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 professional
 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 according
 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. According
 to local reports, two-thirds of the total number of orphans
were placed with near relatives, about 7 per cent with distant relatives,
 and the remainder with foster parents and strangers. Boarding
 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 recognition
 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 instructing
 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.