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.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the soil resources of the of the Starorussky District of Novgorod Province. Over centuries, the lands of the district have been actively assimilated, as well as considered ones of the most fertile in the Novgorod Region. The article evaluates the soil resources of the Starorussky District in the late XVIII century and determines the criteria that defined the highest fertility of the land, which as a result were cultivated more than others. The sources are the brief economic notes to the General land-surveying of Starorussky District in the late XVIII century and the soil research of the first Russian soil scientists conducted in the district territory at the turn of the XIX – XX centuries. The author created the database that contained the facts about the soil on the territory of rural settlements of the late XVIII century alongside the mechanical composition of the soil of the rural settlements in the late XIX – early XX centuries. For analyzing the mass data, have been used the quantitative methods of research. The work allowed evaluating the specificities of soil and land fertility in the Starorussky District during the late XVIII century, as well as comparing for the first time the acquired data with the facts regarding the mechanical composition of soil of the late XIX – early XX centuries. In conclusion, it was determines that the majority of lands were located in the various types of clay loams, which contained a large amount of silt fraction. The presences of light clay loam in combination with other types of soils significantly improved the characteristic of soil. Overall, the mild and heavy clay loams prevailed in the district. The author underlines that the land-surveyors of the XVIII century defined the dominant type of soil. Evaluation of land fertility by the land-surveyors had a direction link to a specific territory.

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.