] 1 2 SIBERIA. 



pjoscnt. iJut us the main luass of pt-a-sant labour is expornkil upon agriculture, cattle 

 breeding actually attains largo dimensions only where there exsists, on the one hand, an abund- 

 ance of meadows and pastures, and on the other hand, the lack of arable land liberates in 

 summer time tli(! giealrr part of tin; working capacity of the peasantry, and where at the 

 same time the bail ((iiality of the ploughed land forces the peasants to seek some supplement- 

 ary source of existence. Thus, in the Tobolsk government cattle raising is especially devel- 

 oped ill the steppi! localiti(!s of the Tiukalinsk district, in llie Tomsk government, in the steppes 

 of the Kuinsk district and in the Clnilym part of the Tomsk district, all of them being localities 

 where agriculture is placed in comparatively bad rundiiions. Jiut in these places even th-; 

 importance of cattle breeding can nowhere be placed above that of agriculture. The latter 

 still yields the main support of existence, it feeds the population, while cattle breeding only 

 serves to satisfy its comparatively secondary necessities, and to make good those deficits 

 which appear in the peasant economy in consequence of bad harvests. 



The extent of live stock breeding is very various both for whole locatities and for in- 

 dividual homesteads. There are well to do farmers who have from 10 to 15 farm horses, 25 

 to 30 head of large-horned cattle, 40 to 50 sheep. There are again wealthy men who have 

 40 to 50 horses and a hundred or more head of cattle. Finally, some men are so poor 

 that they possess either no live stock at all, or only one horse or a cow. Turning then to 

 averages it appears that there are volosts where the household, leaving out of account young 

 animals, owns 5 or G farm horses, 5 to 6 cows, and 15 to 20 sheep. Others again on an 

 average per household have not more than two horses, one cow and 3 or 4 sheep, or even less. 

 Summing up for the whole agricultural tract of Siberia, the standard allowance of live stock 

 per household may be taken at 3 to 4 working horses, 2 to 3 milch cows, with the corres- 

 ponding number of young cattle, and 6 to 8 sheep. 



Horses in the agricultural tract of Siberia are kept mainly for farm work, but in 

 many localities besides this for the conveyance of goods. Upon the tract a considerable part 

 of the horses are kept specially for the passenger traffic, the post et cetera. The Siberian horse 

 is on the whole small, is easily satisfied as regards food and water, and supports alike heat 

 and cold. He is fast but not strong, so that the normal load of the ordinary peasant horse 

 on a good road docs not exceed 20 to 25 pouds. Only the better sort of dray horses draw 

 28 to 30 pouds and for short distances, 35 pouds. The types of horses in different localities of 

 Siberia are not imiform. Thus, in the southern steppe portion of the Tobolsk government 

 the horses are a cross with the steppe or Kirghiz strain, and are distinguished by extraor- 

 dinary speed and staying powers. In the region around Tomsk the horses are somewhat 

 bigger and do not possess the speed of the steppe or Kirghiz breed, but are on the other 

 hand, very good for heavy draught and farm work, for which the Tomsk horses are famous and 

 fetch a high price over all Eastern Siberia and Amouria. The Transbaikal horse on the other 

 hand, is short and thin' and is not distinguished either by its pace or capacity for draught. 

 The prices of horses are everywhere subject to ^^^de fluctuations. In the steppe districts 

 of the Tobolsk government and in the localities of the Tomsk government remote from the 

 tract, the average peasant horse Is not worth more than 12 to 15 roubles. In the northern 

 districts of the Tobolsk government and in the tract localities of that of Tomsk, it fetches 



