Page:Michael Farbman - Russia & the Struggle for Peace (1918).djvu/65

 Rh tion, was habitual in rural Russia. Great districts, year after year, were in such straits that the peasants had to apply to the Government or to the Zemstvos for help. The supply of extra seed-grain was a regular thing; but in many cases corn had to be supplied to the population for subsistence till the next harvest. The former was known as "semenaia pomoshch" (help with seed), the lattehlatter [sic] as "prodovolstvennaia pomoshch" (victualling help), and this was one of the regular and chief functions of the Zemstvos.

There were many reasons for this deplorable state of affairs. The main reason certainly was the insufficient size of the small holdings held by the peasants, and the scarcity of agricultural implements and manure. Then there was the great indebtedness of the peasants to the State, which did not scruple to take away their horses and cattle and even their agricultural implements in payment of taxes overdue; and finally the lack of scientific knowledge and the primitive agricultural methods of the peasantry.

The war stopped the import of agricultural machinery altogether, and this led very quickly to a virtual crisis, because worn-out implements could not be replaced nor broken ones properly and quickly repaired. Again, the import of artificial manures, which always had been very small, ceased altogether. This was a very severe blow at Russian agriculture, but the mobilisation of horses for the war was even worse. To understand what the mobilisation of horses meant to Russian agriculture, it must be realised that in Russia there always was a great scarcity of horses. Not only in agriculture, but in Russia's transport system this scarcity was very acutely felt. As a matter of fact, the majority of peasant households in Russia are "odnoloshadniki," or one-horse households, and this one horse not only has to work in the fields, but also to perform the manifold transport duties for the household. Now the Russian army required an immense number of horses, on which their artillery and transport system almost entirely