districts were thoroughly colonized, and properly cultivated, they could support five times the present population of European Russia—i.e. 500,000,000 people. At present the population of the whole Siberian continent is only 8,000,000 people.
Wheat Cultivation
Since nearly three-quarters of the population of Western Siberia are peasants, agriculture is by far the greatest industry. The possibilities of wheat growing in the Kurgan and Ishim steppes are now being realized, for this is the only agricultural district in Siberia near enough to Europe to make the export of wheat profitable. The railway freights from Chelyabinsk to the Baltic ports at present just admit of the export of wheat to Western Europe, and when the Omsk-Tiumen railway is completed a considerable growth in the wheat export from Siberia can be expected. Export of wheat from Siberia to European Russia began in 1899 and has continued with interruptions, owing to bad harvests, ever since. The wheat produced in Western Siberia has, however, in spite of its great increase in quantity, been largely absorbed by the increased demands of the growing urban population of European Russia and of Siberia itself, and unless the cultivated wheat area extends at a much greater rate than hitherto, the balance of wheat available for export from Siberia to Western Europe is not likely greatly to increase.
The Dairy Industry, its Growth and Importance
One of the most important products of Western Siberian agriculture is butter. Being small in bulk,
