EXPEDITION TO THE ALTAI 149 



half sledges, proving that the surroimdingi country, 

 like that we had traversed, was still frozen, while the 

 town, being sheltered from the wind, was relatively 

 free of snow. 



.We had been invited to stay At the house of the 

 only Englishman resident in that district, so we 

 immediately drove to our quarters.. 



The following morning I paid visits to the various 

 butter merchants of the town, who are at the same 

 time dairy owners and who collect from other dairies 

 within a 300-mile radius. Two of them showed me 

 gold medals which they had received for their pro- 

 duce at the Agricultural Exhibition held some short 

 time previously at Bamaoul. Bysk appears to be 

 a coming centre for the butter trade. As at other 

 centres, the peasant who brings his butter to Bysk 

 takes the opportunity at the same time of purchasing 

 whatever he may be in need of and, as the town 

 contains the only market within a very wide radius, 

 an extensive trade is done in a number of various 

 articles. The practice, already referred to, of selling 

 separators to the dairy farmers, with a guarantee 

 to pay the best prices for the butter supplied by 

 them, is common at Bysk, and has the inevitable 

 effect of maintaining a low standard quality of butter. 

 Until the practice is stopped the peasant, who has no 

 incentive to improve the quality of his product, will 

 make no effort in that direction. Other articles are 

 sold by the butter merchants, such as agricultural 

 machinery, casks, wrappers, parchment, and salt, but 

 the latter is of poor quality and frequently spoils 

 the butter. The farmers of Bysk are forming 

 associations similar to those which exist in other 

 centres . 



On the following night we attended a reception, 

 several prominent citizens, including the judge for 

 the district, being profoundly interested in what they 



