The article introduces a historical figure into scientific circulation and discloses the biographical data of a prominent owner of the south of Ukraine, the learned manager of the estates of Count M. M. Tolstoy – I. M. Kabeshtov, his multifaceted activities in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry are highlighted, especially his contribution to the establishment of research work with pig breeding at the Kharkiv Society of Agriculture and Agricultural Industry and at the Poltava Experimental Field.

With the help of historical, biographical and source analysis methods, the main stages of the scientist's life have been recreated.

For the first time, I. M. Kabeshtov's innovative developments are described: the transition from three-field crop rotation to multi-field crop rotation with grass seeding, the creation of a fodder base using ensiled beets, which contributed to the optimization of animal husbandry and the reduction of losses from storage of root crops; development of the optimal ration for intensive fattening of pigs for export to international sales markets. To organize the agricultural landscape, the manager proposed his own method of afforestation of steep slopes and loose sands. Proved in practice that afforestation in arid conditions of the steppe can be profitable. He organized the Hrebinnik workshop of woven products. He presented his achievements in his scientific works and popularized them at agricultural exhibitions, congresses, and meetings of the Agricultural Societies: Southern Russia, Poltava, Kharkiv, of which he was a member.

1. Kabeshtov, I. M. (1894). Lesonasazhdeniya. Pitomniki i shkoly v imeniyakh grafa M. M. Tolstogo v Sumskom i Lebedinskom uezdakh Kharkovskoy gubernii [Afforestation. Nurseries and schools on the estates of Count M. M. Tolstoy in the Sumy and Lebedinsky districts of the Kharkov province]. Kharkov : Tip. Zilberberga [in Russian].
2. (1884). Lichnyy sostav Obshchestva [The personnel of the Society]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva. 5 (noyabr-dekabr), 44 [in Russian].
3. Kabeshtov, I. M. (1906). Moya zhizn i vospominaniya: Byvshego do shesti let dvoryaninom, potom dvadtsat let krepostnym [My life and memories: Formerly a nobleman until the age of six, then a serf for twenty years]. Sumy : Tipo-litogr. K. M. Pashkova [in Russian].
4. Kabeshtov, I. M. (1892?). Sarancha i prus i sposoby istrebleniya ikh [Locust and Prus and ways of exterminating them]. Sankt-Peterburg: Tip. V. Demakova [in Russian].
5. Kabeshtov, I. (1882). Prakticheskie sovety po razvedeniyu naibolee rasprostranennykh kormovykh trav i zlakov na polyakh i lugakh [Practical tips for growing the most common forage grasses and cereals in fields and meadows]. Sankt-Peterburg: Tip. V. A. Demakova [in Russian].
6. Kabeshtov, I. M. (1884). Posev kormovoy sveklovitsy i otkormka ee i silosovannoyu kukuruzoyu uboynogo skota dlya otpravki v stolitsy i zagranitsu [Sowing fodder beet and fattening it and silage corn of slaughter cattle for shipment to the capitals and abroad]. Sankt-Peterburg: Tip. V. Demakova [in Russian].
7. (1891). Iz praktiki sokhraneniya kormovoy sveklovitsy : doklad Poltavskomu selskozyaystvennomu obshchestvu vitse-prezidenta obshchestva A. A. Izmailskogo [From the practice of fodder beet conservation : report to the Poltava Agricultural Society of the vice-president of the society A. A. Izmailsky]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva. 2 (fevral-may), 57-65 [in Russian].
8. (1901). Rechi v obshchem sobranii chlenov Kievskogo obshchestva selskogo khozyaystva po sluchayu ego dvadtsatiletiya [Speeches at the general meeting of members of the Kyiv Society of Agriculture on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary]. Kievlyanin. 50, 2 [in Russian].
9. (1866). Sezd selskikh khozyaev v Sankt-Peterburge v 1865 godu po sluchayu stoletnego yubileya Imperatorskogo Volnogo ekonomicheskogo obshchestva [Congress of farmers in St. Petersburg in 1865 on the occasion of the centenary of the Imperial Free Economic Society]. 34 [in Russian].
10. (1879). Zhurnal zasedaniya Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva 20-go dekabrya 1878 goda [Journal of the meeting of the Poltava Agricultural Society on December 20, 1878]. Poltava : Tip. Gub. Pravleniya [in Russian].
11. Kabeshtov, I. (1881). Opisanie dvukh imeniy grafa M. M. Tolstogo, nakhodyashchikhsya v Kharkovskoy gubernii, v Lebedinskom i Sumskom uezdakh i svedeniya o shestnadtsatiletnem urozhae khlebov i drugikh rasteniy, s ischisleniem chistoy dokhodnosti ot kazhdoy desyatiny vysevaemogo rasteniya, i urozhaynaya vedomost za 1880 god [Description of the two estates of Count M. M. Tolstoy, located in the Kharkov province, in the Lebedinsky and Sumy districts and information about the sixteen-year harvest of bread and other plants, with the calculation of the net profitability from each tithe of the sown plant, and the harvest statement for 1880]. Odessa : P. Frantsova [in Russian].
12. Kabeshtov, I. (1882). Prakticheskie sovety po razvedeniyu naibolee rasprostranennykh kormovykh trav i zlakov na polyakh i lugakh [Practical tips for growing the most common forage grasses and cereals in fields and meadows]. Sankt-Peterburg : Tip. V. A. Demakova [in Russian].
13. Gefter, A. O., & Kegulskiy, S. M. (1884). Pamyat Odesskoy vystavki 1884 goda: opisanie selskokhozyaystvennoy i fabrichno-zavodskoy vystavki 1884 goda v Odesse, ustroennoy Imperatorskim obshchestvom selskogo khozyaystva yuzhnoy Rossii [Memory of the Odessa exhibition of 1884: description of the agricultural and factory exhibition of 1884 in Odessa, organized by the Imperial Society of Agriculture of Southern Russia]. Odessa : G. Kapitsa [in Russian].
14. (1889). Zhurnal zasedaniya Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva 18-go yanvarya 1889 goda [Journal of the meeting of the Poltava Agricultural Society on January 18, 1889]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva, 1, 1-6 [in Russian].
15. (1886). Zhurnal zasѣdanіya Poltavskago selskokhozyaystvennago obshchestva 9-go Fevralya 1886 goda [Journal of the meeting of the Poltava Agricultural Society on February 9, 1886]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva, 1. (yanv.–fevr.), 37–42 [in Russian].
16. (1887). Zhurnal zasѣdanіya Poltavskago selskokhozyaystvennago obshchestva 12-go maya 1887 goda [Journal of the meeting of the Poltava Agricultural Society on May 12, 1887]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva, 3 (may-iyun), 3-9 [in Russian].
17. Kabeshtov, I. M. (1889). Opyt otkorma molodykh sviney (chastyu chistykh berkshirov, chastyu metisov berkshirov i yorkshirov) dlya polucheniya myasa, godnogo dlya eksporta na zagranichnye rynki : doklad, chitannyy v zasedanii Kharkovskogo obshchestva selskogo khozyaystva. 22 yanvarya 1889 g. [The experience of fattening young pigs (partly pure Berkshires, partly Berkshire and Yorkshire mestizos) to obtain meat suitable for export to foreign markets: a report read at a meeting of the Kharkov Society of Agriculture January 22, 1889]. Kharkov: V. S. Biryukova [in Russian].
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19. (1890). Zhurnal Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva 5-go oktyabrya 1889 goda [Journal of the Poltava Agricultural Society October 5, 1889]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva, 2 (may-iyun.-iyul.-avg.-sent.-okt.), 33-47 [in Russian].
20. (1891). Kratkie svedeniya o rezultatakh 2-y serii opytov otkarmlivaniya sviney na opytnom pole Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva v 1890-91 g. [Brief information about the results of the 2nd series of experiments on fattening pigs on the experimental field of the Poltava Agricultural Society in 1890-91]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva, 1, 31-49 [in Russian].
21. Bodisko, D. M. (1891). O razvitii eksporta selskokhozyaystvennykh myasnykh produktov i neobkhodimosti takovogo dlya podderzhaniya i uluchsheniya selskogo khozyaystva [On the development of the export of agricultural meat products and the need for such to maintain and improve agriculture]. Zhurnaly Poltavskogo selskokhozyaystvennogo obshchestva, 2, 22 [in Russian].
22. Kabeshtov, I. M. (1894). Lesonasazhdeniya, pitomniki i shkoly v imeniyakh grafa M. M. Tolstogo v Sumskom i Lebedinskom uezdakh Kharkovskoy gubernii [Forest plantations, nurseries and schools on the estates of Count M. M. Tolstoy in the Sumy and Lebedinsky districts of the Kharkov province]. Kharkov: Tip. Zilberberga [in Russian].
23. (1890). Opisanie Vserossiyskoy selskokhozyaystvennoy vystavki v Kharkove 1887 [Description of the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition in Kharkov in 1887]. Kharkov: A. Darre [in Russian].
24. Kabeshtov, I. M. (1910). Razvedenie lozy (ivy) i pleteniy iz nee raznykh izdeliy pri uchebnoy masterskoy pletenykh izdeliy v Grebennikovskoy ekonomii grafa M. M. Tolstogo (Sumskogo uezda) [Cultivation of vines (willows) and weaving of various products from it at the training workshop of wickerwork in the Grebennikovskaya economy of Count M. M. Tolstoy (Sumsky district)]. Summy : Tip. K. M. Pashkova [in Russian].