1906.] 



Wheat Cultivation in Russia. 



543 



too severe for wheat. Nevertheless, the enormous area which is 

 more or less suitable for the latter crop has made Russia one of 

 the chief sources of the world's wheat supply, and the con- 

 ditions under which the crop is grown and the likelihood of an 

 extension in the production, are factors of the greatest import- 

 ance both to wheat-growing countries like the United States and 

 to wheat-purchasing countries like the United Kingdom. An 

 exhaustive inquiry into the information available on these points, 

 which has recently been made by Mr. I. M. Rubinow for the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, is valuable as suggest- 

 ing the very great enlargement, which is possible under favourable 

 conditions, of the wheat production of Russia. 



Soil. — European Russia is divided into two distinct regions 

 in regard to its soil, viz., the non-black anci the black soil 

 districts. The former includes the whole of the North and 

 North-Western regions, while the latter is a large territory 

 embracing the South and South-Eastern Governments, and 

 characterized by the possession of a very fertile soil, black or 

 dark in colour, varying in depth from a few inches to three to 

 four feet. It is on this soil that the largest part of the crops 

 of European Russia is grown, and with the exception of Poland, 

 it takes in the whole wheat belt. 



Area tinder WJieat and Rye,—T\\^ total quantity of arable land 

 in European Russia has grown considerably during recent years, 

 and the area planted to cereals, which represent the main crop, 

 has also increased, and now amounts to 90 per cent, of the land 

 in cultivation, or 58 per cent, of the arable, including that lying 

 fallow. Rye, wheat, oats, and barley are the staple products, 

 while millet and buckwheat are grown in large quantities. 

 Reliable statistics are not available for long periods, because 

 different areas have been included in different years, but an 

 examination of the figures for the decade 1 895-1904 shows on 

 the one hand the predominance of rye, and on the other the 

 steady gain of wheat. Though the area in rye has increased 

 somewhat in that period, proportionately it has fallen consider- 

 ably behind — from 38 per cent, of the cereal area in 1894 to 

 33*5 pst" cent, in 1904 ; while the area under wheat has increased 

 from 22 6 per cent, to 26*8 per cent, of the cereal area, during 

 the same decade, and all the other cereals, except buckwheat 



