OMSK 91 



artel, or by some merchant more wealthy than others 

 who sets up a thrashing machine driven by a steam 

 engine and fitted complete at a cost of £300 to 

 £600. With this machine he does the thrashing for 

 others as well as for himself. Three or four peasants 

 also sometimes unite their forces to procure a 

 machine costing £30 or £40, which is worked by 

 four or six horses. Mowing machines are all im- 

 ported from' America, and cost about £20 each. The 

 English harvesting machine is too expensive for the 

 Russian peasant, while the Russian article is very 

 clumsy. For this reason the American machine, 

 which is light and inexpensive, easily holds the 

 market. The ploughs made by the Russians them- 

 selves are best for their purposes. One of wood 

 and iron costs from £1 to £1 los. ; a steel plough 

 can be obtained for from £2 to £3. Of these latter 

 Siberia imported 4,000 in 1903, which cost from 

 £2 I OS. to £3 each. 



Although the Government competition is keen, the 

 butter merchants contrive to make a good profit on 

 machinery, which they sell to the peasantry. There 

 is no duty on machinery introduced into Siberia and, 

 when the demand for good machinery throughout 

 the country is supplied, there is every reason to 

 believe that the results, especially where the pro- 

 duction of grain is concerned, will be very satis- 

 factory. The trade in machinery at Omsk is of 

 quite recent growth, having sprung up in consequence 

 of the construction of the railway, and the importance 

 of the town as a distributing centre will be readily 

 recognised when it is remembered that it is situated 

 in the heart of a. region of 2,000 square miles of 

 the finest pasture land in the world. 



A long caravan of sledges, drawn by camels and 

 laden with tea from' China, lent the town a distinctly 

 Asiatic appearance. The camels and drivers looked 



