d

PROGRESS OF AdGRICULTURE. 3

to the rest of mankind.“ There does not seem to be a just cause, however, for imputing to that apparently anomalous country any such intention; nor is it easy to perceive any motive which should induce her to entertain it. Whatever may be the mysteries of her diplo- macy, it is found that those publicists, who have restricted their inquiries to an analysis of the effective components of her material welfare, do not complain that there is any department of her statistics in which secrecy is either maintained or desired, with the exception, perhaps, of that of her finances, as to which she certainly has not been unnecessarily communicative. On the contrary, it would appear that, for the last quarter century, at least, the Russian government has not only made great exertions to obtain correct information with regard to the condition and resources of the empire, but has taken pains, at no small expense, to diffuse this information among its sub- jects, and to excite among them à desire for its acquisition. For this purpose, reports from the various ministries, appertaining to matters concerning their respective departments, have been published at frequent intervals, and chairs of statistics established in the several universities. In 1843, for instance, the ‧ Materials for a Statistical Account of the Russian Empire' emanated from the Ministry of the Interior; the official“Tables of Commerce,“ also, which have ap- peared annually for upwards of fifty years, contain more information than is to be found in the analogous documents of most other Euro- pean States; and, altogether, scarcely a month or a week passes without some valuable contribution to the knowledge of the country issuing from the press through one or other of the official journals. The collection of agricultural statistics commenced as early as 1803, under the Ministry of the Interior, and continued until the establish- ment of the Ministry of Domains, in 1837, from which period to the present, the latter has been sedulously engaged in taking and arrang- ing them. The facts are furnished by the heads of the several governments and those of the crown lands— by the inspectors of agriculture—by the societies— by agents sent to different parts of the country— by commissions for effecting an equalization of the different classes of peasants— by the professors of the Institute of Goirgoretzk-— by the correspondin gmembers of the Scientific Com- mittee of the Department of Rural Economy and, finally, by the answers to prize questions. The varied information thus obtained is published under the direction of the Department of Rural Economy. The diffusion of knowledge by means of the press, in Russia, it may be remarked, has also been recognized as one of the most effoc- tual means of promoting the improvement of agriculture. In 1802, the Emperor Alexander manifested a desire to see the Academy of Sciences systematically engage in publications, derived from periodical literature and foreign works, on all agronomic inventions and improve- ments of recognized utility. From this period, date the numerous agri- cultural publications which have been issued at public expense. In 1830, the practice was introduced into most of the governments of issuing periodical publications under the title of Goubernskia Ve- domosti,“(government news,) containing useful hints in matters of