"I don't believe it," Sviazhsky replied quite seriously; "all I see is that we don't know how to cultivate the land, and that our system of agriculture in the serf days was by no means too high, but too low.

We have no machines, no good stock, no efficient supervision; we don't even know how to keep accounts.

Ask any landowner; he won't be able to tell you what crop's profitable, and what's not.

" "Italian bookkeeping," said the gentleman of the gray whiskers ironically.