thenumberofyearsthatseparatetheoldcensusofapopulationfromanewone。Thenumberofsharesallottedtoeachhouseholdeithercorrespondstothenumberofmalepersonsforwhomthehouseholdpaysthepersonaltax，ortothatofthesoulsactuallyliving。Instancesoccurinwhichthevillagersassignhalfsharestothewomen，orreservecertainsharesunoccupiedforthegenerationtocome。Asforthemeadows，theyarefrequentlymownincommon，thehaybeingdividedinequalpartsamongallthemembersofthecommune。Veryoften，too，ayearlydivisiontakesplacebeforeharvest；accountistakenofthegreaterorsmallerdistanceofeachmeadowfromthevillage，andofthequalityofitsgrass，andtheneachcommonerreceivesastripinallandeveryoneofthemeadows。ButIneednotinsistonthevariousaspectsunderwhichthesystemofre-allotmentsmaypresentitself。Itisnotmypurposetogiveyouacompletedescriptionofthevariousformswhichthevillagecommunitymaytake，butageneralpictureofallitscharacteristicfeatures。
AmongsttheseImustplacethecontrolexercisedbythevillageauthoritiesovertheperformanceatthepropertimeofeachpartofagriculturallabour。Thestripsoftheseveralhouseholdsbeingscatteredoverthewholevillagearea，andintermixedwiththoseoftheirneighbours，thesamesystemofagriculturemustofnecessitybefollowedbyall。Thesysteminuse，asIhavealreadytoldyou，isthatofthethreefields，thewinter，thesummer，andthefallow；thefieldsbecomingcommonpastureafterthegatheringinoftheharvest。Allagriculturallabourmustthereforebeginandendatfixedperiods，andthedifferenthouseholdswhichconstitutethevillagemustdotheirploughing，sowing，harrowing，mowingandreaping，preciselyatthesametime。Theauthoritiesofthevillageareempoweredtoinsistuponthis；the\"Flurzwang，\"touseawellknownGermanexpression，isanecessaryconditionofthiskindofagrariancommunism，whichisembodiedinthesystemofthemir。
Theperformanceatitspropertimeofeachpartofagriculturallabourcouldnotbeattainedifthecommonersdidnothelponeanotherinitsaccomplishment。Thisistherealoriginoftheobligationwhichcompelseverypeasanttohelphisneighboursinmowingandreaping。Thissortofcommunalhelp，regularlyperformedatharvesttime，isknowninRussiaunderthenameof\"villageassistance。\"Itwasunderlikeconditionsthatthemedievallovebones，orloveboons（angariaeautumni），tooktheirriseinEngland。
Thefeelingofmutualdependence，whichhasitsorigininthecommonownershipanduseofland，isthesourcefromwhichspringsanothercuriousinstitution。Certainagriculturallandsremainundividedandarecultivatedbythecombinedworkofthewholevillage；theiryearlyproducebeingregularlybroughttothecommonstoreandequallydistributedamongallincaseofdearth。
InRussianvillagestherearenospecial\"poor\"or\"schoollands\"（Armen-undSchulguter），similartothoseofSwitzerlandorGermany，althoughthequestionhasbeenrecentlyraisedastothedesirabilityofassigningcertainsharesofthecommonlandstotheschoolmaster，hebeingauthorisedtocultivatethemwiththehelpofhispupils。Thisplanforturningtheschoolmasterintoanagriculturallabourerbelongstothenumberofthosemeasures，bywhichthereactionarypartyhopetopreventthebadlypaidvillageschoolmastersfrombecomingwhattheycall\"revolutionarydreamers。\"IamhappytosaythatithasnotyetmetwiththesupportoftheGovernment。