The book was written as a guide for collectors of folklore, so the authors put in it a huge amount of information on the essence of folklore and its forms, the specifics of the development of ‘the village poetry’ at the moment (1926). For researchers of religion, this work is interesting for its comments on the processes of modernization of religious life in the countryside. The authors write about the importance of studying folk legends, that did not disappear after the Revolution, unlike those varieties of folklore that are closely related to the rituals of the life cycle (wedding and funeral). Transformation of the wedding ritual, traditional wedding songs began to be lost, but funeral laments were still a traditional element of village funerals at the time of the creation of this text, although the authors stress the inevitability of the disappearance of crying due to the change in the ritual. The departure of Christianity from the space of private life also provokes some transformation of magic formulas closely associated with church prayers. Important observations in relation to the beginning of the 20s are also contained in the part of the book about  the interaction of oral and written traditions. S. notes that ‘the village poetry’ is dying under the influence of written song-books, rather popular among the village youth. The researcher also touches the problems arising in the collection of magic texts (conspiracies), not only medicinal, but also associated with industrial magic (beekeeping, blacksmithing, etc.), since “persons-practitioners” believe that any disclosure make the conspiracy invalid, and that one who divulged it may be punished.