LHM : ZemstvoStamps

Agricultural methods in the region were outdated (most farmers used the three-field system). Seventy-five percent of the territory's area was under cultivation. Peasants plowed 75 percent of their holdings, and the larger landowners plowed 57 percent of theirs. Grains were the dominant crop, although tobacco was also raised extensively (the Poltava zemstvo stamps (http://russianphilately.com/zemstvo/p-s/poltava/ ) and Chernihiv region being major tobacco producers in the Russian Empire in the 19th century). In 1913, 27.1 percent of the land was used for growing spring wheat, 25.8 percent for rye, 13.7 percent for barley, 13.4 percent for oats, 5.3 percent for winter wheat, 3.1 percent for millet, 3 percent for potatoes, 1.1 percent for hemp, 1.1 percent for sugar beets, and 0.5 percent for flax. The average grain yield per harvest in 1883–1900 was 7–8 centners per ha. Through the efforts of zemstvos (http://russianphilately.com/zemstvo/) in introducing new methods, yields increased steadily, and by 1913 they ranged from 10.7 to 12.7 centners per ha. Zemstvos also set up breeding stations for the improvement of livestock strains (particularly cattle). Peasant livestock, however, was both quantitatively (in 1913 there were 14 horses, 22 cattle, 20 sheep, and 13 pigs per 100 inhabitants) and qualitatively deficient. Nevertheless the region enjoyed a large agricultural surplus (about 25 percent of its grain production, less for livestock).

Local industry was geared primarily to the refining of raw materials to satisfy the needs of the local population. Enterprises were small and employed a total of about 40,000 people (1913). Eighty-five percent of industrial production of the area was connected with foods (flour milling, various oils, distilling, brewing, sugar refining, etc). Kremenchuk and Poltava were the principal centers. Local crafts were highly developed (about 6,000 establishments) and included pottery (in Opishnia), basket weaving, carpet weaving and kilim weaving, embroidery (Reshetylivka, Dihtiari), tanning, and woodworking. Zemstvo administrations encouraged the development of such craftsmanship through special schools, courses, and workshops and the work of itinerant instructors. In 1913, zemstvos spent 419,000 rubles on such a program in the Poltava region (49.7 percent of the total zemstvo expenditures in the field for the nine Ukrainian gubernias).

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