156 THE CEDAR TRADE OF ASIATIC RUSSIA 



But worse damage than this, serious as it is, takes 

 place. " Rather often," as it is expressed by a Russian 

 writer on the subject, " wholly inadmissible and 

 barbarous methods are employed, whole trees being 

 cut down or large branches cut off." The folly of 

 thus " killing the goose " must seem incredible to 

 those who have no acquaintance with the peculiar 

 point of view of the wilder and ignorant portions of the 

 Asiatic peoples. The cones are collected and placed 

 in bags by old men, women and children, and are 

 carried to the camp where the cedar merchants have 

 made their temporary headquarters, or taken direct 

 to the village. The extraction of the seeds from the 

 cones is now undertaken. For this purpose the cones 

 may be simply dried, when the scales open and the 

 seeds fall out, or the latter are extracted by means of 

 a grater and a roller. The seeds are then sifted by 

 being passed through a coarse sieve and winnowed in 

 the wind. The seed, if these processes have been 

 carried out by the collectors themselves, is then 

 disposed of to the buyers — the cedar merchants — who 

 themselves under take the further operations of cleaning 

 and drying it. The drying is done throughout 

 the autumn, and the seed is then stored. The mer- 

 chants usually build and own barns and store-houses 

 in which to store the dried seed as conveniently adjacent 

 to the pine forests and groves as possible. On the 

 Altai there is a large centre of this nature in the 

 Bezelbeke meadow not far from the confluence of the 

 Hara and Sasacockshee. In the following January 

 the seed is taken from the store-houses and dispatched 

 by the buyers to the \arious markets. 



