Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/169

* SIBEBIA. 131 SIBERIA. zoic rocks. The direction of the mountain ranges, ehietly granite, was determined ages ago by the great disturbances that fractured, folded, or up- heaved the earth's crust. The high mountains of Kamtchatka are distinguislied by young erup- tive rocks and active volcanoes. About two- thirds of the gold of the Empire is mined in Si- beria (2S,'27G kilograms in 1S9SI). -But the gold resources have scarcely yet been touched ; the quartz deposits have been almost entirely neg- lected, and the phicerj; are worked by antiquated and expensive methods. The silver output in 18119 was 2737 kilograms from the Altai and Nertchinsk (Amur) mines, and 1384 kilograms from Semipalatinsk. The yield of coal in 1901 was 1)2,332 short tons, anthracite and bituminous, chiefly from mines 12 to 100 miles from Vladivo- stok. Great hopes are entertained of the future of the coal industry. Little attention has yet been paid to iron, copper, lead, and tin. though ueposils of these minerals are found, and mining is considered well worth developing. Siberia is particularly rich in graphite, and the best mines are controlled by the principal lead-pencil man- ufacturers of Germany. Agriculture. As to agriculture, Siberia must be divided into western and eastern halves. A'est- ern Siberia is more fertile and more thickly ]iopi- lated and is chielly devoted to agriculture (nine- tenths of the inhabitants are tillers of the soil), while mining and hunting are still more promi- nent in Eastern Siberia. All the land, with small exceptions, belongs to the Crown, which leases it to the separate conununes. b- which the land is redistributed among the inhabitants from time to time. All the best farming land has been taken up and many immigrants are now trying to make homes by the difficult operation of clearing tim- ber from the southern edge of the woodlands. Farming, in the American sense, can be carried on only in the south (in the west up to latitude 60° N. ; in the east to 55°), where most of the ordinary grains, potatoes, onions, melons, etc., are produced. The agricultural or southern belt of Western Siberia extends from the western bor- der to Lake Baikal, comprises about 178.000 square miles, three-fourths of which is good farming land with an alluvial soil (in the ex- treme west, the soil is black earth like that of the Russian wheat belt), and is well adapted for the cultivation of wheat, oats, rye. and barley, as well as cattle-raising. Nearly 9.000.000 acres were under cultivation in 1899: at the opening of the twentieth century the average annual harvest of cereals was nearly 3,000.000 tons (approximatelv ino.000.000 busliels) a year, of which about 60 per cent, was wheat and oats. 20 per cent, rye, and 20 per cent, liarlev. It is estimated that 300.000,000 acres all told may be turned into farming lands, of which the Anuir and maritime provinces will supply 69,000,000 acres. The sunmiers in the east, however, are not very favorable for cereal crops, on account of exces- sive moisture. Fruit and vines flourish only in a few sheltered localities on the Ussuri River. Horses, cattle, and sheep are behind agricul- ture in importance, but stock-raising is growing, particularly in Western Siberia, where there are 12.000.000 head, of which 60 per cent, are .sheep. In 1880 no butter was made in Siberia, but in 1902 there were 2500 butter factories, and the production in that year in the governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk and the Province of Akmo- linsk was over 80,000.000 pounds. The price of milk sold to the butter factories, which are owned and conducted by butter-exporting com- panies, advanced from 8 and 9 cents a pood (36 pounds, equivalent to about IS quarts) in 1894 to 20 and to 25 cents in 1902. Manufactures. Previous to 1890 the manu- facturing industries were almost entirelj- confined to tanning, tallow-boiling, distilling, brick-mak- ing, and ore-smelting (gold and silver ore treated at Barnaul and Nertchinsk). The build- ing of the Trans-Siberian Railroad has given con- siderable impetus to manufacturing by making it easier and less costly to import machinery for mills. At the same time the railroad has in- jured the household industries, which formerly supplied most of the clothing, furniture, and utensils, by enlarging the facilities for the im- portation of Russian manufactures. Tomsk is the largest manufacturing centre and its mills and factories are now supjilying porcelain, re- fined sugar, flour, iron wares, carpets, and other products in considerable variety. Other western towns also are growing in this respect ; and in the east, the Amur Province numbered 69 and the maritime provinces CO factories in 1901. The chief impediments are lack of good workmen and the high cost of fuel. Commerce. Xo trade statistics of Siberia are published. The enormous distances between dif- ferent parts of the country have always ham- pered both the domestic and the exterior trade, but this situation, mitigated by the development of steam navigation, has been still further im- proved by the Trans-Siberian Railroad, so that a great deal of grain is now sent from Western to Eastern Siberia, and more wheat and live cattle are sent to Russia and other European markets. In 1900 the railroad carried 17,575,023 poods (approximately 10,000,000 bushels) of cereals; nearly two-thirds of it w'ent west to Russia and other European markets, and the re- mainder was sent east as far as Lake Baikal. Wheat represented more than half of the exports of grain. The cattle exported numbered 9705. The large shipments of butter go to London and Hamburg; also to Copenhagen for reexport. Five butter trains left Siberia every week in 1900. The railroad also carried out of Siberia 1,594.246 poods of tea that had been brought to Kiakhta from China by caravan. An enormous amount of tea is still transported by sledge in winter and by the river routes in summer. General manufac- tures, iron and steel, and sugar, practically all from Russia, are the chief imports. The free- trade policy, long maintained in Siberia, ended in 1900. when the heaw duties levied in European Russia were imposed at the Siberian frontiers and ports. A short free list includes cereals (Eastern Siberia not raising all the grain needed) and agricultural and mining machinery. All Chinese products excepting tea and spiritu- ous liquors are on the free list. Transportation and Communication. In 1900 there were 132 steamers of 8555 tons on the rivers of the Ob system and 207 steamers of 19,257 tons on the rivers of the Yenisei. Lena, and Amur systems. On the Amur proper with its tributaries there were 163 steamers of 16.945 tons. The Siberian railroad has not yet greatly affected the business of the river routes, excepting in grain transportation. In 1900 only one-fifth of