and worked by the Governments of Russia and Finland, and nearly 5,600 miles were under construction.
From time to time reports have come of the immense wheat possibilities of Siberia. Growing in definiteness as the land became better known, they yet have not attained to such a degree of accuracy or distinctiveness as to give a basis for testing their truth. As early as 1888 the representative of the United States in Russia reflected some of the glowing accounts. There were "vast bodies" of land in southern Siberia, capable of producing "an unlimited quantity" of all cereals. "Along the banks of the Obi, Yenisei, and Lena, and for hundreds of square miles between them, the land is a garden spot, the soil consisting of a rich, black earth. . . . It is virgin soil, and is as rich as the delta of the Nile. Owing to lack of transportation, the prices of land, grain, meat, and labor are ridiculously low."
In the famine year, when it may be assumed that all available sources of grain were drawn upon, about 9,000,000 bushels of Siberian grain were purchased, and it was stated that more than 6,000,000 bushels more could have been obtained had the means of transporting them existed. The sales in such an exceptional year can not be taken to represent the usual available quantities, and the possibilities of marketing at such distances are yet to be tested.
Thus Russia stands on wheat where the United States stood in the middle of the century. Tier farmers are hampered by lack of transportation, by debts, and by the survivals of a régime of serfs. In Europe, Russian wheat finds a ready market, naturally protected against outside competitors by propinquity or geographical position. But the peasant of Russia will consume more of his product each year, and it is very doubtful if the wheat capabilities can develop to such an extent as to place the country in a position to command her present market. An economic revolution must first be accomplished, and there is evidence of its approach at the present time. It may be checked by the Asiatic ambitions of the Czar, but on its accomplishment depends the future of wheat in that great empire.
