WHEAT IN ASIA 293 



into huts made of dry mud. There they are 

 placed in storage until threshing time. The 

 bundles are then loosened ; the stalks of grain are 

 spread over the floor ; and the wheat is tramped 

 from the straw by the hoofs of cattle or donkeys 

 which are driven over it. Modern threshers have 

 not yet found their way to this part of Asia. 



In noticeable contrast to European countries is 

 the fact that the work in the fields is all done by 

 men. Mohammedan restrictions forbid outdoor 

 labor for women. 



The available statistics for this region give 

 18,104,000 bushels as the average annual pro- 

 duction for the years 1901-1908 inclusive. Re- 

 liable data are impossible to secure and so the 

 above is thus very little better than an estimate. 



The Wheat Region of Transcaucasia. - - Un- 

 der this head is included the land which lies be- 

 tween the Black and the Caspian seas, an area of 

 approximately 180,000 square miles. This coun- 

 try has also a diversity of topography, soil, and 

 climate. Since the broad valleys of the eastern 

 slope are deficient in rainfall, they are not exten- 

 sively cultivated. 



The western slope, on the other hand, with 

 fairly dependable rainfall and a fertile soil, is one 

 of the richest parts of the Russian Empire. 



Methods of Cultivation and Transportation. - 

 Agricultural methods are primitive here also and 



