Deliberations on the size of Private Plots. February 27, 1935
Original Source: Krestian’skaia pravda, 27 February 1935, p. 2.
There was a particularly large amount of discussion on the second section of the Charter-the part on land. Here it was interesting to notice something. Comrade Chernov [in the chair] asked: “Who wants to speak?” So many hands went up that they didn’t know who to let speak first… The big argument was over the size of the private plot. Some people suggested allocating 0.12 hectares for the private plot, others suggested 0.25 hectares. I personally suggested 0.45 hectares. A few said that the [size of] the private plots ought to be determined by the number of people in the household. Our delegate Kariutina … spoke against determining the [size of] the plot according to household size. “Family members are added and subtracted, so that each year you would have to redo the plot,” she said…
After he had listened to everyone else, comrade Stalin then expressed his own opinion. “You are all progressive people that are gathered here,” he said, “and it’s very good that you think more of working on the kolkhoz land than on your own plots. But you must not forget that the majority of kolkhozniks want to plant an orchard, cultivate a vegetable garden, or keep bees. The kolkhozniks want to live a decent life, and for that this 0.12 hectares is not enough. We need to allocate a quarter to half a hectare, and even as much as one hectare in some districts.
Source: Sheila Fitzpatrick, Stalin’s Peasants (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 122.