The nobility, as a class, owed its existence to relations of natural economy. The bonds, which were issued to the landlords by the government in payment for the land allotted to the peasantry, were promptly wasted for personal enjoyment, for all kind of risky speculations, and for agricultural improvements which could not pay from a business standpoint. Thus, as soon as the need of capital began to be felt in agriculture, the estates of the nobility flew, through lease, mortgage and sale, into the hands of the capitalist class. The following shows the movement of private landed property in the district of Ryazañ, from 1867 to 1881.[166] +----------------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+ | | Percentage | Average holding | | | in the area. | (Dessiatines). | | Classes of owners. +--------+--------+--------+--------+ | | 1867. | 1881. | 1867. | 1881. | +----------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ |Property of the nobility | 92 | 66.6 | 284.9 | 283.6 | |Property of the capitalistic class| 3.3 | 22.3 | 124.4 | 372.1 | |Small property | 4.7 | 11.1 | 3.7 | 4.9 | +----------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ Immediately after the emancipation of the peasants the domains of the nobility covered nearly the total area of private property. Twenty years after the reform, one-third of their property had already gone to other classes. The land which was lost by the nobility was divided between the capitalist and the small farmer in the ratio of two to one, the possessions of the capitalist growing about three times as fast as small private property. The new classes of property holders well-nigh correspond, as to their origin, to the legal status of “merchants” and “peasants.” Among these classes is being divided the inheritance of the nobility. “The merchant class take possession mainly of the large estates, neglecting altogether, and even relinquishing, the small plots, … which gradually pass into the hands of the peasant.”[167] The following figures may serve as an illustration: