5 8o 



The National Geographic Magazine 



but there is a striking preponderance of 

 almost every kind common to the tem- 

 perate zone, with the exception of the 

 apple. 



The Koreans are great lover's of flow- 

 ers, though comparatively few have the 

 means to indulge this taste. 



As for animal life, Korea has a gener- 

 ous share. The magnificent bullocks 

 which carry the heavy loads, draw the 

 carts, and pull the plows are the most 

 conspicuous. It is singular that the Ko- 

 reans have never used milk or any of its 

 products, though the cow has existed in 

 the peninsula for at least thirty-five hun- 

 dred years. This is one of the proofs 

 that the Koreans have never been a 

 nomadic people. Without his .bullock 

 the farmer would be all at sea. No other 

 animal would be able to drag the plow 

 through the adhesive mud of a paddy 

 field. Great mortality among cattle, due 

 to pleuro-pneumonia, not infrequently 

 becomes the main cause of a famine. 

 There are no oxen in Korea. Most of 

 the work is done with bullocks, which 

 are governed by a ring through the nose 

 and are seldom obstreperous. Every 

 road in Korea is rendered picturesque 

 by long lines of bullocks carrying on 

 their backs huge loads of fuel in the 

 shape of grass, fagots of wood, or else 

 fat bags of rice and barley. 



Korea produces no sheep. 



Reputable language is hardly adequate 

 to the description of the Korean dog; no 

 family would be complete without one ; 

 but its bravery varies inversely as the 

 square of its vermin, which is calculable 

 in no known terms. 



The Koreans differ from the Japanese 

 in that, while the latter keep themselves 

 warm by the use of heavy blankets, and 

 in winter are most frequently seen 

 crouched about their charcoal braziers, 

 the Korean heats his house generously 

 and depends upon his hot stone floor for 

 comfort. The effect, while perhaps no 

 better from a hygienic standpoint, is de- 

 cidedly more comfortable. It is also 

 much more costly- People have won- 

 dered why Korea looks so barren com- 

 pared with Japan. The reason lies right 

 here : Koreans keep their wood cut down 

 to the quick, to provide themselves with 

 fuel, while the Japanese let the forests 

 grow. 



The only way by which the Koreans 

 will be able to preserve their nationality, 

 says Mr Hulbert, is education. The 

 Koreans have awakened to the fact that 

 this, which should have been their first 

 consideration many years ago, is now 

 their last resort, and they are clamoring 

 for education. 



RUSSIA'S WHEAT SURPLUS 



SOME interesting facts are given 

 about the Russian peasants and 

 the agrarian question in a bul- 

 letin recently issued by the Department 

 of Agriculture, entitled "Russia's Wheat 

 Surplus." The report was prepared by 

 Dr I. M. Rubinow and is one of a series 

 dealing with the competitors of the 

 United States in agricultural products. 



The Russian wheat crop has increased 

 from 400,000,000 bushels in 1 896-1 898 

 to 630,000,000 bushels in 1902-1904. 

 The wheat area is over 10,000,000 acres 

 larger than that of the United States, 



and in 1903 and 1904 the Russian crop 

 exceeded the crop of this country. 



Nevertheless, the crop is small when 

 the acreage is considered, the average 

 yield of wheat per acre in Russia being 

 the lowest of all important wheat- 

 growing countries. In European Russia 

 it varied within the last twenty-three 

 years from 5 to 11 bushels per acre. 

 Nine times out of the twenty-three years 

 it was below 8 bushels. If the Russian 

 peasant obtained as good a yield as the 

 German peasant, the wheat crop of Eu- 

 ropean Russia alone would amount to 



