THE QUESTION OF WHEAT. 363 



and worked by the Governments of Russia and Finland, and nearly 

 5,600 miles were under construction. 



From time to time reports have come of the immense wheat 

 possibilities of Siberia. Growing in definiteness as the land became 

 better known, they yet have not attained to such a degree of accuracy 

 or distinctiveness as to give a basis for testing their truth. As early 

 as 1888 the representative of the United States in Russia reflected 

 some of the glowing accounts. There were " vast bodies " of land 

 in southern Siberia, capable of producing " an unlimited quantity " 

 of all cereals. " Along the banks of the Obi, Yenisei, and Lena, 

 and for hundreds of square miles between them, the land is a garden 

 spot, the soil consisting of a rich, black earth. ... It is virgin soil, 

 and is as rich as the delta of the N^ile. Owing to lack of transpor- 

 tation, the prices of land, grain, meat, and labor are ridiculously 

 low." 



In the famine year, when it may be assumed that all available 

 sources of grain were drawn upon, about 9,000,000 bushels of 

 Siberian grain were purchased, and it was stated that more than 

 6,000,000 bushels more could have been obtained had the means of 

 transporting them existed. The sales in such an exceptional year can 

 not be taken to represent the usual available quantities, and the pos- 

 sibilities of marketing at such distances are yet to be tested. 



Thus Russia stands on wheat where the United States stood in 

 the middle of the century. Tier farmers are hampered by lack of 

 transportation, by debts, and by the survivals of a regime of serfs. 

 In Europe, Russian wheat finds a ready market, naturally protected 

 against outside competitors by propinquity or geographical position. 

 But the peasant of Russia will consume more of his product each 

 year, and it is very doubtful if the wheat capabilities can develop 

 to such an extent as to place the country in a position to command 

 her present market. An economic revolution must first be accom- 

 plished, and there is evidence of its approach at the present time. It 

 may be checked by the Asiatic ambitions of the Czar, but on its 

 accomplishment depends the future of wheat in that great empire. 



" Pasteur," say Dr. and Mrs. Percy Frankland in their biography of 

 him, " only worked at his ease in silence and meditation ; in his vicinity he 

 only tolerated his assistants; the presence of a stranger while he was oc- 

 cupied sufficed to disturb his work. One day, on going to visit Wurtz at 

 the Ecole de Medecine, he found the great chemist surrounded by students, 

 the laboratory resembling a hive full of bees in its bustling activity. ' How,' 

 exclaimed Pasteur, 'can you work in the midst of such commotion?' 'It 

 stimulates my ideas,' replied Wurtz. ' It would effectually banish all mine,' 

 was Pasteur's answer." 



