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 THE SIBEMAM 
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 UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY and 
 OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 and THE COUNTRY SERVED BY 
 THIS ORGANIZATION 
 
 Compiled by the Section of Economical Statistics of the 
 
 Board of the Union of the Siberian Creamery 
 
 Associations, May 1919, Omsk, Siberia 
 
 Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 
 1919 
 
^ ^ Us- 
 
 Translated from Russian by 
 ALEXANDER LOGOFET 
 
 Gi' 
 
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PREFACE 
 
 The World War has wrought great changes in the mutual relations 
 of nations. Old economic ties are broken; new political attractions have 
 been created; new paths are dimly seen in the spheres of trade, finance, 
 and human intercourse generally. 
 
 After the terrible storm and thunder, nations have awakened to a new 
 life which must be built upon a better and firmer foundation. To accom- 
 plish this they must know of the conditions of life in different countries 
 and also about the great economic organizations of other nations. 
 
 Regenerated Siberia, which more than a year ago threw off the ter- 
 rible yoke of Bolshevism, is endeavouring to establish commercial relations 
 with those industrial nations which promise her the possibility of an active 
 exchange of merchandise. 
 
 The oldest and greatest purely peasant organization in Siberia, — The 
 Union of the Siberian Creamery and other Co-operative Associations — 
 which has been working for over ten years in the market of Great Britain, 
 has now greatly extended its activities, and has decided to publish this 
 book to acquaint the interested business people of the United States, 
 Canada, and England with Western Siberia, and to supply a short descrip- 
 tion of the people's co-operative organization. 
 
 The Union of the Siberian Creamery Associations has bravely shoul- 
 dered the difficulties of stormy times, and now, making strides toward 
 a better future for the people of Siberia, it is anxious to promote strong 
 ties between the rural inhabitants of Siberia and the financial and indus- 
 trial circles of America and England. 
 
 We shall feel rewarded if this book helps ever so little this great 
 work of mutual understanding and knowledge. 
 
 JOSEPH K. OKULITCH, Grad. A^r. Eng. 
 General Manager for Western Europe and America of the 
 Union of the Siberian Creamery and other Co-operative Associations, 
 
 Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 
 October 1, 1919. 
 
 
INDEX OF CHARTS 
 
 1. Physical Map. 
 
 2. Soils. 
 
 3. Isotherms and annual precipitation. 
 
 4. Isotherms and summer precipitation. 
 
 5. Isotherms and winter precipitation. 
 
 6. Vegetation of Western Siberia. 
 
 7. Population of Western Siberia. 
 
 8. Races of Western Siberia. 
 
 9. Ways and communications of Western Siberia. 
 
 10. Trades and occupations of Western Siberia. 
 
 11. Mineral Deposits of Western Siberia. 
 
 COMPARATIVE TABLE OF RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN MONEY 
 
 AND MEASURES 
 
 Rouble in gold 51.46 cents 
 
 $ 1.94 roubles 
 
 pood (40 Russ. pounds) 36.1 English pounds 
 
 short ton (55.41 Russ. poods) 2000 English pounds 
 
 long ton (62.06 Russ. poods) 2240 English pounds 
 
 metric ton (61 Russ. poods) 2204.7 English pounds 
 
 desiatina 2.705 acres 
 
 aci'e 0.37 desiatines 
 
 versta 0.663 miles 
 
 mile 1.508 versts 
 
"THE UiNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY AND 
 OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS" 
 
 AND 
 THE COUiNTRY SERVED BY THIS ORGANIZATION 
 
 Organization. The Union of the Siberian Creamery and other Co- 
 operative Associations, on January 1st, 1919, combined about 2100 butter- 
 making associations and 2300 co-operative stores. 
 
 The membership of these organizations is composed of about 600,000 
 heads of peasant and Cossack households of Western Siberia, comprising 
 about 42% of the whole population of the territory where the Union of 
 the Siberian Creamery Associations has its creameries and stcres. 
 
 In its activities the Union covers the entire region of the Siberian 
 butter-making industry, which sprang up about a quarter of a century 
 ago and which, during the twenty years prior to the World War, de- 
 veloped to gigantic proportions in the northwestern part of the Asiatic 
 continent, called Western Siberia. It now occupies the southern third of 
 Western Siberia, equalling in size one-third of the whole United States. 
 
 The Siberian Butter-making District. The Siberian butter-making 
 district is situated in the southern part of the river Obi basin, between 
 the southern part of the Ural Mountains and the Altai mountain region, 
 the latter being also a part of the butter-making district. On the accom- 
 panying maps it will be seen that the butter-making industry of Siberia 
 thrives between 59 and 86 degrees east longitude (Greenwich). 
 The western and middle part of the district lies between 57 and 
 53 degrees north latitude, and the eastern part of the district lies between 
 49 and 56 degrees north latitude. 
 
 The Boundaries of the Butter-making District. On the western side, 
 the district joins the great wooded mountains of the Urals. With its 
 comparatively dense population this territory does not allow :he cattle as 
 much freedom as is necessary to develop butter making according to the 
 Siberian system of dairying. On the north the district is bounded by 
 the wooded expanse of Western Siberia, where the natural conditions do 
 not favour the development of butter making, the scanty population 
 deriving sufficient means of livelihood from lishing, hunting and lumbering. 
 The eastern side joins the severe mountains and forests of the eastern 
 Altai range, inhabited by semi-wild tribes. The southern side touches 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 the territory of nomadic Kirghyz, where the peculiar mode of living makes 
 butter-making a difficult proposition. 
 
 It will easily be noted on the map that the western part of the district 
 of Siberian butter-making represents a strip about 500 kilometers on both 
 sides of the Trans-Siberian railway, while the eastern part broadens 
 toward the south along the navigable rivers of Irtysh and Obi, with rail- 
 ways which branch off the main line, — the Koulunda railroad (from 
 Tatarsk to Slavgorod) and the Altai railroad (from Novo-Nikolaievsk to 
 Semipalatinsk). The reason is clear. Butter is a very perishable product 
 and does not stand long transportation by horses; experience; has shown 
 that no butter factory should be farther than 200 or 250 kiloirieters from 
 a railroad or waterway. 
 
 Administrative Composition of the Butter-making District. The fol- 
 lowing administrative units are within the boundaries of the Siberian 
 butter-making district: 
 
 Government of: Districts: 
 
 r Cheliabinsk 
 Orenburg | Troitzk 
 
 I Verkhne Uralsk (partly) 
 
 Province of Tourgai Koustanai (northern part) 
 
 Perm Shadrinsk (eastern part.) 
 
 f Yalutorovsk 
 I Kourgan 
 Tobolsk I Ishim 
 
 Tiukalinsk 
 [ Tara (southern part) 
 
 f Petropavlovsk 
 Province of Akmolinsk | Omsk 
 
 I Kokchetav (major part) 
 
 Ust-Kamennogorsk 
 
 Province of Semipalatinstcj Semipalatinsk 
 
 I Pavlodar (partly) 
 
 Zaisan (partly) 
 
 ^ Kainsk 
 Tomsk \ Novo-Nikolaievsk 
 
 Tomsk 
 
 All districts of the 
 ^•^^^ Government. 
 
 The outline of the butter-making district of Siberia can re-idily be seen 
 on the map. 
 
 8 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 The Dimensions of the District of Siberian Butter-making. The 
 
 greatest span is from west to east, and equals 2000 versts, oi- 2136 kilo- 
 meters, or 1325 English miles. The width of the eastern part is 800 versts 
 (855 kilometers, or 531 miles) ; of the western part, 500 versts, (534 
 kilometers, or 331 miles). The area is about 1,144,000 square versts 
 (1,307,000 square kilometers, or 502,000 square miles.) 
 
 Configuration of the Land. The small western part of the district is 
 hilly, being the foreground of the Ural mountain region. It rises to a 
 height of from 200 to 500 meters above sea level. The southern part 
 of the district includes the northern part of the Kirghyz ridg;/ land. The 
 northern boundary line of this land turns toward the north in its western 
 part; in the east it bears southward. The higher part of thi", elevation, 
 known by the name of the Mountains of Kokchetav, is situated east of 
 the I'iver Ishim. This part is a collection of separate granite mountains, 
 heavily wooded with pines and interspaced with undulating steppe 
 valleys, covered with grass. These mountains do not rise to a height of 
 moi-e than 945 meters within the district. 
 
 South of the river Obi, and of its branch, the Alei, and the upper 
 flow of the Irtysh, is situated the mountainous region of Altai, gradually 
 rising toward the south and east. The highest part of the Russian Altai 
 is along the upper flow of the river Katun, where the highest summit of 
 the range is found, — the Beloukha, 14,800 feet above sea level. 
 
 The Altai range embraces a whole maze of mountain ranges, covered 
 by eternal snows, with sliding glaciers, swift mountain rivers, and deep 
 canyons. From the Altai proper toward the north the Salair range 
 branches off between the rivers Obi and Tom and the range of Kouznetzky 
 Alataou on the western side of the river Tom. Both ranges decrease in 
 height toward the northward, and gradually merge into plain.;. 
 
 The remainder of the district is located in the great west Siberian 
 lowlands, which stretch northward to the Arctic Ocean, and in the south 
 reach, in the western part of the district, 54 degrees north latitude, and in 
 the eastern part, near Semipalatinsk and the river Irtysh, 50 degrees 
 north latitude. 
 
 In the southwestern part of the lowlands, the highest elev.ition reaches 
 105 sajenes, or 230 meters, above the sea level, and falls lower toward the 
 north and east, rising again in the direction from the Irtysh toward the 
 Obi. 
 
 The surface of the lowlands is mostly even, having only in the southern 
 part narrow and long ridges from twenty to fifty feet in height, which 
 run from due west-southwest to east-northeast. The general relief of the 
 country can be seen from Chart No. 1. 
 
 Geological Aspect of the District. In the mountainous parts of the 
 district, near the Altai range, on the eastern slopes of the Urals and on 
 the edge of the Kirghyz hilly region are observed outcrops of stone layers 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 of most diverse geological epochs, from the granites and gneiss to sea 
 formations of the Tertiary period. In the region which adjoins the Urals 
 more recent formations are met with, of the cretaceous and Tertiary 
 epochs, though the outcrops of granite are also in evidence. 
 
 In the stratified Kirghyz region elevations, bared of more recent de- 
 posits, consist of ancient granites, gneiss, syenites, diorites, and porphyries. 
 Lower down on the slopes and in the areas between the elevations, deposits 
 of more recent epochs are to be found. Devonian quartzites and shists, 
 carboniferous strata, and oligocene sea deposits. 
 
 In the Altai Mountains are observed outcrops of various rocks, mostly 
 of the Cambrian, Devonian, and carboniferous epochs, with occasional 
 outcrops of gneiss and granites. The crystal shists are mostly found in 
 the Altai. 
 
 The western Siberian lowland is a great hollow, filled up in its southern 
 part with tertiary sea formations, not older than the Oligocene period, 
 tertiary formations of Miocene and Pliocene epochs and quaternary fresh- 
 water deposits. 
 
 All these formations are running in horizontal, unbroken strata, and 
 are mostly soft and apt to crumble, belonging to clays, sand, and clayey 
 soils; hard and semi-hard formations, such as sandstone, shists, etc., 
 are seldom found. 
 
 How deep these soft, friable formations are is not known. It has been 
 ascertained, however, that in the locality due north from the Ishym, about 
 55 degrees north latitude, the bore went down as far as 320 meters with- 
 out meeting hard rock, passing all the way through soft and friable 
 deposits. 
 
 The western brim of this great bowl reaches, approximately, the 
 longitude of Cheliabinsk, while the eastern brim touches the river Obi, and 
 the southern side runs along the edge of the Kirghyz ridgy land, where 
 granites crop out from under the layers of soft soils. 
 
 Mineral Wealth. The deposits of useful minerals are distributed in 
 accordance with geological formations. 
 
 Along the western, eastern and southern boundaries of the district, 
 where outcrops of old hard rocks are found, there are also deposits of ores. 
 In the middle part of the district and on the northern boundary, where old 
 rocks are covered with deep layers of later deposits, the location and work- 
 ing of ore are impossible. In the Ural district are found deposits of alluvial 
 gold, which are commercially worked near the railway station of Miass, 
 due west of Cheliabinsk, and also in some other places. Quartz gold is 
 worked in Kochkars, near the town of Troitzk. Near Cheliabinsk deposits 
 of coal are worked. In several places in the Ural region fire clays, gypsum, 
 limestone, iron ore, and precious stones are found. Along the southern 
 boundary of the district, and immediately beyond it in the Ki'-ghyz ridgy 
 
 11 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 land, silver, lead, iron, copper, gold in small quantities, coal, graphite, lime, 
 gypsum, and divers precious stones are found. 
 
 Near the southern boundary of the district, in Karaganda, coal is 
 mined. Near Spassky Works, in the district of Akmolinsk, copper is 
 commercially worked. 
 
 In the Altai range proper, and in the branching ridges, alluvial and 
 quartz gold fields are worked, the output reaching about 300 poods (10,800 
 lbs.) annually, i. e., about 3.37< of the annual output of gold in the United 
 States. Silver, lead, copper, iron, zinc, and wolfram (tungsten) are also 
 found, but these ores have not been worked to any e.xtent. 
 
 The largest variety of minerals is located on the southwestern side 
 of the Altai range in the district of Zmeinogorsk, Government of Tomsk, 
 and in the Salair range. More than 800 deposits of gold, silver, copper, 
 lead, zinc, iron, jasper, malachite, etc., were located by prospecting. 
 Alluvial gold is found in almost all mountain rivers of the Altai. 
 
 The coal basin of the Altai is one of the largest and richest, and 
 extends along the river Tom, between the ridges of Salair and Kouznetzk 
 Alataou in the district of Kouznetzk, Government of Tomsk. Coal is 
 worked in the Anjer and Soudjen coal mines, near the main Siberian 
 line, and also in the Kolchougin mines, south of the main line, being con- 
 nected with it by a local railroad. 
 
 In the lowlands of the district no ores have been found and no stone 
 with which to pave the streets can be obtained between Cheliabinsk and 
 the Obi. Even coarse sand is very seldom met with in this locality. Some- 
 times, however, fireclays, limestone concretions and small quantities of 
 iron ore are found. 
 
 In the water of numerous lakes are found considerable quantities of 
 salt, which is obtained in summer when it crystallizes at the bottom. 
 
 Mineral Waters. In many points of the district there are mineral 
 springs and lakes and accumulations of medicinal mud. The Ijest known 
 are Rakhmanoff Springs, in the southern part of the Government of Tomsk, 
 and the Bielokurikhin Springs, 65 kilometers due south of the town of 
 Biysk. The best known lakes containing medicinal mud are Karachin and 
 Ustiantzeff lakes in the district of Kainsk, Government of Tomsk, — 
 Solonovka Lake, in the district of Slavgorod, Government of Tomsk; and 
 Krivin Lake, in the district of Kourgan, Government of Tobolsk. 
 
 Soils. The wealth of the district, however, is not so much in the min- 
 erals under the earth as in the soils on the surface. The district of the 
 Siberian butter-making industry contains mainly the following varieties 
 of soil : 
 
 1. Gray soils, with large contents of organic matter, small content 
 of humus and insignificant content of soluble salts. These soils are peculiar 
 to wooded localities, with a considerable amount of precipitation annually. 
 They are but slightly fertile and must be manured. 
 
 12 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 2. Black soils, with large contents of humus and an abundance of 
 soluble salts. These soils form in localities with small quantities of annual 
 precipitation, and with an abundance of grass. When these black soils 
 become wooded they change, and approach the gray soils in their properties. 
 Black soils are highly fertile and produce good harvest without any 
 manure for many years. 
 
 3. Brown soils, with smaller contents of humus than in the black 
 soils, and very large contents of salts. They form in steppe localities, with 
 poor grass growth and a very small amount of precipitation. Their 
 fertility is considerably lower than that of the black soils. 
 
 4. Light brown soils, with even smaller contents of humus than 
 brown soils and greater content of salts, approaching in this respect saline 
 soils. They form in localities where there is hardly any irrigation and 
 vegetation. 
 
 5. Saline soils with hardly any humus but extremely large contents 
 of salts of sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulphates and haloidi- 
 tes. The content of salts in these soils is so large that in dry weather 
 white deposits of salt crystals sometimes a half-inch deep are formed on 
 the ground. Owmg to their being over saturated with salts, these soils 
 are either entirely barren or grow only a few plants which are excep- 
 tionally adapted. Cereals are not adapted to such soils, but herbs growing 
 on medium or slightly saline soils of the district, while not abundant, are 
 nevertheless, highly nutritious for cattle and are well liked by animals. 
 
 Saline soils are found among black, brown, and light Orown soils, 
 occupying low, badly drained places with clay subsoil, Brown soils, 
 oftener than black soils, have spots of saline soils, but in the black soils, 
 spots of saline soils are met in increasing quantities toward the south. 
 
 The limits of expansion of the first four kinds of soil can be seen on 
 Chart No. 2. One can see that in its even and steppe parts the butter- 
 making district is mostly of black soils. Only on the edges of the district 
 are the black soils replaced by gray soils in the north and brown soils 
 in the south. 
 
 On the eastern verge of the district, in the outlying ridges of the Altai, 
 black soils give place to gray soils with the addition of pebbles and stones. 
 The strips of gray soils, like those of brown soils, are found only along 
 river valleys. In the extreme southeast light brown soils are found. 
 Saline soils are found in small plots among black, brown and light brown 
 soils, in respectively increasing quantities. One can see that, in regard 
 to soils, the Siberian butter-making district is in a very favorable state; 
 almost the entire surface of the district is covered with soils of high 
 fertility, which need no manure to give medium sized crops, and in years 
 when good weather prevails they give excellent crops. 
 
 It can truthfully be asserted that the fertile soils are the mainstay of 
 the wealth of the district. 
 
 13 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Climate. The average temperature of the district is considerably 
 lower than that of other localities in the same latitudes ; for instance, the 
 average temperature of all points of the globe on the 56 30' parallel of 
 north latitude is 3.5 Cels. (Cent.), while the mean temperature of the city of 
 Tumen, which lies only 40' (mins) to the north from the 56th parallel and 
 close to the wcstei'n frontier of the district is only +1 Cels. 
 
 In the eastern part of the district the average temperature of the city 
 of Tomsk, which is in exactly 56" 30' north latitude is — 1" Cels. 
 
 Chart No. 3 shows that the whole district is covered by the annual 
 isotherms — 1', , +1% +2 , +3 and that the isotherm +i' passes 
 only over the southeastern extremity of the district, which is due south 
 of 50 north latitude. 
 
 This low mean temperature is explained by the remoteness of the 
 district from the Atlantic Ocean. The warm western winds from the 
 ocean reach the district in a considerably cooled state, while the cold 
 northeastern air currents have easy access to the district. 
 
 Owing to this, the farther to the east the colder is the climate. Kourgan, 
 Government of Tobolsk, and Kainsk, of the Government of Tomsk, are 
 situated on the same latitude, 55' 26' north, yet the annual mean tem- 
 perature of the former is +1.85", while that of the latter is — 0.8°, that is 
 to .say, 2.15" lower, for the sole reason that the town of Kourgan is more 
 to the west by 13 degrees. For the same reason, the town Barnaul, which 
 is 2 degrees due south and 18 degrees east from Kourgan, has an average 
 annual temperature lower by one degree than Kourgan. The lowering of 
 the isotherms from west toward east can be concluded also from their 
 direction, as shown by chart No. 3, which is from N. W. towards S. E. 
 
 Having a low mean temperature, the climate of the district .shows at 
 the same time a great difference between summer and winter readings, 
 which is unknown in maritime districts, and is due to the excessively low 
 readings during the winter and very high readings in the summer months. 
 Chart No. 4 .shows that the July isotherm 20% which in Southern Europe 
 passes along the northern shore of the Pyrenean Peninsula (44 north 
 latitude) and through Paris (49 north latitude) passes, in the butter-mak- 
 ing district, through Kourgan, Tiukalinsk, Kainsk, Tomsk. Of the enum- 
 erated towns, the first three are a little due north from 55 north latitude 
 while Tomsk is 56' 30' north latitude. 
 
 The northernmost parts of the district have mean temperature in July 
 not lower than 19-, while the southeastern extremity of the district, 
 which is 49' north latitude, has mean July temperature of 24°, which 
 equals that of Constantinople (40 north latitude). Genoa, Lisbon and 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 The high summer temperature favors plants which ripen quickly 
 and demand abundant warmth. In that district watermelons fully ripen 
 in open fields. That is not possible anywhere else in the Old World at 55 
 north latitude. 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 The wheat belt reaches its most northern point in Western Siberia. 
 
 Winter in the Siberian butter-making district is very cold. Chart No. 
 5 shows that the January isotherm — 20% passes in the western part of 
 the district over 58° and 60 north, where the influence of the Atlantic 
 Ocean is felt more. Then in the middle part of the district it passes almost 
 54 north latitude, and in the Altai region, where the winter temperature 
 is tempered by the abundance of precipitation and nebulity, due to the in- 
 fluence of mountains, the isotherm passes 57 north latitude. 
 
 The mean January temperature in the above mentioned parts of the 
 district varies from — 16° to — 22 . The former reading ( — 16°) is 
 observed only on the extreme west and extreme southeast (see chart 
 No. 5). 
 
 The low winter temperature does not allow oak, beech, maple or ash 
 trees to grow anywhere in the West Siberian butter-making district. 
 Apple and pear trees can be grown only in the southernmost part nf the 
 district. Cherry grows as a dwarf bush with small leaves and berries. 
 
 As the summer temperature of the district reaches 35° in the shade 
 and winter temperature — 45, there is an annual range of extreme readings 
 of 80°, with a range for mean January and July temperature at 42°. 
 
 In the district there are not only great variations in the annual tem- 
 peratures, but also in the daily ones. The air being dry and the sky 
 clear, it often happens that a hot day is followed by a cold night, which 
 towards morning, particularly during Spring and Autumn, reaches below 
 zero, destroying many plants. Therefore the period of vegetation, i. e., 
 between the last frosts in Spring and the first frost in Autumn, is very 
 short, lasting, in the central part of the district, 150 days; toward the 
 south this period is lengthened by a few days, and toward the north it is a 
 few days shorter. 
 
 This peculiarity of the climate does not permit the cultivation of slow 
 ripening plants, such as corn (maize) sugar beetroot, etc. The successful 
 cultivation of these plants is possible only in the southeastern part of the 
 district, where the period of vegetation is longer and the climate wanner 
 in localities protected by mountains against cold winds from the north 
 and northeast. 
 
 Amount of Precipitation. As to the amount of precipitation, the con- 
 ditions in the district of the Siberian butter-making are not very favorable. 
 As Chart No. 3 shows, the major part of the district has less than 40 cms. 
 of precipitation yearly, a considerable part of the district has 40-50 cms., 
 and by far the minor part enjoys 50-60 cms. 
 
 The largest amount of precipitation falls in two parts of the district. 
 One part is in the west, bounded on the east and north by Irtysh, on the 
 west by the Tobol, and in the south reaches 56° north latitude. The other 
 part is in the region of the Altai Mountains, and can be bounded by a 
 line passing 100 kilometers due west from Mariinsk and through Kouznetzk, 
 
 15 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Zmeinogorsk, Ust-Kamennogorsk and further eastward to the frontier 
 of China. 
 
 The part of the district with .•50-40 cms. of yearly precipitation and the 
 part due south from this, which has only 20-30cms. yearly, is bounded by 
 a line passing in the direction from W-N-W to E-S-E. Thus the warmer 
 eastern part of the district, situated more toward the south, has a larger 
 amount of precipitation owing to its mountainous character. Chart No. 
 4 shows the quantities and distribution of precipitation in the district dur- 
 ing the summer half year. The chart shows that the largest amount of 
 summer precipitation, namely, 200 mms., is observed in the same localities 
 as the largest annual amount, and also that the major part of the district, 
 except the most southern part of it which has a very irregular northern 
 boundary, has on the average not less than 1.50 mms. summer precipita- 
 tion. Due south from this locality is situated a zone with an average 
 of not less than 150 mms. of summer precipitation. Still further south lies 
 the belt which has not more than 100 mms. The northern boundary of 
 that part in its western section lies much more northward than the eastern 
 or particularly the middle part of it. 
 
 Chart No. 5 shows that in the winter months the amount of precipita- 
 tion is much less than in the summer months. 
 
 In the northern part of the district, which is more thickly wooded and 
 thus facilitates the accumulation of snow, the amount of precipitation in 
 winter is more than 50 mm. However, in the major part of 'he district 
 the winter precipitation varies from 25 to 50 mm., and only in the middle 
 of the district is there found a part of the belt which has less than 25 
 mm. of winter precipitation. 
 
 A small amount of snow in the southern part of the district does not 
 favor cultivation of winter crops, as, being deprived of the snow cover, 
 the plants are killed by frost. 
 
 The western and middle parts of the Di.strict South of 56° north latitude 
 often suffer from drought, as the annual amounts of precipitation vary 
 greatly, and years with 550 mm. of precipitation are followed by years 
 with only 120 mm. 
 
 Irrigation. Owing to the small amount of precipitation and the great 
 evaporation of precipitated moisture caused by considerable warmth and 
 dryness in the air, there is a great field for development of artificial irriga- 
 tion in many parts of the district. 
 
 Rivers. Except for rivers that flow from the glaciers of the Altai, 
 no rivers in the district have much water, and their lengths are not 
 proportionate to their breadths and depths. Among the rivers which 
 have their source in the Altai range, the most important are the rivers 
 Katun and Bia, which form the river Obi and its tributaries, the livers 
 Tom, Choumysh and Chary.sh. All these rivers, as well as Irtysh, have 
 
 16 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 mountainous charactei- only in their upper course. They are all swift, with 
 stony bottoms, clear cold water and great floods during summer caused 
 by thawing of glaciers in the mountains or by heavy showers. Of these 
 rivers only the Irtysh and Tom are navigable; the rivers Charysh and 
 Bia are navigable for a short distance from their mouths. The rest of 
 the rivers of the district have all the characteristic features of valley 
 rivers, namely, soft, crumbling banks, sandy or oozy bottom, slow cur- 
 rent, muddy water and winding course, if the river is small, or, dividing 
 into several branches, if the river is big. In Springtime when the snow 
 thaws, these rivers overflow over wide tracts ; in the middle and end of 
 summer they become shallow. The river Obi, beginning at the confluence 
 of the rivers Katun and Bia, is partly of that character ; in a greater degree 
 Irtysh in the northern parts of the Provinces of Semipalatinsk and 
 Akmolinsk and the left tributaries of Obi are completely so. Among this 
 kind of rivers may be counted the left tributaries of Tobol, which, though 
 they flow from the Urals, have in their middle and lower course all the 
 distinctive features of the rivers of the plains. 
 
 Lakes. The district is very peculiar, inasmuch as there are great 
 stretches of land without any rivers or other kind of flowing water. The 
 stretches of land dividing the rivers Isiet and Miass, Miass and Uyi and 
 Tobol and Ishym, Ishym and Irtysh, Irtysh and Obi, are plains with such 
 small gradients that the moisture precipitated from the atmosphere ac- 
 cumulates in the depressions and forms lakes, mostly small. These are 
 very numerous. For instance, in the district of Kourgan, Government of 
 Tobolsk, with an area of 28,000 sq. kilometers, there are 500 lakes of area 
 varying from 80 sq. kilometers to 0.25 sq. kilometers. 
 
 The depth of all lakes in the steppe belt, varies from 2 to 8 meters only, 
 vdth low-lying and flat banks and sandy or oozy bottom. Many lakes have 
 fresh drinking water but the farther south the more rapid the evapora- 
 tion, with the result that the lakes contain a more or less concentrated 
 solution of salt. These lakes are salt, bitter or alkaline. The height of 
 the water in the steppe lakes varies from year to year, and the more 
 shallow ones sometimes entirely dry up. 
 
 In the years characterized by low water, many slightly saline lakes 
 become very salty; when the water rises the salt solution becomes 
 weaker. It has been noted that lakes fill up and dry periodically. The 
 length of the period is about every 40 years, but this phenomenon, as well 
 as its causes, have been studied very slightly. 
 
 The majority of lakes are situated at the bottom of isolated depres- 
 sions, and have no connection between them, but where the land has a 
 gradient there are systems of lake with different levels and connected 
 with one another by running water either during the whole year or only 
 in the Spring. In such systems all lakes except the lowest are fresh 
 water while the lowest, which has no outlet for its water and where 
 
 17 
 
Kocks on Lake Borovoe 
 
 [^ake Moultinskup. Central Altai 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 accumulate all salts washed out of the ground, are always mineralized. 
 Such chains of lakes may be regarded as uncompleted rivei's of interior 
 basins. In localities with stepper inclines a chain of lakes becomes con- 
 verted into a peculiar river which sometimes broadens in its course like 
 a lake, and sometimes becomes narrow like a brook, in this way showing 
 its descendance from a chain of lakes. 
 
 The lakes which ai'e fed by the rivers of the interior basin, contrary to 
 small isolated lakes, are of considerable size. Of such lakes should be men- 
 tioned Lake Chany, with tributaries Kargat and Choulym, in the South- 
 western part of the government of Tomsk. Lake Chany is fresh water in 
 the eastern end, where these rivers flow in, and salty water in its western 
 end. 
 
 In the province of Semipalatinsk, near the town of Pavlodar, the salt 
 water Lake Koriakovsk is situated, where, owing to the proximity of a 
 navigable river, the deposits of salt are worked on a big scale. 
 
 In the province of Akmolinsk the largest lakes of the district under 
 consideration are: Lake Kyzyl-Kak, Lake Selety-Degiz, which is fed by 
 the river Selety, Lake Teke, Lake Oolk-Karoi, Lake Chagly, with the 
 tributary, Chaglinka. 
 
 In the Government of Tobolsk, the salt water lakes are less numerous. 
 Of these must be mentioned the fair-sized Lake Miedvezhie, (the Lake of 
 the Bear) , near the railroad connecting Petropavlovsk and Kourgan, which 
 is famous for its curative mud. Of fresh water lakes, which form the 
 source of some rivers, the most remarkable is a picturesque mountain 
 Lake Teletzkoe, in the eastern Altai, from which flows the river Bia, and 
 the double Lake Saltaim-Teniz, in the district of Tiukalinsk of the Govern- 
 ment of Tobolsk, from which flows the river Osha, one of the left tribu- 
 taries of the Irtysh. A group of fresh water mountain lakes, Lake 
 Borovoe and others are situated in a picturesque wooded mountainous 
 locality in the western part of Kokchetav, of the Government of 
 Akmolinsk. This district is most popular all over Siberia as a health 
 resort, and is famous for its salubrious climate. 
 
 In the western part of the district on the frontier of two provinces of 
 Tourgai and Akmolinsk, is situated the salt water Lake Ubagan-Koul, from 
 which the salt water river Ubagan flows which joins the river Tobol and 
 makes the water of the latter noticeably salty for a distance of over 1.50 
 kilometers. This is a rare phenomenon, which is worthy of being recorded. 
 
 Vegetation. According to the character of the vegetation, the Siberian 
 butter-making district can be divided into five parts. North of 57 degrees 
 in the west and 55 degrees in the east lies a belt of woods peculiar to the 
 plains. This belt is joined on the south by the belt of steppe woods, which 
 is 500 kilometers wide in the west and about 600 kilometers wide in the 
 east, in the region of the Altai Mountains. In the middle on the water- 
 shed between the Irtysh and Obi, the belt of steppe woods narrows down 
 
 19 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 to 150 kilometers. South of the belt is a wider belt of feather-grass- 
 covered-steppe. South of this steppe lies a wormwood-grass-covered- 
 steppe, which enters the butter-making district as a narrow strip on the 
 southeastern side. The eastern part of the district is for the most part 
 occupied by the region of mountain forests and alpine flora. The situa- 
 tion of these belts is shown on chart No. 6. 
 
 In the belt of woods of the plains the soil in well drained localities is 
 of the gray kind, and in the flat inter-river spaces are numerous marshes. 
 
 The larger part of the locality is wooded. Of acerose trees, the pine 
 occupies mostly dry, sandy areas to the exclusion of other kinds of trees, 
 such as red fir; and further north the cedar is found, a great tree which 
 gives valuable wood and cedar nuts, a very popular dainty in Siberia. To 
 the acerose plants, the juniper also belongs, with hard needles and blue 
 resinous berries. 
 
 Of foliate trees, the birch, aspen, black poplar, and alder grow here, 
 and vai'ious kinds of willows. Of bushes, there are found sweet briar, 
 osiers, honeysuckle, and sallowthorn, and of berry-bearing bushes, sorb, 
 bird cherry, black and red currant, snowdrop tree and hawthorn. 
 
 Of herbaceous berry-bearing plants the following are peculiar to the 
 district: raspberry, strawberry, stone bramble, red bilberry, blueberry, 
 cloudberry and blackberry. Berries in Siberia replace fruits, the cultiva- 
 tion of which is impossible owing to the severity of the climate. Berries 
 are eaten by everybody in summer and preserved for winter in the form 
 of jams, or in dried, soaked or frozen state (cranberry and bilberry). 
 
 The grass in the wooded country is abundant, tall and juicy, but as 
 fodder it is not as nutritious as that of the more southern districts. 
 
 There are cultivated winter rye, which is greatly assisted by the deep 
 snow cover; oats, exclusively to feed hoi'ses; barley, which is used to 
 make flour or grits; flax and hemp. Wheat is little cultivated. 
 
 Of vegetables the following are successfully grown: cabbage, beetroot, 
 turnip (various), radish, pumpkin. Sunflowers and peas can be grown 
 only in kitchen gardens, and cucumbers can be raised only in warmed 
 beds. Between the forest belt and the belt of feather grass steppe there 
 is a belt of "forest steppe" where woods grow, interspaced by patches of 
 black soil steppe. Farther south, the woods are thinner and the character 
 of the country more approaches the steppe. Of needle-leafed trees there 
 grow only pine in a few places, chiefly on sandy, narrow strips on the 
 slopes toward the valleys of the rivers, Tobol, Ishym, Irtysh, Obi and its 
 left tributaries, Barnaulka, Kasmala and others. Of foliate trees, birch 
 grows here almost exclusively, a^pen being but seldom found. Black and 
 silver poplar, alder and various kinds of willow grow only on the river 
 banks. 
 
 The flora of bushes is poorer in this belt than in the forest belt. In 
 addition to various kinds of osiers, which thrive along the river banks and 
 in damp localities, providing bark for tanning, there grow in a few places 
 
 20 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 and in small quantities, bird cherry, currant, sweet brier, hawthorn, 
 meadow sweet and wild cherry. 
 
 Berry-bearing herbaceous plants are also less numerous in this dis- 
 trict, only strawberry and stone bramble being found. 
 
 The herbs of the forest steppe belt are not so thick, tall and juicy 
 as those of the forest belt, but at the same time they are very nutritious 
 and the cattle of the belt are bigger and fatter than in the forest zone. 
 
 The most luxuriant growth of herbs is found in the Baraba Steppe — a 
 location between the rivers Irtysh and Obi. The thick, juicy and tall 
 herbs of this locality favor stock raising and dairying, and by the 
 amount of butter produced, this locality heads the list. 
 
 In the belt of forest steppe the good fodder herb, Medicago Falcata, 
 grows in great quantities. It is known in the United States under the 
 name "Alfalfa." Wheat is greatly cultivated in this belt, occupying more 
 than half of all cultivated land. In the southern part of the belt hard 
 wheats of high class grow well, but in the middle and northern sections 
 these wheats do not thrive. The second cereal, in quantity, is oats. Spring 
 rye, barley, peas, buckwheat, millet and sometimes spelt, flax and hemp 
 are growing. In the southeastern section sunflowers are also grown, and 
 potatoes thrive well in kitchen gardens. 
 
 The sowing of winter rye is not widely practiced, as the scanty snow 
 cover is not sufficient protection against the frosts. In the southern sec- 
 tion of the forest steppe belt cucumbers thrive in fields, as do also melons 
 and watermelons, which do not reach great size, but are very sweet. 
 
 There is no fruit grown in the belt, as the fruit trees imported from 
 European Russia cannot stand the local winters and no local type of 
 fruit tree has yet been obtained. The next belt toward the south is the 
 feather grass steppe, where there are very few woods. 
 
 Acerose woods are found on granite mountains of the northern section 
 of the Kirghyz ridgy land, especially on the Kokchetav table land, due 
 east from the river Ishym, and on sandy stretches alongside the rivers 
 Irtysh and Tobol. 
 
 The steppe is all covered with grass, with feather grass Stipa Pennata 
 and Festuca Ovina prevailing. 
 
 Great quantities of gramineous, umbellar and papilionaceous plants also 
 grow here, and in places groups of wild almond (prunus nana) are found, 
 also meadow sweet, yellow acacia (caragana arborescens) etc. 
 
 Of trees, only birch is occasionally met with, but these are generally 
 badly twisted and short living. 
 
 All growth is withered up by the end of the summer and the steppe 
 takes on a brownish-yellow depressing tint. Of berry-bearing plants, 
 there are found in the steppe in great quantities strawberry, and on the 
 river banks blackberry and currants, while in places wild cherry, in the 
 form of small bushes, is found. 
 
 21 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Only on the Kokchetav table land is the flora more varied, uniting 
 the representative plants peculiar to the steppe proper to those of the forest 
 steppe belt and the forest zone. 
 
 There is much saline soil in the steppe belt, with its peculiar scanty 
 vegetation, of which cattle, and particularly sheep, are exceedingly fond. 
 
 The list of cultivated plants in the steppe is headed by wheat, which 
 is of high class, followed by oats, millet, and sunflowers. 
 
 In the southeastern part in the district of Zmeinogorsk successful ex- 
 periments with sugar beetroot have been carried out. 
 
 Cucumbers, melons and watermelons of great dimensions and sweetness 
 thrive in the open fields of the steppe belt. 
 
 The vegetation and crops of the steppe often suff"er from drought and 
 insects of the family of locust (grasshopper and cicada.) 
 
 Flora of the wormwood steppe, which lies due south, is even scantier 
 than that of the feather grass steppe. Trees and bushes are very seldom 
 found, and then only growing on the river banks. Grass does not cover 
 the whole ground carpet-like, but grows in separate tufts. Wormwood 
 and other kinds of xerophilous plants prevail. 
 
 Vegetation of the Altai mountain country is abundant and variegated. 
 Along low lying river valleys the stretches of the forest steppe and some- 
 times of the steppe itself penetrate into the mountain range. 
 
 The slopes of mountains, especially on the northern side are thickly 
 wooded by great pines, firs, cedar, birch, larch, aspen, poplar, and in one 
 place, near Kouznetzk, linden tree, which, evidently, is a reminder of 
 the preceding geological epoch when the climate of the country was 
 warmer and more humid. The character of vegetable growth in the Altai 
 range changes according to the altitude as is the case in all mountain 
 I'egions. 
 
 The lower slopes of mountains are covered with mixed woods of foliate 
 trees and pine, the former not reaching to an altitude higher than 2500 
 to 3000 feet. Above that line the mountains are covered by thick sombre 
 woods of fir, cedar, etc., which are fittingly called "blackness." Higher 
 up one finds bright and gladdening forests of larch, with trees growing 
 far apart, interspaced with a luxuriant growth of herbs. The reg'on of 
 forests in the Altai range breaks at the altitude of 7000 to 8000 feet. 
 Cedar and larch reach higher altitudes than other kinds of trees, the 
 former prevailing on the damp northern slopes and the latter on the 
 dry southern inclines. 
 
 Still higher one finds the belt of the Alpine meadows. The altitude of 
 9000 to 10,000 feet marks the line of eternal snows. 
 
 Animals. Fauna of this land is as varied as the flora. 
 The sparsely populated country leaves much room to the wild animals. 
 Of large herbivorous animals, for which the climate is not favorable by 
 reason of long and severe winters, there are found in the mountainous 
 
 22 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 country of the Altai the elk, (Cervus Alces) mountain deer or maral, 
 (Cervus Canadiensis Asiaticus) whose horns are highly valued in China, 
 where a restoi'ative medicine is prepared of them, — several kinds of moun- 
 tain sheep and goat (arhar, argali) roe, mountain goat with great horns, 
 musk deer (Moschus moschiferus),— a small bi-hoofed hornless animal 
 with long canine teeth resembling tusks which is hunted for the valuable 
 musk — the Kabarga castor. 
 
 In the steppe roe, hooked nosed saiga are found, and the graceful 
 djerian of the antelope family: Koulan, a kind of wild ass. and in elevated 
 places, wild goat (Capra Sibirica). 
 
 In pine woods which are situated in the forest steppe belt, roe thrives 
 and sometimes great elk are found. 
 
 Of large prey animals, in the Altai range and in the northern part of 
 the forest belt, bears are found, and all over the district in great numbers, 
 wolves and foxes, — the former mostly in steppe localities where corsak 
 is also found. 
 
 In the Altai range and in the forest belt, badger, lynx and wolverine are 
 found, and in the Southern Altai is found carnivorous spotted irbis or 
 Altai panther of the cat family, about the size of an ordinary panther. 
 
 Of small prey animals the Altai still preserve in remote localities, sable, 
 marten, skunk, polecat, weasel, ermine, kolonok (Kolinsky). 
 
 In the forest belt river otter is found. Of insectivora, in the forest 
 steppe, in the steppe and in the mountain region are found hedgehog and 
 mole. 
 
 Of rodenta, the most abundant in the whole district are hares, rats, 
 mice of various kinds which breed in the forest and the steppe belts. 
 Rodenta peculiar to the steppe belt are jerboa or jumping hare, a small 
 animal with long hind and short front legs, fat marmot or Tarbagan, Siber- 
 ian marmot and hamster. In the forest and mountain regions squirrels 
 breed in enormous quantities, the source of a profitable trade, — bunmduk 
 or striped squirrel, with a handsome coat and letiaga (flying squirrel — 
 Sciuropterus Volans Russicus). In the mountains only red or mountain 
 wolf is found, light yellow polecat, mountain marmot and rat hare, — a 
 fairly large rodent. Of prey birds there are found all over the district 
 several kinds of eagles, hawks, kites and owls. In the summer great 
 numbers of wading and swimming birds such as cranes, herons, snipe of 
 various kinds, swans, geese, ducks, plungeons, barnacles, gulls, etc., come to 
 the steppe lakes. 
 
 The woods are inhabited by heath cocks, black martins, partridges, 
 hazel hens. These birds winter in the district and enable the population 
 to carry on a considerable trade in shipping frozen wild birds to European 
 Russia and abroad. At the Altai range a great item of export is quail, 
 the meat of which is very sweet. 
 
 On high summits of the Altai ullar or mountain turkey is found, of 
 the same size as home turkey. In the steppe, big swiftly running bustard 
 are found. 2i- 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 There are more than 200 different kinds of grani- and insectivorous 
 birds. Almost all of them, with a few exceptions, are migratory, as also 
 ai'e the wading and water birds. 
 
 Of reptilia, there is found all over the district viper (vipara berus) 
 and viviparous lizard (lacerta vivipara) ; very often three kinds of ^^nakes 
 are found: common-tropidonotus natrix, checkered-tropidonotus hydrus 
 and crawling-er>-x jaculus. Reptiles are especially abundant in the southern 
 Altai and this is reflected in the name of the town of Zmeinogorsk, which 
 in Russian means "Snake Mountain Town." 
 
 In the southernmost part of the district river turtles are sometimes 
 found. 
 
 Of amphibious animals several kinds of medium sized frogs are found, 
 tetradactylous triton and two kinds of toads, grey and green. 
 
 Of cartilaginous fishes in large rivers of the district, like Obi and Irtysh, 
 are caught valuable sturgeon and sterlet. Of the salmon family, .n the 
 same rivers and their larger tributaries, are found the tasty nelma or 
 Siberian salmon and in the mountain rivers of the Altai live umber and 
 talmen, — two excellent fishes for the table. Sometimes from the noi-thern 
 tiow of the Obi fish of the salmon family come up the river Obi^ which 
 are peculiar to the far north, i. e., t'almo-vimba and moxun. 
 
 In the rivers and flowing lakes all over the district abound pike, perch, 
 bass, roach, eel-pout, common gremille, gudeon, bream, tench, wh'.le in 
 the standing fresh and slightly salt lakes are found crucian carp weigh- 
 ing up to 8 lbs., the most numerous fish of the steppe and forest steppe belts. 
 The great Lake Chany and its smaller neighboring lakes are particulai'ly 
 famous for the abundance of fish. 
 
 Of insects in the forest belt, as well as in the valleys and in the Altai 
 range, are enormously abundant bloodsucking insects, — gnats, mosquitoes, 
 horse and ox flies, thrips, etc. They are the true scourge of the country, 
 which do not let man or beast alone in the summer. This abomination, 
 as the Siberian peasant calls these torturers, makes it impossible to re- 
 main in the woods without gloves and net for the head, or to sleep with- 
 out smoking fire, while for animals, not excluding the long-haired bear, 
 there is only one means of escape — to wade as deep as possible in the water 
 and stay there. 
 
 This scourge is absent in the steppe, which is constantly swept by 
 winds. However, the steppe in dry years swarms with locust which 
 devour the harvest and grass, and sometimes cause great los.ses to the 
 tiller. 
 
 In the steppe also abound poisonous spiders, tarantula and karakourt, 
 the bite of which is very dangerous. 
 
 The Altai range with its luxuriant vegetation and comparatively mild 
 climate presents favorable conditions for bees, and apiculture is a very 
 popular and profitable trade in the district. 
 
 24 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 The Natural Wealth of the District. As can be easily seen from the 
 foregoing description of the district of the Siberian butter-making, the 
 region has a great natural wealth and a brilliant economic future. The 
 dimensions of the district, which is double the size of Germany, the great 
 amount of fertile land and good pasturage, untapped riches of the forests 
 in the north and east of the district, climate which permits of the culti- 
 vation of high grades of wheat, watermelons and melons, and which, in spite 
 of the severity of the weather is very good for man; great mineral wealth, 
 long navigable rivers, which cut through the district, abundance in the 
 mountains, forests and steppes, of valuable fur-bearing animals, — in the 
 rivers and lakes, of fishes,- — make the district a good field for enterprising 
 and creative labor, and guarantees to the inhabitants a high material 
 prosperity. 
 
 Insufficient Development of Natural Resources. What follows will 
 show that, as far as the utilization by man of the natural resources of the 
 disti'ict of Siberian butter-making is concerned, the district is still in the 
 first stages of its development, and the economic future of the district 
 promises much more than the district has so far yielded to man. 
 
 Population. The district, in comparison with its area, is very scantily 
 populated. In all districts where butter-making is developed, according 
 to the figures for 1915, there were only 8,300,000 inhabitants of both sexes. 
 
 Of this number 7,949,200 are rural population, and only 350,300, or 
 4.2%, are living in towns, which clearly indicates the exclusively agricul- 
 tural character of the district and the slight development of manufacturing 
 industries. 
 
 Density of Population. The density of population in towns and country 
 is 7.2 to the square versta, or 6.3 to the square kilometer or 16.5 to the 
 square mile. 
 
 The density of rural population is only 6.9 to square versta, or 6.1 to 
 square kilometer or 15.8 to the square mile. One can easily see what great 
 amount of land the population has at its disposal. 
 
 To give an idea how the land in Siberia is distributed among the land- 
 owner, it is sufficient to point out that out of 121,500,000 desiatins, or 
 328,378,300 acres, which represents the Government of Tobolsk, including 
 the part which is outside of the district of butter-making, 63,263,000 
 desiatins, or 170,908,100 acres belong to the State (this land mostly 
 being forests and partly tillable land and meadows which are rented by 
 the peasants), 270,000 desiatins, or 775,600 acres — belong to private persons 
 and 11,540,000 desiatins, or 30,811,800 acres are state grants to rural 
 communities numbering 1,975,000 of both sexes, which represents an 
 average of 5.84 desiatins, or 14.6 acres per head. The balance of the land 
 of 45,700,000 desiatins, or 123,513,500 acres either belongs to the tribes 
 
 25 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 of other than Caucasian race or are jointly used by the tribes and the 
 State. It is necessary to point out that two-thirds of the Government of 
 Tobolsk is situated in localities where agriculture is impossible, it being 
 the region of uninhabited forests and tundra (marshy Siberian plain), 
 while five-sixths of the land, granted to the rural communities, and all 
 private lands, that is to say the most productive lands, are situated in 
 the south of the Government, in the district of butter-making. 
 
 Reckoning on the average a family as consisting of six people, we find 
 that a household in the Government of Tobolsk has at its disposal not less 
 than 35 desiatins, or 97.3 acres. In the provinces of Tomsk, Akmolinsk 
 and Semipalatinsk, there is still more land available. 
 
 Distribution of Population. The population of the district of the 
 Siberian butter-making is distributed very unevenly. A general idea of 
 the comparative density of population can be obtained from diagram No. 7. 
 
 From this diagi'am it will be seen that the most densely populated part 
 of the district lies on the northwest, comprising a part of the district of 
 Shadrinsk, Government of Tomsk, district of Cheliabinsk, Government of 
 Orenburg and district of Kourgan, Government of Tobolsk. The density 
 of population in this locality is the highest in the district of Shadrinsk, 
 reaching 27 people to one square versta, or 22 people to one square kilo- 
 meter, or 61 people to one square mile. The lowest is in the district of 
 Kourgan, there being 18 people to the square versta, or 15 people to the 
 square kilometer, or 40 people to the square mile. 
 
 In the eastern part of the butter-making district, the districts of 
 Kamen, Barnaul and Novo-Nikolaevsk. Government of Tomsk and Altai, 
 have the densest population, reaching to 14 people to the .square versta, 
 or 12 people to the square kilometer, or 34 people to the square mile. The 
 lowest density of population is observed in the districts of Kainsk and 
 Ust-Kamennogorsk, Government of Tomsk, where the population is dis- 
 tributed at the rate of about 2.8 persons to the square versta, or 2.4 
 persons to the square kilometer, or 6.8 people to the square mile. 
 
 Possibilities for future growth of population. No doubt can exist on 
 the subject of the great unused capacity of the district for colonization. 
 As is well known, the capacity of country for colonization is governed by 
 two factors: the natural productiveness of the country and the degree of 
 perfection in the methods of creative labor. It is safe to assume that 
 with the present imperfect methods of work the district of the Siberian 
 butter-making can supply sufficient means of livelihood for a population 
 as dense as that in the most thickly populated parts of the district,- -i. e., 
 27 people to the square versta, or 22 people to the square kilometer, or 61 
 people to the square mile. 
 
 According to this conservative estimate, the district of the Siberian 
 butter-making can easily accommodate 30,000,000 persons, and with more 
 
 26 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 perfect methods of agriculture and manufacture, the quick improvement of 
 which has been lately evidenced, it can accommodate twice that number, 
 or up to 60,000,000 people. 
 
 Ethnographic Composition of the District. As to the race, the district 
 of the Siberian butter-making is mainly Russian. Though in the provinces 
 and districts, parts of which compose the butter-making districts, there is 
 numbered about 20% representatives of non-Caucasian races (mainly of 
 Turco-Tartars), more than 60% of these tribes reside in the districts out- 
 side the Siberian butter-making region and thus the proportion of the non- 
 Caucasian population in the district is not more than 9%. The highest per- 
 centage of other than Caucasian tribes is found near Western, Southern and 
 Eastern boundaries of the district, while the thickly populated central 
 part of the region has an insignificant proportion of representatives of 
 other tribes. Thus in five districts of the Government of Tobolsk, with a 
 total population of 1,600,000, there are only 19,000 Tartars, less than 1.2%. 
 The chart No.- 8 shows the distribution of the population of other than the 
 Caucasian race. These tribes are less civilized than the Russian popula- 
 tion of the same district. " 
 
 Kirghyz. The great majority of these tribes represented by the 
 Kirghyz and partly by the Altai tribes are still nomads, residing during 
 the summer in portable huts made of felt, and in the winter moving into 
 small, cold, and dirty earth-beaten huts, where they crowd together with 
 newly-born calves' and lambs to prevent both men and animals from perish- 
 ing in the severe cold. 
 
 v' Stock- raisftg IS the'only trade of the nomads. They have lately 
 acquired the- habit of settling, forJand cultivation, but this development 
 is progressing very slowfei^'V • 
 
 ■BaShlfirs. The Bashkirs in the Government of Orenburg, although 
 they h^ve left behind the nomadic mode of living, are lazy, careless, bad 
 farmers and in spite of the abundance of land to be had, they remain poor. 
 
 ■"-'The Altai Tribes and Tartars. Almost exactly the same must be said 
 of the Altai tribes. The Tartars of the Governments of Tomsk and 
 especially of Tobolsk are more civilized. They are all permanently settled 
 arid their houses are sometimes quite well arranged, they cultivate land and 
 trade. Most of them read and write their own language, some of them 
 know the Russian language, but the majority are poorer than the Rus- 
 sians and their methods of agriculture are less advanced. 
 
 Russians. The Russian population in the butter-making district is 
 divided into three groups : 1. The "old-timers," that is the descendants of 
 the first settlers who came into the country 150 to 300 years ago, 2. Emi- 
 
 27 
 
28 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 grants who came into the country from European Russia during the last 
 25-30 years, and still preserve all the habits of the mother country, and 
 3. Cossacks, who live in villages, descend mainly fi'om the old-timers, 
 are liable for military service, and have military organizations. 
 
 The old-timers are the most numerous and economically strong group. 
 They live in large villages in well built wooden houses, which often have 
 two floors with 2 to 4 living rooms. Food, clothing, furniture and house- 
 hold utensils are more plentiful among the old-timers and of better 
 quality than those of the peasants of European Russia. 
 
 It is quite common to find, in the houses of the old-timers, floor carpets, 
 window curtains, wall-papers, good lamps and mirrors, furniture, stuffed 
 and of bent wood (from Vienna), photographic pictures, gramophones and 
 flowers, all of which one will seek in vain in a poor house of the peasant 
 of European Russia. A sewing machine is a necessary part of every 
 household, and the majority of the old-timers have hay mowers, harvesters, 
 ploughs, cultivators and other agricultural machinery. They usually have 
 also nice sleighs and traps, good harness and good horses for personal use. 
 
 The peasants, old-timers, of Western Siberia are descendants of the 
 emigrants from European Russia, mainly from the north, where long ago 
 the emigrants from Free Novgorod lived. This ancient republic has never 
 known the serfdom of interior Russia. The ancestors of the old-timers 
 brought to Siberia their love of freedom, strong character, and steady 
 working habits, which have developed in the severe surroundings of the 
 forests of their motherland. 
 
 Among them were many "old believers," who were persecuted for their 
 creed and who sought the freedom of their conscience in the free lands 
 of Siberia. These were people of high morality, well disciplined, moderate, 
 industrious and reliable comrades. 
 
 In the expanse of Siberia, where Mother Nature generously rewards 
 the industrious but does not favor the idle, the moral qualities of descend- 
 ants of the energetic and freedom-loving Novgorodians have developed 
 still more. 
 
 The Siberian is distinguished from his Trans-Ural cousin by his highly 
 developed sense of individuality, for he has never known the humiMating 
 influence of serfdom. The material prosperity, obtained solely by work 
 and brainpower, has still more developed his self respect as well as his 
 requirements. He is not satisfied with the primitive pauper mode of life 
 to which the peasant of European Russia has grown accustomed. The 
 Siberian peasant moulds his life after the "city" manner. 
 
 The fight against natural hardships has developed courage, resourceful- 
 ness, and quiet, manly bearing. They make the best soldiers in the Rus- 
 sian army. Life in a prosperous but ungracious country has developed the 
 reasoning and calculating facilities, little favoring the sense of and lean- 
 ings to the beautiful. 
 
 Though the number of persons who read and write is proportionately 
 
 29 
 
30 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 smaller among the Siberian population than among the population of 
 European Russia, the Siberian looks more intelligent and civilized than his 
 Trans-Ural cousin. The Siberian resident is not a man of routine and 
 readily accepts innovations and improvements. 
 
 Emigrants. The second distinct group of the Russian population of 
 this district are emigrants from divers governments of European Russia, 
 who were driven to Siberia by the overcrowded state of the peasant lands. 
 They were assisted by the Government by reduced fares, money loans and 
 grants, medical and feeding organizations on the way and at the places 
 of destination. They were also induced to come to this country by exemp- 
 tions from taxes and from conscription during the first years. The emi- 
 grants settled in the butter-making district and the neighborhood, during 
 the time from 1893 to 1912, numbered in round iigures as follows: Govern- 
 ment of Tomsk, 1,100,000; Province of Akmolinsk, 600,000; Government 
 of Tobolsk, 320,000; Province of Tourgai, 200,000; Province of Semi- 
 palatinsk about 100,000. 
 
 The emigrants generally are considerably poorer than the old-timers 
 and unfavorably compare with the latter on account of their slovenliness, 
 scarcity of household furnishings, and less developed requirements. Yet 
 many of them brought from their motherland, where life was more dif- 
 ficult, the habit of steady work, and this soon enabled them to rise to a 
 high degree of material prosperity in Siberia. This is especially true with 
 regard to the Little Russians, who are good farm.ers and have been used 
 in the old country to the methods of cultivating dry steppes. 
 
 Cossacks. Cossacks came to the butter-maliing district at the time of 
 the Kirghyz and Bashkirs raids on Russian settlers. That was before 
 these tribes became subjected to Russian rule. The Cossacks settled in 
 parts of the districts of Cheliabinsk, Troitzk and Verkhneuralsk, all of 
 the Government of Orenburg, also along the whole northern boundary of 
 the Province of Akmolinsk and on both banks of the river Irtysh from 10 to 
 40 versts (10.67 to 42.68 kilometers or 6.63 to 26.52 miles) deep in the 
 Provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk, and also on a considerable 
 area in the district of Kokchetav, Province of Akmolinsk. 
 
 The whole Cossack population in the district of the Siberian butter- 
 making is about 300,000. Half of this number belongs to the Siberian 
 Cossack Troop, whose settlements are situated in the Provinces of 
 Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk. The other half belongs to the Orenburg 
 Cossack Ti'oop and live in the three above mentioned districts of the 
 Province of Orenburg. 
 
 The Cossacks are more developed, more educated and more advanced 
 in their internal organization than the peasants, (old-timers) , but the latter 
 are better farmers. The Cossacks, being liable to military service, cannot 
 give their undivided attention to their farms. Although the Cossacks 
 
 31 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 have more land than the peasants, (the old-timers), they are no richer 
 than the latter. 
 
 Means of Communication. (Chart No. 9). As is well known, cheap and 
 convenient means of communication are of primary importance for the 
 industrial development of a country. In this respect the conditions (>f the 
 district of Siberian butter-making are not quite favorable. 
 
 Owing to scanty irrigation, the rivers of the district are shallow, while 
 natural dry roads and cheap water ways are very few. 
 
 Kiver Obi n?ar Tnwn rf Bxrn'in! 
 
 Navigable Rivers. The following rivers of the district are navigable: 
 Obi, from the point of its becoming navigable to the boundary of the dis- 
 trict i. e. for about 1300 versts, Irtysh, along its entire course through 
 the district for 2500 versts, Tom, for 550 versts and Charysh, for about 
 340 versts. The waterway of 415 versts from Tobolsk to Tiumen, though 
 outside the district, must be mentioned here, as it constitutes the exten- 
 sion of the Obi and Irtysh before Tiumen, where the most western point 
 of the navigation of the Obi system joins the Russian railway system. 
 
 The total length of the water ways in the district is about 5,105 versts 
 or 3360 miles, which is the rate of one verst of water way to each 224 
 squai'e versts of land or 1 mile of water way to each 152 square miles. 
 
 As can be seen from the map the water ways allow goods to 
 be moved from the richest south-eastern part of the district — the upper 
 flow of the Obi and Irtysh — in the westerly direction towards Tiumen on 
 the way to the markets of European Russia and Western Europe. 
 
 This is a great convenience, as it enables low valued goods to use cheap 
 water transport over a considerable distance on their way to the markets. 
 
 32 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 This waterway from the upper flow of the Irtysh, — along the Irtysh, 
 Tobol and Toura— is 3392 versts or 2249 English miles long. From the 
 upper flow of the Obi and Tiumen — along the Obi, Irtysh, Tobol and Toura 
 — the distance is almost the same, namely 3338 versts or 2262 miles. 
 
 As drawbacks of the Siberian waterways must be mentioned the short 
 period of navigation — from the end of April to the beginning of October — 
 and the low water in the summer months from the middle of June on- 
 wards — which affect the greater part of the above mentioned rivers. 
 
 Low water is especially noticeable at the upper flow of the rivers: 
 Obi up to the mouth of the river Charysh and during very hot and dry 
 summers as far as the mouth of the Tom; Irtysh as far as Pavlodar; 
 Tobol and Toura, especially in the most western section, where, toward the 
 end of a hot and dry summer, water in shallow places is not deeper than 
 28 inches. This greatly affects steam navigation. 
 
 Of the rivers which are good only for very small craft and rafting, 
 deserve mention the Omi, Tara and tributaries of the Obi — the Alei and 
 Charysh, the latter being good in its lower course for steam navigation. 
 
 The water ways are not utilized to their full capacity, as may be 
 seen from the fact that in 1913 on the entire Obi system there were afloat 
 only 122 self propelling vessels and about 600 bai'ges with an average 
 carrying capacity of 60,300 poods or about 1,000 tons each. 
 
 The volume of goods traffic on all rivers of the Obi basin in 1909 
 reached 22,320,000 cwt., the annual increase for the years 1904-1909 being 
 about 2.5%. 
 
 The Northern Route. The waterways of Siberia have an outlet into 
 the Arctic Ocean through the Kara Sea. Until recently this route was 
 used very little, and the Kara Sea was considered almost entirely im- 
 passable. The attempts and investigations of recent years have, however, 
 shown that this route can be used provided aids to navigation are estab- 
 lished and properly maintained, and wireless stations and seaplanes report 
 on the movements of floating ice. This inspires a hope for Siberia soon 
 to have a cheap sea route for exporting the produce of the country. 
 
 Railroads. The district is very poorly equipped with railroads. The 
 total length of all completed and working railroads is only 3915 
 versts or 2635 miles, i. e. for each 1000 sq. versts there is 2.75 versts of 
 railroad or 1.5 miles for each 1000 sq. miles. 
 
 These figures show that the district of the Siberian butter-making' has 
 proportionately 16 times less railroads than the United States, 4 times 
 less than European Russia and 111 times less than Belgium. 
 
 All railways have about 125 stations, not counting switching tracks 
 between the stations. As to the goods traffic on the railways within the 
 district, the figures are given below. 
 
 33 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Unmade Roads. With such slight development in waterways and rail- 
 roads, the natural roads acquire a great importance, which increases in 
 winter time when the rivers and lakes freeze over and snow facilitates sleigh 
 transportation. Winter is the busiest time of the year for goods traffic 
 along the roads. In summer time the roads in the district are quite good, 
 with the exception of those in the Altai mountain district. This locality is 
 naturally uneven, has a moist climate and a great number of rivers and 
 lakes. 
 
 Many roads, especially in the Southern part of the district, are fit for 
 automobile traffic without any artificial improvements except the erection 
 of a few bridges. 
 
 There are no stone jacketed roads in the district, owing to the absence 
 of stone. 
 
 Before the war winter transportation by natural roadway was very 
 cheap, namely 0.012-0.056 copeck per pood-verst, or about 0.134 c. per 
 cwt.-mile. 
 
 Creamery of the Souskanikhin Co-operative Association (Govt, of Altai), Member of the Union 
 
 Main Occupation of the Population. The chief occupation of the popu- 
 lation of the Siberian butter-making district is corn production and stock- 
 raising. 
 
 Cultivated Area. There is not less than 5,600,000 desiatins (14,952,000 
 acres) of cultivated land in the district, which equals 4.65% of the whole 
 
 34 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 area of the district or ten times less than in civilized countries of Western 
 Europe and four times less than in 50 provinces of European Russia, 
 populated by Russians. 
 
 Assuming that the percentage of land which is unfit for cultivation 
 in the district is not higher than in other countries, and perhaps is even 
 lower on account of the plain character of the larger part of the area, 
 the above mentioned figures show that the capacity of the district for 
 agriculture has been hardly tapped. 
 
 The average area of seeded land per head varies in various parts of 
 the district. Near the northern boundary of the district, for example, in 
 the district of Yalutorovsk the average area of seeded land per head is 
 0.87 desiatin, or 2.32 acres, and in the district of Kainsk, Government of 
 Tomsk— 0,74 desiatins (2 acres). The highest averages of sown land are 
 found in the districts of Kourgan and Tiukalinsk, Government of Tobolsk, 
 namely 1.15 desiatins (3.1 acres) per head, district of Kokchetav, Pro- 
 vince of Akmolinsk, 1.26 desiatins (3.37 acres), districts of Barnaul and 
 Kamen, Government of Altai — 1.29 desiatins (3.4 acres), district of 
 Zmeinogorsk, Government of Altai — 1.5 desiatins (5.53 acres). 
 
 Plants Cultivated. The largest area — about 45% — is occupied by wheat. 
 Oats take up about 35% of the area and the balance of about 20% is dis- 
 ti'ibuted among other plants — winter and spring rye, barley, millet, buck- 
 wheat, peas, flax, hemp, sunflowers, potatoes, and spelt. No other cereals 
 or industrial plants are cultivated in the district except insignificant 
 plantations of watermelons in the southern part of the district due south 
 from 55 degrees north latitude. 
 
 In the district of Zmeinogorsk successful experiments have been made 
 with the cultivation of sweet beetroot, and the construction of a big sugar 
 refinery is contemplated. 
 
 The Methods of Agriculture. On account of the abundance and na- 
 tural high fertility of the land, methods of agriculture, as applied in the 
 district are extensive, and fertilization, whether with manure or artificial 
 compounds, is not employed except by a very few individual farmers in the 
 northwestern part of the district. The system of agriculture followed 
 is that a plot of land is sown several years in succession, until it is ex- 
 hausted, then left for five to ten years and in this way the earth recuperates 
 Its fertility. In more thickly populated localities, where the amount of 
 available land does not allow this system of agriculture to be applied, the 
 land is sown two or three years in succession and then left alone for a year, 
 after which the planting begins again. Regular rotation of various crops 
 on several fields is not employed in the district at all. 
 
 Tilling is done very carefully. Improved agricultural machines: 
 ploughs, cultivators, hay mowers, harvesters, seed-lips, thrashing machines 
 and winnowers are most popular, and the district is a large market for 
 agricultural machinery and implements. 
 
 35 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION'S 
 
 Obstacles to Improved Methods of Agriculture. Among the obstacles 
 to greater advancement of the methods of agriculture, besides the abund- 
 ance of land and still inexhausted natural fertility of the soil, must be 
 placed the prevailing communal form of land ownership in the district. 
 
 Except for a few privately owned farms in the southern districts of the 
 Government of Tobolsk, cossack land, and a few villages which adopted one- 
 piece-privately-owned-farms-method, all the rest of the tillers in the dis- 
 trict own their land on the principle of communal proprietorship. 
 
 Communal Land Ownership. Eiach family receives a plot of land, for 
 temporary use or for an indefinite period, in proportion to the number of 
 tax payers, or tillers, or males in the family. When changes in the compo- 
 sition of families and increase of population render the distribution of land 
 unequal, a general re-distribution of land is arranged. 
 
 Hay meadows are divided each year with the observance of possible 
 equality, pastures are in common use, woods are mostly exploited on the 
 same principle, and the cutting of timber is also carried out on the prin- 
 ciple of equal sharing. In some localities woods are divided in the same way 
 as is the arable land. 
 
 This mode of land utilization, while guaranteeing to every member of 
 the community a plot of land, at the same time hinders every improvement 
 in the methods of agriculture to a considerable degree, as no one cares to 
 spend money to improve land which at the next re-distribution may be 
 taken from him. 
 
 Big agricultural properties of capitalistic character are exceedingly 
 scarce in the district, as the high average prosperity of the population and 
 the possibility for everybody to work his own farm almost entirely does 
 away with the chances of finding a sufficient amount of hired agricultural 
 labour. 
 
 Measures to Improve the Technique of Agriculture. The Government 
 has been constantly taking measures to improve the technique of agricul- 
 ture. Each Province or Government has an agronomical organizatioa com- 
 posed of specialists, instructors and people with technical knowledge in 
 various branches of agriculture, whose aim is to acquaint the population 
 with the best methods of utilizing the land. To prepare the members of 
 these agronomical organizations there are several middle schools of agri- 
 culture, a college of agi-iculture in Omsk, and about ten preparatory schools 
 of agriculture and of dairying. 
 
 Fertility. The fertility in the district of the Siberian butter-making, 
 on account of the climatic conditions, is extremely uneven. In very dry 
 years the soil sometimes does not yield anything, while in years when the 
 amount of precipitation is sufficient, plentiful crops are gathered. The 
 
 37 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 highest yield of wheat, barley and oats must be taken at 300 poods per 
 desiatin, or 36.1 cwts. per acre, while a medium yield can be taken at 100 
 poods per desiatin, or 12 cwts. per acre. 
 
 Potatoes, which are seldom grown in the open fields, yield, accordmg to 
 the humidity of the summer, from 400 to 1000 poods per desiatin (48-120 
 cwts. per acre). The lowest yield (about 10'', of the medium yield) is ob- 
 served in the northern section of the district, in the region of woods and in 
 the contiguous region of the wooded steppe, while the highest yields have 
 been obtained in the southeastern region of the Altai, owing to this sec- 
 tion being situated more towards the south, having a greater amount of 
 annual precipitation and the soil being of higher quality. Large crops 
 are gathered in the Kokchetav mountainous country, where there is, 
 during the summer, a larger amount of precipitation than in the plains. 
 
 Causes Affeding the Crops. Drought does more damage to crops than 
 anything else. Dry spells occur more often in the spring and during the 
 first half of the summer. In dry years there appear enormous swarms of 
 "Kobylka," an insect of the grasshopper family and very like a locust. 
 
 This "Kobylka" devours the crops and is a veritable plague for the 
 agriculturist. Frequently crops are damaged by the spring and especially 
 early autumn frosts, which kill the young plants. 
 
 Quantities of Agricultural Products. Notwithstanding the low standard 
 of the technique of agriculture and low crops, the average harvest of corn 
 in the district is much greater than is necessary for the local population, 
 and the district annually exports a considerable amount of corn and 
 other agricultural products. 
 
 Thus the Government of Tobolsk in the years of medium sized harvests 
 has an excess of 20,000,000 poods, or 6,400,000 cwt. of corn, and in good 
 years this surplus is doubled. The excess of corn in the Government of 
 Tomsk and Altai, which have almost twice the population of the Guvern- 
 ment of Tobolsk, is considerably larger. 
 
 During the year 1916, there were sown in both these Governments 
 29,500,000 poods, or 9,500,000 cwts. of various cereals. The yield was 120,- 
 000,000 poods, or 39,000,000 cwts. The surplus available for export must 
 be reckoned at not less than one third of the total, 40,000,000 poods, or 
 13,000,000 cwts. The provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipaiatinsk produce 
 yearly 60 to 100 millions poods or 19.3-32 million cwts. of corn. 
 
 Export of Agricultural Products. One can gather some idea of the 
 amount of agricultural produce of the district from the figures supplied by 
 the railway authorities. The latest figures available refer to the year 1915. 
 During that year the railways of Western Siberia dealt with 61,818,127 
 poods, or 19,900,000 cwts. of wheat (in grain and flour), rye and oats in- 
 voiced for export to European Russia and abroad ; also 2,039,954 poods, or 
 
 38 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 658,000 cwts. of bran ; 706,223 poods, or 277,000 cwts. of oil yielding seeds, 
 mainlj' linseed and hempseed; 745,466 poods, or 240,000 cwts. of flax 
 and hemp fibre. 
 
 Stock Raising. Another source of prosperity in the district is supplied 
 by stock raising, which occupies the second place. 
 
 The district of the Siberian butter-making industry presents many in- 
 ducements to stock raising, having an abundance of dry and open steppes 
 covei-ed with nutritious, though not abundant feeding grass. 
 
 There is plenty of space both for grazing in the summer and for gather- 
 ing fodder for the winter. 
 
 Creamery of the Staro-Barda Co-operative Association (Govt, of Altai), Member of the Union 
 
 The exposed situation and the constant winds do not allow blood-sucking 
 insects to breed to the extent of becoming a plague to the live stock, as is 
 the case in wooded localities. 
 
 The presence of saline soil is very useful, as the cattle like salt and 
 greatly benefit by licking it. 
 
 In the southern and central parts of the district the nomadic Kirghiz 
 allow their cattle to browse in the open the whole year round, as usually 
 the snow is not very deep. In the eastern part of the district and near its 
 southern boundary the presence of mountainous pastures is beneficial to 
 stock-raising. 
 
 39 
 
E 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 Unfavorable Conditions for Stock Raising. Among the circumstances 
 that are unfavorable to stock raising are the very severe winters and rime, 
 which occasionally occurs in the steppe region, when, during the winter, it 
 begins to rain and immediately freezes up, the result of which is a layer 
 forming a hard crust on top of the snow. The cattle are unable to get the 
 grass from under this crust and die of hunger. 
 
 This rime is a great calamity for the nomadic Kirghyz and by it many of 
 them are deprived of all their property. The acuteness of this evil has 
 been greatly diminished since the introduction of hay mowers, which enable 
 the owners to gather sufficient fodder for the winter even from the poor 
 meadows of the steppe. Another calamity of the nomadic stock raisers is 
 the great blizzards, which often destroy whole herds of cattle. 
 
 Russian and Kirghyz stock raising suffers equally from periodical 
 droughts, during which, owing to the scarcity of fodder, it becomes neces- 
 sary to cut down the number of cattle. 
 
 Murrains, especially rinderpest, which at one time did great damage 
 to the Siberian stock raising, have been deprived of their power by the 
 organization of veterinary assistance and now only sporadically an out- 
 break of anthrax, epizootic pneumonia or aphthae epizooticae occurs. 
 
 The Kirghyz Method of Stock Raising. The Kirghyz conduct their stock 
 raising in a very primitive way: the cattle are herded in the fields the 
 whole year round, very few of this tribe store fodder for the winter and 
 when this is done at all, it is on a very small scale. Roofed or even walled 
 winter premises for cattle are almost unknown. In order to feed the cattle 
 in the open the whole year round, the Kirghyz are compelled to drive their 
 cattle from the winter pastures, which are mostly selected near rivers and 
 in the lowlands where the grass is longer and more plentiful — to summer 
 pastures, preferably in the mountains or in the open dry steppes. The 
 hardship of their existence reflects itself in the quality of the Kirghyz 
 live stock. 
 
 Kirghyz horses are small and unsightly, but their endurance is extra- 
 ordinary. The cattle are small and the cows yield little milk, as their calves 
 are not weaned and only that amount of milk is collected w^hich is left 
 after the calf is satisfied. That is one of the reasons why butter making 
 does not become a staple trade among the Kirghyz. Sheep and goats of 
 Kirghyz breed are large and fat, but the wool is coarse. Kirghyz sheep have 
 fat deposits on the tail which reach as much as 30 lbs. and are called 
 "kourdiuk." A peculiarity of Kirghyz stock raising is the breeding of 
 camels, a branch of stock raising not practised by the Russians. 
 
 Russian Stock Raising. Russians, who own much more live stock in the 
 district than the nomads employ better methods of stock raising, though 
 these methods are far from being perfect. 
 
 41 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Fodder is laid in store for the winter, but very often even milch cows 
 are fed on straw the whole winter. 
 
 Cattle are kept in special enclosures, which are mostly cold, often un- 
 roofed, and at best have roofs of very light construction. 
 
 Siberian Live Stock. No grass or zhizocarpic plants are sown and 
 therefoi-e the feeding of cattle is not quite satisfactory. Owing to this, 
 the cattle of the Siberian peasantry are smaller and less productive than 
 those of improved breeds of European Russia, but at the same time they 
 require much less care, and possess a greater power of resistance against 
 disease. 
 
 Besides this, the Siberian cattle are capable of great improvement with 
 the least betterment of care and feeding, and this capacity constitutes a 
 valuable asset for the stock owner. 
 
 The Siberian horse is small, but capable of great endurance. A con- 
 tinuous run at the rate of 15 versts per hour (17 kilometres or 10 miles) 
 for two or three hours, or a journey without food and with a short rest 
 for 100 versts (114 kilometres, or 66 miles), is a common occurrence. 
 
 The Siberian cow yields lass milk than the cultivated breeds. One can 
 judge the milk productiveness of Russian Siberian cattle from the follow- 
 ing: according to the e.\act data, for ten years, collected by the Government 
 organization which controls butter-making, in the Government of Tobolsk, 
 the average amount of milk from a cow supplied to butter-making works 
 was 49 poods, or 1770 lbs. At the same time this figure does not express 
 the average milk yield of cows, as a considerable part of the milk i^ con- 
 sumed by the owner's family. 
 
 In practice a peasant's cow yields from 1800 to 3600 lbs. of milk. 
 
 On the Kainsk farm of instruction, where Siberian cattle are fed ration- 
 ally and are well cared for, the average yield of milk per year was lOG poods 
 (3816 lbs.), while the highest individual annual yield was 168 poods or 
 6048 lbs. 
 
 While not amounting to great quantities, the milk of Siberian cows is 
 distinguished by its high percentage of fat, averaging 4.5%, and even 7.6% 
 has been observed. The cattle of western Europe usually have no more 
 than S.5'r of fat in their milk. 
 
 Sheep of Russian breed are not so fat as those of the Kirghyz, have no 
 "kourdiuk" and their wool is much finer and softer. 
 
 Sheep Breeding and Its Future. Dry pastures, herbs, nutritious though 
 small, and the abundance of saline soils are conditions especially favourable 
 for the development of sheep-breeding in the district of the Siberian butter 
 making. 
 
 The country due south from the district, spreading to the boundaries 
 of Turkestan, e.xceeds in size the butter-making district and even with the 
 
 42 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 development of the agricultural technique, can be used almost exclusively 
 for pastures and especially for sheep raising. 
 
 The cultivation of land in this locality is possible only with the aid of 
 artificial irrigation, and this can be done only in a few places. 
 
 The whole locality gravitates economically toward railroads which cut 
 through the butter-making district in Siberia. 
 
 As long as sheep-raising was in the hands of peasants and the Kirghyz, 
 who required from the sheep only mutton, wooled skins for winter wear 
 and coarse wool for felt boots, stockings, mittens and linings, the sheep- 
 rearing did not yield big profits and could not develop quickly. 
 
 However, experience of recent years proves that fine-wooled sheep 
 (merino) can be bred in the Siberian steppes wuth the greatest success. 
 
 Some sheep-breeders in Southern Russia, where their trade was threat- 
 ened by the growing wheat industry, transferred their herds to the steppes 
 of the Province of Akmolinsk. This experiment has been eminently success- 
 ful and in 1913 there were in the Province of Akmolinsk more than 38,000 
 merino sheep. In the same locality, the breeding of Karakul sheep, which 
 were brought from Turkestan, has also been very successful and in 1913 
 the number of these animals whose fur is so valued, reached 23,000. The 
 war has suspended this useful trade, but there is every reason to expect a 
 great development in the breeding of Karakul sheep when conditions be- 
 come peaceful again. 
 
 Stock Raising- in Figures. The following table shows how stock raising 
 in the Siberian butter-making district compares with other countries and 
 localities: 
 
 Countries and 
 
 
 Number of animals per 
 
 100 
 
 people 
 
 
 Provinces of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Western Siberia 
 
 Horses 
 
 Cattle 
 
 Sheep & Goats 
 
 Pigs 
 
 Camels 
 
 U. S. A. 
 
 21.5 
 
 59 
 
 50 
 
 
 65 
 
 
 Entire *Russia 
 
 26 
 
 84 
 
 48 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Denmark 
 
 25.1 
 
 88.8 
 
 18.6 
 
 
 90 
 
 
 Govt, of Tobolsk 
 
 40 
 
 48 
 
 35 
 
 
 158 
 
 
 Govt, of Tomsk 
 
 57 
 
 67 
 
 77 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 Province of Akmolinsk 
 
 112 
 
 100 
 
 330 
 
 
 I 
 
 16 
 
 Province of Semipalatinsk 100 
 
 102 
 
 209 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 From the above table one can see that in the butter-making district 
 stock rearing is greatly developed, but the limit of its development is as 
 yet far from being reached. 
 
 When- certain improvements which are accessible to the population are 
 introduced, such as fully developed grass sowing, cultivation of forage 
 plants, improved feeding and winter housing of cattle, increase in the num- 
 ber of hay mowing machines, development of means of communication and 
 
 43 
 
;;4 ': Sk ^ 
 
 E 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 of utilization of animal products, all of which is bound to raise the prices 
 for cattle, stock raising must develop still more and it is difficult to 
 foresee the extent of its development. 
 
 In addition to the above, there are in the district of the Siberian butter- 
 making and in the adjacent localities, pi-ojected new railways totalling 
 about 3,000 versts, or 2,000 English miles. 
 
 These new railways are shown on the attached map. They promise to 
 invigorate the Southern section of the butter-making district, which is well 
 suited to stock raising and enormously rich in minerals such as coal, copper, 
 silver and lead. No doubt the new railways will facilitate expansion of the 
 Siberian butter-making district in the southern direction by prodding 
 means for export of cream butter to the distant markets. 
 
 Measures to Improve Stock Raising. The Government, Zemstovs and 
 the Union of the Siberian Creamery Associations do much to spread theo- 
 retical and practical knowledge of improved methods of caring for cattle, 
 especially with regard to warm stock yards and proper feeding, and as a 
 result of this propaganda marked improvements have been observed in 
 the more civilized northwestern part of the district and also in other locali- 
 ties. In many villages of the district of Kourgan and Yalutorovsk, the 
 peasants appreciate the usefulness of warm stock yards and energetically 
 construct them. To make the peasants realize the profitableness of im- 
 proved feeding and tending of milch stock, the Union of the Siberian 
 Creamery Associations employs a staff of agronomic specialists and spends 
 considerable sums of money on special establishments to demontrate the 
 perfected methods. 
 
 Export of Products of Stock Raising. At present a considerable amount 
 of the products of stock raising, besides cream butter, export of which will 
 be discussed later, is exported to European Russia, Eastern Siberia and 
 abroad. 
 
 Previous to the war, there were brought on foot each summer, from 
 the south to the towns of Omsk, Petropavlovsk, Kourgan, Cheliabinsk, 
 Troitzk and Ekaterinbourg, 360,000 heads of cattle and 200,000 sheep. Of 
 this amount about 100,000 cattle were sent by rail to Petrograd, and the 
 rest slaughtered and sent to Moscow and Petrograd as frozen meat. 
 
 These cattle were all bought from the Kirghyz and came from the 
 steppe regions. 
 
 In the Government of Tomsk, Tobolsk and Altai, where butter-making 
 is especially developed, there were slaughtered each autumn about 300,000 
 surplus cattle and an equal number of surplus sheep. 
 
 During the whole winter, along the main Siberian railway, there moves 
 an increasing flow of meat from east towards west. 
 
 Commencing east of Novo-Nikolaievsk, a stream of meat reaches this 
 town amounting to about 300,000 poods (data for 1913) and leaves it in- 
 
 45 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 creased by local contributions to about 900,000 poods. At Omsk the inpour 
 of meat already amounts to 1,500,000 poods, while through Cheliabinsk 
 there passes approximately 2,500,000 poods (806,000 cwts.). 
 
 According to the report of the Omsk railroad for 1915, there passed 
 through all the stations of the railroad, mostly westbound, 39,128 cattle 
 on foot, and 2,980,571 poods, or 960,000 cwts. of frozen meat, tallow and 
 hides. 
 
 Export of Hides, Wool, Hair and Bristles. Products of animal industry 
 other than meat, were exported from the district of the Siberian butter- 
 making industry and also from the neighboring localities which gravitate 
 to the district, according to the Government Veterinary organization, 
 in the following quantities: horse and heifer hides, 3,210,000; goat and 
 sheep skins, 9,950,000; camel hides, 28,000; sheep and goat wool and hair, 
 1,730,000 poods, or 558,000 cwts.; camel hair, 86,000 poods, or 27,692 
 cwts.; bristles, 15,857 poods, or 5,106 cwts.; horse hair, 56,124 poods, or 
 18,072 cwts. 
 
 In addition there were exported from the district by railroad in 1915: 
 eggs, 86.960 poods, or 28,050 cwts. ; killed domestic poultry, 45,563 poods, 
 or 14,671 cwts; killed winged game, 31,291 poods, or 10,076 cwts. 
 
 Agriculture and stock raising are the chief occupations of the popula- 
 tion of the district of the Siberian butter-making industry. 
 
 A few lightly developed manufacturing industries exist in the district. 
 These are closely connected with agriculture and stock raising, and have 
 for their materials almost exclusively the raw products of these two main- 
 stays of the district prosperity. 
 
 Mining Industry. Within the boundaries of the disti'ict hardly any 
 minerals are worked. Of mining concerns, coal mines deserve mention. 
 These are the coal mines near the town of Cheliabinsk, the Anjer coal mines 
 near the northwestern boundaiy of the district, close to the railway, be- 
 longing to the Government, and the Soujen coal mines (pi'ivate) which 
 supply coal to the railroad. 
 
 Coal mines are being worked in the district of Kouznetzk, between the 
 upper flows of the river Ina and Tom, near the village of Kolchougino, 
 which is connected with the Tomsk railroad by a branch line running 
 from the station lurga. 
 
 Silver, copper, lead and precious jasper mining, which at one lime throve 
 in the Altai, has now almost ceased since the abolition of serfdom, as the 
 once miners reverted to the more customary work of agriculture. 
 
 Manufacturing Industry. Of industries connected with husbandry, the 
 most developed are milling, distilling, brewing and butter-making The 
 least developed are leather making and tanning of wooled sheep skins, 
 
 46 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 telting foot wear and pressing oil of hemp seed, linseed and garden cress 
 seed (Camelina Sativa). 
 
 Domestic Industries. Tanning, oil pressing, preparation of vooled 
 sheep skins and felting foot wear as domestic industries are popular in the 
 region inhabited by the Russians. An artisan who has a small workshop, 
 genei-ally of a most primitive construction, usually executes orders for the 
 neighbouring peasants. Only in two places, in the town of Barnaul and the 
 village of Shatrovskoe, the district of Yalutorovsk, has the preparation of 
 black sheep furs and fur coat making become an industry on a larger scale. 
 The same can be said of felting foot wear, which is carried on in the town 
 of Barnaul and near the town of Kourgan. Oil pressing has somewhat de- 
 veloped near the latter town with the aid of hydraulic presses. 
 
 All these industries are worked for the needs of the nearest local 
 markets and it is impossible to ascertain the exact volume of their pro- 
 duction. 
 
 Flour milling, distilling, and brewing are industries on a larger scale. 
 
 Milling Industry. According to the development of the flour milling 
 industry in the district, the list is headed by the town of Omsk, followed 
 by the towns of Novo Nikolaievsk and Tomsk. The last named, though 
 situated outside the district, grinds grain contributed by the district. 
 
 The secondary centres of the flour milling industry are, in the Obi 
 region, the towns of Barnaul, Biisk, Kamen and in the basin of the Irtysh, 
 — Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar, Kourgan and Yalutorovsk. 
 
 Previous to the war the annual output of the flour mills in the Obi 
 region was calculated at 15.8 million poods, or 5.1 million cwts., and that 
 of the Irtysh region at 8.9 million poods, or 2.9 million cwts. The flour 
 mills worked not only for local markets, but also for exportation; up to 
 75% of flour produced in Novo Nikolaievsk was exported to western Siberia, 
 while about 50% of the flour produced in Omsk went to European Russia, 
 mainly in the Urals region. 
 
 Distilling and Brewing. In 1910-1911 there were 28 distilleries in the 
 district, with a total output of 3,000,000 vedros, or 8,115,000 gallons of 
 alcohol 40° strong. At the same time there were 40 breweries in the dis- 
 trict, with a total output of 1,450,000 vedros, or 3,922,250 gallons. 
 
 Textile industry is not worked on a large scale and the peasants make 
 fabrics by hand of hemp, flax and wool for household use. 
 
 Butter-making. The most conspicuous branch of the manufacture of 
 raw products of agriculture, which gives considerable profits to the peas- 
 antry and occupies a prominent place in exports abroad is butter-making — 
 the trade of the district. 
 
 47 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Manufacture of Melted Butter Previous to the Construction of the Siber- 
 ian Railway. Manufacture of butter for sale has long since been a fairly 
 conspicuous trade of the peasantry in the district. Owing to the absence 
 of convenient ways of communication and the great distances which ren- 
 dered transportation of perishable goods impossible, only melted butter was 
 manufactured, by means of liberating water and albuminous matters by 
 heating. This butter keeps fresh, even in summer time, for a much longer 
 period than that made in the ordinary way. It is used only for cooking 
 purposes. 
 
 This butter was made by souring milk in earthenware vessels — 
 "krynki," separating the "smetana" or thickened cream and converting the 
 cream into butter by prolonged stirring with a churn staff — "moutovka." 
 The butter was then put into a moderately warm oven and when melted 
 was poured off from the water and other occasional foreign matter at the 
 bottom of the vessel. 
 
 Cylinders of frozen butter — "chalpany" as the Siberians call them — 
 could be seen at every village market and fair, and jokingly the peasants 
 of the Government of Tomsk are often called "chalpany." At that time 
 bread and meat were extremely cheap and the peasants could obtain money 
 only by selling butter, but the trade was not remunerative. From 30 poods 
 of milk hardly one pood of melted butter could be obtained, the price of 
 which was 4 to 6 roubles per pood, or $6.30 to $9.15 per cwt. 
 
 Butter-making as described above required much work on the part of 
 the housewife. 
 
 Melted butter was bought from peasants, mainly at village fairs during 
 the autumn and winter, gathered into large lots, melted once more to assure 
 the necessary degree of purity and transported by horses to European 
 Russia and was shipped to Turkey through the ports of the Black Sea. 
 
 Melted butter, prepared in the Government of Tobolsk, where the popu- 
 lation is more cultured and much cleaner, was rated as first class. Barnaul 
 butter, from the present Government of Altai, was rated second class. The 
 butter made by Kirghyz, from the Governments of Akmolinsk and Semipal- 
 atinsk, was rated third class. 
 
 An approximate estimate shows that the annual export of melted butter 
 from Western Siberia was not more than 350,000 poods, or 112,700 cwts., 
 for not more than 2,000,000 to 2,500,000 roubles, or $1,000,000 to 
 $1,250,000. Cream butter was in use only in towns where it was made at 
 home by churning cream in bottles. The mechanical method of separating 
 cream, as well as the word "separator," were unknown. 
 
 First Experiments in Making Cream Butter. Only in recent years, be- 
 fore the construction of the Siberian railway, a butter factory was organ- 
 ized on the private farm of Mr. Pamfilof, and a separator was installed. 
 However, this butter factory made a very small quantity of butter, as only 
 
 48 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 the milk from the owner's cows was used, and was disposed of entirely in 
 Tinmen. 
 
 The beginning of the Siberian butter-making industry corresponds with 
 the commencement of the construction of the Great Siberian railway. 
 
 Butter-making and the Railway. In 1893 the railvi'ay reached the town 
 of Kourgan and in 1894 the first butter factory was organized in the village 
 of Utiatzkoe, 40 versts, or 26 miles from the town of Kourgan, by a Moscow 
 merchant, Mr. Volkoff. Since then the butter-making has been advancing 
 by gigantic strides. In 1899 there was exported from Siberia 132,000 
 poods, or about 44.000 cwts. of butter, and in 1913, 4,058,650 poods, or 
 1,309,000 cwts. 
 
 Siberian Butter. The increase in the export of Siberian butter was 
 greatly assisted by its quality, mainly its keeping quality. 
 
 The numerous analyses made in laboratories of the States of Western 
 Europe show that the average composition of European butter, according 
 to Professor Konih, is as follows : 
 
 water fat salt curd 
 
 13.45% 83.70% 1.59% 1.26 
 
 % 
 
 The composition of salted American butter (Thomson, S. C, Shaw, 
 R. H. & Norton, R. P. — The normal composition of American Creamery 
 Butter, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. B. A. I. Bui. 149), is as follows: 
 
 water fat salt curd 
 
 13.90% 82.41% 2.51% 1.18% 
 
 The investigations of the Siberian Government laboratories (S. Koch- 
 ergin, Analytical Tables of the physical-chemical properties and composi- 
 tions of Siberian butter for the years 1896-1912) show that the average 
 composition of Siberian butter, after complete analysis, is as follows : 
 
 water fat salt curd 
 
 11.58% 85.59% 1.71% 1.12% 
 
 Comparing these thi'ee tables, one can see that Siberian butter contains 
 1.87% less water and 1.89% more fat than European butter. 
 
 The small amount of water, in comparison with European and American 
 butter, gave Siberian butter the name of "dry butter." This dryness is its 
 peculiar feature, while it also contains the largest percentage of fat, which 
 is the most valuable component part of butter. 
 
 Growth of Butter-Making. Numerous butter factories sprang up very 
 quickly. The first appeared in 1894, and in 1902 there were, in Siberia, 
 2,135 butter factories, and 3,102 in 1911. 
 
 Having originated in the southwestern part of the Government of 
 Tobolsk, near the town of Kourgan, the butter-making soon spread east- 
 
 49 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 ward to the Government of Tomsk and the Province of Akmolinsk. The 
 first butter factory in the Government of Tomsk appeared in 1896, but in 
 1902 two thirds of the total number of butter factories in Siberia were in 
 the Government of Tomsk. 
 
 Organizafion of Butter Making by Private Persons. The manufacture 
 and exportation of Siberian butter were at first entii-ely in private hands. 
 Buyers and exporters of butter, mostly Dutch, opened offices in towns and 
 supplied with equipment, on credit, anybody who desired to organize a 
 butter factory. They even loaned money against an undertaking to deliver 
 butter to them and repay the loan by deducting from the prices of the 
 delivered butter. 
 
 These people also recommended master butter makers, who were most- 
 ly natives of the Baltic provinces, where the butter-making industry was 
 already well developed. 
 
 The new ti-ade proved remunerative: milk was priced much higher than 
 in the epoch of melted butter making, while the work of the housewife was 
 confined to milking her cows and taking the milk to the factory. The an- 
 nual profit from a cow rose from 5 to 6 roubles to 15 to 20 roubles. 
 
 Faults of the New Business. This business attracted many rich peas- 
 ants and small merchants, who vied with each other in starting new butter 
 factories. The main object was to purchase milk as cheaply as possible. 
 To reduce the competition, the owners of butter factories often made agree- 
 ments among themselves as to the prices and divided the country in sec- 
 tions. To make the purchase of butter still more profitable for themselves, 
 they opened small stores and paid for butter in goods. 
 
 Previous to the year 1899 butter was transported by railroad in ordinary 
 cargo cars without any means of refrigeration. Owing to this, in the 
 summer time when the exportation was at its highest, butter suffered great 
 damage before reaching the market. The buyers-exporters did not attach 
 any importance to this fact, and took no trouble to improve it. 
 
 The buyers of butter in their relations with the owners of butter fac- 
 tories, and particularly the owners of butter factories in their relations 
 with the peasants who delivered milk, employed most unscrupulous 
 methods. 
 
 The result was the production of bad, low-priced butter and the lion's 
 share of the profits was taken, not by the producers of milk, but by the 
 middlemen. 
 
 Production and disposing of butter were not regulated nor organized, 
 thereby doing injury to the great majority of producers and bringing 
 profits to a small crowd of butter factory owners and exporters. 
 
 The business bore all features of a dishonest exploitation by clever and 
 unscrupulous dealers of the peasants' credulity and ignorance. 
 
 50 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 Government's Attitude Towards Butter-Making. In 1905 the Govern- 
 ment, in the effort to develop and organize the new branch of the people's 
 activity, so beneficial to the State, sent a number of specialists and in- 
 structors in dairying to Western Siberia, who were under the Government's 
 agronoms — Mr. N. Skalozubof in Tobolsk and Mr. Jos. Okulitch in Tomsk. 
 
 
 ii£ 
 
 ll 
 
 .i 1. • 
 
 M 
 
 hHwl \ 'iS 1 
 
 
 IM^Il 
 
 Sj=3 
 
 
 
 
 . . - „ 
 
 W^fW^ ' ' n^ 
 
 *^ 
 
 iiiH 
 
 Central Dairying Laboratory in Tomsk 
 
 Later on, to study and control the production of butter and to supply arti- 
 ficial ferments to various parts of Western Siberia, there were organized in 
 many places special dairying laboratories, headed by the Central Dairying 
 Laboi-atory in Tomsk under the management of an agriculturist, Mr. C. 
 Kochergin, who has since been a member of the Board of Directors of the 
 Union of the Siberian Creamery Associations. 
 
 However, it must be stated that in Perograd many influential people 
 in administrative circles did not approve of the new industry, regarding the 
 butter-making by the Siberian peasantry as a rival to the butter-making 
 by the landlords of European Russia. 
 
 This is one of the reasons why the local activities of the Government 
 agents were not put on a proper footing. There were founded some co- 
 operative butter factories, but the increase of their number was arrested 
 by the persistent and active opposition of private interests. In 1902, of 
 all the butter factories in the Government of Tobolsk, 95% were privately 
 owned, 3% belonged to communities and 2% to the co-operative associa- 
 tions. The first hundred refrigerator cars for transportation of butter 
 were obtained as late as 1899. 
 
 A. N. Balakshin. Such was the state of the business when Mr. A. N. 
 Balakshin took part in organizing it. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Nikolaievich Balakshin, the founder of the Union of the 
 Siberian Creamery Associations, has been one of the most conspicuous 
 
 51 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 and respected public men in Siberia and one of the most active organizers 
 of the co-operative movement in Russia. 
 
 His father was a flour miller and merchant in the town of Yalutorovsk 
 and a descendant of the old-timers, the peasants of the district of Tobolsk, 
 who were the first colonists of the country, which was conquered by the 
 cossack chief — Ataman Ermak. 
 
 A. N. Balakshin, Founder of the Union 
 
 Mr. Balakshin in his young years was under the beneficial and enlight- 
 ening influence of the "Dekabrists" (Decemberists), who resided in Yalu- 
 torovsk, having been exiled to Siberia for the attempt at revolution in 
 December, 1825. They were the best educated and most humane people 
 of the then Russia, and wherever they lived they left behind the trace of 
 their noble influence. 
 
 Mr. Balakshin's father was on good terms with the "Dekabrists," and 
 under their influence educated his son at the University, which in those 
 times was an extremely rare occurrence in the merchants circles. 
 
 After his graduation Balakshin, junior, did not follow the usual path 
 of the Russian University man and did not enter the Government service. 
 He decided to be productive and independent in his work. After several 
 
 52 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 unsuccessful attempts he at last organized a potato-trickle works near the 
 town of Kourgan, which, under his good management, enabled him to lead 
 a modest life. 
 
 Being in constant touch with the common people, Mr. Balak.'^hin learned 
 thoroughly their life and needs, and won general respect for his open 
 character and readiness to help. 
 
 The appearance of a new trade, which promised to be profitable for the 
 peasantry, could not fail to attract the attention of such a responsive per- 
 son as Mr. Balakshin, whose character so happily united the idealists aspi- 
 rations with sober understanding of the real and the capacity to carry to 
 the end any task undertaken. 
 
 After studying the new trade and learning the practical part. Mr. 
 Balakshin arrived at the conclusion that, in order to safeguai'd the milk 
 producers against unscrupulous exploitation by the private owners of but- 
 ter factories, it was necessary first to organize the business on co-operative 
 principles, and second, to remove from connection with the selling of 
 butter the unnecessary middlemen, represented by the buyers-exporters, 
 and, third, to bring the consumer closer to the producer by organizing 
 co-operative disposal of butter abroad. 
 
 The Attempt to Eliminate Foreign Exporters. The first attempt to 
 organize the sale of butter abroad was made in 1901. 
 
 The Moscow Agricultural Society, the Kourgan section of whic}'. Mr. 
 Ba'akshin v/as the chairman, founded an agricultural association which 
 was joined by five butter-making associations and by some private butter 
 factories with a total output of butter of about 77,000 poods (about 25,000 
 cwts). But this association very soon ceased to exist. 
 
 In the same year, Mr. Balakshin read a report about the necessity of 
 organizing the making of butter on co-operative principles, at the Congress 
 of butter makers, held in Kourgan. This report was energetically sup- 
 ported by the Government Agronomist, Mr. Joseph Okulitch. (now the 
 general manager of the Union of the Siberian Creamery Associations for 
 abroad) who pointed out to the Congress the necessity of establishing a 
 direct connection between the co-operative organizations of Siberia and 
 the consumers' organizations in England. 
 
 Special Organization to Introduce the Co-operative Principles in the But- 
 ter-Making Trade. Having thus prepared the ground in Siberia, Mr. Balak- 
 shin came to Petrograd in 1902 to secure the assistance of the Government 
 for the proposed undertaking — the organization, of co-operative butter- 
 making. 
 
 He was fortunate enough to enroll the interest in the venture of the 
 noted statesman of the period, A. S. Yermoloff, the Minister of Agricul- 
 ture, with his profound knowledge of agi-iculture, and the well known 
 count S. J. Witte, the Minster of Finances. 
 
 53 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Mr. Balakshin presented to them his scheme to organize the butter 
 factories on the co-operative basis. He offered to head the special organi- 
 zation and requested only 7000 roubles to cover e.xpenses and remuneration 
 of the agents. 
 
 His scheme was approved, the money forthcoming and credit was 
 opened to advance money for construction and equipment of the new co- 
 operative butter factories. In the summer of 1902 the new organization 
 commenced its activities. 
 
 The activity of the new organization embraced: a) investigation of 
 the existing butter-making industry both in the producing and .selling 
 branches, b) composition of .schemes and estimates of butter factories 
 for various amounts of milk, c) energetic propaganda of the idea of co- 
 operative butter factories by means of oral consultations with the peasants 
 at their villages, d) finding and recommending of experienced master but- 
 ter makers for the new co-operative butter factories, e) advancing money 
 up to 3,000 roubles ($1,500) per each factory from the money granted by 
 the Government, for the erection and equipment of new butter factories, 
 f) Instruction in butter-making and bookkeeping of a butter factory. 
 
 The organization had its seat in Kourgan, the cradle of Siberian butter- 
 making, but its influence spread over the whole present district of the 
 Siberian butter-making industry. 
 
 Results of the Organization's Work. The success of the work of the 
 organization was extraoi'dinary. With meagre financial means, the or- 
 ganization, thanks to the exceptional energy of its leaders, combined with 
 profound knowledge of the population and the ability to choose the most 
 suitable people, during the five years of its existence opened 273 co- 
 operative butter factories with a membership of 52,000 heads of households. 
 The output of butter from the butter factories united by the organi- 
 zation during the last year of the organization's existence i-eached 428,000 
 poods or 138,000 cwi;s, valued at more than 5.000,000 roubles. 
 
 The activity of the organization was an object lesson for the popula- 
 tion in the remunerativeness of co-operative butter-making, and in that 
 respect the work of the organization was eminently successful, resulting 
 in a rush of peasantry to organize co-operative butter factories. Their 
 number grew quickly and in 1911, of all butter factories in Western Sibei*ia, 
 66% were co-operative and only 34' i were private concerns. 
 
 In 1917, out of the total 2,466,164 poods of butter produced in Siberia 
 and delivered to the Russian Government, the .share of private butter 
 factories was only 483,485 poods, or less than one-fifth of the total. 
 
 Unionization of Co-operative Butter Factories. However, the conver- 
 sion of private concerns into co-operative factories was only half of the 
 reorganization. One useless middleman, the owner of a private butter 
 factory, was removed from the trade, but the export and sals of butter 
 
 54 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 still remained in the hands of middlemen— private enterprising persons, 
 exporters, mostly foreigners. These agents of big foreign butter trading 
 houses were concerned only with buying as much butter as possible as 
 cheaply as possible. They did not care about the quality of the butter, as 
 butter of any kind could be sold abroad at a price corresponding to the 
 quality. 
 
 It is necessary to state that the exporters, armed with all means of 
 European commercial technic, large capital, having the closest connections 
 with the European market and acting in concert in maintaining low prices 
 for butter, were a very large force, the struggle with whom was very dif- 
 ficult. They stood like a wall between the Russian producer and the foreign 
 consumer and effectively resisted all attempts to establish direct connection 
 between the two. 
 
 The only means of liberating the Siberian butter-making industry from 
 the power of the exporting houses and in this way improve the quality 
 of the product and the remunerativeness of the trade, was the foundation 
 of a powerful organization uniting co-operative associations, which would 
 be able to successfully compete with the foreign exporters. 
 
 Mr. Balakshin decided to organize the butter-making associations into 
 a Union. 
 
 Founders First Meeting. The first meeting of the founders of the 
 Union was held in Kourgan, November 10th, 1907. There were present at 
 this meeting the representatives of twelve co-operative associations, which 
 formed the Union and began their activities in the following year — 1908. 
 
 Aims of the Union. Besides the twelve co-operative butter-making 
 associations, a co-operative store of one of the factories joined the Union 
 and in this way the Union, from the very outset became not only a Union 
 of co-operative associations of producers but also a co-operative associa- 
 tion of consumers. The Union still preserves these features, catering for 
 the two most important needs of the rural population: disposing of the 
 most valuable product of agriculture, namely butter, and supplying the 
 goods that are most needed. 
 
 Among other things the Union aimed at providing for the butter-mak- 
 ing associations various goods and stores, necessary for the trade, such as 
 barrels, parchment paper, salt, matting for packing, lubricants for separa- 
 torSj etc., and also manufacturing raw products of agriculture and furnish- 
 ing goods necessary for the peasantry. 
 
 Peculiarities of the Union's Charter. When drafting the Union's Char- 
 ter, which was approved by the Government, a special effort was made to 
 impai't a particular stability, permanency and credit to the Union. For 
 these reasons it was made obligatory, under penalty of a fine, for unionized 
 associations to conduct their business, so far as the sale of the products of 
 
 55 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 agriculture and of local trades and the purchase of manufactured goods 
 and machinery were concerned, exclusively through the Union. 
 
 For the same reason each association was made liable in respect to 
 all obligations to the extent of 50 copeks (25 cents) per each pood of butter 
 delivered to the Union by the association during the previous year. 
 
 The two above mentioned peculiarities put the Union at once among 
 the stable and financially reliable organizations. 
 
 As one can conclude from the description given of the Union's aims, 
 the Union endeavors to satisfy the most important needs of the population 
 of Western Siberia. One of the most pressing of these was the organiza- 
 tion of butter selling — the chief source of the peasants income. Another 
 was the necessity of providing the peasants with various goods, as 
 obtaining goods through the rural storekeepers and the owners of private 
 butter factories was extremely unprofitable for the people. 
 
 How far the Union attained its object and how much the population ap- 
 preciated its activity can be seen from the figures showing the gradual 
 growth of the number of the unionized co-operative associations, the 
 amount of butter collected by the Union, and the extent of their operations 
 in goods. 
 
 Speedy Growth of the Union. Commencing with the second year of the 
 Union's existence, the number of co-operative creameries and shops, 
 members of the Union, begun to grow quickly and steadily, and there has 
 been no falling off since, nor any decrease in the annual number of new 
 co-operative associations which joined the Union. The number of co-opera- 
 tive associations and shops in the Union for each year is shown in diagrams 
 Nos. 1 and 2. 
 
 1909 1909 1910 
 
 1911 1912 
 
 Diagram No. 
 
 1913 1914- 1915 l9lo 1917 
 
 Growth of Crcameo' Associations in the I'nion 
 
 J9I8 
 
 Increasing Number of Co-operative Association.s in the Union. The 
 
 number of the co-operative associations in the Union has been continually 
 growing, and reaches at present 4357. At the most conservative estimate, 
 assuming that each co-operative association comprises only 150 heads of 
 households, the Union comprises in all its associations not less than 
 650,000 heads of households, or about 3,500,000 souls, which is more than 
 42% of the district of the Siberian butter-making industry. 
 
 56 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 These figures bear eloquent testimony to the fact that the Union really 
 caters to the important needs of the country, and that the people highly 
 appreciate the Union's work. 
 
 2.088 
 
 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 191* 1915 ^ 1916 1917 1918 
 
 Diagram No. 2. Growth of Distributing Stores of the Union 
 
 Increase in the Number of Branches. At the beginning the office of 
 the Union's board in Kourgan was the only point where the butter and 
 othor products were collected and from which goods were distributed. 
 This soon proved insufficient, as co-operative associations and shops from 
 remote districts joined the Union and it was very inconvenient for these 
 new members to deliver butter and obtain goods in Kourgan. This 
 prompted the Union to establish branches and offices, at first in the neigh- 
 boring towns and later in remote cities all over Western Siberia. 
 
 The gradual growth of the number of the Union's branches is shown 
 in the following table: 
 
 Years 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 
 
 1913 
 
 1914 
 
 1915 
 
 1916 
 
 1917 
 
 1918 
 
 Number of 
 
 Offices 2 3 5 5 7 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 22 
 
 25 
 
 Not one of the offices opened during the 11 years, has been closed or 
 transferred, which shows the stability of the Union's business. 
 
 At present the Union of the Siberian Creamery Associations has its 
 offices at the following points: Troitzk, Cheliabinsk, Yalutorovsk, Ishim, 
 Kourgan, Petropavlosk, Tiukalinsk, Tara, Nazyvaievsk, Omsk, Tatarsk, 
 Chany, Koupino, Slavgorod, Kainsk, Novo-Nikolaievsk, Kamen, Barnaul, 
 Biisk, Ust-Kamennogorsk, Roubtzovka, Semipalatinsk, Ust-Charysh and 
 Kalachinsk. The Union also has agencies in the villages of Aleiskoe, 
 Omoutinskoe, Choulyma, Cherepanovo, Shelabolikha, Sorokino, Mishkino, 
 Makushino and in the town of Koustanai. 
 
 The Union's associations, branches, stores, and offices are spread over 
 
 57 
 
THE UNION OP THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 the great expanse of the above described district of the Siberian butter- 
 making industry. 
 
 The Wholesale Stores. To all offices of the Union are attached whole- 
 sale stores, which supply goods to those shops that ai'e members of the 
 Union. The position of offices in the territory of the Union is shown on 
 the attached map. 
 
 About 91/2 million poods of butter was handled by the Union during 
 its existence, out of a total of 36,000,000 poods exported from Siberia for 
 the same time. 
 
 Amount of Butter Received by the Union. In spite of all difficulties 
 connected with the struggle with the foreign exporters, the Union gradually 
 increased not only the absolute quantities of the butter received and ex- 
 ported by the Union, but also the proportionate relation' to the total export 
 of butter from Siberia, as shown by the following table : 
 
 Years 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 
 
 Export of but- 
 ter from Siberia 
 in thousands 
 of poods 2840 2980 3195 3848 4047 4442 3285 4612 3174 3521 
 
 Amoupt of but- 
 ter that passed 
 through the 
 Union in thou- 
 sands of poods 130 190 270 280 480 630 678 1303 2942 2514 
 
 Proportion of 
 butter that 
 passed through 
 
 the Union to • 
 
 the total ex- 
 port of butter 
 from Siberia 
 (Percentage) 5 6.3 S.4 7.5 11.8 14.2 20.6 28.2 97.7 71.4 
 
 One can see from the above table that as early as 1915 more than 28% 
 of the total Siberian butter was passing through the Union while in 1916 
 and 1917 this percentage reached 97.7% and 71.4%. In these years almost 
 all butter produced in Siberia was taken over by the Government through 
 
 58 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 the offices and stations of the Union. The gradual increase in the amount 
 of butter received by the Union can be seen from diagram No. 3. 
 
 2.942.308 
 
 1508 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 191+ 1915 1916 1917 
 
 Diagram No. 3. Receipts of Butter in poods (1 pood equals 36 lbs.) 
 
 1918 
 
 The value of butter received by the Union increased year by year as is 
 shown by the following table: 
 
 Years 
 
 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 
 
 Value in thou- 
 sand roubles 1800 2416 3581 3795 6064 7405 7851 16349 58349 123163 
 
 It can be seen from the above table that the operations of the Union 
 in butter, commencing at the small sum of Rbls. 1,800,000 in 1908, reached 
 the sum of Rbls. 123,163,000 in 1917. 
 
 Sale of Butter Abroad. The Union found it very difficult to attain its 
 chief object — that of selling butter to foreign markets with as few middle- 
 men as possible — but at length this problem was solved successfully. 
 
 In the first year of its activity, in order to sell butter to the leading 
 butter market — England — the Union of the Siberian Creamery Associa- 
 tions made an agreement with Messrs. W. and R., who undertook to buy 
 the Union's butter at Siberian prices with the addition of the cost of its 
 delivery to London. 
 
 In 1909 the business of Messrs. W. & R. was taken over by Messrs. 
 L. & Co. who at first purchased butter from the Union on the same terms. 
 
 Later the Union delivered butter to Messrs. L. & Co. to be sold on com- 
 mission on the terms of equal sharing of profit and loss. 
 
 The Union contributed toward the maintenance of the office 2.5% 
 of the value of butter delivered and had the right to control the sale of 
 butter in England. It was also entitled to a commission with regard to 
 butter received for sale from co-operative associations non-members of 
 the Union. 
 
 In 1910 the Union opened an office in Berlin for the sale of butter in 
 
 59 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Germany, but owing to unfavorable market conditions, this office was soon 
 closed. 
 
 In 1912 the Union and Messrs. L. & Co. together, founded a company 
 in London with limited liability, which was known as "The Union." 
 
 The capital of this company consisted of common and preferred stock. 
 
 The Union in Siberia undertook to sell all butter in Europe, with the 
 exception of Russia, only through "The Union" in London. Messrs L. & 
 Co. put their warehouses and staff at the disposal of the new company for 
 a remuneration of 72 copeks per barrel and discontinued their own busi- 
 ness in Siberian butter in England. 
 
 The co-operative butter factories, delivering butter to the Union's 
 offices, re-^'eived OO*;; of its value and the balance one and a half to two 
 months later. 
 
 The business with "The Union" continued only for a short time — the 
 season of 1913 and part of the year 1914 — as the war made the regular 
 delivery of butter to England an impossibility. 
 
 Previously butter had been carried by railway to Baltic ports in 
 refrigerator-cars, which could be re-iced on the way and thus preserve 
 butter during the summer. After the commencement of hostilities this 
 perishable product had to be taken in ordinary cars by rail to Kotlass, 
 there to be transferred from railway cars to river steamers and again 
 transshiped from river steamers to sea-going steamers in Archangel. 
 
 Owing to the impossibility of working jointly, both parties decided to 
 cancel the agreement by the end of 1916. The Union carried it out by a 
 resolution passed by the Board in December 1916, and Messrs. L. & Co. 
 by a letter dated December 28th, 1916. The general meeting of representa- 
 tives of the co-operative associations of the Union held in March 1917, con- 
 firmed by a resolution, the cancellation of the agreement. 
 
 Sale of Butter During the War. When the war began, railway tran.s- 
 portation of any goods, except military stores, almost completely stopped, 
 and this provoked an acute crisis in the Siberian butter-making industry. 
 
 The receipts of butter in Siberia almost entirely stopped, prices catas- 
 trophically dropped, and the butter factories were threatened with ruin. 
 
 The Board of the Union found means of relieving the difficult situa- 
 tion, and by persistent efforts in Petrograd they succeeded in getting their 
 butter accepted by the military authorities for the Russian army — a thing 
 that had never been done before, as cream butter was not included 'n the 
 bill of fare of the Russian soldier. 
 
 When the Government bought butter from the Union, the prices began 
 to rise. At the same time, in spite of the above mentioned difficulties, the 
 export of butter abroad still continued. However, this went on only till 
 October, 1915, when the Government became the Union's only customer. 
 For this purpose a special organization was formed in Omsk, which worked 
 
 60 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 until the end of 1918, when the Government monopoly in butter was 
 abolished. 
 
 During the whole period of the Government monopoly, the butter was 
 sold at fixed prices. 
 
 These prices more than once were raised under the influence of a general 
 rise in prices, due to the war and also to the catastrophical fall in the rate 
 of exchange of the rouble, which was the result of the financial policy 
 adopted after the revolution of 1917. 
 
 However, the raising of prices by the Government was always behind 
 the pace of the market prices. At this time the price for cream butter 
 was so low that in some places it was profitable to use butter as a lubricant 
 for cart wheels. 
 
 The abolition of the Government butter monopoly, which was persist- 
 ently urged by the Union for the benefit of its members, the butter pro- 
 ducing peasants, resulted in a further rise in prices which harmonized 
 with the prices for other commodities. 
 
 During the period when butter was taken by the Government, it be- 
 came evident that the Union not only protected the interests of the 
 peasant during the production and sale of butter, but also facilitated the 
 improvement in the quality. 
 
 Butter was graded into three sorts by the Government. It was found 
 that of the three classes of butter factories namely, 1 — butter factories 
 owned by the co-operative organizations, members of the Union, 2 — those 
 owned by the co-operative organizations, non-members of the UnioT' and 
 3 — those owned by private people, the highest percentage of first sort 
 butter was supplied by butter factories — members of the Union of the 
 Siberian Creamery Associations, as can be seen from the following table. 
 
 BUTTER DELIVERED TO THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 Co-operative butter factories 
 
 Members of the Union 
 
 Non-members 
 
 Privately owned 
 butter factories 
 
 Years Quality of butter Quality of butter 
 
 Quality of butter 
 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 3rd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 3rd 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 3rd 
 
 1916 
 
 64.6':/ 
 
 23.8% 
 
 11.6% 
 
 58.5% 
 
 28.3% 
 
 13.2% 
 
 31.2% 
 
 30.6% 
 
 27.6% 
 
 1917 
 
 77% 
 
 18.2% 
 
 4.8% 
 
 74.6% 
 
 204% 
 
 5% 
 
 68.1% 
 
 21.4% 
 
 10.5% 
 
 1918 
 
 77% 
 
 18.7% 
 
 4.3% 
 
 78.8% 
 
 17.1% 
 
 4.1% 
 
 49.7% 
 
 22.7% 
 
 .38.2% 
 
 Stores for Butter-Making. A very important branch of the Union's 
 business was and is to provide butter factories with necessary supplies 
 for butter-making — barrels or staves, salt, matting, etc. 
 
 All these stores were and are supplied by the Union not only to the 
 co-operative butter factories which have not yet become members of the 
 
 61 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Union, but also to the privately owned butter factories. The value of the 
 stores sold by the Union for each year is shown by diagram No. 4. 
 
 4-,88+,806 
 
 1508 1909 
 
 Diagram No. 4. Sales of Supplies in roubles (rouble equals 52 cents) 
 
 Stave-Making Works. When import of beech staves from abroad neces- 
 sary for the export of butter to foreign markets stopped, and the beech 
 stave making shops in Caucasus closed, the Union started its own stave 
 factory near Kourgan, where at present staves of birch wood are manu- 
 factured on a large scale. 
 
 When it became impossible to obtain salt from European Russia, salt 
 being essential to butter-making, the Union took steps to organize its own 
 salterns and for this purpose rented salt lakes from the Government. 
 
 Trading. The organization of the sale of butter and the general im- 
 provement in the butter-making industry was not sufficient to satisfy the 
 economical needs of the Siberian rural population; to supply them with 
 divers goods was equally important. 
 
 Here we have the reason why, from the beginning, the Union was com- 
 posed of butter factories, co-operative shops and stores. As they increased 
 so also the Union's trade in goods increased, as is shown by the diagram 5. 
 
 114,100.780 
 
 Diagram No. 5. Goods Sold by the Union (in roubles) 
 
 The development of the Union's operations in goods was at its height 
 at the time when the needs of the population were felt to be most acute, 
 owing to the disorganization of trade and transport. The installing on a 
 
 62 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 firm foundation of this branch of the Union's business was executed by the 
 late Mr. Groudzinsky, vice-president of the Union's Board, who died quite 
 recently. 
 
 Diagram No. 5 shows that in 1917, when the famine of goods was most 
 severe, the trading operations of the Union were almost 200 times greater 
 than in the lirst year of its existence. In 1918 the total trading was 900 
 times more than in the first year. 
 
 To purchase goods, the Union opened at various times purchasing of- 
 fices in Moscow, Samarkand, Vladivostok, Ekaterinburgh, Samara and 
 Irkutsk. Also whenever it was possible to buy goods first hand, the Union 
 sent special agents on this mission. 
 
 Total Sales. The growth of the general business of the Union is shown 
 in diagram No. 6. 
 
 1908 1909 1910 1911 
 
 1913 
 
 Diagram No. 6. Growth of the General Business of the Union (in roubles). 
 
 For 11 months of the last fiscal year, i. e. from October 1st, 1917 to 
 September 1st, 1918 the total sales of the Union were as follows: 
 
 Roubles 
 
 Butter 73,426.617.09 
 
 Cheese 100.038.43 
 
 Stores for butter-making 3,628,818.56 
 
 Goods 
 
 a from wholesale warehouses of the Union 101,633,477.78 
 
 b Bookstore 28,083.05 
 
 c direct from firms 6,724.24 101,688,285.07 
 
 Foodstuffs, pork, lard, etc 535,389.37 
 
 Union's own works : 
 
 Staves, soap, rope, vegetable oils, printing work, etc. . . . 2,113,705.05 
 
 Total 181,473,833.77 
 
 The above statement shows the extent of the Union's operations as 
 well as of various branches of the Union's activity and their character. 
 
 The needs of the population in various merchandise is at present ag- 
 gravated by the shortage of goods and the general dislocation of trade and 
 
 63 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 therefore the greatest attention is given to the supply of goods to the 
 people. 
 
 The trade in butter and the supply of stores to the butler factories is 
 at present of secondary importance, owing to the temporary decline in 
 butter-making due to the closing of foreign markets, dislocation of trans- 
 port, also the Government monopoly of butter, which has only recently 
 been abolished, with fall in prices of this product, etc. 
 
 The Union's own manufactories, though unostentatious, are very im- 
 portant. Their development is now receiving the particular attention of 
 that organization, especially in the presence of existing disorganization of 
 industry, trade and transportation. 
 
 Union's Own Works. At present the Union of the Siberian Creamery 
 and other Co-operative Associations has its own works as follows: 
 
 1. Soap making works in the city of Kourgan in the Union's own 
 buildings. 
 
 The output of this works is about 30,000 poods or 10,000 cwts. of soap 
 per year. 
 
 2. Soap making factory in the town of Barnaul in the Union's own 
 building, producing about 10,000 poods (3,300 cwts) of soap annually. 
 
 3. Soap making works in the town of Semipalatinsk, in a hired building, 
 producing 18,000 poods or 6,000 cwts of soap annually. 
 
 4. Stave making works, 50 versts from Kourgan, in its own build- 
 ing, valued with equipment at over Rbls. 1,000,000. The works is equipped 
 with two steam motors of 100 H. P. and 30 H. P., and is provided with 
 wood, necessary for stave making, sufficient for 10 years ahead, under an 
 agreement with the Government. 
 
 5. Vegetable oil mills in the town of Ishim, in the Union own build- 
 ings, fitted with two hydraulic presses and a steam motor of 15 H. P. 
 
 6. Mechanical works and foundry in Ishim in the Union's own building. 
 This works specializes in casting and repairing parts for agricultural 
 machinery. 
 
 7. Rope making works in Yalutorovsk in the Union's own building, 
 with an output of about Rbls. 200,000. 
 
 8. Printing works in Kourgan, with three large printing machines. 
 
 9. Printing works in Barnaul, with three large printing machines. 
 
 The Purchase of Wool, Horse-hair, Bristles, etc. To cater more fully 
 to the intei'ests of its members the Union recently commenced to deal in 
 sheep wool, camel and horse-haii*, skins, hides, bristles, furs, and flax, con- 
 ducting this business all over the district of the Siberian butter-making and 
 even in the adjacent steppes beyond the Southern boundary of the district 
 and also in Mongolia. For the purchase of raw materials an office was opend 
 in Semipalatinsk, in charge of some of the most competent men in Russia, 
 
 64 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 and special agents were appointed in certain trading centers. The erection 
 of a steam wool scouring establishment in the town of Semipalatinsk, 
 the first of its kind in Siberia, a large leather tanning works in Omsk and a 
 central warehouse for sorting and scouring bristles and horse-hair have 
 been undertaken. 
 
 <r*^^ 
 
 — - Br*. 
 
 
 /"Mf^ 
 
 Tannery of the L'niun, Omsk 
 
 Working Capital of the Union. The working capital of the Union of 
 the Siberian Creamery Associations increased slowly owing to the policy 
 adopted. This policy was to arrange the business in such a manner that 
 its members should receive as much as possible for delivered butter and 
 pay as little as possible for the purchased goods. Following this policy, 
 the Union tried to avoid any considerable transfer to the working capital. 
 The gradual increase of the Union's capital is shown in the following table : 
 
 Years 
 
 1908 
 
 1909 
 
 1910 
 
 1911 
 
 1912 
 
 1913 
 
 1914 
 
 1915 
 
 1916 
 
 1917 
 
 1918 
 
 Union's capi- 
 tal in thou- 
 sand roubles 
 
 21 
 
 24 
 
 34 
 
 59 
 
 77 
 
 239 
 
 217 
 
 282 
 
 469 
 
 3000 
 
 4104 
 
 Comparison of these figures with the figures of the Union's trading 
 show that the Union must necessarily transact a large business with small 
 funds. This is possible provided only the commercial side of the business 
 is well organized and also provided the concern enjoys confidence and 
 credit. 
 
 65 
 
AND OTHER C O-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 The Statement of Affairs. The conditions of the Union's business and 
 also its character, can best be seen from the statement of affairs of the 
 Union on 1st Sept. 1918. 
 
 THE STATEMENT OF AFFAIRS ON 1ST. SEPT., 1918 
 
 Liabilities Assets 
 
 pi], "* . Rouble? 
 
 1 Cash, current accounts, 
 
 1 Working capital . . .4,104,850.94 securities 16,869,979.32 
 
 o T5-H w 0/1Q0 01^0 91 2 Bills receivable ....16,253,518.23 
 
 2 Bills payable 2,4.32,258 21 „ „ j <- i ryor iaq co 
 
 3 Sundry property ....1,735,108.52 
 
 3 Branches a^cs . . . .32,551,813.03 4 Stores, butter, 
 
 cheese, merchandise 27,770,686.61' 
 
 4 Creditors 97,471,738.11 5 Branches accounts . .35,714,016.33 
 
 5 Interest 18,614,320.21 6 Debtors 49,786.01 0.45 
 
 7 Trade expenses 7,045,.571.04 
 
 Total 155,174,980 50 155,174,980.50 
 
 Creditability of the Union. Conspicuous among the assets of the 
 Union is the largest item "Debtors"— Rbls. 49,786,010.45. 
 
 "The Union" being a union of co-operative associations transacts busi- 
 ness exclusively with co-operative associations and not with individual 
 members of an association. Therefore the Union of the Siberian Creamei*y 
 Associations' debtors are butter-making associations as well as co-operative 
 stores. 
 
 As on September 1, 1918, the Union comprised 3795 co-operative asso- 
 ciations, the average indebtedness of each association, to the Union was 
 Rbls. 13,000. 
 
 The whole indebtedness is secured by acceptances of the co-operative 
 associations. According to the charters of the associations which are 
 membei's of the Union (buttei'-making associations, co-operative stores, 
 and co-operative store and butter-making associations) , the acceptances of 
 a butter-making association are secured not only by the real and movable 
 property and funds of the association, but also by the property of its 
 members to the extent of 50% of its value. 
 
 As to the co-operative store, and the co-operative store and butter- 
 making associations, whose indebtedness to the Union, owing to the char- 
 acter of their business, is larger, their acceptances are secured by the 
 property and funds of the association, and in addition to this, by the prop- 
 erty of its members, on their mutual responsibility, to the extent of 90% 
 of the value of the property. 
 
 Taking the average number of members in a co-operative association 
 as 150 and the value of each member's property at Rbls. 4,000 in gold, which 
 is at present far below the actual value, we find that with 1,883 associations 
 and 1.912 stoi'es, which were members of the Union on the 1st January 
 
 67 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 1919, the security of acceptances of the co-operative butter-making associa- 
 tions, members of the Union, reaches Rbls. 565,900,000 in gold and tiiat of 
 the co-operative stores Rbls. 676,080.000 in gold. Thus the acceptances, 
 drawn by the Union's Board on the co-operative associations, members of 
 the Union, in payment for the goods and stores sold by the Union, are 
 secured by the property of its members to the enormous amount of Rbls. 
 1.240,980,000 in gold. 
 
 Therefore the item "debtors" for Rbls. 49,786,010.45 is only about 
 1/25 of the amount for which the members of the Union are good, and on 
 which the Board of the Union can safely draw bills. 
 
 Two items are worth mentioning in the Liabilities column: "Working 
 capital" of Rbls. 4,104,850 (the reason of this small item has already been 
 explained) and "Creditors" — that is the indebtedness of the Union to 
 private banks, manufacturers and wholesale houses, — which reaches Rbls. 
 97,471,738.11, being 23 times larger than the working capital. 
 
 This indicates the confidence which the Union inspires in the trading 
 community after its eleven years' business activity. Besides private banks, 
 private firms and the Moscow People's bank, the Union enjoyed the confi- 
 dence of the late Ministry of Agriculture. 
 
 At the beginning of the war, the Stores Department of the Ministry 
 of Agriculture alloted to the Union the tremendous task of providing hay, 
 butter and tallow for the army and of purchasing oats for the agricultural 
 warehouse of the Colonization Department, with which to supply the army. 
 This task was well carried out by the Union, and during the first year 
 8,000,000 poods of hay, 700,000 poods of butter, 1,500,000 poods of oats and 
 a considerable amount of tallow were bought up and delivered. 
 
 The delivery of butter by the Union was carried on until quite recently, 
 and the Union more than once received advance payments up to Rbls. 
 1,000,000 in gold. In the same way the Union justified the trust of the 
 State Bank, which at the commencement of the war advanced to the Union 
 against butter as security, about Rbls. 1,000,000 in gold, which loan 
 has since been duly repaid. 
 
 The high credit of the Union besides the above mentioned reason — the 
 ample security provided by the co-operative associations, members cf the 
 Union, for their indebtedness to that organization — is justified by other 
 causes. 
 
 For instance, the Union's liability, as per article 4 of the Union's 
 charter, is secured not only by all funds and property of the Union, but 
 also by liability of each of the co-operative associations, members of the 
 Union, to the extent of 4'^c of the total funds, involved in the dealings of 
 the member with the Union for the preceding year. 
 
 In 1917, the last year for which the exact figures ai'e available, the 
 Union received from its members, co-operative associations, 957,312 poods 
 of butter at an average price of Rbls. 49 per pood, that is to say to the 
 total of Rbls. 47,000,000, and the Union sold to its members, various 
 
 68 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 stores and goods in connection with butter-making for the total of 
 Rbls. 2,049,000, and general merchandise for Rbls. 25,633,000. 
 
 Thus the total funds involved in the transactions between the Union and 
 its members reach about Rbls. 75,000,000, (Rbls. 47,000,000 + Rbls. 
 2,049,000 + Rbls. 25,633,000) and therefore the liability of the members 
 for the Union's debts and obligations reaches Rbls. 3,000,000. 
 
 For the year 1918, the complete figures for which are not yet avail- 
 able, the liability of the Union's members will be still larger, as only trans- 
 actions of the Union with the co-operative stores, excluding dealings in 
 butter and foodstuffs, reach Rbls. 100,000.000 for 11 months of the 
 fiscal year, which results in the liability of the members to the extent of 
 Rbls. 4,000,000. It is safe to assume that in proportion to the total funds 
 involved in the dealings of the Union with its members for 1918, the 
 liability of the latter with regard to the Union's liability will be not less 
 than Rbls. 5,000,000, which, together with the value of the Union's property 
 on the 1st, September 1918, Rbls. 1,735,578, the funds of the Union— 
 Rbls. 4,104,850, brings the total security that the Union can offer in regard 
 to the obligations of its Board, excluding the acceptances of the co-operative 
 associations, to more than Rbls. 10,000,000. 
 
 But perhaps the best guarantee is in the organization of the Union 
 itself, which has all the features of a well organized and fully controlled 
 business machine. 
 
 The Union possesses a well developed apparatus, consisting of a Board, 
 25 district branches, 10 agencies and several purchasing offices. 
 
 In every establishment of the Union, several hundred employees are 
 working under the best possible conditions. 
 
 The Central Board of the Union directs the whole business, and controls 
 the Boards of the district branches. 
 
 Twenty-five district offices under the direction of the elected chairman 
 and members of the District Board, have charge of the receiving of butter, 
 of buying and distributing stores and goods. To assist the district offices 
 there are in some of the busiest districts, agencies, at present numbering 
 ten. 
 
 Purchasing offices are established when necessary at the points where 
 goods are purchased. These offices are in the following towns : Moscow, 
 Samara, Ekaterinburgh, Samarkand, Irkutsk, Kharbin and Vladivostok. 
 There are also offices in London, New York and Boston for sale of butter, 
 wool, horse-hair, flax, furs, bristles, hides and skins and for the purchase 
 of fully manufactured goods. 
 
 This great organization is manned on the principles of election and is 
 under an actual and efficient supervision. 
 
 By-Laws of the Union. Until October 25th, 1918 the Union acted by 
 virtue of by-laws, approved in 1908. Since then the Union has grown so 
 much and its business has become so complicated that the old by-laws were 
 
 69 
 
g 
 
 « 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 found insufficient for the growing needs of the business, and accordingly 
 alterations were made from time to time. The resolution of the general 
 meeting held 4— 13th of March 1917 was, that an entirely new set of by- 
 laws should be compiled, which would be in keeping with new times and 
 requirements of the business as well as with the newly promulgated state 
 law referring to co-operative movement. 
 
 General Meeting. According to the new by-laws, the supreme power 
 in the Union is vested in the General Meeting of the representatives, who 
 are elected by district meetings from among the members of co-operative 
 associations concerned, at the i-ate of one person for each 25 associations, 
 members of the Union. The Union comprising on the 1st April 1919, 4357 
 co-operative associations, the General meeting consists of 174 members. 
 In practice the representatives, elected to the General meeting, are ex- 
 clusively peasants-agriculturists and Cossacks, and therefore the Union 
 of the Siberian Creamery Association is purely a democratic, peasant or- 
 ganization. The whole business has been and is conducted by representa- 
 tives of the peasantry and Cossacks, with only a few exceptions in the case 
 of persons, who, not being of the peasant class, have gained the trust and 
 confidence of the peasants-agriculturists by their work for the benefit of 
 the Union. This composition is reflected in the whole activity of the 
 Union, which is stamped by the cautious circumspection and quiet busi- 
 ness methods so peculiar to the Siberian peasant. This is the main reason 
 for the enormous growth and thriving of the Union. 
 
 The General meeting is presided over by a chairman, elected by the 
 meeting, which guarantees complete independence of his opinion from the 
 Board of the Union. 
 
 Board of Directors of the Union. The Board of Directors of the Union 
 and also chairmen of all District Boards are elected by the General Meeting. 
 General Meeting investigates the annual report of the Union, the i-eports of 
 the District Boards, together with the conclusions of the Auditing Com- 
 mittee, approves the estimate of expenses and decides the more important 
 matters. For investigation and decision on matters for which the Board 
 of Directors of the Union cannot undertake the responsibility and which 
 at the same time cannot await the next General Meeting there is a Councih 
 consisting of members of the Board of the Union, chairmen of the District 
 Boards and persons especially elected for this purpose, by each district. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Union consists of 10 persons, elected by 
 the General Meeting, has its seat in Omsk, manages the whole business 
 of the Union and directs and unifies the activities of the District Boards. 
 
 Management of Districts. All work in connection with the buying of 
 butter in the districts, distribution of goods, and instruction of butter 
 factories and co-operative stores is in charge of the District Boards. The 
 
 71 
 
3 
 O 
 
 < 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 '5 
 
 3 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 decision of all important questions and election of the members of the 
 Union's Board for each district is in the hands of the district meetings of 
 representatives of all co-operative associations of the district. These meet- 
 ings are effective only when at least one half of the representatives cf the 
 whole district are present. They are presided over by a person specially 
 elected by the meeting in order to obtain judgments that are independent 
 of the District Board. 
 
 For decisions on matters of less importance, each district has a Council 
 consisting of members of the District Board and not less than 1/5 repre- 
 sentatives of all co-operative associations in the district. The District 
 Board which conducts the affairs of the district consists of a chairman, 
 elected at a General Meeting and members, elected at the meeting of the 
 district. 
 
 Auditing Committee. An Auditing Committee is installed to check the 
 activities of the District and Central Boards and all establishments and 
 enterprises of the Union. This Committee is entirely independent from 
 the Central Board and also from the District Boards. The chairman and 
 vice-chairman of the Auditing Committee are elected by the General Meet- 
 ing and the members of the district meetings. 
 
 The Auditing Committee is entitled to work simultaneously in several 
 places. This is done by forming sub-committees also called -Auditing Com- 
 mittees, under the leadership of one of the vice-chairmen. This arrange- 
 ment assures the success of the Committee's work, which is very difficult 
 owing to the complex nature of the Union's business. 
 
 The Union has a staff of instructors to organize new co-operative associa- 
 tions and insti'uct butter-making foremen, managers and assistant man- 
 agers of the co-operative stores. These instructors work under the leader- 
 ship of the Director of the Instructors' Section in each district. To co- 
 ordinate the activities of all instructors the Central Board of the Union ar- 
 ranges annual conferences of Directors of Instructors' Sections of all 
 districts. 
 
 In the organization of the Union, according to the new by-laws, which 
 are now effective, two seemingly opposite principles are united, namely, the 
 independence of separate districts and the entirety of the Union. Each 
 district in the Union is completely independent in its affairs. All districts 
 support each other and none of them is able to conduct the business to the 
 detriment of the whole Union. This arrangement gives freedom to the 
 creative abilities and initiative in the districts, at the same time the Union 
 preserve all the advantages of a powerful organization in the country 
 
 Other unions of co-opei'ative associations in European Russia and 
 Siberia are founded on somewhat different principles. 
 
 The Central Board of the Union and its Departments. At present, the 
 Central Board of the Union of the Siberian Creamery Associationti is a 
 
 73 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 large establishment of ten elected members and over 200 hired employees, 
 who execute most diversified work. There are several departments, each 
 in charge of a separate branch of the Union's business. Thus the Butter 
 Department finds the most profitable markets for butter, attends to trans- 
 portation arrangements, looks after the interests of the trade and the 
 Union's members in the Government institutions, promotes improvements 
 in the technique of butter-making, attends to the coaching of foremen 
 for the butter factories, supplies creameries and butter factories with 
 various necessary articles, cans, bins, machines and other ware, promotes 
 improvement of the premises for butter factories, watches over production 
 of butter, promotes cheese making, etc. 
 
 The Union accomplished great work in trying to improve the trans- 
 portation of butter over railways during the summer months, when butter 
 easily perished because of heat, urging increase in the number of refrigera- 
 tor-cars, better stocking of cars with ice and the better guarding of butter- 
 conveying-trains on the way. 
 
 The Goods Department aims at purchasing goods at the place of their 
 origin, distributing goods amongst the Union's offices, and arranging for 
 the delivery and transportation of same. 
 
 The Goods Department comprises Transportation, Bookkeeping, 
 Statistics and Enquiries. Purchasing, and Tracing sections, the last named 
 for locating freight and assisting its speedy transportation. 
 
 The Main Bookkeeping section of the Union has charge of all accounts 
 and reports of the Union — monthly and annually — with regard to the ad- 
 ministration of the Union and to the Government Institutions, it com- 
 piles instructions for keeping books and accounts, in all establishments of 
 the Union and prepares the estimate of expenses for the coming year. 
 
 The Bookkeeping Department has an Inspection section, which inspects 
 and instructs the District Boards regarding bookkeeping; a special section, 
 "Central Board's Accounts," has charge of all accounts and settlements 
 with branch offices and the Union's concerns, with other trading houses and 
 institutions, takes care of credit arrangements and accounts of the Cen- 
 tral Board itself. 
 
 The Secretarial Department has charge of all current correspondence 
 and filing. 
 
 The Insurance Department attends to the insurance of the property of 
 the Union's Board and also separate co-operative organizations, members 
 of the Union. 
 
 The Information Department advises, at regular intervals, all depart- 
 ments of the Central Board as well as the Districts Boards, of all important 
 happenings in the Union. 
 
 The Department of Economical Statistics collects numerical data with 
 reference to various sides of the Union's life, arranges it in accessible and 
 comprehensible forms and works out the averages for guidance. This 
 department also periodically advises the Central Board, on the strength 
 
 74 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 of the statistical data, of the position of divers sides of the Union's business 
 in all disti'icts. 
 
 The Industrial Department has charge of all manufactories of the 
 
 Union. 
 
 The Educational Department establishes schools, scholarships for mem- 
 bers' children, organizes reading clubs, librai'ies, etc. 
 
 The Agricultural Department disseminates agricultural instruction 
 among the members of the Union, mainly with regard to stock raising, 
 which has the closest relationship to the main business of the Union, that 
 of butter-making. 
 
 The Union opened a school of accounting and instruction in merchan- 
 dise in Kourgan, established many scholarships in various schools, has two 
 publications "Narodnaia Gazeta" ("People's newspaper") in Kourgan 
 and "Krestianin — Sibiriak" ("Siberian Peasant") in Barnaul, publishes 
 in Boston a bi-monthly "Review of Foreign Markets" in Russian, pub- 
 lishes books, organizes libraries, opened a Museum of Applied Science in 
 Omsk, etc. 
 
 According to the new by-laws the Union is entitled to receive money 
 on deposit from its members and pay interest thereon. For the members 
 of the Union this is a convenient and profitable placement of their savings 
 and for the Union it is a means of increasing the working capita, and 
 facilitating transactions. 
 
 The Siberian Agricultural Bank. Large financial operations of the 
 Union, particularly in connection with savings, deposited with the Union 
 not only by the members of the Union, but also by outsiders, also the fast 
 growing export of agricultural products to America and Europe — all this 
 brought the Union to the realization of the necessity to establish their own 
 bank. The organization of such a bank under the name of ''The Siberian 
 Agricultural Bank" has been completed and the bank will soon commence 
 its operations. This bank will have its Board in Omsk, branches in Novo- 
 Nikolaevsk, Barnaul, Semipalatinsk and Kourgan and agencies attached to 
 the majority of District offices of the Union of the Siberian Creamery and 
 other Co-operative Associations. 
 
 Summary. It follows from the above that : 
 
 1. The Union of the Siberian Creamery Associations aims to satisfy 
 the most pressing daily needs of the population of a large country. 
 
 2. About 42% of the whole peasant and cossack population of the 
 Eastern Urals foreland, of Western Siberia and of the Steppe region avail 
 themselves of the Union's services and are interested in the Union's 
 success. 
 
 3. The activity of the Union is highly appreciated by the population, 
 as is proved by the rapid and continuous growth of the Union. 
 
 4. The activity of the Union is highly appreciated by the Government, 
 which has often entrusted large and responsible tasks to this organization. 
 
 75 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 This year (1919) the Union supplied the Government with 1,800,000 poods 
 of butter. 
 
 5. At present the Union of the Siberian Creamery Associations is one 
 of the largest co-operative organizations in Russia. 
 
 6. The credit of the Union rests on broad and firm foundations and is 
 absolutely unquestionable. 
 
 7. Owing to its organization, the Union is capable of the broadest de- 
 velopment of its business, while the size and wealth of the territory where 
 the Union works, present all facilities for such development. 
 
 8. The proper conduct of the Union's business is guaranteed by the 
 broad and consistent application of the elective principle and by the high 
 standing of the auditing and controlling apparatus of the Union of the 
 Siberian Creamery and other Co-operative Associations. 
 
 76 
 
Union of the Siberian Creamery 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 Co-Operative Associations 
 
 Head Office: Omsk, Western Siberia 
 
 President 
 A. A. BALACKSHIN 
 
 Vice-Presidents 
 
 J. W. MAIOROFF 
 
 W. J. ILJICHENKO 
 
 Head Office for Abroad 
 
 113 Lincoln Street General Manager for Abroad 
 
 Boston, Mass., U. S. A. J. K. OKULITCH, Gr. Agr. Eng. 
 
 Offices: 
 
 113 Lincoln St., Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 
 B. V. KARASIN, Gr. Civ. Eng., Manager 
 
 280 Broadway, New York City, U. S. A. 
 V. N. BASHKIROFF, Manager 
 
 59 Eastcheap, London, E. C. 3. England 
 A. N. CHMUTIN, Gr. Mech. Eng., Manager 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERA IIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Preface ....... 
 
 Index of Charts ...... 
 
 Table of Measures ..... 
 
 Organization ...... 
 
 The Siberian Butter-Mal<ing District 
 
 The Boundaries of the Butter-Making District 
 
 Administrative Composition of the Butter-Malcing District 
 
 The Dimensions of the Distrct of Siberian Butter-Making 
 
 Configuration of the Land 
 
 Geological Aspect of the District 
 
 Mineral Wealth 
 
 Mineral Waters 
 
 Soils 
 
 Climate 
 
 Amount of Precipitation 
 
 Irrigation 
 
 Rivers 
 
 Lakes .... 
 
 Vegetation 
 
 Animals 
 
 The Natural Wealth of the District 
 
 Insufficient Development of Natural Resources 
 
 Population 
 
 Density of Population 
 
 Distribution of Population 
 
 Possibilities for Future Growth of Population 
 
 Ethnographic Composition of the District 
 
 Kirghyz ...... 
 
 Bashkirs ...... 
 
 The Altai Tribes and Tartars . 
 Russians .... 
 
 Emigrants ...... 
 
 Cossacks ...... 
 
 Moans of Communication 
 
 Navigable Rivers ..... 
 
 The Northern Route .... 
 
 Railroads ...... 
 
 Unmade Roads ..... 
 
 Main Occupation of the Population 
 Cultivated Area ..... 
 
 Plants Cultivated ..... 
 
 The Methods of Agriculture . 
 
 Obstacles to Improve Methods of Agriculture 
 
 Communal Land Ownership . 
 
 Measures to Improve the Technique of Agriculture 
 
 Fertility 
 
 Causes Affecting the Crops . 
 Quantities of Agricultural Products 
 
 78 
 
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 38 
 
THE UNION OF THE SIBERIAN CREAMERY 
 
 Export of Agricultural Products . 
 
 Stock Raising ..... 
 
 Unfavorable Conditions for Stock Raising 
 
 The Kirghyz Method of Stock Raising . 
 
 Russian Stock Raising .... 
 
 Siberian Livestock .... 
 
 Sheep Breeding and its Future 
 
 Stock Raising in Figures 
 
 Measures to Improve Stock Raising 
 
 Export of Products of Stock Raising 
 
 Export of Hides, Wool, Hair and Bristles 
 
 Mining Industry . 
 
 Manufacturing Industry 
 
 Domestic Industries 
 
 Milling Industry 
 
 Distilling and Brewing . 
 
 Butter-Making 
 
 Manufacture of Melted Butter previous to the Construction 
 
 Siberian Railway .... 
 
 First Experiments in Making Cream Butter . 
 
 Butter-Making and the Railway 
 
 Siberian Butter ...... 
 
 Growth of Butter-Making .... 
 
 Organization of Butter-Making by Private Persons 
 Faults of the New Business .... 
 
 Government's Attitude Towards Butter-Making 
 A. N. Balakshin ...... 
 
 The Attempt to Eliminate Foreign Exporters . 
 
 Special Organization to Introduce the Co-operative Principles 
 
 Butter-Making Trade .... 
 Results of the Organization's Work 
 Unionization of Co-operative Butter Factories 
 Founders' First Meeting .... 
 
 Aims of the Union ..... 
 
 Peculiarities of the Union's Charter 
 Speedy Growth of the Union .... 
 Increasing Number of Co-operative Associations in the Union 
 Increase in the Number of Branches 
 The Wholesale Stores .... 
 Amount of Butter Received by the Union 
 Sale of Butter Abroad . 
 Sale of Butter During the War 
 Stores for Butter-Making 
 Stave Making Works 
 Trading .... 
 
 Total Sales .... 
 Union's Own Works 
 
 The Purchase of Wool, Horse Hair, Bristles, etc 
 Working Capital of the Union 
 The Statement of Affairs 
 Creditability of the Union 
 By-Laws of the Union . 
 General Meeting 
 
 of the 
 
 in the 
 
 PACE 
 
 38 
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 4.5 
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 79 
 
AND OTHER CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 Board of Directors of the Union .... 
 
 Management of Districts .... 
 
 Auditing Committee ...... 
 
 The Central Board of the Union and Its Departments 
 The Siberian Agricultural Bank .... 
 
 Summary ........ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 71 
 71 
 73 
 73 
 75 
 75 
 
 INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Officers of the Union ...... 
 
 Mountain Belukha, Altai . . 
 
 Rocks on Lake Borovoe ..... 
 
 Lake Moultinskoe, Central Altai .... 
 
 Horse of Altai Tribe ...... 
 
 Village Kamen, Populated by the "Old Timers," in the Government 
 of Tomsk ....... 
 
 River Obi near town of Barnaul .... 
 
 Creamery of the Souskanikhin Co-operative Association (Govern 
 
 ment of Altai) member of the Union 
 Liubinsky Prospect in Omsk ..... 
 
 Creamery of the Staro-Barda Co-operative Association (Government 
 of Altai) member of the Union 
 
 Petropavlovsk, Government of Akmolinsk 
 
 Semipalatinsk ....... 
 
 Central Dairying Laboratory in Tomsk . 
 
 A. N. Balakshin, Founder of the Union . 
 
 Diagram No. 1 — Growth of Creamery Associations in the Union 
 
 Diagram No. 2 — Growth of Distributing Stores of the Union . 
 
 Diagram No. 3 — Receipts of Butter by the Union . 
 
 Diagram No. 4 — Sales of Supplies by the Union 
 
 Diagram No. 5 — Goods sold by the Union .... 
 
 Diagram No. 6 — Growth of the General Business of the Union . 
 
 Tannery of the Union, Omsk ....... 
 
 Class of Accounting Organized by the Union of the Siberian Creamery 
 Associations in Kourgan ..... 
 
 Members of the General Meeting of the Union, 1918, Kourgan 
 
 Convention of the Instructors in Dairying of the Union of the 
 Siberian Creamery Associations — Kourgan . . . . 
 
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I 
 
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 5 s 
 
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PrinUdbyY.So uren Co.,N.Y. U.S.A 
 
 Publishcil by *ho Uaion of (he Siberian CreamcTy At«>ci«ioai 
 
>'" 06/5, 
 
 RETURN TO the circulation desl< of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 BIdg, 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 (510)642-6753 
 
 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing 
 books to NRLF 
 
 • Renev^als and recharges may be made 4 
 days prior to due date. 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 JAN 5 2006 
 
 12,000(11/95) 
 
>"" 06/5, 
 
 RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 (510)642-6753 
 
 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing 
 books to NRLF 
 
 • Renevvals and recharges may be made 4 
 days prior to due date, 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 JAN 5 2006 
 
 12.000(11/95) 
 
 / 
 
lijim