TEMPERATE SURPLUS-PRODUCING REGIONS 93 



In the meantime, sheep-rearing, till now a neglected industry in 

 Siberia, might be established on sound foundations. A compara- 

 tively small capital outlay is required for this industry where 

 land is abundant and cheap, and the steppes and mountain country 

 of Western and Central Siberia are said to be well adapted to this 

 branch of animal industries. 1 



In animal produce it seems that Siberia is likely to increase con- 

 siderably its exportable surplus of butter and of eggs, and may 

 develop a large export trade in finished beef and pig-meat. Atten- 

 tion may also be given in the near future to the production of 

 cheese 2 and of mutton, but the exports of these articles to coun- 

 tries outside Russia are not likely to be great for some time. 



In any case, Siberia remains one of the few great animal-raising 

 regions in the world of temperate climate as yet only partialty 

 developed, and, though it has undoubted mineral wealth, the 

 increase in non-agricultural population will scarcely affect the sur- 

 plus of foodstuffs for a number of years to come. 



EASTERN EUROPE AND SIBERIA. 



REVIEW AND SUMMARY. 



The whole of this region, from the German frontier to Lake 

 Baikal, and from the Balkan Mountains to the Arctic tundra, is 

 a single unit from the point of view of agricultural geography. It 

 shows certain variations in products according to soil and latitude, 

 but the dominant features are the same throughout. 



The continental climate, the level and open tracts of country, 

 the accumulated fertility of the prairie soil, and the comparative 

 poverty and the unskilled traditions of the people, combine together 

 to make the cultivation of cereals (wheat, rye, barley, oats, linseed 

 or maize, according to latitude), or of special crops such as sugar 

 beet, flax and hemp, the leading industry. Everywhere, also, 

 except in a few specialised mining or manufacturing districts, the 

 population is almost entirely rural. Agriculture in its various 

 forms is, and will remain for a long time to come, the staple indus- 

 try, and the export trade of the whole region will continue to be 

 dominated by agricultural produce. 



Animal industries are in general comparatively neglected. 

 To this statement, however, there are some noteworthy exceptions, 

 among which the most striking are the poultry industry of 

 Russia and Galicia, the dairying, cattle-rearing and poultry 

 industries of Siberia, the sheep-farming on the mountain lands 

 towards the West and South, and finally the pig-raising industry 

 of Hungary. In the sum-total of the world's international trade, 

 Russian and Austro-Hungarian eggs and Siberian butter have 

 already been important items. So far as resources alone are 

 concerned, there is no reason why these exports should not increase 



1 U.S. Daily Commerce Report, Jan. 16, 1913, p. 190. 



2 Report of British Vice-Consul at Omsk for 1911, p. 39. 



