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per cent, or 142,000,000 acres, is found in the chernozium area. The black soil is of great uniformity in type and composition, varies in depth from a few inches to about 4 feet, and owes its dark color to its high proportion of organic substances (4 to 16 per cent). The Russian Steppes have fully as great a similarity to the Great Plains of the United States in climate as in soil, although greater extremes prevail.

The similarity between Russia and the United States in the natural resources of the wheat growing regions is quite equaled by the dissimilarity in political practice, social theory and economic condition. The Slav does not possess the Anglo-Saxon's proud institutional heritage. The Russian proletariat have no "Uncle Sam" who is rich enough to provide farms for all. There is, indeed, plenty of land, and they do have the Little Father, who is supposed to exercise a paternal care over his people. Sadly lacking in the institutions that are fundamental for progress and prosperity, however, the Russian people have found the Little Father to be far less capable and generous in aiding their material advancement than is essential to its realization. Consequently they have been unable to rise above their ignorance, poverty and misery. A population of exuberant fertility residing in a land of unlimited natural resources, the Russian peasantry have had neither means nor opportunity to attain a higher plane of life. The poor system of land ownership and the antiquated methods of agriculture made Russian wheat a dear wheat in spite of cheap labor and a low standard of living. The future possibilities of Russian wheat production depend upon the social, economic and educational progress of Russia. There are symptoms of improvement in this direction. The extension of peasant land ownership is improving economic conditions. It seems that political and social conditions are at last changing and popular education is growing. In agriculture, better machinery is being introduced, and crops are being rotated. The production of wheat increased 122 per cent in European Russia from 1870 to 1904. From 1881 to 1904 the acreage in wheat gained 57.3 per cent, while that of rye gained only 1.7 per cent, and the ratio between wheat and rye changed from 45:100 to 70:100. The yield of wheat per acre decreases from west to east.

Since the construction of the Great Siberian Railway the actual and potential productive powers of Asiatic Russia, and especially of Siberia, have been an interesting subject for speculation in Europe and America. In the popular conception previous to this event, Siberia was a land of polar nights and eternal snow, the monotony of whose dreary wastes was broken only by the clanking chains of Russia's exiles-exiles who were not always criminals, but who, according to Occidental ideas, frequently represented the very flower of Russian citizenship.

AREA UNDER WHEAT IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE1
(In round thousands)

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1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bul. 42, 1906, p. 16.

With the completion of the railway, foreign conception underwent a great change, and Siberia suddenly became the "future granary of the world.” Subsequent developments have not met expectations, for the true Siberia is a mean between these conceptions. This enormous country, which is 24 times as large as the German Empire, and nearly twice as large as the United States proper, has a very rigorous climate, and perhaps only half of it is habitable, while a still smaller portion is suitable for agriculture. This still leaves an immense area, however, upon which the cultivation of wheat is not only possible, but probable. Wheat is at present the most important crop of Siberia. It is exceedingly difficult to foretell the rôle which the Russian Empire is destined to play in the world's future wheat production. The possibilities are tremendous. Since, however, they are so largely dependent upon social, economic and institutional evolution, it is very improbable that Russia will duplicate the rapid development of wheat production which took place in the United States. While the development will be gradual, it is probable that Russian production will be one of the great permanent factors in the wheat industry.' India's Wheat Production.-The two factors which enabled India to become a large exporter of wheat were the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the subsequent development of the railroads. The former gave an enormous stimulus. to wheat cultivation. Wheat thrives best on the dry plains of the Punjab and on the plateaus of the central provinces. Agricultural conditiors in different parts of India, and meteorological conditions in different parts and in different seasons, are so diverse that the annual production varies greatly and is extremely difficult to predict. India wheat as a factor in the world market is made still more uncertain by the fact that domestic consumption is unusually susceptible to variations resulting from changes in the price that may be obtained in the export markets.

In recent years the annual wheat area in British India has been approximately 28,000,000 acres. About one-fourth of this is planted in the United Provinces, and about one-fourth in the Punjab. Of the remaining wheat area, the Central Provinces

1 Rubinow, Russia's Wheat Surplus, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bul. 42, 1906.

have annually about 3,000,000 acres; Central India and Bombay about 2,000,000 acres each; Bengal about 1,500,000 acres; and Rajputana, Hyderabad and the Northwest Frontier Province each about 1,000,000 acres. Beror and Sind are the only other important wheat-growing provinces, and each has an annual area of about 500,000 acres. The wheat is harvested during our spring months. The wheat from the Central Provinces is shipped from Bombay. That of the Punjab is collected at Multan and shipped from Karachi. There has also been a large export of flour, which is ground at Bombay and other centers.

AREA, PRODUCTION AND EXPORT OF WHEAT IN INDIA, AND THE GAZETTE PRICE OF BRITISH WHEAT

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Argentina's Wheat Production.-The wheat industry of Argentina is similar to that of Russia in some of its most important phases. While the country is of much smaller extent, its land, climate and railroad extension are available potentials for an enormously expanded wheat production. As in Russia, the wheat area cannnot be definitely determined without years of experimentation and a great increase in population. Here,

too, there are vast arable plains of great fertility, a fertility of which little is known to the world on account of poor methods of farming and on account of the fact that much of the land has not been under cultivation. The cattle industry was first developed in Argentina, and for many years it completely overshadowed agriculture. Thousands and even hundreds of thousands of acres were owned by the great cattle kings who had no desire to have their land broken up, because they knew nothing of its agricultural value. Another controlling factor is the dependence of agricultural work upon immigrants and their descendants. These immigrants differ greatly in character from those found upon the new lands of the United States and Canada. The great number of illiterate peddlers, laborers, cobblers, and what-not of Italy, Spain and Russia do not become intelligent farmers. They do not endeavor to become permanent additions to the population by securing ownership of the land which they cultivate. They are chiefly Italians having a very low standard of living and little efficiency as laborers. Many of them return to Italy within a year after their coming. According to the census of 1900, not one farmer in three is a renter in the United States, but in Argentina two out of every three do not own the land which they till. Two systems of renting are in vogue in the latter country, the "medianero," or share system, and the "arrendatario," or cash system. The government encourages immigration by offering free transportation from Europe and by making easy the acquisition of land. There are Jewish, Russian, Swiss, German, Austrian, Italian, Spanish and Scandinavian settlements. The number of immigrants averages about 100,000 per annum, and the number of emigrants at least half this number. Generally speaking, the Argentine wheat farmer will submit to life conditions that would not be endured in North America, for he has been accustomed to hardships in Europe. He is slow in understanding what a republic means. Class distinctions between rich and poor are sharply drawn.

Agricultural methods and conditions are improving, however, and Argentina is certain to assume a higher rank as a producer of wheat and other cereals. Twenty-five years ago not enough wheat was produced for domestic consumption. During the

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