The materials of zemstvo statistics are a valuable source on the history of the Russian village in the period after the reform. Zemstvo statisti- cians did a colossal work connected with the study of socioeconomic status of peasant households of the country. The most effective meth- od of acquiring primary statistical data was a total house-to-house census of peasant households which was conducted in zemstvo gubernias in the 80th of the XIXth century. The article deals with the mechanism of its conduction and the results.
