ASIATIC RUSSIA 131 



entitled Asiatic Russia, with an accompanying hand- 

 some volume of maps. One of the sections of this 

 important work deals with the " forest wealth " of 

 this enormous stretch of country. It is written by 

 V. V. Faas, and its appearance at the present time 

 must be looked upon as most opportune. From this 

 and other sources open to me, it has been possible to 

 form a very fairly accurate idea of the position, 

 probable yield capacity and importance, both present 

 and prospective, to the world's timber markets of 

 these forests of Asiatic Russia. 



The area of country now being dealt with stretches 

 from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific, including 

 Siberia, the Steppe region, and Turkestan. Lake 

 Baikal divides Siberia into two almost equal parts, 

 western and eastern. The western half comprises the 

 Governments of Tobolsk, Tomsk, Enessey, Irkutsk, 

 and the districts of Turgai and Uralsk ; the eastern 

 half has the Transbaikal, Sea-coast, Amur, and Sachalin 

 districts. That vast tract, the Steppe region, com- 

 prises the Semipalatinsk and Akmolinsk districts, 

 and in addition there are the great stretches of Turkes- 

 tan. As will be understood, the climate, or various 

 climates, of this extensive country vary greatly from 

 arctic to hot, and this variation in climate is accom- 

 panied by a considerable divergence in character of 

 the forests occupying different parts of the region. 



The forests of Asiatic Russia are very unevenly 

 distributed throughout the different Governments of 

 Siberia, the Steppe region, and Turkestan, and, 

 owing to the sparse population inhabiting these tracts 

 in the past, very little attention has been paid to 



