Title: Private botanical gardens in Russia: between noble culture and scientific professionalization (1760s–1917)
Abstract:Abstract For centuries Russia had been known as an archetypically agricultural country that lived off arable farming: grain export accounted for the main portion of state revenue. It is widely believe...Abstract For centuries Russia had been known as an archetypically agricultural country that lived off arable farming: grain export accounted for the main portion of state revenue. It is widely believed, therefore, that the interest of Russian landowners in plants was purely economic; they concentrated on the improvement of industrial crops important for increasing yields. However, as our research shows, for quite a few landed aristocrats this interest towards plants extended beyond crop fields and was, in fact, frequently stimulated by motivations somewhat removed from pragmatism. Garden design and plant collection became no less important for Russian noblemen than farming. Such a passion could have been an aesthetic amateur pastime, ‘scientific experimenting’, and sometimes a sophisticated formula for relieving the boredom of the Russian provincial life. In other words, garden design became a part of the Russian noble culture. This makes Russia akin to England, with its interplay of agriculture and gardening in a landlord's life.1Read More
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 4
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