331 DETAILS OF RUSSIAN HUSBANDRY AND RURAL ECONOMY, IN A LETTER FROM M. DE SABOUROFF, OF TAMBOFF. I HAD frequently, in the course of conversation with M. Sabouroff, taken opportunities of gaining information, which he was always extremely kind in imparting, on the state of husbandry in Russia, and the system of management generally pursued; these being points to which he devoted much of his time and attention. One day he said to me, after we had been talking on the subject:-" You appear to take a considerable interest in these matters, and if you like I will put on paper a few remarks, which may give you a general idea of our mode of managing our estates, and of our system of agriculture." I thanked M. Sabouroff for this kind. offer, which I gladly accepted, and the day that I left Tamboff, on taking leave of me, he presented me with the promised paper, in the form of a letter, of which the following is a translation, and which being from the pen of a Russian country gentleman, may be relied on as giving an authentic account of the position and revenues of the landed proprietor, and the condition and occupations of the peasant. LETTER FROM M. DE SABOUROFF. Tamboff, February 14th, O. S. 1838. You have paid me the compliment of applying to me for some information on the subject of our rural economy, and it is with the greatest pleasure that I sit down to furnish you with it to the best of my ability. As a resident landed proprietor, I am not unacquainted with the subject on which I now enter, first bespeaking your indulgence for a composition which is not written in my native tongue.* I think the end in view will be best answered, by a summary description of an estate of moderate size, with all the details of its cultivation and general management. Knowing one, you will know all, for in our system of husbandry there is little variety. From habit and circumstances we follow a general routine, the exceptions to which are rare, and attributable rather to the fancies of individual proprietors than to any other cause. We reckon our estates by the number of souls * The letter was written, for my benefit, in French, to which this unnecessary apology alludes. upon them, taking into account the male serfs only. This is an ancient custom, derived from the old times, when our revenues depended upon the number of hands at our disposal. At present the case is changed; the land is the source of our profits, while our serfs are often a dead weight upon us. The more so, that they stand by no means on the footing of slaves in ancient times, but they are possessed of rights, some granted by law, and others which have crept in by custom. The law places at their disposal three of the working days of every week, and Sundays and holydays in addition. Their master is obliged to supply them with food and all other necessaries of life, and if the serf becomes a beggar, the master is liable to a fine. pea The custom of the country is to allot to the sants the half of the land which belongs to the owner of the estate, to defend them against all aggression and ill-treatment at the hands of strangers, and strictly to respect their property. The exceptions to this conduct are rare, and when they occur, are quoted with indignation and pointed to with contempt; so that on this point public opinion supplies the place of law. We have even, from a regard to their feelings, adopted for our peasants the very appellation, viz., that of Christians, which they have given themselves. With these means, and this order of things, our peasant is by no means in a bad condition. His habits and desires are, owing to his want of civilization, simple in the extreme. But were his wishes enlarged, he could easily gratify them; land, and the time to cultivate it, are at his disposal. Our peasant works hard, sleeps but little, is satisfied with the coarsest food, and is by no means an habitual drunkard, though he now and then breaks the monotony of his existence by a fit of brutal intoxication. But even in this state his natural good humour shows itself, the quarrels which these occasional revels produce, though noisy enough, never lead to bloodshedding. Of this, indeed, the Russian peasant has a horror, and murders are extremely rare. Let him be oppressed, and he will contrive to revenge himself by a short, but biting sarcasm. He is deeply imbued with a reverence for religion, and is not so much superstitious as thoroughly ignorant. He kisses the hand of his parish priest, but he laughs at his failings, and is quite able to make the distinction between the individual and the office. Of this I can give you a very characteristic anecdote. Passing one day near a large group of peasants, who were assembled in the middle of the village, I asked them what was going forward? "We are only putting the Father (as they call the priest) into a cellar." "Into a cellar," I replied; "what are you doing that for ?" "Oh," said they, "he is a sad drunkard, and has |