LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF MAPS
INTRODUCTION: THE AGRARIAN PROBLEM AS A HISTORY OF WORK
A Note on Sources
Notes
PART I. FARMING THROUGH THE PEASANT’S EYES. THE EVOLUTION OF LABOR, 1861-1914
Methods of Cultivation
Sokha Tillage
The Tillage Line
Distractions
Obstacles
Soil Relief
Corrections
Turning Around
Why Till?
When to Till
How Deeply to Till
An Agrarian System under Stress
Green Fallow and Other Shortcomings
Agronomist’s Criticism of Peasant Tillage
Harrowing
Agronomist’s Criticism
The Evolution of Tillage Regimes
The Fallow Field
The Spring Field
Conclusions
Agronomist’s Criticism
Intesification, or Over-Intensification?
The Plow and the Sokha
Peasant Reception of the Plow
Use of the Plow
Types of Plow
Growing Grain
Sowing
When to Sow
How Densely to Sow
Selection of Seed Grain
Covering the Seeds
Technological Advance in Sowing: The Seed Drill
Reaping
Fundamentals of Reaping
The Binding and Drying of Grain
The Treshing, Winnowing, and Sorting of Grain
Threshing
Other Threshing Systems
Winnowing
An Important Crossroads of Technology: The Spade, the Winnowing Machine, and the Sorter
Notes
PART II. TOWARDS A HISTORY AND UNDERSTANDING OF AGRONOMIC APTITUDE
The Peasant Farmer and Soil: The Four Stages of Comprehension
Stage 1: Tillage as a Mixed Blessing
Stage 2: Working the Surface of the Soil
Stage 3: First Steps to Intensify Tillage
Stage 4: Theoretical Understanding of Soil Structure
Profit Maximizing, Utility Maximizing, or Something Else?
Agriculture and the Magico-Religious world View
The Ebbing—and Returning—Tides of Ritual and Superstition
Intellectual Consequences of the Magico-Religious World
Levels of Material Optimizing—Active Experimentation vs.the Passive Accumulation of Experience
Self-Reliance and the Overcoming of Traditional Sources of Knowledge
Technical vs. Allocative Inefficiency
Fatalism
The Work Ethic in Rural Russia
The Consequences of Cultural Condescension
Geography, Climate, and Technological Acumen
Language Acquisition, and Childrearing Practices
The Unavailability of Schooling and Literacy
Conclusion: From Faith in Routine to Belief in Agency
The Faith in Routine
The Rise of a New Type in the Village
Notes
PART III. THE THREE-FIELD SYSTEM AND BEYOND
Systems of Agriculture, Systems of Farming, Crop Rotations. Delineation of Terms
Crop Rotations
The Fodder Crisis. Decay of the Three-Field System?
The Elements of the Fodder Crisis
Winter Fodder
Summer Fodder
Conclusions and Consequences
A System Despised
Propashnaia Farming Systems
The Organization of the Three-Field System
Farm Organization in the Three-Field System: Crop Choices in the Commune
Subsistence Framing and Market Forces
Market Gardening
Root Crops
Multi-Field vs. Three-Field Systems
Weaknesses of the Propashnaia System
Employed Fallow and Improved Three-Field-Based Systems
Conclusion
Systems with Multi-Year Grasses
Four-Field + Grass System
Notes
PART IV. GOVERNMENT’S SOLUTION TO THE AGRARIAN PROBLEM: THE STOLPYIN REFORM IN TAMBOV
What Was the Stolypin Reform?
Results and Limitations of the Stolypin Reform
The Stolypin Reform in Tambov
Peasant Land Organization in Tambov
Land Parcelization within Communes
The Evolution of Land Parcelization
The Disadvantages of Open Fields
The Advantages of Open Fields
Purported Advantages of Open Fields for Purposes of Farming in Particular
Parcelized Holdings vs. Consolidated Plots: Conclusions
The Stolypin Reform and the Configuration of Peasant Lands
Distant Lands and Inaccessible Lands
Land Configuration and Consolidation of Plots
The Stolypin Reform in Action
The Administration Takes the Initiative
The Peasantry’s Response to the Stolypin Reform
Acquisitions of Hereditary Title to Land
The Formation of Consolidated Plots
Peasant Attitudes to Consolidated Plots
Agrotechnical Considerations
Other Considerations
Methods of Forming Consolidated Plots on Allotment Land
Farming on the Consolidated Plots
A Profile of Consolidators: The 1912 Study of Khutors on State ....