FAMILIES OF MOBILIZED MEN 143 
of school age, from eight to eleven years, and in case of necessity, 
that is, if it should prove inconvenient to board them with private 
families, special dormitories were to be opened for them at the 
schools; (38) orphans above school age were to be trained in pro- 
fessional schools and housed in special dormitories; and (4) young 
girls were to be placed in suitable general or professional schools, 
or in orphanages where they were to be taught needlework.® 
The practical realization of this program varied considerably ac- 
cording to locality, depending mainly upon the funds available. 
Most frequently the simplest and cheapest methods were used, that 
1s, the children were handed over to peasant families living in the 
same villages, and the zemstvos paid for their maintenance. Ac- 
cording to local reports, two-thirds of the total number of orphans 
were placed with near relatives, about 7 per cent with distant rela- 
tives, and the remainder with foster parents and strangers. Board- 
ing in private families naturally demanded constant and careful 
supervision. Under normal conditions the district zemstvo boards 
would not have been in a position to exercise effective supervision 
and control; but with the general enthusiasm prevailing among the 
people during the first year of the War, and with numerous local 
committees of relief and private organizations, the task was not an 
impossible one. 
There was one enterprise which earned the whole-hearted recog- 
nition and praise of zemstvo workers, namely, the farm orphanages, 
or colonies. The idea of establishing them had occurred to some of 
the zemstvos prior to the War, but its realization at that time was 
prevented not only by the lack of funds, but also because a number 
of other difficult problems presented themselves in connection with 
the organization of such establishments. To begin with, there was 
the question of the age of admission. Then there was the question of 
how to organize the practical work of the inmates and, while in- 
structing them in new agricultural methods, to keep the instruction 
at the same time within the limited scope of peasant husbandry. 
The War, by making it urgently necessary to provide for the war 
orphans, compelled many of the zemstvos to take some practical 
steps without further delay and to leave the solution of the prob: 
lems confronting them to the play of circumstance and local condi: 
® Izvestia (Bulletin), No. 11, p. 61.