Russia's Wheat Surplus 



583 



the average cost per bushel of spring 

 wheat in 1899— 1903 was 36 cents in Mid- 

 dle Volga, 39 cents in Lower Volga, and 

 48 cents in New Russia, not including 

 land rent, which has been constantly ris- 

 ing during the last twenty years, because 

 of the intense demand of peasants for 

 more land. 



Within twenty years the value of land 

 in the wheat belt has risen from $10 to 

 $30 per acre, and wheat land rents for 

 $3 and $4 an acre, which adds a charge 

 of from 20 to 50 cents per bushel, de- 

 pending on the yield. With the rent 

 added, the cost of production of wheat 

 rises to 55 to 80 cents per bushel. 



The future of wheat production in 

 Russia depends largely upon economic 

 conditions and the educational progress 

 of the Russian peasants. Forty years 

 ago the Russian peasantry was uniformly 

 illiterate. According to the census of 

 1897, 35 per cent of the adult male peas- 

 ants were literate, and in the younger 

 generation the proportion of literacy was 

 still higher. 



Bread cereals have always been the 

 mainstav of Russian agriculture. Thev 



claim over 75 per cent of all cultivated 

 land in Russia, as against 20 per cent in 

 the United States ; but forty years ago 

 the share of wheat in Russia was small 

 in comparison with that of rye, the Rus- 

 sian staple. Since the Russian land 

 tiller began to produce for the foreign 

 market, the strong demand for wheat 

 has had its effect. During the last 

 twenty-five years the acreage under rye 

 in European Russia has remained about 

 65,000,000 acres, while the acreage under 

 wheat has increased from 29,000,000 to 

 46,000,000. Taking the entire Russian 

 Empire, the acreage under rye has in- 

 creased from 70,000,000 acres in 1894 to 

 74,000,000 acres in 1904, while that 

 under wheat has increased from 41,600,- 

 000 to 59,200,000 acres. 



Of the immense territory of Russia, 

 the wheat belt occupies a comparatively 

 small share. There is very little wheat 

 grown beyond the southern and eastern 

 parts of the famous black-soil region. 

 Eight provinces in the south and south- 

 east contain 70 per cent of the wheat 

 acreage of all Russia, Caucasia has about 

 12^2 per cent, and Siberia 6 per cent. 



BURNING THE ROADS 



CONGRESS some time ago estab- 

 lished an Office of Public Roads, 

 which it instructed to conduct experi- 

 ments and devise methods for improving 

 the roads of the United States. The 

 office has done a great deal to arouse 

 interest throughout the country in the 

 necessity of good roads, and has orig- 

 inated several means of making good 

 roads economically. The latest discov- 

 ery is that of burning clay roads in 

 Mississippi. 



Tn large areas in the South, partic- 

 ularly in the valleys of the Mississippi 

 and its tributaries, sedimentary clays are 

 found very generally. In these areas 

 there is little or no sand, and the clavs 



are of a particularly plastic and sticky 

 variety. These sticky clays are locally 

 known as "gumbo" and "buckshot." In 

 such localities traffic is absolutely impos- 

 sible during the wet season, as the wheels 

 of heavy vehicles will sink to the hub. 



The clay is black, owing to the high 

 percentage of organic or vegetable matter 

 it contains. It is particularly sticky in 

 its nature and is almost wholly free from 

 sand and grit. After it has been burned, 

 however, the plasticity is entirely de- 

 stroyed, and a light clinker is formed, 

 which, though not particularly hard, 

 when pulverized forms a smooth surface 

 and seems to wear well. It should be 

 understood that not all of the clav out of 



