TENUEE AND USE OF LAND. 105 



Thus 22 to 25 roubles per dessiatine for spring grain, sown ou fallow, and 12.to 15 roubles 

 per dessiatine ou stubble field, are the approximate standards, around which the entire cost 

 of the production of grain in agricultural Siberia fluctuates, and in particular in such parts 

 of it where farming is carried on according to the rest-fallow system. In those localities of the To- 

 bolsk government, where the passage has already been effected to farming with manure and a 

 necessary three-field or two-field rotation of crops, the total cost of the operations per dessiatine 

 is as follows: 



Three-field region with manuring of part of fallow 32 to 34 roubles t 2 gi'ain crops in 

 » » » .■> » » whole » » 43 •!> f rotation. 



» » » 19 to 20 » per crop. 



Before passing to the question of the yield, it is necessary to say a few words on the 

 thickness of sowing. Here, as in what has preceded, it is impossible to cite any figures having 

 au application to the whole of Siberia. The thickness of sowing per dessiatine in different 

 localities varies as follows: 



For winter rye between .... 6 — 7 and 14 — 16 chetveriks. 



» spring i> » .... 5 — 7 » 11 — 12 » 



» » wheat » .... 6 — 8 » 14 — 16 » 



» oats » » ... .12— 16 » 23 — 32 » 



» barley » » .... 8 — 12 » 20 — 24 » 



But the lowest of these figures now are very rarely met with, namely only upon freshly 

 cleared, very fertile lauds. The highest refer exclusively to the northern border land of agri- 

 culture, to localities with two-field farming, and also three-field with manuring of the whole 

 of the fallow. In the case of the region of greatest development of agriculture the limits of 

 variation are much narrower. The amount sown per dessiatine is ordinarily: 



Rye, winter and spring from 8 to 10 chetveriks. 



Wheat » 10 » 12 » 



Barley » 12 » 14 » 



Oats » 16 » 20 » 



The sowing is the thinner the more southern the locality; the better and fresher the 

 soil, the earlier the given land is sown; it is, on the contrary, the thicker, the further to the 

 north, the more the land is exhausted and the poorer in organic matter. A mistake in the 

 thickness of the sowing threatens the farmer with very lamentable consequences. If the 

 sowing has been carried out too tliinly, the young plants are threatened with danger from 

 weeds; if too thickly, with a rich soil and moist weather, the grain may easily over tiller 

 and the ears fill badly. 



The extremely treacherous nature of the harvests, their violent fluctuations from very 

 high figures to zero, form an important and characteristic feature of Siberian agricultural 

 economy. An exception is only formed by the localities lying near the northern limit of 

 agriculture, those localities where the transition has already been accomplished to manuring and 

 the three or two-field system. Thanks to the influence of manure and the treading of the fallow 



