[171] 1 chetvert = 5.9 Winchester bushels.
[172] Cf. Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1890, p. 335.
[173] Cf. Le commerce de grains dans l’Amérique du Nord, par Paul Lafargue.
[174] The inference is drawn from the figures below:
| Estates with large agriculture. | Number. | Average. Dessiatines. | To 1 plough. Dessiatines. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property of the nobility: | |||
| Estates with ploughs | 54 | 1044 | 91 |
| Estates without ploughs | 79 | 428 | .. |
| Property of the capitalist class: | |||
| Estates with ploughs | 20 | 520 | 93 |
| Estates without ploughs | 47 | 191 | .. |
With the nobility the average estate tilled exclusively with the peasant sohá is more than twice as large as the corresponding average with the capitalist class.
On the other hand, the capitalist provides his farm with ploughs when the same is only half as large as that on which the noble could afford to have improved implements.
[175] The following is a synopsis of the results of the above comparison between capitalist ownership of land and property of the nobility:
| Negative qualifications. | Average estate (dessiatines). | Positive qualifications. | Average estate (dessiatines). | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitalist property. | Property of the nobility. | Capitalist property. | Property of the nobility. | ||
| Small tenure exclusively | 128 | 273 | Large farming | 289 | 734 |
| Tilled by farmers only | 108 | 233 | Proletarian labor employed | 351 | 783 |
| No fertilizing | 138 | 280 | Fertilizing | 363 | 816 |
| Tilled with the peasant’s stock | 138 | 326 | Working horses raised | 326 | 896 |
| No wheat | 197 | 501 | Wheat grown | 478 | 898 |
| Tilled with the peasant’s sohá | 191 | 428 | Ploughs | 520 | 1044 |
Backward management by capitalists is found only within the average limits from 108 to 197 dessiatines (292-532 acres), while the same methods are still practiced by noblemen so long as the estate averages from 233 to 501 dessiatines (629-1353 acres). Progress begins on capitalistic farms as soon as they reach the average of from 289 to 520 dessiatines (780-1404 acres), while on those owned by the nobility, improvement is observed only within the average limits of from 734 to 1044 dessiatines (1892-2819 acres). This plainly points to the lack of money as the only reason which prevents the petty nobleman from practicing the same methods as those applied by the capitalist as soon as he takes possession of the same estate.