DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2019.6.31476

Abstract: The research subject of this study is the work of surveyors in the new territory of the Russian Empire that was granted by Catherine II at the end of the 18th century to the Black Sea Cossack army. The relocation of the Black Sea Cossacks to Taman and the further economic development of the Kuban territory created the need for establishing borders and land surveying. In Russian historiography, the work of land surveyors in this particular territory has remained little-studied. This is due both to the poor preservation of historical sources and to the fact that the work of land surveyors on the territory of the Black Sea Cossack army has never been made the object of an in-depth analysis. This study has applied the methods of archival research of documentary information on the activities of surveyors in disparate sources and used the methods of analysing historical sources based on a systematic approach. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that the author was able to restore the whole picture of the work of land surveyors who took part in the development of the territory granted to the Black Sea Cossack Army by Catherine II in the late 18th century. Based on an analysis of historical sources, various aspects of this work were traced, starting from the participation in the expedition of M. Gulik, who was sent to inspect and describe the territory located on Taman and along the Kuban River, including the formation of the petition asking for the grant of land, and finally to the final demarcation from the territories of the Yekaterinoslavsky and Caucasian governorships and setting plans for cities and villages.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2017.6.25187

Abstract: The subject of this study is the natural resources of the peasant economy in the Borovichi Uyezd of the Novgorod Governorate which became the basis for its existence and land use throughout the 16th-18th centuries. The sources on which this work is based are the Reference Scribal Books of the Derevskaya Pyatina from the middle of the 16th century and the Economic Notes to the General Survey of the uyezd's land from the end of the 18th century. The study pays particular attention to the information contained in the first Russian cadastres concerning the animal and plant world, woodlands, quality and fertility of the land. The author used quantitative research methods. To solve the posed research problem with the aid of the Access 2010 interface, an electronic database was created based on the information from land cadastres of the 16th and 18th centuries and containing data on the composition of the forest and fauna world and soil resources of the Borovichi Uyezd. In order to extract information from the material of the Reference Scribal Books and Economic Notes, the method of continuous sampling was used. The research's novelty lies in its comparative analysis of the information regarding natural resources for the duration of several centuries on comparable territories. The main conclusion of this study is that the natural resources of the Borovichi Uyezd were more scarce compared to neighboring territories. This is evidenced by the species composition of animals and birds, of which no rare or valuable species were recorded in the uyezd's forests, as well as the rare occurrence of large animals. The mixed forests of the Borovichi Uyezd were not much different in its composition of trees from the neighboring uyezds, but the timber forest was of a lesser value. The soil of the uyezd in the main massif was considered average in terms of its fertility.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2017.1.20339

Abstract: The subject of research is the soil resources of Valdai, the territory of which was included in the Derevskaya piatina of the Novgorod land in the 15th - 16th centuries, and in the 18th century in the Valdai district of the Novgorod province. Based on comparable material from the first Russian land cadasters and the Economic notes to the material of the General Land Survey, the author investigates the quality of the land used for arable farming and the yield of basic grain-crops, as well as the features of the agricultural mastering of this region. In the cadasters of the 16th century the land is named "rich", "medium" and "poor". This terminology is still incomprehensible because of its vagueness. At the same time, in the Economic Notes to the General Land Survey there is some information about the composition of the soil, agricultural cultures and the land's fertility. Today, the comparison of the information about the quality and yield of the lands allows us to find out what kind of lands was cultivated in a greater degree. For the analysis of the mass data contained in the cadasters from the middle of the 16th century and the Economic Notes to the General Land Survey at the end of the 18th century, the author used the quantitative methods of research. For the creation of a database containing information on the land's fertility in the second half of the 18th century in the Valdai district of the Novgorod province, Access 2010 was used, which allowed to tabulate data, to conduct a search of the records, to filter data, and to input inquiries in the database for information retrieving. While working with the mass material from the Economic Notes in order to include the necessary information in the database it was necessary to use the method of continuous selection. The research itself is based on the local approach to the understanding of the role of nature in the history of humanity. The created database allowed the author to estimate the quality of the soil in the Valdai district during the second half of the 18th century and for the first time to compare the obtained data with the information on the quality of the land in the middle of the 16th century. It was discovered that in spite of the diversity of soil in the Valdai district, the silt-covered soils were predominantly used in the 18th century despite the fact that they needed fertilizes. The most part of grain-growing was sowed on light soils - silt-covered with sand and silt-covered with stony sand. To a greater degree the sizable and good harvests of grain-crops in the Valdai district during the 18th century were recorded on grey-sandy soils which were named sod-podzol soils in the Economic Notes. However, the amount of plough-lands with grey-sandy soil made up less than one third part from the general array. On the basis of this study the author comes to conclusion that during the 16th -18th centuries new plough-lands gradually appeared in the Valdai district, while the old ones were ploughed off, and therefore perceptions about the richness and leanness of the land were changing.