he Communal system is, in fact,
extremely elastic, and may be modified as soon as the majority of the
members consider modifications profitable. When the peasants begin to
think of permanent improvements, such as drainage, irrigation, and the
like, they will find the Communal institutions a help rather than
an obstruction; for such improvements, if undertaken at all, must
be undertaken on a larger scale, and the Mir is an already existing
association. The only permanent improvements which can be for the
present profitably undertaken consist in the reclaiming of waste land;
and such improvements are already sometimes attempted. I know at
least of one case in which a Commune in the province of Yaroslavl
has reclaimed a considerable tract of waste land by means of hired
labourers. Nor does the Mir prevent in this respect individual
initiative. In many Communes of the northern provinces it is a received
principle of customary law that if any member reclaims waste land he is
allowed to retain possession of it for a number of years proportionate
to the amount of labour expended.

But does not the Commune, as it exists, prevent good cultivation
according to the mode of agriculture actually in use?

Except in the far north and the steppe region, where the agriculture
is of a peculiar kind, adapted to the local conditions, the peasants
invariably till their land according to the ordinary three-field system,
in which good cultivation means, practically speaking, the plentiful
use of manure. Does, then, the existence of the Mir prevent the peasants
from manuring their fields well?

Many people who speak on this subject in an authoritative tone seem to
imagine that the peasants in general do not manure their fields at all.
This idea is an utter mistake. In those regions, it is true, where the
rich black soil still retains a large part of its virgin fertility,
the manure is used as fuel, or simply thrown away, because the peasants
believe that it would not be profitable to put it on their fields, and
their conviction is, at least to some extent, well founded;* but in
the Northern Agricultural Zone, where unmanured soil gives almost no
harvest, the peasants put upon their fields all the manure they possess.
If they do not put enough it is simply because they have not sufficient
live stock.

* As recently as two years ago (1903) I found that one of
the most intelligent and energetic landlords of the province
of Vor