[3] In early 1890s, an English writer Arnold White visited the Kherson colonies to investigate the status of Russian Jews by commission from Baron Hirsch.
He noted that colonies grew due to natural population increase since their inception, despite hardships, and that after 80 years, there was not enough land.
Other kolonii became the centres for new cash crops such as sugar beets, winter wheat, or sunflowers, which particularly made Ukraine the breadbasket for all of Europe.
Karl Marx cited the kolonii as examples of workers taking control and lifting themselves up through hard work.
[citation needed] Zionists in the early 20th century used Russian kolonii as models for kibbutzim in Israel, particularly in the Second Aliyah after 1904.