.

37,000 Wells.

84 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

The work specified above comprises the totality of the
ameliorative measures indispensable for the improvement
of the conditions of agriculture in the South East and in
order to provide it with the requisite stability. We see
that the amount of the proposed work, even although we
contemplate nothing beyond what is absolutely indis-
pensable, makes up a very large total. We have before
us a great and arduous task, especially in view of the
disastrous condition of agriculture at the present time.
For the carrying out of these extensive undertakings, no
less extensive means will be required. In the subjoined
table an attempt has been made to specify the principal
requisites for the completion of the measures above-
described. The calculations relating to the amount of
excavation, etc., needed for the construction of reservoirs
and for direct and lagoon irrigation, show that, in order
to obtain a reservoir storage capacity ranging from 15 to
25 cubic sazhenes and a lagoon storage capacity ranging
from 25 to 30 cubic sazhenes, i cubic sazhene of dam or
embankment must be btiilt. The quantity of excavation
required per desyatina of irrigated land ranges from 13 to
17 cubic sazhenes. Thus the total amount of excavation
work needed amounts in the more arid sub-area of the
South East to about 64,000,000 cubic sazhenes, and in the
less arid sub-area to about 41,000,000 cubic sazhenes.
For this extensive work of excavation there wiU be
required in the more arid sub-area about 370 excavators
of 100 h.p. each, and in the less arid sub-area about 148
similar excavators. Among the various mechanical
appliances requisite for the installation of these irrigation
works are : (a) pumps (mainly centrifugal pumps), with
a diameter ranging from 4 to 6 inches — of these 38,000
will be needed, 32,000 for the more arid and 6,000 for the
less arid sub-area ; (b) hydraulic rams, 10,800 in all
(9,100 for the first sub-area, and 1,700 for the second) ;
(c) motors with a total h.p. of 109,000 (90,700 h.p. for the
first sub-area, and 18,300 for the second) ; a total number
of motors (2 to 4 h.p. each) 38,300 (32,300 for the first
sub-area and 6,000 for the second).^ About one-third of
the motors must be wind-driven, since this will be more
adapted to the purposes of irrigation.

* The quantity of energy required per desyatina ranges from o-2 to
0'3 of a h.p. per second, bearing in mind that in the basic American
experiments for the application of small motors to irrigation, in actual
work in the fields the power secured was 3 to 4 times less than the
indicated h.p.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 85

For boring the wells there will be needed about 165 sets Material and
of boring apparatus in the more arid sub-area, with about technical
340,000 sazhenes of iron piping from 2 to 4J inches in ment"**
diameter ; and in the less arid sub-area about 169 sets of
boring apparatus with 380,000 sazhenes of iron piping.
There will be needed for the wells a corresponding number
of pumps, etc.

For the building of the dams (their waste-weirs and
sluices), and for the construction of the irrigation
system, we shall require large quantities of building
materials, the chief of which can be roughly estimated
as follows :

The more arid Sub-Aiea.

The less arid Sub-Aiea.

Cement ....
Metallic Materials other than

Iron ....
Timber Props of various

Thicknesses .
Planks ....
Lime ....

Tiles ....

Iron for various Purposes .

28,000,000 Foods.

2,800,000 „

4,000,000 Pieces.

15,000,000 „

1,500,000 Poods.

550,000,000 Pieces.

1,200,000 Poods.

16,000,000 Poods.

2,000,000 „

3,000,000 Pieces.

9,000,000 „

1,000,000 Poods.

350,000,000 Pieces.

700,000 Poods.

For each kind of investigation connected with the
realisation of these schemes there will be requisite a num-
ber of instruments of precision, such as meteorological and
hydrometric appliances and surveying apparatus. A
sufficient quantity of such instruments is not obtainable
in Russia at the present time, so they will have to be
imported ; this applies also to the draughtsmen's require-
ments (paints, paper, drawing materials, etc.). The
quantities of these various articles can be estimated as
follows : (i) hydrometers for 1,000 versts of river beds ;
(2) I goniometer and 2 levels for every 50,000 desyatinas
of land to be irrigated ; (3) i plane-table for every
100,000 desyatinas ; (4) i draughtsman's set for every
50,000 desyatinas; (5) i set of meteorological apparatus
(for stations of the second grade) for every 10,000 desya-
tinas of land to be irrigated. See Table II.

Consequently, in order that the above-described
ameHorative measures may be carried out in full, the
following amount of work will have to be done, and
the following materials and technical requisites vnll be
needed :

86 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Tlie more arid Sub-Area.

The less arid Sub-Areai

Quantity of Earth to be

excavated

64,000,000 Cub. Sazh,

41,000,000 Cub. Sazh.

Number of Excavators

371

148

Number of Pumps

32,000

6,000

Number of hydraulic Rams .

9,000

17,000

Number of Motors from

2 to 4 h.p.

ao.ooo

4,000

Number of Wind-driven

Motors ....

10,000

2,000

Boring Apparatus

165 Sets.

169 Sets.

Iron Piping, 2' to 4J'.

340,000 Sazhenes.

380,000 Sazhenes.

Number of Pumps, etc., for

Wells ....

32,000

6,000

Building Materials.

Cement ....
Lime ....
Iron for various Purposes .
Other Metallic Materials
Timber Props of various

Thicknesses .
Planks ....
Tiles ....

28,000,000 Poods.
1,500,000
1,200,000 „
2,800,000 „

4,000,000 Pieces.
15,000,000
550,000,000

16,000,000 Poods.
1,000,000 „
700,000 „
2,000,000 „

3,000,000 Pieces.
9,000,000 „
350,000,000 „

Instruments of Precision.

Hydrometers

Goniometers, Levels, and

Plane-Tables, in all
Meteorological Apparatus .

381
93 Sets.

276
50 Sets.

Arrange-
ment of the
Work.

Here we have a general statement of what is necessary
for the realisation of the program that has been outlined
above, of what will be required for the ameHorative
measures which are to restore the life of the South East
and to improve its rural economy. Only by degrees can
such a program be realised. Work to this end must
proceed along two hnes. The first thing is to devote
ourselves in each province to the most vital and imme-
diately pressing tasks, which for the more arid sub-area
range from 30 to 50 per cent, of the projected schemes
(average 40 per cent.), and for the less arid sub-area range
from 20 to 40 per cent, (average 30 per cent.). Then only
can we attempt the remaining tasks. In order to arrive at
an estimate of the work immediately necessary, we must
take 40 per cent, or 30 per cent, (as the case may be) of

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA

the above totals. Since it wiU require five years to com-
plete the whole of the work requisite under the first
category (immediately necessary tasks) the average
amount of work to be done each year can be calculated
as foUows :

Variety of Work.

More arid Sub-Area.

Less arid Sub-Area.

1 Irrigation Works .

250,000 Desyatinas.

160,000 Desyatinas.

2) Lagoon Irrigation .

120,000 „

70,000 „

1 3 Direct Irrigation .

45.000

24,000

4 Construction of Reser-

voirs ....

900 Reservoirs.

400 Reservoirs.

{5) Engineering Works in

the Ravines .

2,000 Ravines.

1,200 Ravines.

(6) Regulation of Flow of

Rivers ....

450 Versts.

550 Versts.

7) Mechanical Irrigation .

25,000 Desyatinas.

5,000 Desyatinas.

8) Supply of drinking

Water ....

2,000 Wells.

1,200 Wells.

Annual Cost

27,000,000 gold
Roubles.

12,000,000 gold
Roubles.

As far as concerns in each year the choice of the places
at which work is to be done in each province or regiori,
we must be guided by local needs and demands, without
departing from the general plan. At this juncture it is
impossible to formulate a specific plan for the work in
each province or region, and we wiU only say a few words
as to colonising work in the South East. The inauguration
of a colonisation land reserve constitutes the second main
department of the amehorative work in the South East.
In this respect much has been done, and there are certain
materials for the before-mentioned work. Matters are
stiU in the investigatory stage, and the first fines are being
laid down.

As is evident from all that has been said above, the
amount of work requisite for the improvement of conditions
in the South East is enormous. The carrying out of what
is wanted is hampered, not only by the dearth of material
means, by the lack of instruments, etc., but also by the
insufiiciency in the supply of technicians. Consequently,
when we contemplate a far-reaching scheme of improve-
ments in the South East, it is essential that we should
consider how to provide the necessary niunber of skilled
workers ; not only the experts-in-chief, but also the middle
and lower grades of the skiUed personnel, of which latter

88 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

a very great number will naturally be needed. It is
further necessary to create locally a powerful technical
apparatus for theoretical and practical purposes, making
the best use of the available authorities, in order to
execute the foregoing program in its totality.

The Tables which follow deal with the natural features
of the South East (Table I.), and the quantitative require-
ments for the proposed ameliorative work (Table II.).

Table I.

Name of Province

Supply of Spring-
time Waters in
Cubic Sazhenes.

Ravines.

Streams.

Irrigation Works
in the Fields.

Irrigation.

Lagoon
Irrigation of
the Meadows.

Supply of Water

from Reservoirs

in Cubic Sazhenes.

Number of
Reservoirs.

Storage Capacity
in Cubic Sazhenes.

Total amount of

Water needed for

Irrigation, in Cubic

Sazhenes.

Snow-Waters avail-
able in average Years

for Irrigation

Purposes, in Cubic

Sazhenes.

Number
of Wells
needed.

or Region.

Coefficient.

Length in

Versts.

Number.

Coefficient.

Length in
Versts.

Need
Regulation.

Direct.

Mechanical
(Horticulture).

Mechanical
(Agriculture).

MORE ARID

SUB-AREA

330,000,000

0-75

18,000

, 1
1

14,000

0-I2

8,905

1,500

in desyatinas.

5,000,000

2.150

105,000,000

280,000,000

20,000,000

Saratov .

800,000

200,000

20,000

35,000

! 200,000

8,700

Samara .

490,000,000

0-5

16,000

11,000

O-IO

13.270

2,000

1,200,000

280,000

40,000

70,000

400,000

7,000,000

2,000

147,000,900

462,000,000

86,000,000

10,500

Astrakhan

130,000,000

—

003

1,640

250

540,000

142,000

35,000

—

200,000

4,000,000

550

70,000,000

205,000,000

120,000,000

4,000

Uralsk .

145,000,000

o-i

1,800

1,500

0-03

1,860

300

115,000

35,000

10,000

1,000

200,000

3,000,000

400

21,000,000

132,000,000

20,000,000

900

Don Cossacks .

720,000,000

0-2

8,000

7,000

O-IO

15,000

2,000

800,000

—

100,000

25,000

600,000

8,000,000

8,000

8,000,000

420,000,000

180,000,000

9,000

Totals

—

43,800

33.500

—

40,675

6,050

3,455,000

657,000

205,000

131,000

1,600,000

27,000,000

13,100

351,000,000

1,499,000,000

426,000,000

33,100

LESS ARID

SUB-AREA.

Simbirsk .

350,000,000

5,000

4,000

o-i6

8,960

1,000

600,000

90,000

7,000

5,000

160,000

3,000,000

1.500

48,000,000

188,000,000

115,000,000

6,000

Penza

220,000,000

0-4

4,000

3,000

o-i6

5.530

900

400,000

60,000

5,000

10,000

200,000

3,000,000

1,500

33,000,000

122,000,000

68,000,000

5,600

Kazan

370,000,000

5,000

4.500

0-15

8,550

1,400

500,000

20,000

1.500

1,500

120,000

4,000,000

2,000

14,000,000

112,000,000

230,000,000

8,900

Ufa ...

530,000,000

0-2

5,000

4,000

0-13

13,000

2,000

740,000

40,000

2,000

8,000

230,000

6,000,000

1.500

26,000,000

185,000,000

300,000,000

10,000

Orenburg

900,000,000

0-2

8,000

5.000

0-I2

20,040

3,000

620,000

190,000

20,000

10,000

500,000

5,000,000

1.500

125,000,000

420,000,000

400,000,000

6,800

Totals

—

27,000

20,500

—

56,080

8,300

2,860,000

400,000

35,500

34.500

1,210,000

21,000,000

8,000

246,000,000

1,027,000,000

1,113,000,000

37.300

Table II.

Quantity of Earth to be excavated/in Cubic Sazhenes.

Number

Excavators

of 100 h.p

Number of
Pimips of
4 to 6 h.p.

Number of
Rams of
5 to 8 h.p.

Total Horse-
Power of

Motors.

Number of
Motors of
2 to 4 h.p.

■^

Iron Piping
in Sazhenes.

Instruments of Precision.

or Region.

Reservoirs.

Lagoons.

Direct
Irrigation.

Totals.

Boring
Apparatus.

Hydro-
meters.

Meteoro-
logical
Apparatus.

Gonio-
meters.

Levels.

Plane-
Tables.

Draughts-
men's
Sets.

MORE ARID

SUB-AREA.

Saratov .

5,500,000

4,000,000

3,825,000

13.325.000

5.500

1,500

18,000

5.500

90,000

Samara .

7,500,000

8,000,000

5,850,000

21,350,000

142

12,000

2,000

30,000

12,000

110,000

Astrakhan

3,500,000

4,000,000

2.550,000

10,050,000

3,600 ig 400

9,000

3,600

40,000

35 •

Uralsk .

1,000,000

4,000,000

690,000

5,690,000

1, 200

200

2,700

1,200

10,000

Don Cossacks .

800,000

12,000,000

1,125,000

13.925.000

10,000

5,000

31,000

10,000

90,000

Totals

18,300,000

32,000,000

14,040,000

64,340,000

371

32,300

9,100

90, 700

32,300

^65

340,000

117

205

118

LESS ARID

•

SUB- AREA.

Simbirsk

2,400,000

3,000,000

1,530,000

6,930,000

1,100

400

3.000

1,100

60,000

Penza

1,700,000

2,000,000

1,120,000

4,820,000

1,100

500

4,000

1,100

60,000

Kazan

750,000

2,500,000

340,000

3,590,000

300

100

800

300

90,000

Ufa ...

1,200,000

4,600,000

750,000

6,550,000

700

300

2,500

700

1 40

100,000

Orenburg

6,000,000

10,000,000

3,700,000

19,700,000

2,800

400

8,000

2,800

70,000

Totals

12,050,000

22,100,000

7,440,000

41,590,000

148

6,000

1,700

18,300

6,000

380,000

145

IRRIGATION WORKS FOR THE SOUTH EAST IN
THE BASINS OF THE GREAT UZEN, THE
LITTLE UZEN, AND THE KUSHUM.i

Professor R. P. Sparro.

The basins of the Great Uzen, the Little Uzen, and the Basins,
Kushum form part of the territory where the rainfall is Rainfall,
insufficient, and are situated in the semi-desert area. The ^^^
annual rainfall ranges from lo inches (in the west) to
6 inches (in the south east). Even this low rainfall is
extremely irregular. The soils are for the most part
chestnut-brown clajs ; here and there we find salt lands,
sometimes alternatmg with sand (in the south east). The
whole area is a plain with a gentle slope southward towards
the Kamysk and Samarsk Lakes. The two Uzens simply
cut their way into this plain, forming canons without
valleys or alluvium. In the spring, when the snows melt,
these two rivers carry a great deal of water. The Kushum,
on tiie other hand, which is an offshoot of the Ural,
receives only a moderate amount of water from the Ural
even in years when the main river is high, while in years
when the Ural is low hardly any water enters the Kushum.

The ground water in this locaUty is for the most part
strongly saline, and it is therefore of very Uttle use to the
inhabitants. The watering of this area depends mainly
upon reservoirs for the storage of snow-waters. In
addition, the settlements and farms lying along the before-
mentioned rivers, make use of the water which is left
behind in pools in various reaches of the rivers after the
spring freshets.

The unfavourable climatic conditions have determined Agricultural
here the course of extensive agriculture. In the western Conditions
parts of the area, however, a considerable proportion of Basins,
the land has been brought under the plough ; but as we
pass eastward and south-eastward we find that the extent
of the ploughed lands diminishes, and that the virgin
steppes are used as hayfields and as pastures for stock-

^ For an explanation of the terms used in connection with irrigation
schemes (lagoon, etc.) see p. 165.

90 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

farming. Quite a long time ago, nevertheless, the inhabi-
tants of the region we are now considering recognised the
enormous importance of irrigation. In the forties of the
last century they began this practice, first irrigating their
meadows, then their vegetable gardens, and subsequently,
their corn-fields, depending upon the meagre resources
obtainable from the local rainfall. At the present time
there are thousands of farms, with a total area of more
than 30,000 desyatinas, where the little gardens and
vegetable gardens are irrigated with the aid of norias
(paternoster-pumps or chain-pumps) or of ordinary pumps
driven by internal combustion engines, the water being
drawn from the aforesaid river pools or from the snow-
water reservoirs. In addition, in many localities, the
ploughed lands and the meadows are artificially flooded
for brief periods (lagoon irrigation). The settlement of
the desert areas and the development of stock-raising
depend here exclusively on the supply of water ; wherever
there is a spring, there we find a farmstead ; wherever
reservoirs for snow-waters have been made, there stock-
raising has developed. Thus in this part of the world
irrigation and artificial watering are not new undertakings ;
the local population has long been familiar with them, and
for their further development the only requisites are the
regulation of the flow and the proper distribution and
storage of the snow-waters.

We must not forget that the Krasny Kut, Novouzensk,
and Alexandrov Gai railway traverses the area.

In consequence of the scantiness of the local rainfall,
attention has for a long time been turned to the vigorously
flowing waters of the Great Uzen and the Little Uzen,
and also to the waters of the Kushum which could be made
available for irrigation with the aid of modem engineering
skiU.
Irrigation The catchment of the Little Uzen comprises about

Works. 9,000 square versts, and the length of the river is 500

versts. The scheme contemplates the building of seven
embankments which will lead to the formation of an
almost continuous tract of water in the middle and lower
reaches. This tract will have a total length of 279 versts,
and will create conditions favourable for colonisation in
an extensive region which has hitherto been an almost
waterless desert. By this means wiU be achieved the
lagoon irrigation of an area of 27,400 desyatinas, and
irrigation for the raising of valuable crops in gardens,
vegetable gardens, etc., for an area of 6,600 desyatinas.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 91

Considering, furthermore, that the whole locaUty will be
irrigated to the extent of 3 versts on either side of the
reservoirs, the total area art&cially watered will be 170,000
desyatinas.

These works will involve the excavation of 35,000 cubic
sazhenes of earth. The scheme embraces plans for pisci-
culture and fisheries, and also for the construction of fish-
leaps.

The plans for the Great Uzen have not yet been com-
pleted ; they contemplate two embankments in the
middle stretches of the river. The first of these will be
above the town of Novouzensk, and the second will be
near the settlement of Alexandrov Gai. The works will
effect lagoon irrigation for an area of 25,000 desyatinas,
and artificial watering for the intensive culture of a total
area of 7,000 desyatinas.

The flow of water over the weirs must be regulated in
such a way that the lower reaches of the river wiU continue
to receive an appreciable quantity of water. We have,
however, to remember that the catchment of the Uzen is
only 12,600 square versts, and is consequently small in
comparison with the general area to be watered by the
river. When two great embankments, each 8 sazhenes in
height, are built, they will hold back an enormous quantity
of water, and in the initial stages this cannot but be
attended by a reduced flow into the lower reaches. During
the first year after the building of the dams is completed,
the lower reaches of the river will probably be short of
water. Consequently, for the supply of the lower reaches
with water (especially in the case of the land belonging to
the settlement of Slomihin) it will be necessary to con-
struct a canal 120 versts in length from the Kushum to
the lower part of the Great Uzen. This canal will be fed
from the Ural. Furthermore, the canal, annexing the
waters of the rivers known as the First, Second, and Third
Chizh, will irrigate about 70,000 desyatinas of land.

We have already learned that the Kushum must be
regarded as a sometime offshoot of the Ural. It branches
off from that river 40 versts below the town of Uralsk,
near the settlement of Kushumsk. After a course of
about 300 versts through the desert steppe, it debouches
into Kamysh and Samarsk Lakes. A few decades ago,
the Kushum received plenty of water every springtime
when the Ural was in flood, but of late it has been excep-
tional for the spring freshets to make their way into the
Kushum — about once every five or six years. The supply

92 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

of water from the Kushum is of the utmost importance to
the area in question, for here there are no other sources.

It is proposed to construct a canal, from the Ural
leading into the upper part of the Kushum, which will
have a length of 17 versts, will be 8 sazhenes wide at the
bottom, and will be provided with stony roller sluice-
gates. The canal will discharge 11-55 cubic sazhenes of
water per second. To provide for the lagoon irrigation of
the land adjacent to the Kushum, to the extent of 120,000
desyatinas, and for the filling of the reservoirs, allowing
for loss by percolation and evaporation, the canal will
[during the season of the spring freshet] discharge on the
average 52,000,000 cubic sazhenes of water. This con-
stitutes from 2 to 4 per cent, of the total amount of water
flowing down the Ural during the freshet, and its with-
drawal wiU not therefore cause any appreciable diminution
in the flow of that river. For me feeding of the canal
from the Kushum to the lower reaches of the Great Uzen,
the quantity of water will obviously have to be increased
by 50 or 100 per cent. To begin with, the scheme con-
templates the inauguration of lagoon irrigation for an
area of 24,000 desyatinas. The cost of this, allowing for
the construction of the canal and of the dams with their
flood-gates, works out at 50 gold roubles per desyatina.
The estimates show that this expenditure would be
recouped at the very outset simply by the increase of the
hay crop in the areas subjected to lagoon irrigation. Nor
have we mentioned that, thanks to the reservoirs along
the banks {and the same thing applies to the reservoirs
along the Little and the Great Uzen), flower, fruit, and,
vegetable gardens (known locally as " plantations ") will
flourish. For this stretch of 300 versts, the area of such
gardens may range from 10,000 to 15,000 desyatinas. As
was pointed out above, irrigation for horticultural purposes
is already practised in this area to a considerable extent ;
but a difiiculty in the way of such smaU-scale irrigation
is that for each section there must be inaugurated its own
motor-driven pumping plant. In the case of these large
undertakings, where the length of the reservoirs is measured
by tens of versts, it is possible to arrange for collective
pumping plants installed upon Httle vessels which can
move from place to place. The plans must include
estimates for such installations.

As far as the irrigation works on the Kushum are con-
cerned, we must refer to a peculiar effect which the flow
of this river has upon the ground water of the locality.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 93

The Kushum flood waters percolate to a great extent
into the sands along the Jiower reaches of the river, aug-
menting here the ground water, reducing its salinity over a
considerable area to a sufficient degree to render the water
suitable for use by live stock. As a result of the construc-
tion of the above-described waterworks, this phenomenon
will be of annual recurrence.

Certain supplementary undertakings must form part
of the general scheme of the Kushum irrigation works.
Surveys must be made in the area of 120,000 desyatinas
where lagoon irrigation is to be inaugurated. In the case
of the canal which is to supply water to the lower reaches
of the Great Uzen, surveys wiU likewise be needed in the
areas suitable for irrigation lying along the canal. A few
reservoirs must also be constructed beside the canal.

There is really no ground for the doubts that have
frequently been expressed regarding the engineering
practicability of irrigation works in this locality, and
regarding the financial benefits likely to accrue. The
local population has had many years' experience, which
suffices to show the practical value of irrigating, not only
their flower, fruit, and vegetable gardens, but also their
ordinary farming lands. Moreover, various technical and
agricultural methods are available for dealing with the
undue salinity of the soil, should this persist even after
irrigation has been effected.

By means of the general scheme of works above Prospects,
described, we shall effect the lagoon irrigation of an area
of 172,000 desyatinas ; we shall supply water to flower,
fruit, and vegetable gardens occupying 25,000 desya-
tinas ; and we shall irrigate, in addition, an area of
half a miUion desyatinas. Assuming that in this locality
each farm requires 25 desyatinas of irrigated land (in-
cluding, in the 25, part of me lagoon-irrigated land and a
small part of the irrigated garden land) we see that it
will be possible to settle 27,000 famiUes here. Moreover,
upon these irrigated lands, the harvest wUl increase and
wiU become much more stable. The irrigated gardens
wiU provide on the average about 25,000,000 poods
of fruit and vegetables. Many years' experience in the
use of lagoon irrigation in this locaHty where the earth is
strongly impregnated with salt has shown that there is
no ground for uneasiness as to the results. On the con-
trary, the lagoon method of irrigation washes the upper
strata of the soil, dissolving the salts. It therefore
improves the soil, for by degrees part of the unfavourable

94 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

salt land is made amenable to cultivation. Beyond
question, too, in this area, where a considerable part of
the dwellers along the Ural and on the lake shores gain
their livelihood as fishermen, the building of huge reser-
voirs, creating tracts of water a hrmdred versts in length,
wUl be of great advantage to fishery and pisciculture.

In view of the nature of the results to be expected from
these projected works, which are essential if agriculture
is to flourish in an immense area that is now desert, we
must regard the work as a matter of the first importance,
instead of looking too anxiously at considerations of
expense. It is, however, obvious that the difficulties of
procuring what is requisite in the way of tools, machinery,
and building materials, are enormous, as far as local
resources are concerned. If these schemes are to be
speedily inaugurated, the materials that are lacking in
Russia must be imported from abroad.

Estimated The total cost of the undertaking will be as follows.

Cost. Considering that on the average it will cost 50 gold roubles

for the lagoon irrigation of one desyatina ; that it will
cost 300 gold roubles for other methods of irrigation per
desyatina ; and that it will cost 10 roubles per desyatina
for embankment works — ^we find that the whole cost wiU
amount to 21,000,000 gold roubles. The final estimates
for the Little Uzen scheme, which is already in train,
foresee an expenditure of 1,000,000 gold roubles.

Seeing that most of the work (the construction of
embankments, dams, and canals) can be done by unskilled
labour, the undertakings can be looked upon as part of
ordinary pubhc works. As a beginning and in the near
future, work can be undertaken upon the Little Uzen, for
the construction of the canal from the Ural to the Kushum,
and for building the embankments along that river.

The Order All the schemes that have been reviewed are of primary

of the Work, importance. They must, however, be considered in the
following order :

(i) FuU details must be worked out for the Great Uzen
scheme and for the Kushum, with the canal from that
river to the Great Uzen.

(2) The embankments on the Little Uzen and the
Kushum ; and the canal from the Ural to the Kushum.

(3) The working out of fuU details concerning the
supply of comphcated machinery, flood-gates, waste-
weirs, and other requirements for hydraulic engineering.

IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES IN THE VOLGA DELTA
AND IN THE ALLUVIAL STRIP OF THE VOLGA
AND THE AKHTUBA.

Civil Engineer B. H. Shlegel

Among the localities in the South East which are des- The Delta
tined to play a considerable part in the agricultural life ^f^ *^j
of that area, attention must be given to the delta of the strip.
Volga and to the alluvial strip of the Volga and Akhtuba.

A huge stretch of land amounting to 2,000,000 desya-
tinas, of which 500,000 are now under water, can be
rendered fit for cultivation with the aid of simple engi-
neering works. Intensive culture can then be inaugurated,
preferably in the form of vegetable gardening.

Lying between arid regions of semi-desert, this alluvium
forms a narrow strip running from the head of the Akhtuba
to the Caspian Sea, where the delta broadens out at its
base to a width of 100 versts. The alluvial strip varies
considerably in width. For example, near the town of
Tsaritsin it is from 30 to 40 versts wide ; but lower down
the rivers (to the south of Vladimirovka) it is much
narrower, ranging from 10 to 15 versts.

Until a very recent date, in the northern part of the
alluvial strip, the inhabitants devoted their energies
chiefly to growing fodder (hay), which formed a stable
basis for the development of stock-raising along various
lines, as the market might dictate ; here very httle atten-
tion was given to the fisheries. In the Volga delta, on
the other hand, while the environs of the town of Astra-
khan have long been famous for horticulture, the southern
part has con<£tions extremely favourable to the fishing
industry.

During the close of the nineteenth century and the An Oasis of
beginning of the twentieth, thanks to the favourable ^j^*^"^"
economic circumstances of the region, there was to be
noted in the environs of the cities of • Astrakhan and
Tsaritsin a vigorous blossoming, amid the encircHng
semi-deserts, of horticultural oases. Consequently, in the
alluvial strip, there was an extension of the horticultural
area at the expense of the area devoted to hay crops ; and

96 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

in the delta there was an increase in the horticultural area
at the expense of the area where in the springtime the
young fish make their appearance.

This extension of horticulture has hitherto been effected
in a quite elementary fashion. Each farmer and each
settlement has increased the area under fruit and vege-
tables as has seemed necessary and possible. There has
been no sort of regulation, and no aid from elsewhere.
Everything has been based upon the personal initiative
of the owner. Moreover, the physical conditions are such
as to make it extremely difficult for the private owners to
instal irrigation plants — such as embankments ranging
from i| to 2 sazhenes (ii to 14 feet) in height, norias,
motors, etc. These circumstances have hindered the
development of irrigated crops. In addition, both in
the alluvial strip and in the delta, destructive processes
are stiU at work ; thanks to this, frequent changes occur
in the direction of the main watercourses and the con-
necting channels; great areas of garden land are often
washed away, or where a garden flourished a waste of
river mud takes its place.

In this area the temperature remains above freezing
point for eight or nine months in the year, so that most
of the year is available for land work. The combination
of warmth and moisture creates conditions extremely
favourable to the growth of vegetation ; fruit trees bear
abundantly for five seasons in succession ; the poplar
attains a remarkable thickness within ten years. The
nearness of the oil wells facilitates the use of internal
combustion motors for irrigation purposes. The produce
can be conveyed to the market by cheap and convenient
routes.

The extant oases of cultivation in the area, created by
the labour of the local population, suffice to show that the
proposed improvements will be simple to execute and
will be pa3dng propositions ; in addition, they illustrate
the lines along which the agriculture of the region will have
to work.

The deplorable victualling prospects of the South East, as
far as the immediate future is concerned (and in view of the
fact that it wiU take many years to re-estabHsh the agricul-
ture of the area) , necessitate the creation of great victualling
centres from which the farms in course of construction can be
suppfied with grain. The locality we are now considering can
function as such a centre, for it is competent to produce crops
totalling more than a hundred million poods per annum.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 97

Through the transformation from extensive culture to
intensive, associated here with a superabundance of raw
materials, there will naturally be brought about a cor-
responding development of industry.

At the conference of representatives of the local
administrations held at Astrakhan in 1921, it was made
perfectly clear that the interests of the fishing industry
and the interests of agriculture could be satisfactorily
harmonised provided that the building of dikes in the
delta and the alluvial strip, and the subsequent exploita-
tion of the embanked areas, were carried out in accordance
with a carefuUy designed plan.

Of late, owing to the scarcity of grain in the neighbour-
hood of Astrakhan, the fishing population has taken to
agriculture. The area under cultivation has increased to
100,000 desyatinas, and there seems every prospect of a
further extension.

The soil, the climate, and the economic conditions of
the Volga delta and the alluvial strip of the Volga and the
Akhtuba combine to render the area a favourable one for
exploitation, either by concessionaries under special
conditions, or else by a Russian colonisation scheme of
the ordinary kind.

In either case, prehminary investigations will be Surveys,
requisite for three years, taking the form of land surveys,
hydro-geological researches, studies of the soil, a survey
of the course of the Volga and its offshoots, and the
establishment of a number of experimental stations.
The study of the lower reaches of the Volga, together with
that of the extensive agricultural area of the alluvial
strip, cannot be carried out within a brief space of time.
AU the more is this true inasmuch as the problems have
to be solved in a concrete fashion ; and inasmuch as every
mistake will have undesirable consequences, will reduce
the agricultural jdeld of the land, and wiU involve addi-
tional expenditure in the future.

The program of the surveys has already been drawn up
in general outhne, and in drafting it the best intelligences
of the centre and of the locahty have been at work.
Reckoning in pre-war terms, the preliminary investiga-
tions and the inauguration of the scheme wiU require
about 1,500,000 gold roubles. In view of the comparative
scantiness of the material resources, about 250,000,000
gold roubles will be needed for the actual constructive
works and the associated improvements.

In this locality the grain harvest ranges from 150 poods

98 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

to 250 poods per desyatina. Assuming that the culture
will be of the extensive type, the total grain crop will
amount to more than 100,000,000 poods, and, reckoning
at the pre-war standard, this would be worth about
30,000,000 gold roubles.

In addition to the cost of the improvement schemes,
funds wiU have to be provided for the erection of dwelling
houses and farm buildings, for the supply of live stock
and farming implements, and for the inauguration of
industrial life. The expenditure under these heads will
amount to several hundred million gold roubles.

The local work of dike building can be set in hand
immediately, utiHsing for the purpose the members of the
local population to the number of ten or fifteen thousand.
Not only will this give employment to the inhabitants
upon work of communal importance, but in addition it
will increase the area under cultivation by several thousand
desyatinas, and thereby next year's harvest will be aug-
mented by several hundred thousand poods of com.

To sum up, we draw the following concrete conclusions,
(i) It is essential, without delay, to undertake a compre-
hensive survey of the whole area. (2) Dike building
must be promptly initiated upon a considerable scale,
with the aid of local labour. (3) Work must be speedily
set afoot for the estabhshment of combined concessionary
enterprises in this region. These must take the form of
general improvement schemes, the improvement of
communications, colonisation, the founding of industrial
undertakings, and the exploitation of the fisheries.

ELECTRIFICATION IN THE SOUTH EAST »
Civil Engineer A. V. Vinogradoff

The choice of this or that number of local stations, of Preliminary
the power of the plant in each case, and of the area of yQ"!"^^"^*'
distribution, depends for each locality upon the associa-
tion of a whole series of factors. First of all we have to
consider, not merely the kind and the amount of energy
needed in the given place at the given time, but in addition
(by way of forecast) the growth of the demand which will
ensue upon the development of agriculture. Furthermore,
among the factors of a purely technical character, the
most careful attention must be paid to all the available
sources of energy in the locality.

The area witii which we are specially concerned is, by
its economic characteristics, sufficiently defined as the
granary of Central Russia ; for the surplus of grain pro-
duced in the South East will certainly be exported, and
wiU thus form one of the staples of our foreign trade.

A general tendency towards the eastward transference
of the centre of gravity of tiUage and stock-raising has
already been observable in Russia. Should conditions
prove favourable to the industrial development of the
area generally, and should the omens be propitious for an
adequate growth of the manufacture of agricultural
machinery and other implements, we may confidently
anticipate a notable intensification of husbandry and a
rapid development of the branches of industry intimately
connected with tillage and with stock-raising. These
changes will yet further increase the importance of the
South East as a source of food supply for Central industrial
Russia.

If we study the agricultural life of this area in the past,
our attention is drawn to the extensive variations in the
harvests, and we perceive that these fluctuations have been
mainly dependent on climatic conditions. The inade-

* In drafting this outline, the author has had at his disposal the
extensive materials collected by the State Commission for Electrifica-
tion in Russia. He has also been assisted by the works of Professor
K. A. Krug and Civil Engineer Regirer.

100 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

quacy of the rainfall, in conjunction with the extreme
brevity of the period during which in each year the rain-
fall occurs, has been the cause of the prolonged droughts
from which the area has suffered, periodically reducing
it to a hungry desert, and giving to its agriculture an
extremely unstable character.

In this respect, ameliorative measures, such as would
render it possible to practise irrigation whenever neces-
sary, would render immense services to the whole area,
both by way of increasing the ordinary harvest, and by
way of diminishing the likeUhood of a failure of the crops.
The improvement schemes embrace an area of land
amounting to 883,000 desyatinas, and involve earthworks
having a cubic capacity of 7,000,000 cubic sazhenes.
The Need The improvement schemes now being considered will

for Mechani- have to be Carried out under exceedingly rough conditions,
ca nergy. ^^^ ^^^ therefore unlikely to attract a sufficient supply of
voluntary labour. Hence the installation of mechanical
power plants on the large scale will be necessary, all the
more since about 80 per cent, of the work wiU be excava-
tion and embankment work. The energy required for
exploiting this area will range from o-i6 to 0-3 of a horse-
power per desyatina, so that we must provide for a total
horse-power of 135,000.

The widespread application of electrical energy to
husbandry will render possible a notable increase in the pro-
ductivity of the soil, and will indirectly contribute to the
general advance of agriculture, including cattle-raising,
sheep-farming, and other rural occupations closely con-
nected with the tiUing of the soil.

Furthermore we must note that whereas formerly, under
more or less normal conditions, the application of
mechanical power to improvement schemes and to
agriculture appeared generally desirable, now, as far as
the devastated area is concerned, this seems to be the
only possible way of reviving agriculture, for the disaster
is so comprehensive that nothing short of the most radical
measures can save the situation. Unless there is a
complete reform of agriculture, based upon a careful study
of the weak points, it will be impossible to insure against
the recurrence of similar catastrophes. Such a study
points to electrification as the only suitable method of
enabling us to carry through the gigantic task of restoring
the economic life of the devastated area. All other ways,
all primitive methods, will only protract the process, and
will culminate in installing home industry.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA loi

In calculating the amount of electrical energy needed
for agricultural work, it is necessary to bear in mind, first,
that when the electromotors have been installed they will
work with a load of not less than 60 per cent, of their
marginal capacity, and, secondly, that when agricultural
work is rightly distributed it will be possible to reduce
the total demand for power at any one time. Conse-
quently, in deciding the strength of the power plant at a
central station, the possible total demand for power in
agriculture at any one time is not a matter of decisive
importance.

The industrial demand for electrical energy requires The general
far closer attention. In general, we can foresee and Need for
arrange for an extensive eastward transference of Russian Energyin
industry. In association therewith, we may anticipate a industry,
vigorous development of industry in the South East, in
view of the geographical conditions of the area, its wealth
of raw materials, and its possibilities as regards markets
and transport facilities. It is, however, extremely
difficult to make any precise forecasts of this industrial
development. Nevertheless we may assume that, as soon
as the local power plants are in working order, the indus-
trial fife of the locaUty will receive a vigorous impetus.
The very fact of the building of the power stations,
guaranteeing a cheap and satisfactory supply of electrical
energy, will stimulate the development of extant branches
of industry, and will promote the inauguration of new
branches.

At the present time the development of industry in
the area does not as a whole bulk very largely. Never-
theless, in certain locaUties, and especially along the
waterways, there are branches of industry which have
attained general in addition to local importance.

Among these, the premier place is occupied by the
elaboration of food-stuffs, which absorbs 40 per cent, of
the whole energy devoted to industrial undertakings. In
view of the great future to be expected for agriculture in
this part of the world, we may confidently anticipate a
notable development of these enterprises. Next come
the metal industries, which absorb 15 per cent, of the
energy devoted to industry as a whole. Here likewise the
prospects of future development are exceedingly bright,
thanks to the favourable position of the area as concerns
transport, raw materials, and fuel. The timber trade will
be of less importance, although for this, too, the outlook
is sufficiently favourable. As far as other branches of

102 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

The techni-
cal Condi-
tions of
Electrifica-
tion.

Shale as
Fuel.

industry are concerned, the probable development of the
manufacture of artificial manures, and to some extent also
the manufacture of explosives, deserve mention. In the
State electrification scheme, the need for power is reckoned
at 132,000 kilowatts, with an annual output of 340,000,000
kilowatt-hours.

We now pass to the consideration of technical factors.
In view of the lack of any notable amount of water-power
in this part of Russia, the supply of electrical energy must
be exclusively derived from local power stations supplied
with fuel. Owing to the increasing deforestation, and
owing to the immense importance of forests as regulators
of humidity, it will be essential to refrain from the use of
wood as fuel, except in small quantities which may reach
the area in the form of rafts coming from the higher
reaches of the Volga.

As far as peat is concerned, the supplies of this fuel
progressively diminish as we pass from north to south.
There are more than 30,000 desyatinas of peat, and the
amount of burnable peat obtainable amounts to
4,000,000,000 poods. Nevertheless, the peat deposits are
so unequally distributed that the widespread utilisation
of peat as fuel is out of the question.

In the middle and lower parts of the Volga basin,
however, we find a new variety of fuel, bituminous shale,
which plays a very important part among the fuel poten-
tialities of the area. As far as we know at present, the
Simbirsk beds contain 16,000,000,000 poods, and the
Sizran beds 9,000,000,000 poods, of bituminous shale.
These shales vary considerably in quahty, but on the
average they contain 20 per cent, of moisture and 50 per
cent, of ash, and yield an effective heat of 2,000 calories.

The possibility of utilising bituminous shale as a means
of generating steam-power is no longer open to doubt.
Last winter. Civil Engineer Regirer constructed the first
shale furnace ever used in this country, and it has now been
working successfully for more than six months.

Experimental furnaces have been built, and, in these,
results have been secured which supply initial materials,
first for the valuation of shales as fuel, and secondly for
the planning of power stations in which shale will be the
source of energy.

It may be regarded as definitely proved that shale is a
poor fuel, notably inferior in heating capacity to the fuels
that have hitherto been more widely known, such as wood,
peat, and coal. Nevertheless, bituminous shale is' com-

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 103

bustible, though with a comparatively low coefficient of
heat production.

Shale is sharply distinguished from other fuels by the
enormous weight and bulk of the ash needing removal.
The amount of ash is five times as great as that resulting
from the combustion of peat and of the coals containing
the highest percentage of ash.

For these reasons, shale can only be used as fuel in
places near the mines and also not too far away from the
locality where the electrical power is to be employed.
Since it is a low-grade fuel, the most serviceable way of
utilising it would seem to be in regional electrical power
stations. Thus the difficulty of transport is overcome.
Instead, we transmit the electrical energy which is
produced by burning the shale.

The State electrification scheme provides for two The Power
centres. The first of these is to be in the Kazan area, stations
with a power of 40,000 kilowatts. The second is to be ^^stribu-
in the Sizran area, with a power of 50,000 kilowatts, tion.
Assuming that to begin with the stations wiU have only
about half this power, and allowing for the plant requisite
for the working of the shale mines, the cost of these two
stations with their cables for distributing the electrical
energy will range from 16,000,000 to 17,000,000 roubles.

Owing to the entire absence of forests in the central
and southern parts of the area, they must be supplied
with wood brought down from the higher reaches of the
Volga in rafts. Saratov and Tsaritsin wiU have to
become centres for the transpoi;t and cutting up of timber.
Thus it will be possible to establish in these localities
electric power stations dependent upon wood fuel. The
supply of fuel from this source is a matter of especial
importance to Tsaritsin, since the town is a forwarding
centre for heavy goods destined for the Don basin.

In the southern part of the area, natural gases claim
a considerable share of attention. They emerge through
fissures, from gaseous strata under a pressure ranging
up to 3 atmospheres. Of especial practical interest are
the natural gases of Kamenni Yar, near Tsaritsin, those
of Astrakhan, and those of Novouzensk county in Samara
province. In the last-named has been planned a first
station (or rather, a whole series of gas plants supplied
with gas from fissures in the ground) with a capacity of
about 50,000 kilowatts.

The prospects of utilising the natural gases of Cherni
Yar and Kamenni Yar are likewise extremely favourable.

104 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

The natural gas resources of these two places \ have not
as yet been adequately studied, and a searching local
investigation is therefore a matter of the first importance.
Power stations supplied with energy " gratuitously," by
the use of natural gas, can be run at such an exceedingly
low cost, that it would be well worth while to make
researches without thinking too much about the initial
outlay.
Wind- Wind-power is even cheaper, and can therefore be used

Power. more extensively in this area, where the winds attain a

notable velocity. The only obstacle to the use of wind-
driven power plants, or rather to their employment on a
large scale, is the inconstancy of the winds, which necessi-
tates the use of various kinds of regulating appUances.

For the adaptation of wind-power to the generation
of electricity, there exist to-day a number of admirable
devices. Mostly, indeed, these were originally invented,
not for the use of wind-power, but for similar inconstant
motors, where an electrical machine has to be able to
adapt itself to rapid changes in motive force. The
question of utilising wind-power for an electric plant has
not received so much attention as the question of using
water-power of low intensity. In the latter case, as is
well known, the plan is for the use of asynchronous
generators, working in conjunction with a system of
electric transformers. Experiments with such appliances
in America and Germany have given admirable results.
In this way, with the aid, that is to say, of asynchronous
generators and suitable transformers, it will be possible to
combine a wind-driven electric power plant with a system
of regional sub-stations.

As far as concerns the storage of the energy derived
from wind-power, this can be combined in an interesting
way with irrigation works. Reservoirs of a considerable
size can serve as ready-made accumulators of wind-power.
Water is pumped up into the reservoirs, and is hberated
as required. In its downward flow it can be made to
restore the energy employed in pumping it up. Unfortu-
nately, however, a considerable amount of preliminary
investigation will be requisite before apparatus of this
character can be successfully installed.

From the outlook of the State authority the question

of the expediency of electrification in the South East is so

complex that it cannot be exhaustively discussed in the

present brief sketch.

Turning to consider the prospects of a general revival,

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 105

we have already said that such a revival will inevitably
result from the eastward transference of industry,
agriculture, and trade. In this respect, the area we are
considering has, owing to its geographical situation, a
great future.

One of the primary aims of those who guide the economic
destinies of Russia must be the promotion of the develop-
ment of agriculture in the South East by the introduction
of improved methods of husbandry and in various other
ways. Another primary aim must be the furtherance of
the transfer to tiiis area of those branches of industry
whose life in the North and the Centre is quite artificial.

Foreseeing these developments, recognising them to
be both inevitable and expedient, the State authority
must create conditions favourable to their occurrence.
One of these conditions is electrification.

The impoverishment of Russia and the lack of material
resources render far-reaching constructive works impos-
sible at this juncture, however urgently they may be
needed ; nor is there any prospect Qiat we shall be able
to buy what we want in the near future. Nevertheless,
considering the question from this point of view, we can
affirm that, however feeble the development of industry
in the South East as compared with Central Russia, the
absolute size of the South East is such that almost from
the very outset this area will be able to make a profitable
use of electric power stations.

ELECTRIC POWER STATIONS IN THE
VOLGA VALLEY

Professor K. A. Krug

sizran There are shale deposits at Undory near Simbirsk and

Station. ^^ Kashpir near Sizran. Of these, the more interesting

as concerns electrification is the Kashpir deposit, owing
to the fuller development of productive industry in this
region. The area which could be supplied with electrical
power from Kashpir, extends to Simbirsk on the north, to
the Volga in the south, to Penza in the west, and to
Samara in the east.

Of the first importance would be a railway hne to
Samara, which would obviously be a paying affair from
the very outset. The electric power plant for the area
above defined wiU provide for the supply of the following
amounts of energy : to the town of Samara, 17,156 h.p. ;
to the village of Ivashenk, 7,301 h.p. ; to the village of
Ekaterinovka, 510 h.p. ; to the town of Sizran, 2,996 h.p. ;
and to Batraki, 548 h.p. Adding the amount required for
a number of minor places and also what will be needed
for working the shale mines, the total power of the plant
wUl have to be about 30,000 h.p.

The industries consist of a number of large mills,
chemical works, a large pipe factory, and various medium-
sized and small undertakings engaged in different branches
of production.

Bearing in mind that some of these plants would be
unsuitable for electrification (the chemical works, for
instance, owing to the high working cost of steam), we
may reckon with great probability that 15,000 h.p. would
suffice for the electrification of the industries in question.
We have also to consider the demands of agriculture, the
supply of power for the improvement schemes, the
increasing demand for electricity in the towns and
villages, and the prospective development of industry in
this region. Taking it all in all, a preliminary installation
of a plant with a power of 20,000 kilowatts cannot be
regarded as excessive.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 107

As to the possibility of using shale as fuel in the fur-
naces of the engine house, the matter is no longer in doubt.
Last winter, Civil Engineer Regirer planned and built
the first Russian furnace for burning bituminous shale,
and this has now been working satisfactorily for six
months. Experimental furnaces have been constructed,
and, in these, results have been secured which supply
initial materials for the valuation of shales as fuel and for
the planning of power stations in which shale will be the
source of energy.

The fundamental requisite for the burning of shale iri
large plants is that the transport facilities to the engine
houses should be on an extremely generous scale. Hence
the initial cost of an electric power house where shale is
burned will be higher than if any other fuel is used. It
works out at 275 roubles per kilowatt of the capacity of
the plant. Thus the cost of the station we are contem-
plating will be not less than 5,500,000 gold roubles. The
cost of the distributing plant, including high-voltage
cables (capable of carrying 115,300 volts) no versts in
length, the necessary transformers, and the various local
distributive lines, will be about 3,000,000 roubles.

As to cost of the mining plant at the shale mines, this
is not an affair which directly concerns the estimates for
the power station. If matters are rightly organised, the
exploitation of the shale beds, and the expenditure
requisite for this, will proceed independently of the
question whether the power station is or is not built.
Nevertheless, the shale mines can be worked more cheaply
if the power plant is built and if the mines are supplied
therefrom with electricity.

Speaking generally, the plant required for working the
shale mines wiU consist of ventilating appliances, pumps
and conduits, trucks and rails, cages and other elevating
apparatus, loading appUances, etc., etc. The initial cost
may be estimated at 500,000 roubles.

The total estimates, therefore, range from 9,000,000 to
9,500,000 gold roubles.

Side by side with the Kashpir station we must consider Saratov
the question of constructing at > Saratov the station (to Station.
be supplied with shale from Kashpir) which has been
mooted in connection with the State electrification scheme.
Saratov is one of the chief centres in the Volga valley. A
place where industry is already developed to a considerable
extent, it has a number of large and medium-sized metal
works (New Etna, Sotrudnik, the half-finished Stel, and

io8 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

others), many mills, oil presses, tobacco factories, etc.
Within the Saratov area there is not as yet any large
electric power station competent to supply the whole
district. The town Diesel-engine station has a horse-
power of 3,200. It is hopelessly overworked in its attempts
to satisfy the demand for electricity, for this demand has
long since outstripped the capacity of the plant. The
existing development of industry at Saratov, and the
prospects of yet greater development, provide conditions
favourable to the idea of building an electric power station
here, and indeed make it essential.

The horse-power of the machinery now employed in
this locality is as follows. Town of Saratov, 16,000 ;
Pokrovsk (near Saratov, on the left bank of the Volga),
1,043; village of Shakhmatovk (Saratov Manufacturing
Works, 20 versts from Saratov), 1,375. Adding the re-
quirements of the small plants in the vicinity of Saratov,
we reach a total of about 20,000 horse-power. In view of
the fact that the industrial development of Saratov will
undoubtedly be extensive, and considering that in this
area (which, thanks to its geographical situation, must
function as the granary of Russia) electricity will be of the
utmost service to agriculture, we are well within the mark
in suggesting a power plant with a capacity of 20,000
kilowatts.

The shale required as fuel will be brought by water.
Consequently we must arrange for the provision of suitable
transport appliances. Ample storage accommodation
must be supplied close to the power station. Indeed,
since the conveyance will only be possible during the
months when the waterways are navigable, arrangements
must be made in Saratov for the storage of shale amounting
to 75 per cent, of the annual consumption.

We may therefore estimate the cost of the station at
about 6,000,000 roubles.

The cost of the transmitting plant can be put at a very
low figure, for, in addition to what will be required for the
town and its environs, all that will be needed will be one
short line to the Saratov Manufacturing Works in the
village of Shakhmatovk. There will, therefore, be no need
for high voltage cables. The cost of the transmitting
plant may, then, be estimated at 1,500,000 roubles. As
regards the cost of the installation at the shale mines, see
above.

Adding up the foregoing amounts, we obtain a total
figure of 7,500,000 to 8,000,000 gold roubles.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 109

The Svyaga runs past Simbirsk at a distance of about TheSvyaga
2| versts from the Volga. The extreme difference of level ^^^l^^
between the Svyaga and the Volga is about 23 sazhenes station.
(160 feet). The minimal discharge averages half a cubic
sazhene per second. This provides a minimal power of
about 1,500 kilowatts.

By the construction of dams and the regularisation of the
storage of water, provision can be made for an average
discharge ranging from i to 1-5 cubic sazhenes per second.
This would give an average power ranging from 3,000 to
4,000 kilowatts.

The earthworks required would be about 30,000 cubic
sazhenes, and the cost can be estimated at 3,000,000 gold
roubles.

It is necessary to remember that it would be inexpedient
to utilise all the water of the Svyaga for the hydro-electric
plant, seeing that on the banks of the stream there are
large farms and several villages.

VEGETABLE GARDENING AND ITS
POSSIBILITIES

Professor P. G. Shitt

When considering the problem of the restoration of
agriculture in the South East, we must not fail to take
vegetable gardening into account, for this branch of
husbandry is of serious moment, not only for the rural
population, but for the urban population as well. The
present brief essay aims at estimating the area which
should be put under vegetables, etc., in the South East,
and at indicating how much live stock, what implements,
how much seed, and how much manure, wiU be needed
for the supply of the whole vegetable-gardening area.
The figures thus arrived at must serve as preliminaries to
an estimate of the possible yield of market gardens in the
suburban and in the rural districts of the South East.
Areas. At the present time we lack information concerning the

area used for vegetable gardening in the provinces of the
South East. AU our calculations, therefore, relating to
areas must be made upon the basis of the food require-
ments of the consumer. The average amount of vege-
table-gardening land required for one consumer may be
estimated at 60 square sazhenes. In the case of suburban
vegetable gardens this estimate must be doubled, for the
following reasons. First of all, the estimate of 60 square
sazhenes per consumer relates to field land, and in the
suburbs we must add not less than 25 per cent, for roads
and paths. Secondly, in the suburbs, 25 per cent, of the
land can be reckoned unfavourable for vegetable gardening.
Thirdly, we must set aside a reserve of land for the near
future, having in view the natural growth of the town and
the influx of population from the rural districts ; this
amounts to 50 per cent. Thus, as far as suburban
vegetable gardening is concerned, the area of land required
per consumer must be estimated at 120 square sazhenes.
Suburban According to the reports of 1920, in the provinces

Vegetable suffering from failure of the crops during the current year,
" ^^^' namely, Astrakhan, Tsaritsin, Marxstadt, Saratov, Samara,
Orenburg, Ufa, Simbirsk, Kazan, Perm, Turgai, Kalmucks,

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA iii

Bukeevsks, Bashkirs, and Vyatka, the urban population
numbered 2,502,116. It is possible that this figure is
somewhat too high, but Uralsk (for which the reports of
1920 gave no returns) was not included in the foregoing
hst of provinces, and we may therefore consider that the
total urban population of the area with which we are
concerned approximates to the number above stated.
The data of the last few years show that, in the urban
settlements, vegetable gardens of the allotment type
predominate, forming 60 per cent, of the whole. The
remaining 40 per cent, consists of vegetable gardens
producing for the market.

In the countryside, the chief vegetable grown for the Rural
food of the peasants is the potato, whose qualities enable X=f^^t='®
it to act as a substitute for bread and also to serve as
fodder for live stock. Other vegetables, those for which
intensive culture is requisite, are a difficult matter for the
impoverished peasant farming of the South East, and can
therefore only be regarded as supplementary. Conse-
quently, the amount of vegetable-garden land in use by
the rural population is on the average only 10 square
sazhenes per consumer.

Gardens.

For Urban Vegetable Gardens.

Urban Population of the South East 2,502,166.

Vegetable-Garden Area required per

Consumer .... 120 sq. sazheneS.

Required for the whole urban Popu-
lation, in round Figures . . 125,000 desyatinas.

Area
Needed.

For Rural Vegetable Gardens.

Rural Population in round Figures 20,000,000.

Vegetable-Garden Area required per

Consumer . • . . 10 sq. sazhenes.

Required for the whole rural Popu-
lation, in round Figures . . 84,000 desyatinas.

Forty poods of potatoes per annum
as a hunger ration, and this quantity
unless the percentage of damaged and
is minimal. Allowing for the potatoes
stored and for the wastage in use, and
that in dry years, when the harvest is
very small, we have to allow 75 poods

must be regarded
wiU hardly suffice
unusable potatoes
that perish when
remembering also
poor, potatoes are
per consumer per

112 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Live Stock
and Farm-
ing Imple-
ments.

annum. Reckoning upon a crop of 600 poods per desya-
tina, it is impossible to provide a sufficiency for more than
eight persons from one desyatina. According to this
calculation, the area needed for the potato crop amounts
to 2,500,000 desyatinas, and in the general rotation of the
crops (rye, wheat, etc.) potatoes will be planted in every
fifth field.

In calculating the requirements of the vegetable farms
of the South East as regards live stock and farming
implements, we shall base our calculations upon a 50-
desyatina farm (since this is of a suitable size for a soviet
farm), being guided by the results of four years' experience
in the tiny suburban vegetable gardens of Moscow. For
the details upon which the calculation is based, the writer
is indebted to Professor V. I. Edelshtein. Prices are
reckoned in gold roubles.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 113

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114 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

FODDER.

For one
Soviet
Farm
of 50
Desya-
tinas, in
Poods.

For 1,000

Farms, in

Poods.

For 75.000

Desyatinas

of Vegetable

Garden, in

Poods.

Totals in
Poods.

Cost per
Pood, in
Roubles.

Total
Cost, in
Roubles.

Hay (200

poods per

horse)
Oats (125

poods per

horse)

4,400
2.755

4,400,000
2,750,000

6,600,000
3,625,000

11,000,000

6,375,000

0-30
o-go

3,300,000
5,737,500

9,037,500

MANURES.

Nitrates
Hyperphos-
phates .
Dung

150

1,000
50,000

150,000

1,000,000
50,000,000

225,000

1,500,000
75,000,000

375,000

2,500,000
125,000,000

075
002

1,125,000

1,875,000
2,500,000

5,500,000

WATER
SUPPLY.

No. of
Outfits.

No. of

Outfits.

Total of
Outfits.

Cost per
Outfit in
Roubles.

Total
Cost in
Roubles,

Diaphragms
Pumps
Wells and
Fitments.

I
t

1,000
1,000

1,500
1,500

2,500
2,500

5,000

12,500,000

VARIOUS
MATERIALS.

Cost per
Farm, in
Roubles.

1,000 Farms,
in Roubles.

Cost per

75,000

Desyatinas,

in Roubles.

Total Cost,
in Roubles.

Cost per
Outfit in
Roubles.

Total
Cost in
Roubles.

Ropes
Nails .
Building

Materials.
Glass .
Putty.
Kerosene .
Lubricants .
Matting
Baskets

►1,500

1,500,000

2,250,000

3,750,000

—

3,750,000

MANUAL
LABOUR.

No. of
Days.

Total
Days.

Cost per
Day.

Working
days

15,000

15,000,000

22,500,000

37,500,000

I Rouble

37,500,000

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 115

Means for

the Struggle with

noxious Agents

■

For one

Soviet

Farm of 50

D^yatinas.

For 1,000
Farms.

For 75,000

Desyatinas

of Vegetable

Garden.

Totals.

Total Cost
in Roubles,

Paris Green .
Green Soap ,
Tobacco Spray

Seed.

Percent-
age of
Vegetable
Garden
sown with

each
Vegetable.

No. of
Desya-
tinas.

Weight of
Seed per
Desyatina.

Weight

of Seed

for whole

Area.

Cost of

Seed per

Pood.

Total Cost

Roubles,

Suburban Vegetable Gardens.
Total Area 125,000 Desyatinas, in Roubles.

Potatoes
Cabbages
Beetroots
Carrots .
Cucumbers .
Onions, etc. .

62,500

31,250

12,500

6,250

xoo Poods
I Pound
li Poods

15 Pounds

20 „

30 Poods

6,250,000

18,750

2.344

3,125

187,500

0-30
80
40
40
40

1,875.000

62,480

750,000

93,760

I25,COO

562,500

3.468,740

Rural Vegetable Gardens. Potato Fields 2,500,000
Desyatinas ; other Vegetables 84,000 Desyatinas.

Potatoes
Cabbages
Cucumbers .
Beetroots
Carrots, etc. .

60
20
10
10

2,500,000

50,400

16,800

8,400

120 Poods
I Pound

20 „
li Ponds

15 Pounds

300,000,000

1,260

8,400

12,600

3,050

80 Roubles

100,000
336,000
504,000

126,000

1,066,800
H- 3,468,740

4,535,540

Supplementary Stock of Implements for the rural
Areas.

For I
Desyatina.

For 84,000

Desyatinas of

rural Vegetable

Gardens.

Cost per Implement.

Total Cost,
in Roubles.

Spades
Rakes .
Hoes .

2,0x6,000

504,000

2,016,000

3 Roubles 50 Kopecks
I ., 50 „
1 „

7,056,000

756,000

2,016,000

9,828,000

ii6 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Probable Harvest

for the Percentage Sowings stated.

Town.

Country.

Per-
centage
of Land
Sown.

PerDes-
yatina,

in
Poods.

For

125,000

Desya-

tinas of

Vegetable

Gardens,

in Poods.

Per-
centage
of Land
■Sown.

Per Des-
yatina,

in
Poods.

For

84,000

Desya-

tinas of

Vegetable

Gardens,

in Poods.

Potato Fields
2,500,000

Desyatinas.

Total Crops,
in Ponds.

Potatoes .
Cabbages .
Beetroots .
Carrots
Cucumbers .
Onions, etc.

25
10

5
5

1,000
2,000
l,O00

Boo
600

400

62,500,000
62,500,000
12,500,000
5,000,000
3t75o,ooo
2,500,000

6a
10
10
20

600

2,000

1,000

800

600

108,000,000

8,400,000

6,720,000

10,800,000

1,500,000,00a

Estimates of the Cost of inaugurating one Vegetable Soviet
Farm of 50 Desyatinas.

(i) Seed ....

1,400

Roubles.

(2) Farming Implements

6,500

(3) Live Stock

2,240

(4) Fodder .

3.570

(5) Manures .

2,200

(6) Various Materials

i,5°o

(7) Manual Labour

15,000

(8) Management

7.500

(9) Building .

15,000

10) Water Supply .

5,000

59.910

•'

Returns.

Potatoes

Cabbages

Beetroots

Carrots ....

Cucumbers

Onions ....

25,000 Poods.

25,000
5.000 „
2,000 „
1.500 „
1,000 „

59,000 Poods at I Rouble per
Pood = 59,000 Roubles.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 117

The calculation of the areas allotted to the various
crops is based upon the usual percentage of the areas
sown with these crops, in the suburban and the rural
districts respectively.

Percentage of Land Sown.

—'

In suburban

In rural

Areas.

Potatoes

Cabbages

Beetroots

Carrots .

Cucumbers

Onions, etc.

—

Probable Yield of the Vegetable Gardens.

In suburban

In rural

Areas.

Potatoes

1,000

600

Cabbages

2,000

Beetroots

1,000

Carrots ....

800

Cucumbers

600

Onions, etc. .

400

~~"

The estimates for live stock and farming implements,
manual labour, materials, etc., have been given only for
the suburban vegetable gardens. For the rural vegetable
gardens, the estimates relate only to sowings, excluding
potatoes. We have to remember that : first, the transport
of vast quantities of seed potatoes would be impossible
at the present time ; secondly, the vegetable-garden area
of the countryside is to a large extent wasted by being
broken up into tiny plots (10 square sazhenes per person) ;
thirdly, the peasants already have a stock of implements
for their farms, and it will merely be requisite to provide
a supplementary outfit in the way of rakes, spades, and
hoes.

AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY REQUIRED.

Professor V. G. Gan,
/' '^
Ploughs. The term of service of a plough is generally reckoned at

ten years.

For tJie ten-year period 1906-16 the number of ploughs
manufactured in Russia and imported from abroad was
about 8,300,000 in all. This number, therefore, would
represent the actual number of ploughs fit for work in
Russia in the year 1916. At that date, the amount of
land under the plough in Russia was about 100,000,000
desyatinas.

Since there are no data as to the local distribution of
ploughs throughout Russia, we have to assume a uniform
general distribution, and that the eleven hunger-stricken
provinces have the same proportion of ploughs as the rest
of the country. Even though we may suppose that there
must be local differences (so that the numerical distribu-
tion of the ploughs will vary a httle from place to place),
when we are deaUng with very large areas and very great
numbers of ploughs, these differences cannot be con-
siderable.

If we base our estimate as to the actual number of
ploughs in certain localities in the year 1916 upon the
average amount of land worked by one plough, we find,
according to the reports of the year 1916, that we obtain
the following data for the hunger-stricken provinces :

Province.

Area

Sown in

Desyatinas.

Number
of Farms.

Approximate

Number of

Ploughs.

Samara

Saratov

Astrakhan

Uralsk

Turgai

Kazan

Simbirsk

Ufa .

Orenburg

Vyatka

Stavropol

4,098,000
2,489,000
730,000
279,670
1,013,000
1,634,000
1,346,000
2,446,000
2,291,000
3,003,000
2,092,000

512,804
435,076
198,492

43.275
140,992
445.888
305,513
500,543
344.592
593.561
178,213

340.000

208,000

61,000

23,000

90,000

135,000

112,000

204,000

190,000

250,000

175.000

21,421,670

3,698,949

1,788,000

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 119

The supply of ploughs began to fall off at the beginning
of the war. During the years 1916-1921 inclusive, the
supply of new ploughs was reduced to the inadequate
amount of 900,000 ploughs for the six years. The average
supply was 150,000 ploughs per annum, this being only
20 per cent, of the normal yearly supply of ploughs, of
the amount which is essential if the stock of ploughs in
Russia is to be maintained at the 1916 level (assuming that
the supply for the years 1916-1921 ought to have been
the same as that for the years 1906-1911). During the
last five years, the supply of ploughs for the whole of
Russia has fallen short by the amount of 3,400,000 ploughs.
In other words, the stock of ploughs in the country is now
40 per cent, less than the stock at the beginning of the
year 1916.

In conformity with these suppositions, we may calculate
that in the eleven hunger-stricken provinces the shortage
of ploughs at the present date is as follows :

Province.

Number of Ploughs.

Samara .
Saratov .
Astrakhan
Uralsk .
Turgai .
Kazan .
Simbirsk
Ufa

Orenburg
Vyatka .
Stavropol

136,000

83,000

24,000

9,000

36,000

54,000
45,000
82,000
76,000
100,000
70,000

Total

715.000

As regards type of ploughs and efficiency of ploughs,
the prevailing need is everywhere the same, if we exclude
Vyatka province, and parts of Kazan and Simbirsk
provinces. Any inequalities in respect of the distribu-
tion among the provinces can be ascertained when fuller
and more accurate details have been secured by the
local councils of the People's Commissariat for Agricul-
ture.

120 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

In this matter of tj^ie and efficiency the requirements
for certain kinds of ploughs are as follows :

No.
Required.

Anglo-Bulgarian, the Gena No. o . . . 30,000

„ No. I . . . 55,000

„ „ ,, No. 2 . . . 10,000

One-shared Plough made in the Ryazan Factory,

Trademark R Shch ..... 20,000

Sachs swing Plough, Trademark R 6 . . 30,000

„ Plough with Fore-Beam, Trademark DM 7 45,000

DM8 5,000

The Citizen ....... 25,000

The Reform and the Ideal, Trademarks 5-8 . 20,000

Total. ..... 240,000

Tractors. In estimating the number of tractors needed for the

famine-stricken provinces, we are guided by the following
considerations.

The general cultivated area of these provinces was
estimated at 2,400,000 desyatinas for the year 1916.
For the tilling of this area, taking the estimate of Professor
M. I. Pridorogin, that one horse is required for 6 desyatinas,
the number of tractile units needed would total 3,938,000.
According to the reports of the year 1916, there were
then 5,986,000. Again following Professor M. I. Prido-
rogin in the estimate that the dechne in the number of
horses from 1916 to the present time has been 50 per cent.,
we reahse that the actual number of tractile units at the
present time must be approximately 2,990,000. Conse-
quently, if the land of the famine-stricken provinces is to
be tilled to the same extent as in 1916, there is a shortage
of about 1,000,000 tractile units. At the rate of one horse
per 6 desyatinas, the corresponding cultivable area
amounts to 6,000,000 desyatinas. This area, in our view,
must be tilled with the aid of tractors.

In the South East, the period when tractors can plough
amounts to 100 working days per annum. The type of
tractor best suited for this purpose is one of 20 to 30 h.p.,
such as the Kletrak, the Fodzon, the Titan, or the Mogul.
The amount of land which these tractors can plough in a
working day is from 2 to 3 desyatinas, and therefore
during the whole ploughing season each tractor can
plough from 200 to 300 desyatinas. It follows that,
for the ploughing of 6,000,000 desyatinas, from 20,000

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 121

to 30,000 tractors of the before-mentioned types will be
needed, with the appropriate number of ploughs, or
adapted for the coupUng of ploughs to them.

In the famine area at the present time, according to
the information received by the People's Commissariat
for Agriculture there are only 177 tractors with a total
power of 7,105 h.p., this being less than 0-02 per cent.
of the requirements.

In pre-war days the annual supply of harvesting Harvesting
machines for Russia consisted of 166,000 machines, of Machines.
which 111,000 were manufactured in Russia and 55,000
were imported. Thus the number of harvesting machines
is approximately 18 per cent, of the number of ploughs,
consequently we have to allow one harvesting machine
for every 5-5 ploughs.

Since the term of service of a harvesting machine is on
the average equal to that of a plough, namely 10 years,
we can estimate the needs of the famine area in respect
of harvesting machines as follows :

Samara

. 25,000

Saratov

. 15,000

Astrakhan

. 4.500

Uralsk

1,700

Turgai

6,500

Kazan .

. 10,000

Simbirsk

8,000

Ufa .

15,000

Orenburg

14,000

Vyatka

18,000

Stavropol

12,700

Total .

130,400

These harvesting machines must be of the following
kinds :

50 per cent, cutters-and-binders of the McCormick

type.
50 per cent, harvesters of the Deenng type.

For the tractor ploughing of 6,000,000 desyatinas there Additional
will be needed : 12,000,000 poods of benzine or kerosene ^^^"''^^■
(reckoning two poods per desyatina) ; 1,500,000 poods ™®"^ *■
of lubricants (reckoning 10 pounds per desyatina) ;
30,000 skilled workers (each tractor needs 3 workers,

122 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Financial
Outlay.

of whom one must be skilled) ; for the work of 65,200
cutters-and-binders (taking the effective work of i cutter-
and-binder to be 50 desyatinas in each year) there will
be needed 489,000 poods of Manilla twine estimating at
6 pounds per desyatina.

The cost in gold roubles of all the before-mentioned
machinery and materials wUl be as foUows :

715,000 Ploughs .

65,200 Cutters-and-Binders.

65,200 Harvesters

30,000 Tractors
489,000 Poods of Manilla
Twine ....

Total

17,875,000 Roubles.
29,340,000
9,780,000
300,000,000 „

3,420,000

360,415,000

The number of driUing-machines required in the
famine area can be deduced from the ordinary numerical
relationship in agricultural work between drills and
ploughs.

Assuming that one ii-drill machine corresponds to
eight ploughs, the number of drilHng-machines required
will be as foUows :

Samara

17,000

Saratov

10,000

Astrakhan

3.000

Uralsk .

1,200

Turgai .

4.500

Kazan .

6,800

Simbirsk

7.400

Ufa .

10,000

Orenburg

9.700

Vyatka

12,400

82,000

The cost of these will be approximately 10,000,000
gold roubles.

The need for hay-mowers is calculated, in accordance
with data in the possession of the Samara Statistical
Bureau, to be for Samara province 16,500 ; for the same
province, 15,500 horse-rakes are needed. Assuming that
the requirements of Samara province are approximately
one-sixth of those of the whole famine area, we can

Combined List of the Requirements of the eleven Provinces of the South East in respect] of Ploughs, Tractors, Harvesting Machines, etc.

Area so «m, in
Desyafinas.l

No. of Farms.

Ploughs.

Cutters-and-Binders.

Harvesters.

Tractors.

Manilla Twine.

Drilling- Machines.

Hay-Mowers and Horse-Rakes.

j ■

No.

Cost in Roubles.

No.

Cost in Roubles.

No.

Cost in Roubles.

No.

Cost in Roubles.

Amount in
Poods.

Cost in Roubles.

No.

Cost in Roubles.

No.

Cost in Roubles.

Samara .

4,098

000

512.804

136,000

12,500

tn i'

93,750

17,000

Saratov .

2,489

000

435.076

83,000

7.500

k ■

7.500

56,250

10,000

Astrakhan
Uralsk .

730

279

000
670

198,492
43.275

24,000
9,000

u •

2,250
850

16,875
6,375

3,000
1,200

Turgai .

1,013

000

140,992

36,000

3.250

0" <L>

3 S

24,375

4.500

Kazan

1.634

000

445,888

54.000

5,000

5.000

o":S

37,500

6,800

Simbirsk

1.346

000

305,513

45,000

4<>

4,000

30,000

7.400

Ufa ...

Orenburg

Vyatka .

2,446
2,291
3.003

000

500,543
344.592
593.561

82,000

76,000

100,000

7.500
7,000
9,000

56,250
52,500
67,500

10,000

9.700

12,400

s
s

Stavropol

2,092JOOO

178.213

70,000

6,350

6.350

,?>

47,625

—

2i,42ij670

3,698,949

715,000

17,875,000

65,200

29,340,000

65,200

9,780,000

30,000

300,000,000

489,000

3,420,000

82,000

10,000,000

190,000

19,000,000

The grand Total of the above sums is 389,415,000 gold Roubles.
I According to data furnished in 1919.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 123

deduce that the total need of the area in these respects

will be:

Hay-mowers . . . 100,000
Horse-rakes . . . 90,000

The cost of these machines will be about 19,000,000
roubles.

THE PRODUCTION AND EXPORT OF HIDES IN
THE SOUTH EAST; THE RESTORATION OF
STOCK-RAISING IN THAT AREA.

Professor G. Povarnin.

General
Considera-
tions.

It is difficult at the present time to give precise figures ,
concerning the production of hides in the south-eastern
area of Russia. The effects of the famine cannot as yet
be definitively ascertained. Nevertheless, the known and
relevant figures give some approach to accurate informa-
tion, and can be accepted, with certain reserves.

The reduction of the live stock of the famine area can
be estimated on the basis of the data relating to the
famine in Saratov province during 1891. The table
shows the percentage of slaughterings of the various farm
beasts, first in normal times, secondly (estimated) during
the famine period, and thirdly (estimated) after the
famine.

Table I. — Percentage of Slaughterings,

Normal J

according to

Estimated,

Name oi Farm Beast.

Data in the

during the

Estimated, after I4<i.

Possession of

Famine.

Cluef-Hides.i

Horses

Foals

, .

Cows

Bulls

•

16-5

(4 years and
upwards) .

Milch-Cows

■

16-5

(natural deaths
in the course
of 3 years).

Heifers and

Young

16-5

—

Bulls .

Calves

100

Sheep

Goats

Pigs .

1 Chief-Hides is the chief committee controlling the hide industry
in Russia.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 125

The number of hides reaching the market cannot
correspond to the number of animals slaughtered, for
some of the hides are, during the famine period (as the
experience of recent years has shown), used within the
locality. However, even though during the past year
(owing to the desire of the peasants to avoid giving up the
hides for the general use of the population) skins of
medium quality were mainly consumed within the -area,
we have no reason to suppose that the finer skins of the
large horned cattle wiU be locally devoted to technical
purposes.

The estimate of the export of hides from this locahty is
based upon the calculation of the consumption of hides in
the local workshops according to the data for 1917 furnished
by Chief-Hides. Thanks to the vigorous development of
home industries in the leather trade during recent years
(industries using local skins only), the population has been
less dependent on the inadequate railway service of the
area with its inefficient means of transport. As a general
basis of our calculations, we take the figures for the
years 1916 and 1920 in the All-Russian agricultixral
reports.

The restoration of stock-raising will be realised at TheRestora-
different times for the various kinds of stock. Whereas g°^^^^
the smaller live stock and the pigs, being rapid breeders, Raising,
will attain their former numbers within the comparatively
brief time of two or three years, provided the necessary
measures are taken by the State — and the same remark
apphes to the horses, which have not been so greatly
reduced in numbers, — as far as the larger homed cattle
are concerned, the replenishment of the stock wiU take a
considerable time, for during the famine nearly all the
milch-cows, heifers, and young buUs, wiU have been
slaughtered. A calculation will show that to restore the
stock of the larger homed cattle to its pre-war level will
take seven to eight years, judging by tiie data concern-
ing the slaughter of these beasts during famine periods ;
but the govemment will take measures to reUeve the
situation.

One of the proposed measures is that for the next few
years the slaughter of heifers shall be prohibited. There
further presents itself the possibility (and this has been
left out of the calculations) that the farms of the South
East may be supplied with milch-cows and heifers from
regions unaffected by the famine. Such a method can
indirectly help in improving the breed of cattle in the

126 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

South East. Table II. gives the results of this calculation,
and justifies the foregoing deductions, but it also shows
that the restoration of stock-farming in the Mid- Volga
area will be much speedier than in the Lower-Volga
area.

Table II.

Mid-Volga Area.

Lower-Volga Area.

1921.

1922.

1927-8.

1921.

1922.

1927-8.

Cows .
Bulls .
Heifers .
Young

Bulls.
MUch-

cows .
Calves .

2,350,000
223,000
213,000

72,000

325,000
1,594,000

1,760,000
167,000

1,180,000

2,385,000
321,000
558,000

62,000

700,000
1,610,000

2,629,000

38,000

104,000

22,000

284,000
1,788,000

1,970,000
28,000

1,320,000

2,857,000

41,000

689,000

11,000

830,000
1,920,000

4,777,000

3,107,000

5,636,000

4,865,000

3,318,000

6,348,000

Sheep .
Goats .
Pigs .
Horses .
'Foals .

7,881,000
522,000
544,000

2,131,000
290,000

6,700,000
443,000
407,000

1,918,000
959,000

5,836,000
403,000
979,000

2,788,000
384,000

5,070,000

343,000

733,000

2,509,000

1,254,000

—

11,368,000

10,427,000

—

10,390,000

9,909,000

—

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 127

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o

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128 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

H
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■fl- to
en -^

M «

r-
o
o"
o

00 o

•g

00 t^

CO
CO

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m 00
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Lower-Volga ....
Mid-Volga

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IK s

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<-'

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t) ed ay

■*

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l-t

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 129

Concerning the value of the raw materials, we present
the following estimate of the production of the South East
in respect of hides. The data are furnished by Chief-
Hides.

Table VI. — Exports from the south-eastern Area
{in Milliards of Roubles).

Name of Export.

1921.

1923.

Coarse Hides

Calfskins ....

Sheepskins and Goatskins .

Bristle ....

Sets of Harness .

Cows' TaUs

39-42

28-68

7-35
4-62

•37

10-23

5-8
16-9

374

2-o8

•II

Totals

80-44

38-85

It is evident that these figures can only be approxima- Conclusions,
tions. The foregoing data enable us to draw the following
conclusions :

(i) It wUl take 7 or 8 years at least to replenish the
stock of the larger homed cattle in the South East.
Other kinds of stock can be replenished in from 2 to 4
years. It is assumed that the government will take
measures to prohibit the slaughter of young females.

(2) During the current season there was a surplus of
hides, the figures being nearly equal to those of pre-war
days. This especially apphes to coarse hides, sheepskins,
goatskins, and hair. On the other hand, in 1922, accord-
ing to the estimates for that year, the number of these
various kinds of hides and the quantity of hair wiU be
greatly below that of pre-war days, and there is no
hkehhood of recovery in the near future.

(3) The quantity of fine hides of the larger horned
cattle wiU probably be small both this year and for the
following years.

(4) The estimates of production for 1923 are less than
half of those for 1921.

THE FISHERIES OF THE SOUTH EAST.
Professor A. Meisner*

General
Character-
istics.

The

Astrakhan

Area.

As regards fisheries, the provinces of the South East
can be classed in three groups. The first group comprises
the provinces of Astrakhan and Uralsk, in which the
fishing industry plays a dominant part and has consider-
able importance to Russia in general. The second group
comprises the provinces of Tsaritsin, Saratov, Samara,
Simbirsk, and Kazan, in which the fishing industry is on
a comparatively small scale, so that, although it plays a
considerable part locally, it has little importance to
Russia at large. The third group comprises Penza,
Vyatka, Ufa, and Turgai, in which the fishing industry has
per se no importance whatever ; but in Penza, Vyatka,
and Ufa the home industries serving the needs of the
fishing industry are of immense social importance (the
supply of staves and hoops for casks, etc., pitch, tar,
wooden receptacles of aU sorts, fishermen's boats, etc.,
etc.).

Astrakhan province, which includes the lower reaches
of the Volga and the adjacent shores of the Caspian, is the
principal fishing locahty in Russia. In pre-war days, its
produce amounted to about 20,000,000 poods of various
kinds of fish, this being one-third of the whole product of
the fisheries of the sometime empire. At the present
time, in view of the reduction of the Russian fishing
grounds, this area 3delds more than 50 per cent, of all the
fish production of the Republic. In Astrakhan before the
war more than 250,000 persons were engaged in the
fisheries. They pursued various occupations, as fisher-
men, boatmen, masters, hands, etc. The greater part of
the population of the province (this applies especially to
Tsaritsin, which then formed part of Astrakhan), whether
of Russian, Kalmuck, or Kirghiz stock, secured a livelihood
mainly in the Astrakhan fisheries.

At the present time the Astrakhan area is the very centre
of the Russian fisheries. If the economic fife of the locality
is restored, and if the further development of the industry,
which has been partially ruined by the war and the revolu-

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 131

tion, be undertaken, it can provide the Republic with from
25,000,000 to 30,000,000 poods of fish per annum. At
present the yearly catch is only 14,000,000 poods. The
following things are essential if economic life is to be
restored and if the catch is to be raised to the above-
mentioned figures. First, the necessary dwellings must
be built for the workers (approximately 800,000 cubic
sazhenes of new buildings and repairing shops are requi-
site). Secondly, the fishing fleet of 250 steamboats must
be thoroughly refitted, and the old and worn out vessels
must be scrapped and replaced. Thirdly, the fleet of
wooden boats used in the industry and for transport,
which is at present only 5 per cent, of the needed strength,
must be fuUy restored. Fourthly, the whole economy of
the fishing industry must be reorganised, for it has been
ruined mainly by the civil war (at the present time the
fishing villages have been three-fourths depopulated ; the
inhabitants, under pressure of want and lacking the
necessary fishing outfit, have either succumbed, or emi-
grated, or adopted some new occupation). Fifthly, the
application of mechanical power to the fishing industry
on a large scale, not only as concerns the methods of
catching, but also (and this is stiU more important) as
concerns the methods of dealing with the catch ; this wiU
require the use of numerous electric motors, the exten-
sion of railways and cable trams supplied with special
freightage and transport facilities, the installation of a
number of electric power stations, and so on. Sixthly,
the work of preparing the fish for consumption must be
reorganised, so that the consumer may receive it in the
best possible condition : for this it is essential, on the one
hand, that cold-storage methods should be extensively
applied, including the use of cold chambers when the fish
is in transit, whether by rail or by water ; and, on the
other hand, that there should be a great number of
preserving factories, so that all the best kinds of fish can
be preserved (400,000 poods of red fish ; 3,000,000 poods
of valuable kinds of white fish, such as giant perch, carp,
white salmon, etc.). Seventhly, there must be provided
a number of movable (floating) workshops for the intelli-
gent utilisation of waste products, the saving of fats and
of materials suitable for manure.

Such, in brief, are the measures essential to the develop-
ment of the Astrakhan fisheries. We must also point
out that this development of the fisheries is strictly con-
tingent upon the methods employed for the improvement

132 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Uralsk and
other Areas.

Conclu-
sions.

of agriculture in the Volga delta, for these might be such
as would interfere with the breeding of the fish and would
consequently ruin the fishing industry. A close watch
must therefore be kept on the improvement works in the
delta, and the fishing interests must never be forgotten.

All that has been said concerning the Astrakhan area
can be appUed, mutatis mutandis, to the lower reaches of
the Ural and to the town of Guriev on the Ural delta.
This area is capable of supplying the Repubhc with more
than 2,000,000 poods of fish of the very finest sorts.
Especially important to this region is the improvement of
its communications, first by the completion of the
Alexandrov Gai and Embinsk railway, and secondly (this
is even more vital) by the dredging of the mouths of the
river to facilitate navigation.

As far as concerns the other provinces, the Volga and
the Kama and the lower reaches of their tributaries are
the most important sites of the fishing industry. The
middle reaches of the Ural must also be mentioned. This
area can supply the Republic with from 2,000,000 to
3,000,000 poods of fish per annum. The industry is
wastefuUy conducted by small-scale methods, and it wiU
perish if such conditions are allowed to persist. We must
work for its reorganisation by the supply of an adequate
equipment for the fisheries, and by the improvement of
the methods of curing and storing fish. Salting stations,
provided with cold storage, must be erected upon the
banks of the rivers. Hatcheries must be established.
Vessels must be supplied with special arrangements for
the transport of five fish.

The most pressing needs of the fishing industry are :

(i) The organisation of the cooperage industry ; the
provision of materials (such as hoops and staves, barrel-
heads, etc., etc.). To this end it is desirable that large
cooperages with machine-power equipment should be
constructed in the town of Astrakhan ;

(2) The organisation of the building of wooden boats.
This must be mainly effected by mutual arrangements
with neighbouring areas.

THE HOME INDUSTRIES OF THE SOUTH EAST.

The present summary relates to the home industries of Area,
the provinces of Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsin, Astrakhan,
Uralsk, Turgai, Vyatka, Kazan, Simbirsk, Ufa, and
Orenburg. In the following exposition, the first six of
these, constituting the extremely dry sub-area, will be
termed the provinces of the first group ; the remaining
five win be termed the provinces of the second group.

In the South East, large-scale industry and agriculture Home
do not absorb all the energies of the population. For a industry,
long time, throughout this area, there has been an in-
creasing development of home industry, availing itself of
local resources in the way of raw materials. In this
essay we shall classify the home industries of the area in
four groups, according to the nature of the materials upon
which the work is done. Thus we have : (i) wood work ;
(2) metal work ; (3) clay, stone, and slate work ; (4) work
upon animal products ; (5) textile work, tailoring, and
rope making.

Home industries engaged in wood work exist, as regards Wood Work,
the first group of provinces, in Samara, Saratov, and
Uralsk, and, as regards the second group of provinces,
in Vyatka, Simbirsk, Kazan, and Ufa. Among these
industries may be mentioned : cart and carriage building ;
furniture making ; cooperage ; wicker work ; the making
of utensils out of birch bark; bast-fibre box making;
travelling box making ; box making ; wooden utensil
making and turnery ; mat and sack making ; bast
shoe making ; and the dry distillation of wood.

Cart and Carnage Building. — In Bugulminsk county.
Samara province, there are 1,400 home industrials manu-
facturing farm carts and sleds ; in four counties of Saratov
province, there are 5,500 persons engaged in the manu-
facture of wagons and country carts ; in Uralsk, there are
3,000 home industrials producing wagons, wheel-fellies,
country carts, sleds, tarantasses, and other carriages ; in
three counties of Simbirsk province, there are 8,500 home
industrials ; in the province of Kazan, there are 9,500
home industrials producing sleds, tarantasses, country
carts, wheel-feUies and wheel-hubs, etc. ; in Vyatka

134 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

province, 12,300 persons are occupied as sled makers,
country cart makers, wicker workers, carriage-body
makers, etc. ; in Ufa, there are 3,000 home industrials
producing sleds and country carts. In these home
industries, the total number of workers is 43,200.

Furniture Making, etc. — In Bugulminsk county, Samara
province, 1,670 home industrials are engaged in the making
of plain furniture ; in Saratov province, there are 1,420
travelling-box makers ; in Uralsk, there are 2,000 home
industrials manufacturing furniture, window frames, doors,
and boxes ; in Simbirsk province, there are 1,800 home
industrials in this branch of industry ; in Kazan province,
8,500 persons work as plain furniture makers, and 870
make wooden boxes for the trade; in Vyatka province,
there are 4,600 persons engaged in making plain furniture,
furniture of better grade, window frames, doors, and
boxes. In these home industries, the total number of
workers is 20,860.

Wicker Work. — ^This industry is carried on in one
county of Samara province (800 home industrials), two
counties of Saratov province (960 home industrials), and
in Simbirsk province (2,400 home industrials). In Kazan
province, 6,000 persons are engaged in making baskets,
wicker-work carriage bodies, and wicker furniture ; in
Vyatka province, there are 4,672 home workers in the
basket trade and other branches of the wicker industry.
This industry occupies 14,832 workers in all.

Cooperage. — ^In Kazan province there are 7,400 coopers,
making tuns, barrels, tubs, vats, painted wooden recep-
tacles, and buckets of various sorts ; in Vyatka province,
there are 2,824 coopers. Total, 10,124.

Wooden Utensils and Turned Goods. — In Saratov
province, 900 persons, and in Simbirsk province 12,034
persons, are engaged in the making of cups, plates, spoons,
folding screens and images, etc., scoops, troughs, hand-
loom roUers, shuttles, spindles, etc. In all, 12,934 persons.

Mat and Sack Making. — In Samara province, 900 home
workers, in Simbirsk, 3,100, in Kazan, 6,000, in Vyatka,
24,796, and in Ufa, 10,000, are engaged in making mats,
sacking, and shoes, from the bast of the Ume tree. In all,
44,796 workers are thus employed.

Dry Distillation of Wood. — This industry flourishes in
Kazan province (15,000 home industrials), Vyatka (6,933),
and Ufa (3,970). In all, 25,903 home industrials.

The grand total of the home industrials engaged in all
these branches of the wood-working industry is 172,649.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 135

As far as the provinces of the first group are concerned, Metal Work,
metal work is carried on in Saratov and Uralsk ; and as
far as the provinces of the second group are concerned, in
Vyatka, Kazan, and Simbirsk. In Saratov province, a
comparatively small number of persons (2,700) are
engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements,
such as ploughs, ploughshares, winnowing machines, etc.
In Uralsk province, there are 12,500 home workers,
making stoves, pails, tea-pots, milking-pails, wash-hand
basins, frying-pans, flat irons, horse-shoes, and agricultural
implements and machinery. In Vyatka province, there
are numerous blacksmiths, locksmiths, rivet makers,
axe-forgers, shoesmiths, nailsmiths, gaff and hook
makers, pail makers, stove makers, scythe makers, sickle
makers, etc. ; in aU, 13,700 persons. In Kazan pro-
vince, there are 1,500 smiths whose chief occupation is
the making of tjo-es for carriage wheels ; and there are
2,200 jewellers working in brass and in Polish silver, pro-
ducing rings, bracelets, chains, etc., and the ornaments
for tribal costumes. In Simbirsk province, the making
of agricultural implements flourishes, and employs 1,400
workers.

In all, these home industrials engaged upon various
kinds of metal work number 34,000.

Of the mineral substances used as raw materials in home
industry, clay is the one most extensively employed. In
the making of pottery there are engaged in Saratov
province, 1,000 persons ; in Simbirsk, 2,300 ; in Astra-
khan, 2,000 ; in Kazan, 2,000 ; and in Vyatka, 4,349.
In the making of tiles there are employed in Saratov
province, 1,500 persons ; in Samara, 200 ; in Simbirsk,
500 ; in Kazan, 1,400 ; in Uralsk, 4,900 ; and in Turgai,
785. In Saratov province 500 persons, in Simbirsk
province 200 persons, and in Vyatka province 490 persons,
are engaged in the making of millstones. In Saratov
province there is a small industry for the manufacture of
roofing slates, writing slates, and slate pencils, at which
150 persons are occupied.

The total number of these home industrials is 22,274.

In this group are included tanners, leather-dressers,
furriers, boot and shoe makers, saddlers, etc. These
industries flourish in all the provinces both of the first and
of the second group. As far as work upon hides is con-
cerned (tanning, leather-dressing, etc.), in Samara province,
there are 700 home industrials ; in Saratov, 2,500 ; in
Tsaritsin, 800 ; in Astrakhan, 950 ; in Uralsk, 1,050 ; in

Clay, Stone,
and Slate
Work,

Work upon

Animal

Products.

136 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Spinning,

Weaving,

Fulling,

Hosiery,

Tailoring,

and Rope

making.

Kazan, 2,300 ; in Ufa, 1,100 ; and in Orenburg, 660.
In all, 10,060 persons. As furriers, there work in Samara
province, 2,700 persons ; in Saratov, 1,200 ; in Tsaritsin,
600 ; in Astrakhan, 240 ; in Uralsk, 920 ; in Turgai, 883 ;
in Kazan, 1,800 ; in Simbirsk, 900 ; and in Orenburg,
180. Total, 9,423 persons. The boot and shoe industry
occupies, in Saratov province, 3,100 home industrials ; in
Vyatka, 7,040 ; in Kazan, 4,700 ; and in Simbirsk, 1,250.
Total, 16,090 persons. Of saddlers, there are in Saratov
province, 470 ; in Vyatka, 3,000 ; in Kazan, 1,560 ; and
in Simbirsk, 600. Total, 4,630 persons.

Thus, the grand total of these workers amounts to
40,203.

In Saratov province there flourishes the production of a
cotton cloth known as sarpinka (the manufacture being
centred in the town of Sarepta) ; this employs 7,000
persons. In addition, 5,000 home industrials are engaged
in this province in weaving a coarser kind of cotton cloth.
In Samara province, there are 3,500 linen weavers, and in
Tsaritsin, 4,200 ; in Turgai there are cotton weavers and
mat makers to the number of 1,700, in Kazan, to the
number of 3,400, and in Simbirsk, to the number of 1,100 ;
but the most vigorous development of the weaving industry
is in Vyatka, where there are 52,973 hand-loom weavers,
and where nearly all the peasants undertake this work.
The total number of these workers is 78,873.

The most important product of the local fulling industry
is felt, which is used for the making of footgear and head-
gear. These occupations are widely distributed in the
provinces of Saratov {3,500 home industrials). Samara
(1,700), Tsaritsin (1,200), Turgai (1,900), Vyatka (12,557),
Kazan (7,600), and Simbirsk (3,000). In all, 31,457
persons are engaged in these occupations.

Hosiery fabrics of linen and of cotton are made in the
provinces of Saratov by 3,200 workers ; in Samara, by
800 ; in Tsaritsin, by 570 ; in Astrakhan, by 600 ; in
Vyatka, by 7,970 ; and in Simbirsk, by 600. Total,
13,740 persons.

At the making of various kinds of rope, twine, string,
whipcord, etc., there work in Saratov province 2,700
persons ; in Vyatka, 1,313 persons ; and in Kazan, 3,200
persons. Total, 7,213 persons.

In the tailoring trade there are engaged in Saratov
province 900 home workers ; in Samara, 700 ; in Tsarit-
sin, 300 ; in Kazan, 780 ; and in Simbirsk, 1,800. Total,
4,480 persons.

Home In-
dustries.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 137

Thus the grand total of the home industrials in the
foregoing industries is 135,763.

Summing up the number of all the home industrials
engaged in various branches of productive industry
throughout this area, we reach a general total of 404,889.
About 43 per cent, of these are wood workers ; and 31 per
cent, are engaged in the cloth making, rope making, and
tailoring trades. The remaining industries absorb 26 per
cent, of the home industrials.

The wars, both the imperialist war and the civil war, Condition of
had a very depressing effect upon home industries. The " '''
number of skilled home industrials progressively dimi-
nished ; former aptitudes were lost ; and, owing to the
general scarcity, tools and methods of work had inevitably
to be simplified. In Vyatka province, the production of
the better kinds of furniture had to be discontinued owing
to the lack of the requisite materials for finishing — the
lack of varnishes and paints. In the same area, the manu-
facture of artistic products made of the finer quaUties of
wood had to be discontinued. Owing to the shortage of
metals, there was a great reduction in the amount of
blacksmiths' and locksmiths' work ; the production of
the celebrated Orenburg kerchiefs came to an end ; in
Saratov province, the manufacture of sarpinka was dis-
continued. Much more might be written concerning the
decline in home industries. But it would be a grave
error to suppose that, on the whole, the productivity of
home industries has been greatly reduced during the
period under consideration. Those types of home industry
that are closely associated with agriculture, those for
which highly finished tools are not indispensable, were
able, though with difficulty, to secure the necessary raw
materials on the spot, so that home industries of this tjrpe
could with comparative ease survive the general economic
coUapse. Although, therefore, many of the highly skilled
branches of production fell into decay, there was a notable
increase in other branches, in unskilled occupations which
began to floiuish in the villages after the break-up of
large-scale industry. This especially applies to the pro-
duction of articles of domestic utihty, to the various
branches of the wood industry, to pottery making, to
weaving, and finally to metal work, seeing that scythes,
sickles, and other necessary tools were fashioned every-
where out of pieces of scrap iron. The tenacity of hfe
and the stability of the home-industrial type of production
is manifested by the fact that, throughout the period we

138 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

have had to live through, the co-operative organisation of
home industry has been advancing. A considerable pro-
portion of the home workers, perhaps 30 per cent, of them,
are now united in productive co-operatives. According
to the preliminary and incomplete information at our
disposal, in the area we are considering there are at the
present time, 2,080 artels (co-operatives of production)
consohdated in twenty-four productive leagues.
Productivity The amount produced by those home industries which
at the pre- are under State auspices will serve to give an index of the
»ent Time, general productivity of home industry at the present time.
In round figures, the following quantities of articles were
produced in the area under consideration during 1920 and
the first half of 1921 ; bast shoes, 14,162,000 pairs ;
felt boots, 2,038,300 pairs ; textiles, 1,994,000 arshins ;
wooden utensils, etc., 14,375,000 ; articles of furniture,
27,000 ; country carts, sleds, wheels, etc., 4,280,000 ;
casks and boxes, 520,000 ; mats and sacks, 1,406,000 ;
hide tilts, 262,000 ; metallic articles including agricul-
tural implements, etc., 2,045,000 ; articles of pottery,
1,934,000. The estimates for the production of home
industries in this area during the latter half of the present
year, as far as the chief lines are concerned, were as
follows ; wooden articles of various kinds, 30,501,199 ;
articles of vegetable origin, 340,200 ; articles of animal
origin, 916,000 poods ; articles of pottery, 1,500,000 poods ;
metallic articles, 1,000,822 poods ; other manufactures,
13,330,240 articles.
Importance It seems urgently necessary to increase the productivity
of Increasing of home industry, not only for the home demand, but
y™^"*^" also for the foreign market. In the pre-war period

(1904-1914), the export of various products of home
industry amounted to 3,015,500 poods for the year 1904,
and 5,385,200 poods for the year 1914 ; the exports were
increasing year by year. The most important of these
exports, totalling 95 per cent, of the whole, consisted of
various wood products, such as laths, shingles, tar, pitch,
articles of furniture, turned goods, etc. The prospects
of these branches of home industry are now favourable,
and there are considerable possibilities for export.

THE LOCAL SHALE BEDS AND THEIR
EXPLOITATION.

Professor I. I. Gubkin.

The question of providing work at the shale mines for Local Dis-
the inhabitants of the famine area is now under con- the'shaie"*
sideration. In this connexion, the shale beds must be Beds,
considered under three heads : (i) those of the Simbirsk
area ; (2) those of the Sisran area ; (3) eastward of the
Volga, those of the Samara area and the Obshchi Syrt.

What is known as the Simbirsk shale bed consists of Simbirsk
deposits of bituminous shale distributed throughout the ^^^'
area of the Volga-Svyaga water parting, stretching
northward for nearly 30 versts along the Volga, and
beginning 7 versts above the town of Simbirsk. The width
of the surveyed area is, at the north end, at least 25 versts,
and at the south end, not more than 7 versts. The deposits
of bituminous shale consist here of seven seams, ranging
in average thickness from 6 in. to i ft. 4 in., and having
a total thickness ranging from 5 ft. 7 in. to 6 ft. 3 in.
The five uppermost seams have a total thickness of 5 ft.
in a total vertical extent of 12 ft. 2 in.

For the exploitation of the bituminous shale beds of the
Simbirsk area there are three mines, the Undory, the
Central, and the Zahareff, lying along the bank of the
Volga. The first of these is at the village of Gorodishch,
the second 5 versts, and the third 15 versts, below that
village. At these mines the shale is worked from under-
ground galleries. In addition, there are open workings
at the village of Gorodishch near the Undory mine.

The Undory mine was opened in September, 1919.
The output of bituminous shale from this date down to the
first of July, 1921, was 1,700,000 poods. The total amount
of shale in the whole of this area, reckoning only the five
uppermost seams, is estimated at twenty-five milliards of
poods.

Freshly mined bituminous shale contains 25 per cent,
of moisture, but on exposure to the atmosphere the amount
of moisture is rapidly reduced to from 7 per cent, to 10 per

140 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Sisran Area.

Transvol-
gian Shale
Beds of
Samara and
the Obshchi
Syrt.

cent. In the shale which has been thus dried, the quantity
of ash ranges from 50 to 75 per cent. The heat-producing
capacity of the atmospherically dried shale is from 1,900
to 2,500 calories. One cubic sazhene of bituminous shale
is equivalent for heating purposes to 17 cubic sazhenes of
wood that has been seasoned for six months, or to 2 cubic
sazhenes of freshly cut timber.

This area includes part of the right bank of the Volga
below the town of Sisran near the village of Kashpir,
together with both banks of the river Kashpir including
the village itself and the adjoining land higher up the
river. The shale is obtained from four seams, both from
underground and open workings. The total thickness of
these four seams of bituminous shale ranges from 3 ft. 4 in.
to 5 ft. in a vertical extent ranging from 8 ft. 3 in. to 10 ft.
Above the seams of shale there lies an exceedingly compact
sandstone, and for this reason the galleries need be tim-
bered only at the entrance. Inside the workings, the stone
arches, when properly shaped, are sufficiently stable.

Work at the Kashpir shale mine was begun at the end
of 1919. Down to April i, 1921, the output was about
950,000 poods. It is estimated that these beds contain
several milliards of poods.

The Kaskpir shale is regarded as better than the Undory
shale. The ash of the former ranges from 45 to 65 per
cent. The heat-producing capacity of the dried Kashpir
shale is 3,000 calories or more.

Since the wide extent of land between the Ural and the
Volga consists mainly of steppe, information concerning
the distribution of shale beds in this area has hitherto been
scanty. Nevertheless, sufficient data are forthcoming to
enable us to say that there are immense shale beds within
the Obshchi Syrt (the watershed between the Ural and
the Volga), and we can be certain that this area contains
hundreds of milliards of poods of bituminous shale.

Evidently, the quaUty of the shale in the Obshchi Syrt
will vary in the different beds, but the available data
entitle us to beUeve that, generally speaking, the shale of
this area is of better quality than that of Simbirsk and
Sisran. The seams of the Obshchi Syrt shale beds are
thicker than those of Simbirsk and Sisran.

For a brief period in the year 1920 the shale of this
region was mined under the auspices of Chief-Shale ^ in
the vicinity of the village of Savelevk on the Sakma, a
tributary of the Great Irgiz.

1 Chief -Shale is the chief committee controlling shale mining in Russia.

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 141

The Volga shale can be used for industrial purposes in The Possi-
the following manner. biiitiesof

1. As fuel in small fragments it can be burned in the voiga"bitu-^
furnaces of steam engines, etc. Chief-Shale has not minous
merely secured designs for furnaces adapted to the Shales.
pecuHarities of shale as fuel, but has experimental furnaces
actually at work.

2. As fuel in the pulverised form. Shale can thus be
adapted for use in cement works that are now lying idle.
In this branch of industry the whole of the shale can be
used without any waste, for the ash from the furnaces is
serviceable for the making of cement.

3. As fuel for electric power stations. Under this head,
in addition to the methods mentioned under heads i and 2,
shale can be used as follows. The shale is converted into
gas in gas generators so constructed that the process of
gasification protracts the development of the process of
dry distillation. As a result we get the following products :
(«) gas which can be burned in the furnaces of steam
engines, or used as fuel for internal combustion engines ;
(b) shale pitch, which is of just as good quality as the
pitch secured in shale-distilling retorts.

4. For the manufacture of shale tar in special retorts.
Shale tar can be used : (a) after purification from sulphur
as a raw material for the manufacture of petroleum-like
products ; (6) the sulphide being retained, as raw material
for a whole series of products.

(a). Fireproof products for the impregnation of wood
used for roofing, railway trucks, etc.

(jS). Extremely valuable fire-resisting products for the
impregnation of railway sleepers, etc.

(7). As a substitute for coal-tar pitch in the manu-
facture of asphalt, and in the manufacture of fireproof
pasteboard.

(S). Sulphur products for the manufacture of ichthyol
and other drugs, and for the manufacture of soap.

(e). Ammonium sulphite, valuable as manure, and
used for the manufacture of sulphate of amrnonia.

{Q. Materials for carbonisation in the production of
electric stoves, brush Ughts, etc.

PUBLIC WORKS IN THE FAMINE AREA.

The Area in
which Public
Works must
be under-
taken.

Timber
Work.

Land Im-
provement
Schemes.

Preparation
of Building
Materials.

The failure of the crops in the greater part of the Volga
basin has brought to the front the question of the struggle
with the consequent famine. Assistance to the hunger-
stricken population can take two main forms : the first
of these consists merely of direct aid ; the second is the
productive utilisation of all the elements of the population
that are fit for work. The latter method of rendering aid
is of course the more advantageous, for it enables us to
increase the riiaterial resources of the country and to
enrich it in all sorts of ways. It is self-evident that, in
choosing work, attention must be paid to the kinds of
labour available. Under the conditions existing in the
famine area, suitable occupations are : timber work ;
building operations ; land improvement schemes. On
these Unes there must be drawn up a program of public
works in the famine area.

At the present time, public works should be undertaken
in the provinces of Tsaritsin, Saratov, Samara, Simbirsk,
Uralsk, Vyatka, Astrakhan, Tartar Republic, the Chuvash
and Marii regions, and the German Volga Commune.

The most extensive task that awa,its us is timber work
in the Marii and Chuvash regions. Two hundred and
forty thousand desyatinas of wood land were devastated
by forest fires this year. Unless the grubbing up of the
tree stumps is undertaken throughout the affected area, a
considerable quantity of valuable fuel will be wasted, and
reafforestation wiU be difficult for a long time to come.
Hence the clearing of the burned area is a task of imme-
diate importance. In the forthcoming season from Sep-
tember I, 1921, to January i, 1922, it ought to be
possible to prepare and transport 500,000 cubic sazhenes
of wood. This work wiU occupy as many as 160,000
persons, to feed whom there will be required about
908,000 poods of flour, not to mention other articles. The
cost will amount to 1,577,000 gold roubles.

Land improvement schemes wiU occupy 140,000
workers. Their cost will be 5,500,000 gold roubles. The
quantity of flour needed will be 840,000 poods.

The preparation of the tiles, cement, gypsmn, asphalt,

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 143

etc., needed for building operations in the famine area
will occupy 15,000 persons. Cost, 600,000 gold roubles.
Quantity of flour needed, 90,000 poods.

The rnost important public buildings immediately
required in the famine area are repairing stations, isolation
sheds for persons suffering from cholera and other epidemic
diseases, and infirmaries, amounting in all to 10,000 cubic
sazhenes. Twenty-five thousand workers will be needed ;
the flour requisite wiU amount to 150,000 poods ; the cost
will be 1,000,000 gold roubles.

In the famine area it is necessary to undertake the repair
of 10,000 versts of high roads which were entirely neg-
lected during the war and are in an extremely bad con-
dition. This will occupy 50,000 workers. Cost, 2,000,000
gold roubles. Flour requisite, 300,000 poods.

The building of two branch hues for the transport of
fuel has been planned, the Simbirsk-Undory railway and
the Yakushinsk railway. The length of the two wiU be
66 versts. Workers required, 4,000. Cost, 150,000 gold
roubles. Flour needed, 24,000 poods.

Waterworks are planned for the provinces of Saratov,
Astrakhan, and Tsaritsin. Labour, 6,000 persons. Cost,
240,000 gold roubles. Flour, 36,000 poods.

Considerable importance must be attached to the
support of the home industrials of the famine area. It is
proposed to assist 200,000 home workers by buying up
the produce of their labour and by supplying them with
raw materials. This scheme will involve a total cost of
2,500,000 gold roubles.

In addition to work organised by the central authority,
various local undertakings have to be considered. Thus,
in Volsk county, Saratov province, it is proposed to
prepare the stone needed for the thorough repair of the
bridges on the Volsk-Cherkass railway, 30 versts in length.
The cost will be 54,000 gold roubles, and 76,000 workers
will be ^employed. In the same county it is proposed to
build a wooden bridge across the Terzyanka. The
number of workers needed will be 76,580, and the cost
will be 41,000 gold roubles. In Khvalinsk county it is
proposed to prepare the road metal for the thorough
repair of the road from Khvalinsk to Tartar Shemelok.
The cost will be 40,000 roubles, and the number of workers
employed will be 67,000. In Kamyshin county, metal is
to be prepared for the making of the Rudnyansk road and
for the strengthening of the dam upon a tributary of the
river Ilovlya, These undertakings wiU employ 45,000

Public
Buildings,

Road
Repair.

Railway
Construc-
tion.

Waterworks.

Home In-
dustries,

Local Under-
takings.

144 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

workers, and will cost 300,000 gold roubles. In Saratov
county, two works have been planned : first, the levelling
of the sandhiU in Kamenka village, which will employ
50,000 workers and wiU cost 35,000 gold roubles ; and
secondly, the completion of the road between Idolga and
Tatirev, which will employ 59,000 workers, and will cost
50,000 gold roubles.

In the Tartar RepubHc, waterworks are planned for
9 places, and various roads have to be made in accordance
with an agreement. The number of workers employed
will be 19,400, and the cost of the work will be 4,000,000
gold roubles.

For the Tartar Repubhc there have also been planned
extensive land improvement works, taking the form of
cleansing the meadows in the river basins. This concerns
an area of 40,000 desyatinas in the valleys of the Volga,
the Kama, the Svyaga, and the Vyatka. It is estimated
that the returns from the scheme will amount to 6,000,000
poods of hay, worth locally 3,000,000 gold roubles. An
additional product of this work wiU be 400,000 cubic
sazhenes of brushwood, worth 4,500,000 gold roubles.

It is further proposed to construct 1,000 reservoirs, in
part for the storage of water, and in part for piscicultural
purposes. An additional proposal is the construction of
1,000 clamps for the storage of 40,000,000 poods of
potatoes. If we assume the saving of potatoes thus
effected to be 20 per cent., the gain achieved will be
8,000,000 poods of good potatoes worth 20,000,000 gold
roubles at present prices. The cost of these proposed
works wiU be 30,000,000 gold roubles.

In Samara province, the proposed repair of the water-
works and of the roads, together with the cleansing of the
town, will involve a total cost of 330,000 gold roubles.

In Uralsk region there are plans for the irrigation of the
land lying along the river Kushum, on the Great Uzen, in
the Chizhev marshes, and on the Algeba. The extent of
land to be irrigated amounts to 52,455 desyatinas, and
this wiU require the work of 36,000 persons. Returns of
immense value are expected from these works. For
example, merely within the area of the Chizhev marshes,
the irrigation works wiU, it is estimated, lead to a hay
crop of as much as 30,000,000 poods.

To sum up, aU the work contemplated will give employ-
ment to about 1,000,000 persons, and will cost about
19,000,000 gold roubles.

In calculating the cost of the work, the cost of supplying

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 145

the natural requirements of the workers has not been
included. If we assume, as is done in the estimates of
the Chief Committee for Public Works, that the daily
upkeep of one worker expressed in terms of bread is
equivalent to 5 lbs. of bread, then the total requirements
for one year will be 46,000,000 poods, and to the end of
the present year 12,000,000 poods.

146 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

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SKETCH OF THE INDUSTRIES OF THE
SOUTH EAST.

P. KOLOKOLNIKOFF.

The character of the industry of the South East and the General
conditions of its general development are explained by Survey,
the character and the developmental conditions of the
agriculture of this area.

The South East is not one of the industrial regions of
Russia. The industrial report for the year 1918 (which,
indeed, thanks to the incidence of the civil war, failed to
embrace the whole of the area with which we are con-
cerned) recorded 2,195 enterprises and about 113,000
operatives — exclusive of the petty production of the home
industrials. As between the two sub-areas distinguished
in previous essays, these undertakings and operatives were
distributed as foUows :

Sub-Area and Provinces.

Enterprises.

Operatives.

Mid-Volga (Kazan, Simbirsk,
and Vyatka.)

Lower-Volga (Samara, Sara-
tov, and Astrakhan) .

709
1.486

68,359
45,033

Totals

2,195

113,392

This represented 22 per cent, of the enterprises and
9 per cent, of the operatives of Central Soviet Russia of
that date ; and it represented 12 per cent, of the enter-
prises and 5 '5 per cent, of the operatives in the whole of
Russia, including Siberia and Ukraine. At the same
epoch, the sown area of the South East constituted one-
fourth of all the sown area of European Russia.
In the South East there are more people engaged in the

148 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

elaboration of agricultural products than in any other
single industry. Witness the following figures :

Sub- Area.

No. of
Under-
takings.

No. of
Operatives.

Percentage
of Under-
takings.

Percentage
of Opera-
tives.

Mid-Volga.
Lower-Volga

292
978

4.053
13.662

41
66

6
30

1.270

17.715

The percentage of the industries engaged in the elaboration
of agricultural products, as compared with Central Russia
and Russia as a whole, was as follows :

Undertakings.

Operatives.

Central Russia
The whole of Russia

38
17

22
6

In the South East were concentrated two-fifths of all
such industrial undertakings of Central Russia. In this
respect, the only area comparable to the South East was
Ukraine ; but in the latter, as will be plain from what
foUows, this branch of industry assumed a different
character. In the industrial hfe of the South East, this
particular kind of industry occupied more than half of the
undertakings and nearly one-fifth of all the operatives.
Furthermore, the elaboration of agricultural products was
much more decisively concentrated in the Lower- Volga
sub-area. The industry of the Mid- Volga sub-area was
more diversified. Thus, in Simbirsk province there was a
vigorous development of the production of coarse wooUen
cloth (17 enterprises, and 10,500 operatives, according to
the 1918 report). This branch of industry, genealogically
descended from the factory labour carried on by serfs in
former days, is geographically associated with Tambov
and Penza provinces, being dependent for supphes upon
local sheep farming, with the destinies of which its own
fate is incorporated. In so far as the adoption of intensive

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 149

methods of agriculture interfere with sheep farming (since
the sheep is an animal giving comparatively slow returns),
so far, necessarily, will the foundation of this branch of
industry be undermined. The same remark applies to
the fulling industry of the Kazan-Kukmorsk area, which
up to now has constituted 20 per cent, of the whole fuUing
industry of Russia. In Vyatka province, metal works
and machine-making play a considerable part. In these
industries there were here 14 factories employing 23,500
operatives ; among them are the Votinsk and Izhevsk
factories. There were also many chemical works in
Kazan and Vyatka provinces (28 enterprises employing
4,500 operatives). Finally, in Kazan province, there
were 23 tanneries emplo3dng 5,500 operatives. Turning
to the Lower- Volga sub-area, we must first of all refer to
the salt industry of Astrakhan (34 salt works, employing
3,000 operatives). A notable industry in this part of the
world is cooperage, the making of wooden receptacles for
use in the fish-packing industry (66 cooperages, employing
3,000 operatives). As far as Saratov province is con-
cerned, we must refer to the textile industry, the manu-
facture of sarpinka (Sarepta cottons) and coarse woollen
cloth (11 enterprises, emplopng 3,500 operatives). The
local machine shops (60 undertakings, employing 4,500
operatives) served — ^apart from war-time industries —
almost exclusively to provide for the requirements of
water transport and the flour-miUing industry.

Although at the present time aU branches of industry
except those concerned with food production are at a low
level in the South East, it by no means follows that the
industry of this area wiU not develop greatly in the future.
The geographical movements in economic life induced by
the war and the revolution will give an impetus to industry
in the South East as well as elsewhere. The special
investigation concerning the electrification of the Cisvolgian
area has shown that there are very favourable prospects
for the development of the engineering industry in the
towns on the Volga, and especially in Tsaritsin. Engi-
neering workshops in this area wiU be able to supply the
demands of the rural population for farming implements,
machinery, etc., and to meet the requirements of water
transport. The manufacture of cement and the manu-
facture of artificial manures also have a great future. The
erection of local slaughter-houses and the utilisation of
the offal of the fishing industry will promote the work of
elaborating animal products, fats, etc., and wiU foster the

150 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

Industries
concerned
In elaborat-
ing the
Products of
Agriculture.

development of the albumin industry, glue making, bone
calcining, tallow melting, soap boiling, and so on. Less
fav«Jurable are the prospects of the various wood-working
industries, owing to the lack of the necessary raw material
in the southern steppe region of the South East. Tsaritsin,
however, has long served as a depot for the supply of the
Don basin with wood received in the rough ,by the Kama
and the Volga rivers (the Tsaritsin sawmills).

AU the above-mentioned branches of industry belong
to large-scale and medium-scale factory and workshop
production. The home industries of the South East are
not very extensive. They are chiefly concentrated in the
northern parts of the area (the various kinds of wood
work in the forest regions of Simbirsk, Kazan, and Vyatka
provinces ; fulling, and the leather industry in Kazan and
Vyatka provinces) . We cannot count upon much develop-
ment of home industry in this area, except concomitantly
with the intensification of agriculture.

Turning, now, to the industries concerned in the
elaboration of agricultural products, we must emphasise
at the very outset that they have an ineffaceable stamp
impressed upon them by the predominance of grain crops
in the ploughlands and the extensive character of the
stock-raising practised in the steppes. In the south-
western parts of Russia there are many sugar refineries,
owing to the prevalence here of sugar-beet cultivation.
In White Russia, distilleries abound, for there potatoes
are a staple crop. In the northern part of the Volga
basin, starch and glucose are manufactured on a consider-
able scale. In the black-earth regions of Central Russia,
finally, where pig-farming flourishes in the provinces of
Tambov and Voronezh, there has been during the last ten
years a considerable development in the meat-preserving
industry. In the South East, on the other hand,- flour-
miUing predominates among the industries based upon
the elaboration of agricultural products. Until recently
the cattle of the steppe were brought in droves to the
markets of Central Russia ; the inauguration of slaughter-
houses in the South East and the provision of cold-storage
facilities in the area were still in the germ. Poorly
developed, likewise, in the South East were the con-
fectionery trade and the tobacco industry, which gravitate
towards the regions of vigorous demand. The growth of
these branches of industry was hindered by the paucity of
the local demand and the sluggishness of movement in
local industrial life. Speaking generally we may say that

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA I5t

the industries of the South East engaged in the elaboration
of agricultural products and working with local materials,
did not work for the local market but for Central Russia,
and that their fate was bound up with the fate of the
Central Russian market. But whereas in the South and
the South West agriculture, and consequently the industries
based upon agriculture, worked chiefly for the foreign
market, in the South East they worked chiefly for the
Russian market.

The following table shows the general lines of the
industries in the South East that are based upon agri-
cultural production (year 1912) :

Uid-Volga

Lower-Volga

Sub-Area.

Factoiiat and Workshops.

No. of

Opera-
tiTes.

Enter-
prises.

Opera-
tives.

Enter-
prises.

tives.

prises.

Flour Mills . . .

1,070

137

5.103

173

6,173

Distilleries .

2,314

1,118

140

3,433

Oil Presses

121

1,098

1,319

Starch and Glucose

Factories

275

104

379

Sugar Refineries .

—

264

630

264

650

Breweries . . ,

839

91a

1,751

Tobacco Factories

157

780

937

Macaroni and Vermicelli

Factories

319

399

Confectionery Works .

317

408

735

Sausage, Potted Meats,

etc., Works .

105

X3X

Totals

161

5,199

527

10,597

688

15,796

Of these enterprises, 41 per cent, are engaged in the
flour-miUing industry, and 39 per cent, of the operatives
are thus employed. DistiUing occupies the second place,
with 33 per cent, of the enterprises and 22 per cent, of the
operatives. In these two branches, in the year 1912,
there were engaged three-fourths of all the undertakings
and more than half of all the operatives. Among other
branches of industry working for the AU-Russian market,
the most notable is the oil-pressing industry, which is
almost exclusively carried on in Saratov province. The
starch and glucose industry has not developed outside of
Simbirsk province. Among the branches of industry
working for the local market, two may be mentioned :

1 These figures refer to large-scale and medium-seals industry, not to
home industries.

152 THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

brewing, which is equally distributed throughout the
provinces, with the exception of Simbirsk ; and tobacco
manufacture, which flourishes mainly in Saratov.

By a further comparison of the Mid- Volga and Lower-
Volga areas we are enabled to note : (a) the greater deve-
lopment of the industries elaborating the products of
agriculture ; and (b) the greater uniformity of production,
in the Lower-Volga sub-area. In Lower-Volga, flour
miUing occupies 52 per cent, of the undertakings and 67 per
cent, of the operatives, whereas in Mid- Volga this industry
occupies only 22 per cent, of the enterprises and 21 per
cent, of the operatives. Conversely, distilling is more
strongly developed in the Mid- Volga sub-area, for here it
occupies 56 per cent, of the enterprises and 44 per cent,
of the operatives, whereas in Lower-Volga only 19 per
cent, of the enterprises and 11 per cent, of the operatives
are engaged in distilling.

The data of the reports for the year 1918 confirm the
conclusions based upon the tables of 1912.

Enterprises.

Provinces.

Samara.

Saratov.

Simbirsk.

Vyatka.

Flour Mills
Distilleries and

Breweries
Oil Presses
Starch and Glucose

Factories
Sugar Refineries.
Tobacco Factories

380
35

524

44
34

124
70

The number of operatives in the flour mills was as
follows :

Provinces.

Reports for 1918.

Estimates for 1920-1921.

Samara .
Saratov ,

Simbirsk .

4,742
3,261

1,148

11,208
7,556 (including Tsaritsin

province).
1,395

IN THE FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA 153

Obviously the estimates for 1920-1921 must include the
small flour miUs of the peasants.

Not merely is flour milling the predominant branch of
industry in Samara and Saratov provinces. As we learn
from the following table, the larger moiety of the great
mills is concentrated in liiese two provinces.

Year 1908.

Provinces.

Samara.

Saratov.

Simbirsk.

Flour MiUs

Large

Medium-sized
Quantity of Grain Milled,
in Poods

137

141
140

In the Large Mills

In the Medium-sized

44,000,000

51,000,000

15,000,000

MiUs .

65,000,000

79,000,000

26,000,000

Samara, Saratov, and Tsaritsin have for a considerable
period been important centres of the milling industry.
Nevertheless, a considerable part of the harvest was
exported from the area in the form of grain, and was sent
to be milled either in the Upper Volga or in the metropolis.
This took place, not only owing to the cheapness of water
transport, but also because the local stock-farmers made
no demand for the by-products of the milling industry, so
that the bran, etc., was sent away. The adoption of
intensive methods of stock-farming wUl lead to an intensive
development of the local milHng industry, and will at the
same time encourage the growth of new branches of
industry associated with agricultural life, such as oil
pressing, the manufacture of potted meats, etc.

The adoption of intensive methods of stock-farming
must go hand in hand with intensive culture of the soil,
and this, too, wiU encourage the growth of various indus-
tries elaborating the products of agriculture. The inclu-
sion of root crops, such as potatoes and beetroots, in the
rotation of the crops wiU encourage the development of
the beet-sugar industry and of the starch and glucose
industry, so that the produce of the vegetable gardens

I541THE RESTORATION OF AGRICULTURE

along the Volga can be fully utilised. Furthermore, the
by-products of these two industries will furnish concen-
trated fodder for live stock, and this in its turn will
stimulate the development of stock-farming. Thus the
destinies of the industries elaborating the agricultural
products of the South East are indissolubly associated with
the destinies of agriculture itself.

APPENDIX I.

LIST OF EXPERIMENTAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE
SOUTH EAST.

In Saratov Province.

(i) Saratov region. Fanning experimental station,
existence more than lo years.)
{2) Petrov experimental station.^

(3) Serdob

(4) Balashev
" field,

(In

working from 8 to 10
years.

(5) Kamyshin

(6) Kuznets

(7) Volsk

(8) Atkarsk

(9) Krasnokut experimental station (since »
1910).

(10) Kostychev experimental station (since

1895). I Novouzensk

(11) Valuisk experimental irrigation sec-| county,
tion (since 1890).

(12) Experimental field of the Marii
Agricultural College.

(13) Experimental Institute of the Agronomical Faculty of
the University of Saratov.

In Tsaritsin Province.

(i) Tsaritsin experimental field.

(2) Tingutin irrigation section (13 years in being).

In Samara Province.

(i) Bezenchuk experimental station, Samara county (since
1905).

(2) The farm of the Samara Agricultural School near Kmel
railway station.

(3) Alekseyev experimental station in the southern part of
Buzuluk county (since 1911).

(4) Buguruslan experimenta Ifield (working for more than
15 years).

(5) Bugulma experimental field.

(6) Buzuluk experimental field.

156 APPENDIX I.

In Uralsk Region.
(i) Temir experimental field (working for about lo years).

In Astrakhan Province.

(i) Horticultural experimental section (near the Town of
AstrEikhan).

APPENDIX II.

ITEMS RELATING TO THE SURPLUS AND THE
DEFICIT, RESPECTIVELY. OF THE CHIEF PRODUCTS^

{Compiled from Data relating to the Period 1907-10.)

The details of transport by rail and by water supply
valuable information concerning the characteristics of the
area. A detailed study of this kind would be extremely
interesting. It would enable us to determine the resources of
each locality at a given time, and would be a guide to action
in case of need. Unfortunately, a complete investigation of
this character would be a lengthy affair. The Department of
Rural Economy and Statistics of the People's Commissariat
for Agriculture is already at work on these lines, but the
undertaking is still far from being completed. We shall,
therefore, content ourselves with presenting average results
relating to the period 1907-1910. In a few instances, the
figures relate to 1907-1909, and are based upon the work of
Professor A. N. Chelintseff.

We shall begin with data relating to all the cereals, treated
as a general total.

Surplus (+)

Consumption

Province.

Deficit (-) of all

per Inhabitant,

Cereals, in Poods.

in Poods.

Astrakhan

— 31,488,000

9-3

Kazan .

+ 21,492,000

19-3

Nizhni-Novgorod

— 4,212,000

2I-I

Orenburg

-f 28,439,000

I9-I

Penza

+ 13.543.000

Samara .

+ 76,223,000

I5-I

Saratov .

4- 41,166,000

17-4

Simbirsk

+ 14,351,000

22-6

Ufa . . .

+ 33,612,000

21-2

All these provinces, with the exception of Astrakhan and
Nizhni-Novgorod, produce a surplus of cereals.

158

APPENDIX II.

Now we shall consider the surplus and deficit of the foui
chief cereals.

Province

Wheat and

Wheaten Flour,

in Poods.

Rye and
Rye Flour,
in Poods.

Oats,
In Poods.

Barley,
in Poods.

Astrakhan

+ 2,191,000

— 649,000

— 1,322,000

— 54,000

Kazan

— 2,003,000

+ 16,373,000

+ 13,605,000

— 27,000

Nizhni-Novgorod

— 2,636,000

— 1,208,000

— 548,000

1,000

Orenburg .

+ 23,191,000

+ 1,461,000

+ 2,847,000

— 90,000

Penza

— 642,000

+ 5.599.000

+ 9,102,000

— 38,000

Samara .

+ 97.442.000

+ 14,413,000

+ 312,000

— 51,000

Saratov .

+ 23,875,000

+ 13,887,000

+ 15,223,000

— 373.000

Simbirsk .

+ 3.307.000

+ 7,409,000

+ 6,131,000

Ufa .

+ 6,078,000

+ 29,274,000

+ 8,272,000

— 70,000

It is to be observed that all these provinces suffer from
a deficit of barley. The provinces of Orenburg, Samara,
Saratov, Simbirsk and Ufa grow a surplus of the other three
cereals. The provinces of Kazan and Penza are obliged to
import wheat. Astrakhan province has to import three of the
cereals, and has a surplus of wheat alone.

Surplus and Deficit of Potatoes and Starch.

Amount Of Potatoes

Potatoes, based on

Starch, based on

for Distilleries

Province.

the igo7-ic,oo

the 1919 Data,

based on the

Data, in Poods.

in Poods.

1907-19 10 Data,
in Poods.

Astrakhan

— 28,000

Kazan

—

+ 1,000

1-700

Nizhni-Novgorod

+ 292,000

— 1,000

o-8oo

Orenburg .

— 39,000

— 10,000

0-500

Penza

+ 878,000

+ 182,000

8-900

Samara .

— 52,000

— 2,000

0-950

Saratov .

— 570,000

— 8,000

1-900

Simbirsk .

— 99,000

+ 170,000

2-900 ■

Ufa .

+ 28,000

+ 9,000

Penza province produces the most notable excess of potatoes.
This province, therefore, is foremost in the export of potatoes
and of starch ; but the bulk of the potatoes grown here are
consumed in the distilleries. In the remaining eight provinces
this tuber does not play an important part, and, though
Nizhni-Novgorod and Ufa produce a surplus, all the remaining
provinces have to import large quantities of potatoes.

APPENDIX II.

159

Surplus and Deficit of the Main Vegetable Crops.
{Average of 1906-1908.)

Province.

Cabbage (per alow

Goods Train),

in Foods.

Onions (per slow

Goods Train),

in Foods.

Fresh Vegetables

(per fast Goods or

per Fassenger Train),

in Foods.

Astrakhan

+ 2,000

+ 4,000

Kazan

—

— 3.°°o

Nizhni-Novgorod

+ 20,000

+ 10,000

+ 7,000

Orenburg .

+ 8,000

— 70,000

— 3.00°

Penza

+ 65,000

+ 185,000

—

Samara

— 5,000

— 11,000

+ 10,000

Saratov .

— 52,000

— 77,000

+ 23,000

Simbirsk .

— 10,000

— 26,000

+ 6,000

Ufa .

"~"

+ 59.000

— 2,000

Vegetable growing does not play any considerable role in
the husbandly of this area. Penza and Nizhni-Novgorod
alone export a fairly large quantity of cabbages and onions.
The remaining provinces do not export any vegetables, but
neither do they need to import any notable quantity.

We must not fail to point out that there is a considerable
export of water-melons from Samara, Saratov, and Astrakhan
provinces.

Surplus and Deficit of Fruit.

Province.

Water Melons,
Average of
1906-1908,
bi Foods.

Cucumbers
(per Goods Train),
Average of
igo6 1907,
in Foods.

Apples,
Average of
1^06 1909,
in Foods.

Astrakhan

Kazan

Nizhni-Novgorod

Orenburg

Penza

Samara

Saratov

Simbirsk

Ufa .

+ 640,000

(-1- 9,000)

(-1- 58,000)

— 44,000

— 157,000

+ 207,000

+ 651,000

(-1- 79,000)

— 119,000

+ 1,000
— 8,000

-^ 1,000

(H- 4,000)
( — 21,000)

— 15,000
— 135,000
— 104,000

— 210,000
( — 114,000)

-|- 16,000

— 70,000

Among crops grown for industrial purposes are flax and
hemp. Raw flax is exported from Kazan, Nizhni-Novgorod,
and Orenburg provinces, while hemp is exported from the
province of Penza.

Oleaginous seeds are exported from all the above-mentioned
provinces with the exception of Astrakhan, Nizhni-Novgorod,
and Penza ; but, since there are practically no oil-presses in
the area, most of the provinces are obliged to import vegetable
oil, Orenburg, Saratov, and Penza form an exception, for

i6o

APPENDIX II.

these provinces, making use of imported seeds, extract the
oil from them and thus manufacture a valuable export.

Surplus and Deficit of Raw Flax and Hemp.
{Average of 1907-1909.)

Province.

Flax, in Poods.

Hemp, in Poods.

Astrakhan

— 1,000

Kazan .

-f 132,000

— 6,000

Nizhni-Novgorod

+ 130,000

— 231,000

Orenburg

+ 33,000

— 5,000

Penza .

— 2,000

+ 352,000

Samara

— 35.000

+ 4.000

Saratov

-f 18,000

Simbirsk

— 8,000

+ 120,000

Ufa

+ 5.000

— 5,000

Surplus and Deficit of Oleaginous Seeds, Vegetable Oil,
Oil-Cake. {Average of 1907-1909.)

Province.

Oleaginous
Seeds.

Vegetable
Oil.

Oil-Cake.

Astrakhan

— 40,000

— 34,000

-t- 1,000

Kazan

-f- 291,000

— 273,000

(— 1,000)

Nizhni-Novgorod

— 92,000

— 53.000

+ 347,000

Orenburg .

-f 1,201,000

-1- 23,000

— 391,000

Penza

— 33.000

-|- 77,000

— 210,000

Samara

-1- 99,000

— 78,000

(— 43.000)

Saratov .

-\- 106,000

+ 569,000

+ 1,187,000

Simbirsk .

+ 195,000

— 60,000

( — 24,000)

Ufa .

-f- 230,000

— 69,000

— 33.000

There is a surplus of bran in all the provinces mentioned in
the tables, but hay is not produced in such abundance, and
Penza and Saratov are even obliged to import this fodder.

Surplus and Deficit of Bran and of Hay . {Average 0/1907-1909.)

Province.

Bran,
in Poods.

Ratio to total

Grain milled,

in Poods.

Hay,
in Poods.

Astrakhan

+ 2,000

— 1,000

-f 12,000

Kazan

(— 300)

—

+ 35,000

Nizhni-Novgorod

-f 1,407,000

+ 3.000

-f 500,000

Orenburg

-f 1,183,000

+ 3.000

+ 340,000

Penza

+ 445,000

-(- 2,000

— 287,000

Samara

-f 542,000

+ 90b

-f 160,000

Saratov

-f- 2,618,000

+ 3.000

— 628,000

Simbirsk .

+ 499.0 DO

— 2,000

Ufa .

+ 2,000

—

APPENDIX II.

i6i

Surplus and Deficit of Large Horned Cattle : Carcasses trans-
ported by slow Goods' Train and fast Goods Tain. {Average
of 1907-1909.)

Province.

Large

Homed

Cattle,

in Poods.

Carcasses

conveyed by

slow Goods

Train, in Poods.

Carcasses

conveyed by

fast Goods

Train, in

Poods.

Large Homed
Cattle per

100 Desyatinas

of farming

Land.

Astrakhan

(+ 700)

(— 4,000)

— 400

(+ 500)

Kazan

+ 200

— 6,000

— 37.300

Nizhni-Novgorod

— 100

+ 170,000

+ 10,300

+ 5.800

Orenburg .

+ 68,200

+ 712,000

+ 11,100

+ 11,200

Penza

+ 1.500

+ 80,000

+ 6,800

+ 3.500

Samara .

+ 60,300

+ 122,000

— 2,000

+ 7.00P

Saratov .

+ 74.500

+ 275,000

+ 7.200

+ 8,300

Simbirsk .

+ 3.900

+ 148,000

+ 1,400

+ 6,500

Ufa .

+ 900

+ 159,000

+ 3,100

+ 2,700

Large homed cattle and pigs are exported from all the
above-mentioned provinces, with the following exceptions :
Nizhni-Novgorod, which suffers from a dearth of large horned
beasts ; and Astrakhan, which lacks pigs for export. But the
deficiency does not assume any notable proportions.

As far as carcasses of large homed cattle and pigs are
concerned, the export of these from all the provinces (excluding
Astrakhan) is considerable.

Surplus and Deficit of Pigs and Pork. {Average of
1906-1909.)

Pork conveyed by

Pigs per

Province.

Pigs, in Poods.

slow Goods Train,

zoo Desyatinas of

in Foods.

Farming Land.

Astrakhan

—^ 100

— 300

— 200

Kazan

-|- 100

-f- 1,000,000

+ 5,000

Nizhni-Novgorod

-t- 3.900

-|- 115,000

+ 10,000

Orenburg .

-1- 1,100

4- 96,000

+ 14,100

Penza

-1- 12,100

-|- 249,000

+ 20,900

Samara .

+ 700

+ 70,000

+ 11,100

Saratov

+ 4.100

4- 90,000

+ 3,900

Simbirsk .

+ 1,100

+ 179,000

+ 11,300

Ufa

+ 44,000

+ 500

l62

APPENDIX II.

Surplus and Deficit of Butter {per slow Goods and fast Goods
Train), of Milk (per fast Goods and passenger Train), and
other Dairy Produce {per fast Goods and passenger Train).
(Average of 1907-1909.)

other Dairy

Province.

Butter, in Poods.

Milk, in Poods.

Produce,
in Poods.

Astrakhan

— 300

Kazan

— 200

+ 100

— 3,100

N izhni-No vgorod

+ 73.300

+ 800

+ 1,400

Orenburg

+ 83,300

—

— 3.700

Penza

+ 11,800

—

— 2,300

Samaxa

— 3,200

+ 300

— 1,900

Saratov .

— 6,500

— 28,000

— 16,500

Simbirsk .

+ 2,200

4- 100

+ 1,500

Ufa .

+ 17,000

"~~*

— 1,500

There is a surplus of butter in Nizhni-Novgorod, Orenburg,
Penza, Simbirsk, and Ufa provinces ; the remaining provinces
do not suffer from dearth to any notable extent. The supply
of fresh milk and other dairy produce is shown to be
inconsiderable.

Surplus and Deficit of Horses (Average of 1907-1908), and
Sheep (Average of 1907-1909).

Province.

Horses.

Sheep.

Astrakhan

+ 100

+ 300

Kazan

+ 100

+ 600

Nizhni-Novgorod

+ 800

—

Orenburg

+ 1,000

+ 400

Penza

+ 4,600

+ 4.500

Samara .

+ 100

+ 600

Saratov .

+ 6,100

+ 10,700

Simbirsk

+ 3.100

+ 100

Ufa . . .

4- 200

— 300

Every province shows a surplus of horses. The surplus is
more considerable in Penza, Saratov, and Simbirsk provinces.
We must not fail to point out the important role played by this
abundance of horses in stocking the Russian markets.

The table shows that sheep form an insignificant export in
these provinces.

APPENDIX II.

163

Surplus and Deficit of Eggs (Average of 1907-1909), Live Fowls
{Average 0/1909), and slaughtered Fowls {Average 0/1910).

Eggs,

Live Fowls,

Slaughtered Fowls,

in Poods.

Astrakhan

— 1,300

Kazan

+ 939.000

— 900

+ 22,300

Nizhni-Novgorod

+ 341,000

—

+ 700

Orenburg .

+ 103,000

—

+ 12,700

Penza

-j- 380,000

+ 3,200

+ 8,600

Samara

+ 180,000

— 200

+ 2,500

Saratov

+ 173,000

+ 18,500

-I- 27,400

Simbirsk .

+ 216,000

— 800

+ 6,900

Ufa .

+ 237,000

+ 400

The trade in live and slaughtered fowls is not very brisk.
But the export of eggs is considerable from all the provinces
save Astrakhan. In these provinces — although fowl-fcurming
is not primarily of much importance, — owing to the surplus
of grain available for the feeding of poultry, this branch of
stock-raising has come to play a considerable part in the rural
economy.

Surplus and Deficit of animal Fats and Tallow {Average of
1907-1909), and of Wool {Average of 1907-1909).

Province.

Animal Fats,
in Poods.

Wool,
in Poods.

Astrakhan

— 9,000

(+ 5.000)

Kazan .

— 310,000

— 8,000

Nizhni-Novgorod

- 5,000

(-1- 28.000)

Orenburg

-f 283,000

-j- 241,000

Penza

+ 5.000

— 89,000

Samara .

— 24,000

-I- 12,000

Saratov .

— 16,000

-f 131,000

Simbirsk

+ 3.000

— 384,000

Ufa . . .

— 22,000

(— 12,000)

The export of animal fats and wool is considerable from
Orenburg province ; while Saratov province exports a notable
quantity of wool.

The region as a whole distinguishes itself only in respect of
the high production of grain. In respect of grain production,
Nizhni-Novgorod and Astrakhan provinces stand at the two
extremes. Nizhni-Novgorod province, where the grain pro-

i64 APPENDIX II.

duction is lowest, more closely resembles the other provinces as
regards its industrial development. Astrakhan, on the other
hand, is exceptionally productive in the agricultural respect,
and is in a quite pecvdiar position as to the qualities of its soil.

The most prolific crop of com stuffs is furnished by wheat,
though in Kazan, and in Penza provinces rye constitutes the
heaviest crop. Oats also occupy a prominent place among
these com products. We have already commented upon the
dearth of barley. Connected with the vigorous grain produc-
tion, we note that there is a considerable surplus of bran.

Potato growing and horticulture are of little significance
throughout these provinces.

The area under consideration is one where stock-raising of
the extensive t5:pe prevails. The fact that the railway
transport statistics do not show a very notable export of large
homed cattle and of sheep is explained by the prevailing
custom of driving these beasts in droves to the distant market.
Nevertheless we see that considerable quantities of beef,
mutton, and pork are exported from the area.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES BY
THE TRANSLATORS

I. METHODS OF IRRIGATION IN RUSSIA

Russian irrigation engineers usually classify irrigation under
four heads : i. lagoon irrigation ; 2. (firect irrigation ;
3. mechanical irrigation ; 4. irrigation with renewal of soil.

1. Lagoon Irrigation. — ^The Russian word is " liman "
irrigation. " Liman " usually means " estuary " ; but it is
also appUed to the large flat sheets of water known in England
as " broads," and to such arms of the sea as that on which
Venice is situated. On the whole, " lagoon " seems, in this
connexion, the best English equivalent. Lagoon irrigation is
the purposive flooding of cin area with water. This area may be
meadow land, or it may be destined for the sowing of wheat or
some other grain. The soil of the temporary lagoon, saturated
with water, retains enough moisture to render the crop prac-
tically independent of rainfall during the summer months.
The lagoon is formed by damming the current of an adjacent
stream ; or, water may be conducted to the area to be flooded
from a reservoir at a higher level. The flooded area has, of
course, also to be embanked, to prevent a too rapid flowing
away of the water. After two or three weeks, sluides are
opened to allow the lagoon to empty itself. In hilly districts
a terrace system may be employed in conjunction with lagoon
irrigation, the same water being used successively at several
different levels.

2. Direct Irrigation. — This is contrasted with lagoon
irrigation because, in the latter, the water is not applied
directly to the growing crops, but is used to saturate the soil
before the crop is sown. In direct irrigation, the water from
a natural head is conducted into fields by a system of furrows,
or is applied to the growing crops in one or other of the ways
famiUar to western irrigators.

3. Mechanical Irrigation. — This is a variety of direct
irrigation. It is separately classed because the head of water
is not a natural one, but has to be gained by soine form of
mechanical power, ranging from the use of such simple and
primitive devices as the shadouf and the noria or paternoster
pump, to the use of water-raising windmills, and the employ-
ment of motor-driven force-pumps, etc. But once the head

i66 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

of water has been gained, the method of applying the water is
that of direct irrigation.

4. Irrigation with Renewal of Soil. — This is a variant of
lagoon irrigation. The amount of solid matter suspended in
the water is regarded as of almost equal importance to the
fertility of the soil as the water which conveys the silt and
moistens the ground. This is the characteristic type of irriga-
tion in Egypt. It is also well illustrated by the warp-farming
of the estuary of the Humber. Obviously the silt brought
down in the spring freshets adds considerably to the value of
lagoon irrigation in Russia.

The above descriptions will have shown that, in Russia, as
elsewhere, there are only two fundamental types of irrigation :
lagoon irrigation and direct irrigation. Lagoon irrigation
corresponds to what western irrigation engineers term irriga-,
tion by flooding or inundation ; direct irrigation is substantially
identical with continuous or sub-continuous irrigation by field
channels.

The climatic and other natural conditions of the South East
of Russia are, however, so distinctive, that the translators have
thought it expedient to retain in the English text precise
equivalents of the distinctive Russian terms.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

167

2. RUSSIAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Many of the statistical tables in the foregoing volume
embody comparisons which are independent of the actual units
of measurement to which, the figures relate. In the case of the
other tables, the translation of the items into English standards
offered many difficulties, and would have considerably delayed
the publication of the English version. The translators have,
therefore, thought it expedient to retain the Russian weights
and measures consistently throughout the work. The follow-
ing information will facilitate conversion into more familiar
quantities whenever desired.

poimd .

0-9 of the English pound avoirdupois.

pood

36-11 pounds avoirdupois.

Approximately,
(

3 poods =
32 poods =

= I cwt.
= I ton.

arshin .

28 inches.

sazhene .

7 feet.

verst

3,500 feet.

Approximately,

§ of an

English

mile, and only

■ a little less than a

kilometre.

square arshin .

5*4 square feet.

square sazhene

49 square fe'et.

square verst .

0-44 square mUe.

desyatina

2-7 acres.

Approximately, 237 desyatinas =
I square mile. A desyatina is a
little larger than the French
hectare which is 2*47 acres,
cubic sazhene . = 343 cubic feet = 12-7 cubic yards.
As a measure of cut timber, i cubic
sazhene is somewhat less than
3 cords,
rouble (gold standard) = 2s. zd.

kopeck . . = yio of a rouble, and therefore approxi-
mately = I farthing.

FEINTSC IN GREAT BEITAIH BY THE WHITEESIARS PRESS, LTD., LONDON ANB lONBRIDOE.

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