WHEAT IN ASIA 295 



That its influence is being felt is evidenced by the 

 fact that even now the caravan trade of the east 

 is being diverted from India into Russia. Both 

 of these great railways were built primarily as 

 military lines, but they are fast becoming highways 

 of commerce. 



Siberia is characterized by her long rivers, 

 among which the chief ones are the Obi, the 

 Yenisei, and the Lena. The main trunks of these 

 streams extend southward 1000 to 1200 miles and, 

 with their tributaries, spread fanlike through an 

 immense area of country. The great drawback 

 to all the Siberian streams is that they flow north- 

 ward into a frozen sea. In spite of this fact 

 transportation, developed along the upper courses, 

 may be made tributary to railway lines. This 

 will partly solve the problem for a vast area of 

 country. Since the whole region is a vast plain, 

 the construction of roads will not demand any 

 great amount of engineering skill. Siberia, indeed, 

 is a country of vast and magnificent distances. 



Most of the wheat exported from Siberia is 

 shipped by rail through European Russia to the 

 countries of western Europe. The principal mar- 

 kets have been in Germany. The export trade 

 has been hampered by lack of railroads, and 

 recent development has only partly overcome this 

 difficulty. 



Commercially, wheat in Asiatic Russia is more 



