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4 AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

agriculture, industry, and commerce. In 1834, there was established, at the expense of the State, an Agricultural Gazette, of which a certain number of copies is distributed gratuitously to the village The whole number of this paper is about five thousand copies. Since 1841, the Ministry of Domains has issued a monthly journal of its operations, containing also essays on varlous subjects vonnected with rural economy, as well as information appertaining to agricultural improvements bôth at home and abroad. Another Agri- cultural Gazette, in the German language, has been published at Odessa, since 1846, by the Colonial Protection Committee, especially

clergy.

intended for the colonists in the south of Russia. There are also

published, under the superintendence of the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Domains, and by some of its members, useful works on various branches of agriculture, of which several are devoted to the moral and agricultural instruction of the peasants.

The impulse thus given by government roused the literary activity of the enlightened classes in different parts of the empire, and within the last ten years publications on agricultural affairs are yearly becoming more numerous. The Imperial Independent Society of Rural Economy, at St. Petersburg, now issues three journals, one monthly and one weekly, in the Russian language, with a circulation of six thousand five hundred copies; and the other in the German, appearing once in two months, with a circulation of one thousand two hundred copies, two hun- dred of which go to foreign countries. The Transactions of the Jaros- law, the Southern, and other agricultural societies, which have no annals of their own, are published in the above-named journals, each society being furnished with a stipulated number of copies for its own use. Besides these journals, the society has printed and published, at its own expense, a" Course of Technical Chemistry' a Description of Mineral Waters;' a treatise on the Protection of Cattle from Disease' and“Etudes Entomologiques,“ the latter of which com- prises monographs and reports on entomological investigations in Russia, so far as they relate to agriculture, whether the insects are injurious, beneficial, or specially adapted to the use or luxury of man. With the object of diffusing knowledge throughout the empire, the society recently distributed four thousand two hundred and ninety- four volumes among educational institutions, libraries, and agricul- tural associations, a portion of which comprised its own publications. This society also receives, by way of exchange, upwards of seventy journals or transactions from the societies of foreign countries with hich it has intercourse. and is presented with all the publications issued in the empire.

Since 1842, the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Domains has offered gold and silver prize medals for the solution of important questions connected with Russian agriculture, py ascertaining the causes which impede the progress of any particular branch, and sug- gesting the best remedies. The successful essays are published in the Journal of the Ministry. Shows of agricultural products are held in several of the governments, and prizes awarded to promote the improvement of rural economy by stimulating competition. These