a.
ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM BRASE’S ARTICLE, “STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF FARM DEBT ON FARMING”
Thiels Jahrbücher. 28. Band (1899).
D r. Brase. “Untersuchungen über den Einfluss der
Verschuldung ländlicher Besitztümer auf deren Bewirtschaftung” (S. 253-310).
A study was made of landed estates (17) and peasant farms (34) “in one district of the Liegnitz Administrative
Area” (Lower Silesia).
The author gives a list of all these estates, but without any
summing up. 17 landowners, each with 75-924 ha (9 with
200-500 ha; 1 has under 100 ha, namely 75; 1 with 127 ha;
1 with 924; 1 with 819). For each estate he gives only the
number of ha (and categories of land), quantity of livestock,
assessed value and debt (“according to an 1896 study”).
Two of the 17 have no debt at all (204 and 333 ha); two
with over 100% of the value (105 and 104%); 1—90-100%; 3—80-90%;
2—70-80%; 2—60-70%; 1—50-60%; 2—40-50%; 1—30-40%.
Among the peasants, 5 are free from debt.
1 with 7 ha
7—10-20 ha the rest— 20-110 ha
P
M
Q
P
M
Q


2 up to 10 per cent of the assessed value

10-20

20-30

30-40

40-50

50-60

60-70

70-80

The author regards as “unburdened by debt” those 1) without mortgage; 2) with mortgage but also with at least an
equal amount of capital; 3) with insignificant debt (pp. 262-
63).
Detailed description of the farms (landed estates are marked in small Latin letters: a-r)
a) 205 ha. Excellent estate: (8 horses & 14 oxen &
106 head of big horned cattle) the “pearl” of the district.
(Debt = 87% of value). Very high crop yields, high culture.
“The soil was only gradually brought up to this state by
systematic drainage, abundant fertilisation, deep turning
up and care for the ploughland by means of neat and timely
cultivation, and drill and row crops” (p. 264).
All the structures are massive—“a vast amount of capital
is invested here”. ‘The livestock is highly fattened, all,
without exception.”
All types of machinery. The crop-rotation system is ration-
al, the fertilisation is very heavy (manure and artificial
fertilisers).
“The erection of costly structures swallows up all the rent.”
b) 301 ha; debt—46.3%.
The soil has been improved by many years’ cultivation, cleared of stones, etc., a great quantity of lime has been
added.
The structures are all good, all massive, cost 170,000 Mk.
All the livestock (10 horses & 26 oxen & 100 head of big horned cattle & 400 sheep) is fed and kept rationally.
All types of machines (no enumeration).

V. I. LENIN

Fertilisers well stored. Artificial fertilisers bought.
Ploughing 17-20 cm (beetroot: 30-35 cm). Row cultivation.
c) 758 ha. (Livestock: 26 horses & 54 oxen & 220 head
of big horned cattle & 900 sheep). Debt—76.9% of value.
A model farm like a and b.
Land, structures and livestock are very good. Machinery.
“Stall (manure) fertiliser is stored in the best way.”
20,000 kg of Chile saltpetre & 30,000 ammoniac superphosphate & 3,000-4,000 kg of kainite are bought.
Deep ploughing; row tillage; irrigation of meadows; very
high yields.
d, e, f—not model farms, but “rational”.
d) (75 ha) drained systematically. Heavy use of fertiliser.
Artificial fertilisers. Deep ploughing. Drill and row tillage.
e) (229 ha). Drainage started. Structures massive, part
of them new. Livestock well fed. Artificial fertilisers
(10,000 kg of Chile saltpetre; 25,000 of superphosphate;
50,000 kg of potassium salts and lime).
Ploughing 12- 17 cm, potatoes 20-25 cm, still deeper for beetroot.
f: drained. Deep ploughing, etc. “Rather more than less
is being done for the structures and their maintenance”
(272).
Very good feed for livestock. 8 litres of milk a day per
cow.
5,000-6,000 marks’ worth of artificial fertilisers a year
(15,000 kg of Chile saltpetre; 30,000-40,000 of superphosphate, 50,000 of kainite).
g (819 ha). Good structures. Stables new in part. Drainage.
Milk—3,000 litres per cow (a year).
All livestock of the best quality. Feed good.
Artificial fertilisers. Machinery. Deep ploughing.


h (693 ha). Drainage. Good fertilisers. Massive structures,
some of them new.
Livestock fed well. Concentrated feed purchased.
Artificial fertilisers. Deep ploughing.
i (527 ha). Massive structures, in good condition.
Livestock well fed. Machinery. Deep ploughing. Artificial fertilisers.
k (445 ha). (Debt 95.7 per cent.) Farming in a “simple”
way. “Ramshackle” structures, thatched roofs.
Deep ploughing 12-17 cm. Row tillage.
Owner lives very frugally.
No artificial fertilisers, no feed is purchased. The horses are overworked (despite intensive feeding).
l (347 ha). Debt 42.3 per cent. (Row tillage introduced,
artificial fertilisers used, concentrated feed purchased,
steam machines introduced, but the result was negative.)
A return to “extensive” farming: as little as possible artificial fertilisers and feed bought.
Livestock feed simpler. Milk—5 litres a day per cow.
m
(924 ha, 750 ha of forest). Mainly forestry. Way of farming is simple and cheap.
n (572 ha) {very heavily in debt}. Unfavourable conditions. 1872 drainage run down. No money for new
one. Too much was paid for the land.
All structures massive, but house for labourers is old thatched mud hut. There are machines, some out of order,
lack of feed, poor soil—in short, everything is bad.
o (281 ha). New stables. 6-8 litres of milk a day.
Artificial fertilisers. Intensified feeding of livestock.

V. I. LENIN

“The manure comes from the intensively fed livestock; it lies in the dung channels of the cattle shed until it is taken
out into the fields, and is rationally preserved by means of
kainite and superphosphate. Only rye and wheat straw is
used as litter, heather and wood and other foliage no longer
being used” (286-87).
Ploughing 17-20 cm. Row tillage.
p (127 ha). Bought at too high a price. Debt 57 per cent.
The new owner buys more artificial fertilisers and feed,
better machinery, etc.
q (204 ha) (Farming operations are too costly for this kind of land: “splendid estate”, “everything that is best
in technical but not in economic terms is being done”).
The structures are massive, the stables are vaulted and
adapted for the storage of manure. Feed is bought.
Machinery—rather in excess.
Intensive farming. Artificial fertilisers.
kg
120,000 kainite
35,000-40,000 Thomas slag
5,000 superphosphate
5,000 ammoniac
2,500 Chile saltpetre r (333 ha). Massive structures.
Cow sheds are not vaulted, maintenance careful.
New living quarters for labourers.
Modest dead stock. Ploughing 12-17 cm.
Irrigation of meadows.
Peasant farms are not listed separately.
“The big and middle peasants as a rule farm better, more
intensively, than the small peasants, the big vegetable
gardeners (Grossgärtner) and owners of dwarf plots” (292):
deeper ploughing (cows weak)
row tillage artificial fertilisers and feed purchased.


“If, finally, the crop yields of the peasant farms lag behind
those of most landed estates, this is due above all to the
peculiarity of small and medium land holdings. The peasant
ploughs 5 or 8 cm shallower, in an effort to spare his young
horses, which he wants to sell at a profit. In general, he
knows how to take care of his livestock much better than
hired farm-hands usually do. He cannot have special implements for each separate purpose, improve cultivation
methods endlessly, stage long experiments in tillage and
the use of fertilisers, and many other things” (292).
The peasant tries to improve his farming methods by introducing artificial fertilisers and purchasing feed, and
machinery.
“The peasant has long since realised the importance of deep ploughing and timely cultivation, the need for correct
selection of valuable sorts of seeds for sowing, the keeping
of stall manure, and many other similar things. Where he
fails to eliminate the shortcomings which can be righted,
thereby acting against his own convictions, or is forced
to do so, he is, as a rule, short of capital to do this” (293).
The structures are “almost everywhere” massive and in good repair. The livestock is well fed.
This is the first group of peasant farms, 1 (south of a Kreisstadt (district town)) out of 34 (No. 1-11 and No. 18)
No. 18 = 110 ha
The second group consists of   (to the north) out of
34 (of these 22: 4 with 10-20 ha; 11, with 20-50 ha; 7 with
50-95 ha). The land is damp sand, which suffers from stagnant moisture. Ploughing 10-13 cm.
“A primitive wooden plough is pulled by a small overworked horse or weak half-starved team of cows”
(296).
Too much ploughed under for cereal grains...
short straw, thin stalks, empty ears and flat grains....
They usually keep more cattle than the scanty stocks of feed warrant. There is frequently a shortage of
feed and litter.... In winter, this quantity of cattle
N.B.
somehow survives on straw, chaff, glume, and small quantities of roots and putrid hay. Feed

V. I. LENIN

is short at all times, and is of poor quality; in some parts, the drinking water, with a high iron-content,
is harmful for the animals. In consequence, the cattle are small, lean, with coarse wool, or simply
grow sickly and starve in small dark sheds. That is why
one cannot expect them to be used correctly, or expect great quantities of good manure.
“Fertilisers are produced for each crop, but i n homeopathic
doses. It is impossible ...
to make up for this poor and inadequate fertiliser by purchases of kainite. It is not fair to expect a sick
man to be efficient. Alongside the lack of means, there is lack of management and experience. The
peasant never uses lime, and green fertiliser only in separate cases... (297). The cultivation of the
fields is hopelessly primitive but still burdensome; the collected manure is scattered, q or w of
the seeds is sown by hand, then the field is ploughed, and then the other 3 or 4 is sown on the surface
and harrowed with a home-made harrow. Rye is sown occasionally, from time to time, because of
the lack of fertiliser. It would, of course, be better to change the seeds, but that and much else is not
done because of the shortage of capital. The peasant avoids anything that costs money, as a matter of
principle, if he wishes to last. He continues to thresh his grain the old way, with a flail, either
picking by hand or sifting all the rubbish. Recently, some holders who are better off bought themselves
a small horse-driven thresher. The straw is used mostly as feed, whereas it would do better (predominantly) as litter for the animals. Furthermore,
there is need to chop up hay and straw for feed, to cover the potato and beet stores with straw, mend
the holes in the thatch, and mix some hay with the straw to make it last as long as possible, so that
when the straw crop is poor, nothing or very little remains for litter. It so happens that the use of
forest leaves becomes the general rule. No more chopped straw goes into litter, but only conifer
which is collected in the forest every year. The


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upshot is that the few pines growing on the denuded sand go to seed, and that, despite the vast forests,
there is a shortage of timber for building, once the dilapidated structures, repaired innumerable times,
threaten to collapse altogether. Even the holders with more money at their disposal are in no position to erect new structures. There is lack of stone,
gravel, clay, timber, and above all, money....
Everything is in short supply. The unfortunate farmer of these sad parts labours and toils with his often
numerous family from dawn to dusk, day in, day out; his toil-hardened hands and lean face are
a sign of nothing but unceasing hard work. He struggles for his unenviable existence, fights misfortune
and care, and barely manages to keep body and soul together; he strains his every fibre to obtain some
money, before it is too late, to pay off the urgent interest and taxes, but fears that he may be ruined
anyway. He has no means for any radical improvements; but the fact is that they alone could help
him and make his naturally poor scrap of land solidly productive and capable of giving better
sustenance to its owner” (298)
—the only happy exception among these 22 holdings in the
second group is the estate of the village headman at R.
(No. 18: 110 ha, 43 head of big horned cattle, 4 pigs & 6
horses, a debt of 5 0.3 per cent; only three of these
22 peasants have a higher debt percentage than this).
On average, the master of R. takes in 2-3 times more grain, 3-4 times more potatoes, 6-8 times more beetroot
than all the other holders in R., who farm the old way,
and who, because of their debts, have no opportunity or
reason to farm any other way. The master of R. raises crops
which his neighbours are unable to introduce successfully
into their crop rotation, because their soil lacks the necessary
cultivation and manuring.... He (the master of R.) paid
for his estate in cash, and has capital at his disposal.
It is capital and labour that have yielded such excellent
results. No peasant could have created “an oasis in a desert”
if he had no financial support, as a prerequisite to back up
his efforts (300).