Contribution of fruit-growing societies to the scientific and practical support of Ukraine agriculture (end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the activities of fruit growing societies in Ukraine at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries in order to find out their contribution to ensuring the scientific and practical needs of agriculture at that time. The scientific novelty of the study consists in summarizing the information found about the Ukrainian branches of the Imperial Russian Society of Fruit Growing, outlining the main areas of their activity based on periodicals and reports of the branches. It was established that precisely in the South-Western region (Kyiv, Volhynia, Podilsk provinces), Tavria (covered the entire Crimean peninsula and part of Steppe Ukraine – Berdyansk, Dnipro and Melitopol counties) and Bessarabian provinces (which included, in addition to the territory of Moldova, part of modern Chernivtsi and Odesa regions) – until the end of the 19th century, the largest number of fruits were produced, therefore the field of horticulture in general and fruit growing in particular required the solution of a number of scientific and organizational measures – systematic training of qualified specialists, organized sales of products, dissemination of information about rational methods of technical processing of fruits, establishment of processes for combating garden pests, etc. In addition to the government and zemstvos, industry associations gradually joined to solve these issues. It was found that the Ukrainian territories were characterized by the functioning of several associations of horticulture, hops and viticulture: in particular, Tavria, Bessarabia, Kyiv, Volyn, Kherson provinces. The contribution of the Imperial Russian Society of Fruit Growing to the development of the industry was traced and information was summarized about the branches of the organization operating in Ukraine – Kyiv, Katerynoslav, Volyn, Khotyn, Molochan, Karasubazar and Sudat. It was established that the main areas of activity of the named centers for the scientific and practical needs of agriculture were: 1) exhibition and presentation, which contributed to the popularization of new varieties and rational methods of fruit growing among owners of different regions of the country; 2) scientific research, which consisted in conducting pomological studies, in varietal breeding and varietal reproduction; 3) solving the practical needs of horticulture and fruit growing in the region through the establishment of permanent institutions – warehouses of garden tools and inventory, nurseries with an assortment of industrial fruits, model gardens, book collections, the establishment of courses and specialized lower educational institutions; 4) provision of consultations to the local population on various issues of horticulture and fruit growing; 5) fight against garden pests; 6) collection of statistical data on the state of local horticulture and fruit growing and compilation of regional industrial assortment of fruits; 7) assistance to the local population in the organization of rational sales of fruit growing products without intermediaries, etc.