Contribution of Ukrainian agricultural societies to the scientific support of the divine industry in the late 19th-early 20th centuries

The purpose of the article is to analyze the activities of the Ukrainian departments of the All-Russian Society ofDistillers and the distillery departments of the Kharkiv and Kyiv Societies of Agriculture and Agricultural Industry, as well astheir research institutions (laboratories and the Network of Potato Research Fields) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.The scientific novelty of the study lies in the actualization of the issue of the activities of agricultural societies for theneeds of the distillery industry on Ukrainian lands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through a network of researchinstitutions, which are currently practically not mentioned in the literature.Conclusions. The fact of the existence of several departments of the All-Russian Society of Distillers in the Ukrainianterritories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries has been established, in particular, the Podolsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihivand Volyn Province Distillers’ Society. It has been proven that it was thanks to the initiative of the distillery department of theKharkiv Society of Agriculture and Agricultural Industry, established in 1902, that it was possible to organize the establishmentin 1907 of the All-Russian Society of Distillers’ Society with an office in St. Petersburg. In addition to the fact that the tasks ofthe distillery departments of agricultural societies primarily included defending the interests of distillers of the respective provinces to improve the conditions for production and marketing of products, they were actively engaged in scientific research for the needs of the industry. Thus, it was found that the merit of the Kharkiv Society of Agriculture and Agricultural Industry was in the establishment at the end of the 19th century of several separate fields (Shebekynsky, Kryasnyansky, Troitsky, Morochansky), and in 1910 — the Network of Experimental Fields for Potato Cultivation. The network was engaged in varietal research of potato culture for the needs of distilling. The laboratories of the Kharkiv and Kyiv Societies of Agriculture and Agricultural Industry carried out analyzes, providing distilleries with high-quality experimental materials.