[93] This is confirmed by a great many statements in the Reports for the Gubernia of Ryazañ, as well as by the following table taken from the Statistical Reports for the Gubernia of Smolensk:
| Absent. | Youkhnoff, per cent. | Dorogobouzh, per cent. | Houseless. | Youkhnoff, per cent. | Dorogobouzh, per cent. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate to the population | 7 | 5 | Rate to the population | 9 | 6 |
| Of these: | Of these: | ||||
| Owning houses | 19 | 27 | Living in the village | 36 | 41 |
| Houseless | 81 | 73 | Absent from the village | 64 | 59 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | Total | 100 | 100 |
[94] “The Pillars” is the title of a very popular novel by Mr. Zlatovratsky, one of the leading peasantist writers.
[95] I must again plead for extenuating circumstances in the event of being mistaken as to the exact date.
[96] The “major” i. e. the head of the family, composed of married brothers and sisters, is not always the eldest brother. In case the eldest male member of the family shows himself not qualified for the management of the household, one of the younger brothers is occasionally entrusted with the office.
[97] To use the term adopted by Mr. Michaïlovsky, the renowned Russian writer on sociology.
[98] The number of workers included in the tenth census is not given in the reports, but the distribution of the population according to age is not likely to have changed very much in 25 years, the rates being determined to a great extent by biological influences, which are modified very slowly. The percentage of the total male population that by the census of the zemstvo had reached the age at which they are usually set to work is as follows:
| Per cent. | |
|---|---|
| Ranenburg (1882) | 47 |
| Dankoff (1882) | 47 |
| Korotoyak (1887) | 47 |
| Nizhnedevitzk (1887) | 46 |
Taking these figures as co-efficients, we obtain the number of male workers to a family in 1858.
[99] The figures above given are rather too little expressive for the actual degree of the dissolution of the patriarchal family abroad. The following are the figures for the whole region covered by the statistical investigation of the zemstvo toward January 1, 1890 (cf. Introduction):