Of great importance in the economic activities of the zemstvos was statistical work on determining the socio-economic condition of peasant households, which were the basis of the country’s productive forces. Zemstvo statisticians independently developed and improved the methodology for conducting them. L. S. Lichkov, who was one of the first to join the ranks of Zemstvo statisticians, made his contribution to it.
The local authorities of the government statistics in the XIX century were gubernia statistics committees. The articles deals with the activities of the Saratov gubernia statistics committee. It is showed that the ways of collecting statistical data, the technigues and methods of their scientific processing by their members of the staff left much to be desired. The zemstvo statistics became more effective in comparison with the gubernia administrative statistics.
In the 90s of the XIX century in Russia’s zemstvo gubernias appraise work was being done on determining the earning power of the lands intended for agriculture, and also real estate for the purpose of imposing zemstvo taxes. The foundation for that research was laid by ordaining the law «Rules of assessment of real estate for imposing zemstvo fees» on June 8, 1893 which put the performance of zemstvo statistical work under government control.
Since the early 1880-s on the pages of periodical magazines there appeared analytical reviews of materials and results of zemstvo statistical work. Their authors were both zemstvo statisticians themselves and economists, agronomists, publicists. A great number of reviews and papers were published by “Vestnik Yevropy” and “Russkoye bogatstvo”. The paper deals with publications dedicated to issues of zemstvo statistics which were published in those magazines.
Zemstvo officials occupied a prominent place in the social life of Russia in the post-reform period. Many of them participated in the populist movement in the 1870s, but for various reasons they left it and devoted themselves entirely to the zemstvo service, the reby obtaining the opportunity to legally study the way of life, culture, labour activities of peasants and to defend their interests before the landlords, gubernia and uyezd administrations. N. F. Annensky was one of these devotees.
