Northern Crimea in the late XIX – early XX centuries

Erdokesko Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Postgraduate Student, Department of Russian History of the XIX – early XX centuries, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University 119192, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Lomonosovskii Prospekt, 27k4 erdokesko@list.ru Other publications by this author

In the late XIX – early XX centuries, the territory of the Northern Crimea was part of the Perekop district and occupied an area of 5.111.9 square versts ^{[1, p. 2]}, which in relation to the area of the entire Tauride province was only 9.7% ^{[2, p. 9]}. The northern and north-eastern borders of the county were the Perekop Isthmus and the Gulf of Sivash (for a short distance Dnieper County), the western – Evpatoria County and the south-eastern – the Salgir River (Simferopol and Feodosiya counties) ^{[3, p. 1]}.

According to the data of the first general census in the Russian Empire in 1897, 51393 people lived on the territory of Perekopsky Uyezd, while the population density was only 10.05 people per square mile, which was due to natural and climatic factors, primarily clay-saline soil, on which it was difficult to cultivate crops. For example, a relatively high population density was observed in the adjacent chernozem counties of the Tauride province of Berdyansk (39.56 people) and Melitopol (33.01 people), as well as in Simferopol county (34.12 people), located on the Crimean Peninsula ^{[1, p. 5-6]}.

There was almost no chernozem in the entire area of the Northern Crimea, "there is not even a shrub and there is almost no water; the steppe is covered only with grass, as a result of which the main occupation of the population is cattle breeding or, more precisely, sheep breeding" ^{[1, p. 4]}. The development of sheep breeding in the region under consideration in the second half of the XIX century . a number of factors contributed. Firstly, there is a great demand for wool on the domestic and world markets, secondly, government policy aimed at providing a number of benefits to persons who were engaged in sheep breeding, such as, for example: allocation of land plots, provision of cash loans, etc. And, thirdly, insignificant population density ^[4] and large plots of land. For example, there were over 40 sheep per square mile on the territory of Perekopsky Uyezd ^{[5, p. 2]}.

In the first place in terms of the number and quality of sheep in Perekop county was the estate of Tashly-Kipchak A.D. Lustig, near the Kurman-Kemelchi station of the Lozovo-Sevastopol railway. Lustig's estate contained 28,000 sheep on 24,000 tithes ^{[5, p. 27]}. The direction of sheep breeding in this estate consisted in the production of worsted wool, "which had a normal tortuosity, sufficient fleece density and satisfactory overgrowth of both the belly and the front legs of the animals" ^[4].

In other estates located on the territory of the Northern Crimea, the number of sheep heads was less than in Lustig's estate. So, for example, in the estate of A. E. Kobets at the village of Teichlar there were about 8,500 heads of sheep, G. Moskovenko had 5,000 heads, I. V. Martens had 7000 heads. In addition to these sheep farms, the sheep farms of the Karmyakovs, Dick, Schroeder and Specht brothers were famous on the territory of the Northern Crimea ^{[5, p. 27]}.

Another important branch of animal husbandry was the breeding of cattle, which was, in fact, the living inventory of farms. Horses and oxen served as representatives of working cattle on the territory of the entire Crimean Peninsula during the period under consideration, other animals were few in number and did not play any significant role as working cattle. The ratio between the number of horses and oxen in the steppe region, which was the territory of the Northern Crimea, was: 52% to 48% ^{[6, pp. 178-181]}.

In the areas where the development of agricultural crops was possible, mainly grain crops were grown. For example, the most significant part of the arable land area was occupied for winter wheat crops, the crops of which in the central part of the county were 54%. No more than 42-43% of the sown area was occupied for winter wheat in the Prisivash areas.

 The second place in sowing plants was occupied by spring barley, the crops of which were almost the same in all parts of the county: "from 35.9% in the southern part to 37.6% in the Prisivash II area." In general, winter wheat and spring barley crops accounted for 80 to 90% of the total sown area of Perekop County ^{[3, p.39-40]}.

Winter rye and oats can be distinguished from other plants that have become widespread in the territory of the Northern Crimea. Winter rye crops were mainly found in the Prisivash areas, and oat crops – in the southern part of the county ^{[3, p. 40]}.

The grain grown on the territory of Perekopsky Uyezd was used both for the own needs of the population of the uyezd and for sale. Grain buyers, on the one hand, were small buyers who bought bread in small batches for large trading firms; on the other hand, large traders who sent their agents directly to sellers and also had branches of their firms at railway stations, where bread was delivered both directly by sellers and bought by small buyers.

Speaking about the markets for grain products on the territory of the Northern Crimea, it is necessary, first of all, to highlight the railway stations that were located in this region. Of these, the most significant were Dzhankoy, Kurman (approx. author: now it is Krasnogvardeyskoye village in the Krasnogvardeysky district of the Republic of Crimea), Taganash (approx. author: now this is the village of Salt Lake in the Dzhankoy district of the Republic of Crimea) and Kolai (approx. author: now it is a vanished village in the Dzhankoy district of the Republic of Crimea). Among other grain markets, the city of Yevpatoria and the marina of Sary-Bulat should be noted (approx. author: now it is a Port village in the Razdolnensky district of the Republic of Crimea) ^{[3, p. 50-52]}.

As for the cultivation of fruit trees and vineyards in the northern part of the Crimean peninsula, according to the data of the Tauride Governor for 1893: "Horticulture and viticulture in the Tauride province are making notable progress and the area of land occupied by plantations is rapidly increasing.

The cultivation of fruit trees in the steppe zone is much slower than viticulture, because fruit trees are difficult to tolerate droughts and strong winds, common in the steppes. But even in this respect, great successes are noticeable in some places of the Perekop and Melitopol counties, where artesian water was extracted" ^{[7, l. 2]}.

The Russian scientist vintner and winemaker M. K. Ballas, speaking about the development of winemaking in the territory of Perekopsky district, noted that it had no industrial significance in this region. Vineyards in the county were bred from colonists in the Eigenfeld parish (about 15 dessiatines), as well as from individual landowners in the southern part of the county, "adjacent to the Salgir and Karasovka rivers." In general, according to M. K. Ballas, there were "up to 35 dessiatines of vineyards in Perekop county, bringing no more than 2,000 buckets of wine" ^{[8, p. 78]}.

In the late XIX – early XX centuries, the situation in the economic life of the Northern Crimea changed, agriculture took the first place in its structure, which was caused, according to the Statistical Bureau of the Tauride provincial Zemstvo, by the fact that field farming was the only basis in the economic life of the agricultural population living here. The percentage of arable land became 89.3%, while the number of lands on which cattle were pastured was only 8.4% ^{[9, p. 22]}.

Of the amount of sown area, most of it was occupied for winter wheat, which was 49.9% as a percentage. A slightly smaller percentage of the sown area on the territory of the Northern Crimea was occupied for the cultivation of spring barley, namely – 41.9% ^{[9, p. 27]}.

According to the data presented in the guide to the Crimea by A. Ya. Beschinsky for 1904, it is said that the exclusive occupation of the population of the Perekop district is arable farming, the land for which was 99.9%. 0.1% of the total area of arable land was plots occupied for tobacco cultivation. At the same time, there is no information about the area occupied by gardens in the Perekop and Evpatoria counties, as A. Ya. Beschinsky notes, "there are absolutely no industrial gardens in these counties" ^{[10, pp. 76-77]}.

Thus, it can be concluded that the main branch of the agricultural sector of the Northern Crimea in the post-reform era was the cultivation of grain crops, which was facilitated by a number of factors, including: market conditions, namely the demand for grain both in the Russian Empire itself and in Europe; the presence of sufficient acreage in the steppe part of the peninsula, the Lozovo-Sevastopol railway, built in 1872-1875, and the proximity of seaports for the export of crops. Sheep farming, which had previously played a significant role in the economy of the Crimea, gradually began to lose its position, and the volume of sheep breeding in the steppe part of the peninsula decreased by 17 times by the 1890s ^{[11, pp. 255-256]}.

Speaking about the industry of the region under consideration, the following can be noted: in the last quarter of the XIX century. there were 12 brick and tile factories and 2 lemonade factories on the territory of the Perekop district: one of which belonged to the Perekop philistine Naum Finkel and was located in the village of Kurman-Kemelchi (operated since 1880), the other belonged to the philistine Zelman Lutherstein and was located in the Armenian Bazaar (it has been functioning since 1878). The volume of production at lemonade factories was not very large and ranged from 3,000 to 5,200 bottles per year for 180-200 rubles ^[12].

In addition, since 1868, a small candle factory has been operating on the territory of the Armenian Bazaar, producing 48 pounds of candles for 250 rubles a year. This enterprise belonged to the philistine Lukyan Pakhalov ^[12].

By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were 12 brick, tile and pottery enterprises on the territory of the Northern Crimea; 5 steam-milling enterprises on the territory of the Perekop district and 2 directly in its center, the city of Perekop; one enterprise engaged in the production of artificial mineral waters, and one enterprise that manufactured carriages, agricultural implements, etc. In total, there were 22 factories and plants on the territory of Perekop county, including its county center, the city of Perekop, at the beginning of the twentieth century ^{[13, p. 104]}.

At the same time, speaking about the Northern Crimea, it is impossible not to note the role of salt lakes and salt production in this region. Salt lakes, whose area reached 60,000 dessiatines, were located along the southern part of the Perekop Isthmus ^{[14, p. 13]}. Among them, the most important role in the life of the region was played by the Old and Red Lakes, the salt of which was considered the best in quality. As the children's writer and traveler A. A. Usov, who wrote under the pseudonym Cheglok, pointed out in his work "The Beauty of Taurida", "locals say that if you need to use 1 ? poods of salt for salting, then one pood is enough for red or old. They call this salt strong and tasty, and the rest weak, tasteless, pharmacy" ^{[14, p. 13-14]}.

The number of workers on the Old and Red Lakes was no more than 200 people on both lakes, which was explained by the difficult working conditions, since the workers had to work under the scorching sun, in the absence of any shade and surrounded by brackish water.

As A. A. Usov noted, there were no doctors in the salt fields of the Northern Crimea, " – patients need to go 15 versts to Armyansk for medical help. The best remedies for such diseases are special sail boots and canvas or canvas trousers. But few workers are able to have them. Most of them wrap various rags on their feet, which does not protect them well from caustic brine.

Only recently have they begun to arrange booths for workers, where they can hide from the rain or put a patient. It didn't happen before either. We slept in good weather, and in the rain on the open steppe or in disgusting dugouts" ^{[14, p. 18-21]}.

Summing up all of the above, it can be noted that the development of agriculture played an important role in the economic life of the Northern Crimea in the late XIX – early XX centuries. And if in the pre-reform period, the development of sheep breeding played an important role in the economic life of the region, then after that the development of grain crops took the leading positions, which was facilitated by a number of conditions, such as the demand for grain in the domestic and foreign markets, large spaces for crops, as well as improved transport accessibility of the region. At the same time, the industry on the territory of the Northern Crimea was represented primarily by the development of enterprises engaged in the production of bricks and tiles, as well as milling.