INDUSTRY AND TRADE, a low price for the goods, the koostars. are no longer able to pay attention to fineness and elegance of work-r manship, but only to the quantity of the production. The low qualities of koostar productions depend further upon the limited education of the koostars and the imperfection of the technical methods applied by them;, while there are as yet too few lower technical schools where they might learn these methods, although many of them attain independently by stubborn labour various improvements, and invent new tools and processes of production. From what has been said, it follows, it would seem, that the most important measure for the improvement of koostar productions and of the economical condition of the koostars themselves must be regarded as the ex-^ tension among them of technical knowledge, of cheap credit, stores for the sale of koostar goods in the great towns, etc. And these questions have received lately the most careful attention from the Government and the rural authorities (zemstvos). We have already had occasion to speak of the or-* ganization of small credit in the section above on agriculture. We touch upon technical education in the further development of the subject. It is here only necessary to mention those measures which are directed to facilitating the sale of koostar productions. With this in view the zemstvos and the Ministry of Agriculture have now long been engaged in the investigation of koostar industries and in acquainting the public and the koostars themselves with the results. The most remarkable collection — 6 —