Traditional Cattle Grazing in the Tambov Region (The Practical Aspect)

The study of the practical aspect of traditional cattle grazing in the Tambov region is based on materials collected in the mid-1990s during field practices carried out by students of the Department of Ethnography and Anthropology of St. Petersburg State University under the supervision of the author of the article. It is quite justified to call the recorded practices “traditional” since breeding and grazing of private livestock by collective farmers did not change significantly even after collectivization. This is confirmed by the pre-revolutionary materials on the tradition of cattle grazing in the Kirsanovsky District (uezd) of Tambov Province cited in the article. This study employs the methods of comparative historical analysis but also take into account the unique features of the natural environment of various parts of the Tambov region. To graze its herd, a community hired a shepherd, made a written contract with him and confirmed it with a drink treat (magarych). The shepherds were usually local or from nearby villages. Each type of animal had its own shepherds. Depending on the size, a herd could have one or two shepherds, who were sometimes assisted by a shepherd boy. Grazing continued from the appearance of fresh grass in spring until the appearance of a permanent snow cover. Over time, the remuneration of shepherds changed from a combination of food and money to a mainly monetary one and shifted from a seasonal to a monthly schedule. Additionally, on certain days, the shepherd had the right to visit the cattle owners in order to get food from them. The shepherd was equipped with a whip and sometimes also had a horn. No information of any other features of his equipment and clothing was gathered. The article presents data on local peculiarities of cattle grazing. The collected materials show that to a certain extent, local differences were determined by the characteristics of the environment. When grazing in the forest, the size of the herd was smaller than on open pastures, sheep and goats were not grazed in the forest, and the shepherd used a horn there to gather animals.