THE QUESTION OF WHEAT. 



353 



one foot and a half to five feet. The mold consists chiefly of 

 loam, and in lesser proportion of oily clay mixed with organic 

 matters. It dries up rai)idly and becomes pulverized in the process; 

 but it becomes with rapidity impregnated with moisture, and under 

 the action of rain returns to its original condition of a sort of dough 

 as black as coal." * The population in this region numbers from 

 sixty-five to seventy-five to the square mile, and is increasing rapidly. 

 In the United States the States producing the largest returns of 

 wheat in 1896 were Minnesota, with a population of 16.4 to the 

 square mile; California, with 7.7; and Kansas, with 17.4. The 

 concentration in the Russian grain region becomes remarkable under 

 such a comparison. 



If the returns of cultivated land are defective, the estimates of 

 product are even more open to question. In a report prepared by 

 a Government commission appointed to investigate the condition of 

 wheat in European Russia, exclusive of Poland, the area under 

 winter wheat was given at 6,126,300 acres, and under summer 

 wheat at 20,764,890 acres, or a total of 26,891,190 acres. That was 

 about 1873. In 1892 the wheat acreage of all Russia in Europe, 

 including Poland, was 34,100,835 acres. In 1897 the total area 

 had risen to 36,738,500 acres, of which 24,411,500 were devoted 

 to summer wheat. The gradual extension of territory included in 

 the statistical returns makes comparison from year to year difiicult, 

 because the details of each year's aggregate differ. The following 

 table will lack that definiteness which would make it scientifically 

 valuable, yet is sufficiently clear to show the general tendency of 

 wheat culture in Russia since 1872: 



Erom the earliest recorded statistics of exports from Russia, 

 wheat has held an important position. When the repeal of the corn 



* Anatole LeroyBeaulieu. Empire of the Tsars, vol. i, p. 23. 



VOL. LIU.— 25 



t Includes Poland. 



