WHEAT IN ASIA 291 



The Extent of Production. - -Though the amount 

 of wheat produced in Siberia is steadily increasing, 

 the rate of increase is but little greater than that 

 of local demand. It is thus easily seen that un- 

 less the cultivated area is increased much more 

 rapidly than it has been in the past, and unless 

 more efficient methods of production are intro- 

 duced, the amount of export wheat from Siberia 

 cannot be expected to show a very rapid increase. 



The Wheat Region of Central Asiatic Russia. - 

 This area is sometimes called Turkestan. It is 

 located east of the Caspian Sea and includes a 

 stretch of land which has an extent of nearly 1600 

 miles east and west and from 500 to 700 miles 

 north and south. Physically it consists of two 

 very distinct divisions, - - the eastern mountain 

 and plateau region .and the western low-lying 

 plains. In these plains there is a great deal of 

 loess soil. 



The climate is dry and characterized by great 

 extremes of temperature. Although it is the 

 same latitude as Sicily, the winters are cold, and 

 the summer temperatures often exceed 100 in the 

 shade. The winter winds are likewise strong and 

 so the snow that falls is usually blown into drifts. 

 The annual rainfall is but 1 1 inches, and most of 

 this falls in the higher altitudes. The snow and 

 rainfall of the mountains, however, furnish a 

 continual flow of water in the rivers which traverse 



