PLANT CULTIVATION IN THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 567
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 16, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: March 13, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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STAT
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PLANT CULTIVATION IN THE USSR
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Map of the Agricultural Climatic Zones of the USSR
Map of the duration of the period from 13 degrees Centigrade
in the spring to 12 degrees in the autumn
Map of the duration of the mean frostless period
Map of the spring isochrons of 15 degrees Centigrade
Map of the continental features of climate
Map of the climatic conditions for wintering of perennial
crops
Map of the isotherms of January and Ju1r
Map of precipitation for May, June, and July
Land Area Available for Plant Cultivation in the USSR, with Relation
Plant Cultivation as Related to Problems of Agriculture of the USSR,
by N. I. Vavilov, N. V.? Kovalev, and N. S. Pereverzev.
Specialization of Agricultural Zones according to Climatic Conditions,
by G. T..Selyaninov.
Addenda:
to the Geography of Soils, by L. I. Prasolov.
Addenda:
Map of the soil of the European part of the USSR
Map of the soil of the Asiatic part of the USSR
Major Aims and Reclamation Problems, related to Objectives of Plant
Cultivation in the USSR, by A. N. Kostyakov.
Addendum;
Map of potential reclamation in the USSR
SECI~`'ITy INFOR~~!~T!ON
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The present work is compiled and published under the directive
of the People's Corramissar df Agriculture USSR, Comrade Yaq A. Yakov-
leva.
The workers of the Institute of Plant Cultivation hope that,
fulfillinp the commission of the People's Commissar, the Institute
may ~dth this fulfill also their obligation to create a, scientific
base for the socialist reconstruction of agriculture of our Soviet
land..
FOREWORD To VGLUNE I
The appearance of the book Plant Cultivation in the CJSSIi is
an important event in the field of scientific agricultural literature.
It is a. 1)00k sununirig up the work of a group of scientists -- agrono-
mists, "tS electioners,14 botanists, climatologists, and soil scientists
w.. a book supplying -the total of our knowledge of cultivated flora
of the Soviet Union for a definite period, giving a rousrh outline of
the rational distribution of crops and of kinds of crops in the vast
Soviet land.
Notwithstanding its numerous defects, this book is especially
needed by the soviet reader, whose questions and needs have grown
quantitatively as well as qualitatively. The Soviet reader welcomes
with great interest each new book dealing with questions of socialist
agriculture, a.nd the efficiency reported therein is being further, in-
creased. by turning out a huge number of afronomists, directors of
sovkhozes and MTS's, chairmen of kolkhozes and kolkhoz brigac1E~ lea-
dens.
The book Plant l.u on h USSP, summarizing the exper-
fence through many years of scientific research work in the great net-
work of experimental stations, institutes, laboratories, etc., is ur-
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gently necessary for the operational and planning workers of socialist
agriculturb
Rational agriculture is incomp&~tibl,e with tho private nwnersh,1.N
of land, Capitalism condemns the multi~m'
a.lla.on mass, of agricultural
workers to conducting small-scale, scattered
backwaa^d, unprofitable,
barbar Ian farming,
The application of machinery to agra.cultura is also known. un-
der capitalism., of course, but the best machines can
be said only by
large capitalistic establishments. The use of machinery -~ the most
complicated, expensive machinery ..~ is made im ossible for
p the masses
of small and middle class peasant econorny,
The Party and government of the USSR, in bringing ~,. about the so-
cialist reconstruction of agriculture, have set as their
task for the
Second Five-Year Plan a radical technical. revolution
loading to the
rtwchanization of all basic processes of agricultural
production,
We have already become the greatest agr~,.cultural co
a untry in the
world. On the basis of complete collectivization and lar e-~
g scale
oonstruction of MTS's and sovkhozas, the sown areas in our country in-
creased at tho and of the First Five-Yeas Plan to 30 million
hectares
as against the prewar level -- the task having been set by the y Party
to strengthen our postwar position. We have celled a
halt to further
expansion of areas given to technical crops, extending the sow
k in of
grains and concentrating major attention on the raising of t
g the yield
of kolkhoz and sovkhoz fields as the central task of the Sec ~
and Five
Year Plan,
Such improvements, such a revolution in the arioulturo
g of the
Soviet Union is in striking oontrast with what the entire economy of
the capitalist countries, particularly in agriculture
is und$rgoing.
For a number of years the capitalist world has not emerged
from a period
of not; only industrial but agrarian crisis,
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"In the course of the development of the Boon ,
orna,c, crisis, the
industrial crises of the chief capitalist
lands not only occurred si-
multaneously but were interwoven with the a riou1ttir
g al crises in agra-
r~.an Countk'1e$ arnrrw r. '. .jng , he diff,
cg a'ticulties and predetexrmining the
inevitability of a general fall of agricultural activity, it is not
necessary to say that the industrial crisis will aggravate the agri-
eultural, the agricultural tighten the industrial ; that it cannot avoid
leading to a deepening of the economic crisis as a whole," (Js Sta-
lin, Political Report to the 16th Party Congress
A special means of the bourgeois government for emerging from
the agrarian crisis is seen in the limiting of production anal in the
reduction of the sowing area, as a result of which this problem be-
comes not only national but international in
scope. .At the London wheat
conference in June 1933, the United States
proposed a xeductxon in
wheat production and was supported by the y majority of capitalist coun-
tries, number of countries _w Germany, France Italy __ started, on
the way to a virtually complete prohibition on imports of wheat, in
spite of the fact that domestic production does not
cover the needs
of the population for bread.
Wile the Soviet Union carries on a bltt tle on an expanding front
to raise the yield, there they have a battle and bonuses for reducing
the output of crops.
For us the good condition of the bread cro s and
/? cE. p nd favorable wea
ther important; on all the exchanges of the capitalist countries these
same factors are considered very "inauspi.cious."
In the Soviet Union: the growing equipping of agriculture with
the newest machinery and techniques, on the basis of
developing and
strengthening the sovkhozes and kolkhozes, the abolition of small and
scattered holdings, the .establishment of crop rotatcon for the large
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capitalist eoonomy, is drawing the broad masses into deeper and deeper
kolkhozes...in the capitalist world; bankruptcy of the mass of farms,
sold under the hammer to the government and banks for non pa yment of
taxes and interest on the mortgage mv.. the degradation of sma
ll peasant
farms ng.
.&t the A11-Un10 n Congress of Kolkhoz Shook'-Workers, Comrade
Stalin proposed a slogan which fully expresses bhe stage of develop-
ment lop-
ment we have reached and the irrunediate ol3 'ectives which we may postu-
late on a basis of what we have already reached: to make all the
kol-
khoz members prosperous in the very next years.
"We have achieved, thanks to the kolkhozes, the raising of g poor
people to people who are moderately well-to-do. This is very good but
not good enough. We must now make a further step and
help all kalkhoz
members, both the poor and the better off, to raise themselves to a
level of prosperity. This we may achieve and this we must achieve, at
all costs." (J. Stalin.)
Might not some capitalist country, - in which thrives unemptoY-
ment, enveloping today up to 54 million people, among whom many are
skilled workers, as well as engineers, technicians, phYsicians9 pro-
fessors, artists, doomed to hunger, begging, wandering through the
streets in search of any kind of jab - set itself the task of trans -
forming the many millions of the peasant masses into prosperous people?
Of course not, Instead - crisis, sharpening the contradictions of
the
poverty,
4. completely new, unprecedented production of a socialist type
has been created by us. It represents in its productive power and in
its inner structure a Considerably stronger and more complicated
ar-
ganization than the proviously prevailing t e of economy. And this
signifies, as Comrade Stalin says, that "the ko]Jhoz str
uoture does
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not decrease but increases the problems and responsibilities of the
Party and gavernment as regards the development of a
griculture,"
Therefore the planning of agriculture,, the disposition of crops and
grading of crops, the establishment of crop rotationa becomes a
problem on the solution of which the entire Party will work. In our
present position, each decision, when there are unconditionally all
possibilities of realizing it, becomes especially critical and especially
important; every piece of reference material concerning this matter
which is given to specialists ought to be verified ten times over,
above all from a point of view of conformity with the interests
of the
The planning of agricultural production ought to come from a
State task which is completely and clearly set forth. This planning
ought, concurrently, to take into full consideration the climatic and
soil conditions of the x?egions, those huge possibilities
of develop-
ment of an economy characterized by a high degree commodity exchange
-ability, which make for a transition to a kolkhoz economy.
This present work on the disposition of agriculture, carried
out in accordance with the task set by the People's C
mamissarjat for
agriculture together with scientific research institutes, is not com-
pleted, but at present there is already gathered enough material charac-
terizing the individual districts and regions of the USSR as regards
oilman soil, individual kinds of
seed, breeds of cattle, possibili-
ties for an increase of grain resources-i.n regions of technical crops,
possibilities for the introductian of new crops, etc.
The basic objective of Plant Cultivation in the USSR is to pro-
sent scientifically verified material pertaining to the
distribution of
crops and grading of crops in the Soviet Union.
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Unfortunately, we do not have this in full in the present book
Many vital questions, linked with the problems of the radical recon-
struction of our agriculture, are not duly reflected upon, and , dine
number of cases are elucidated incorrectly.
The greatest defect to which the reader's attention is invited is
the circumstance that plant cultivation in the USSR and the prospects
for its development are considered in this book almost exclusively from
a point of view of natural-historic factors, without consideration of
the economies of different districts and the Union
as a whole. More-
over, in it there is no reflection of those hugepossibilities of
changing the composition of our body of crops and
varieties of crops which
are called for by the whole structure of the Soviet
state.
For instance, in the article of G. TO SetYan,nov, , "Specialisation
of Agricultural Zones according to Climatic Condi" in which are
correctly described the climatic differences of the USSR
the zones are
considered only from the point of view of climate, without aalculata. '
on of
soil and economic conditions, which, of course, cannot lead
to exact
conclusions.
The aspiration to carry out a redistribution of crops rising only
from "climatic considerations" is a very crude 'methodologis
al error,
leading to a situation where all the very rich material on
the character...,
istics of the regions by Selyaninov may serve y' as raw material for another
author, who will take into consideration a variety of conditions, but
with those figures and climatic indices. At the very beginning of the ar-
ticle, G. T. Selyaninov is compelled to assume the old postulate that
one can consider the lirnitatio ~
ns of crops apart from soil conditions,
apart from topography, apart from the social structure of the economy.
On such a formulation of the question spoke the old school of isolated,
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decracinated, narrow-minded abstract work, which leads to a h
of narrow climatic concept~,ons ypertrophy
while a work considering the complex
Simultaneously considering the ' ...
a.nfluence of different factors
give us those positive results wh' may
~.ch we could have anticipated
Another such article, reflecting an academic isolation from the
practical questions of socialist agr? i
7.cu.~ture is that of L. Z. Prasolov
"Land Area Available for plant C
ultivation in the USSR, with rela '
to the Geography of Soils." to
The author deals with soil in
almost as isolated a manner as
G? T. Selyaninov deals with climate. Putting the question to what
may our seeded area expand, he decides that it may be e
The soils of individual, district are dealt with altogethe
climatic and other Considerations apart from
. And yet it is widely known tha
and the same soil in the north of tone
the USSR and in the south ~... i
different climatic conditio ?e?' in
ns may wholly adapt itself to different
rates of growth and application of completely differen
one general/ b t methods. May
y ring forth the question about the
of the e quanta.tative "limits"
xpansian of arable land? The ve
ry putting of the question can
not be recognized to be ~a rational consideration of goals inns
everything depends upon the social' , much as
' economic structure of a court
the sand itions of science and "upon
technology in every given er'
those capita, investments which are possible in a given time
We need ?
an agronomic map of the agricultura
1 regions of the USSR
on the basis of which we can move
our agriculture to a higher level b
not general judgment about the , ut
geography of soils. Here also is e
dent that the influence oft ~,?
he old school of soil scientists,
from questions of socialist divorced
agricultural production, has not
The soils themselves, as been overcome
~ s appears from the work of the aut
hors
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are not considered dialectically, not in their possible changes under
the influence of crops' We need not so much a study of the "natural
fertility" of soils as an elaboration of methods for the raising of
fertility of each soil type'
Taking the path shown by such one?sided research the works of
Selyanin and Prasolov and carrying on only a comparison of the characM
ter of soils or climates, we would need to come to completely absurd
conclusions and in. every case would not be able to set such tasks for
ourselves as the expansion of the sowing of wheat in consumption re-
gions, as the creation of new sugar-beet regions, etc.
A. lack of appreciation of the potential of the southern zone was
shown also in the article of A. N, Kostyakov "Major Aims and Reclamation
Problems related to Objectives of Plant Cultivation in the USSR,"
Thus, both the articles of L. I. Prasolov and A. N. Kostyakov may
7.
also be used only as mater l for very elementary characteristics of
soil and directing of large-scale amelioration of them in the Soviets
Union.
The division into zones of agriculture, the disposition of crops
and grading of crops may insure the quickest attainment of those basic
N
objectives which the Party and government of the USSR have set up, name/
the conclusive resolution of the wheat problem, and, first in order, the
raising of the yield and expansion of the sowing of wheat and the estab-
lishment of forage bases for the development of Socialist stock raising.
The book now being released may be considered as the first ap.
proach, as an elementary outline for the elaboration of a plan of de.
velopment for agriculture pointing out a higher direction.
Doubtless the book is very tardy. It has been in printing for
two years, which has meant that achievements in practice in agriculture
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have already significantly outstripped a number of outlines which were
made in this book. In a number of districts of the Soviet Un1on at
present crop rotation, with the exact dis osition of
P a number of craps,
has been introduced and carried out for each rural soviet
for each
kolkhoz. In the majority of districts, crop rotation is
not in sharp
contradiction with the outlines of Plant Cultivation in the
~7SSR, the
materials of which on the establishment of crop rotation
were used by
producers, particularly as regards the zoning of different
kinds of
crops.
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Very much of what was only recommended in this book
in the mat-
ter of kinds of crops, has in recent years already been put into prac..
Lice on a large scale. The best of the speciall -re
Y commended kinds
already occupy millions of hectares (Ukrainka L tests
Yu ens 0629
Cesium Olll, etc.)
The significance of grading in raising the yield and in
high-
land agricultural engineering, for which we must struggle, is very great,
as is evident from the figures of Professor Remer cited below
. The
harvest under study of crop grading for 4 years in Halle, Germany, gave this
fluctuation of harvests (centners per hectare) Ron1er
( and Scheffer,
"Ackerbaulehre" p. 333)
Name of Crap
Lowest Grade
Highest Grad
e
Difference in Favor
of Highest Grade
Winter wheat
29.95
47.89
11.64
Winter barley
37.63
59.26
17.56
Winter rye
O
O
t
35.12
53.44
12.73
a
s
22 ~j
22 ~j
j~
1
.
4.80
~
11.60
sL:;;,- Wheat
~~rn
~~barley
25.78
35.15
39.18
4t~. 82
6.43
4.29
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On the basis of many years experience at the State Grading Bu.?
reau, we may also affirm as regards a number of crops that the best se~
lected varieties under conditions of graded lots of land -- and the ma-
jority of the graded lots, as a rule, are located on the sovkhozes -~
exceeded the local seeded material in yield; winter wheat 2030 percent,
winter wheat w. Triticum vula.re 1044 percent, winter durum wheat
10-50 percent, barley, on the average, 36 percent, and oats 23 percent.
The Soviet Government, in that most difficult year for us, 1921,
the year of drought in the southeast, had already" brought up the ques..
Lion of organizing selection and seed-raising in our country.
One may assert with confidence that selection and seed raising
practically did not exist before the revolution, and that it is wholly
a creation of the Soviet Government, though Professor V. Ye. Pisarev
was not unaware of it, and point out that under prerevolutionary cone-
ditions the establishment and organization of seed'-raising had been
"outlined" and it was as if only "the world war held up the construction
that was getting underway."
Planned development in matters of scientific research is for us
completely and fully associated with the Soviet Government. We may say
that all branches of agricultural production are now backed by a huge
network of establishments for scientific research with stations for the
various zones, serving different physical-geographic regions. We may
already boast the presence of millions of poods of selected seed, making
possible realization of Party and government objectives of establishing
a 100-mi11ion reserve i7 of choice seeds for the satisfaction of the
demands of Soviet agriculture,
Scientific research institutions of the Academy of Agricultural
Science imeni V. I. Lenin exist both within the Arctic Circle (the
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Khibini Branch of the Institute
of Plant Cultivation and in the
Sch, Batumi, Turkmenia ? T sub tropics,
he presence of this hu
fersnt climatic and sail huge net work in d~f'.
conditions of the USSR makes
~.ng and increasing world Possible maantain-
plant resources, all that hue bi
supply which is avail g ological
able on the globe and has been ga
e thered by 5aviet
xpeditions,
The worst evil in our a r'
g zculture was the presence of a mul
of "varieties" of titude
unknown origi Research conducts
Comm7.ssariat of Agr ~ d by the People's
iculture in 1930 revealed 5~ varieties
c\ 'M
~.es of winter wheat
~.5 of
not less than 25 varieties of oat ~
A~ong them was much s9 and 33 of barleys
worthless stuff of low yield. It
demand of the warehouses t was impossible to
that they keep and take stock of
each conglomeration of vas the best from
sties. It is completely clear t
standardization and unification hat the
of the varieties of cro s
task, That classification a p is ofirst
and reduction of the nwnber of t
for is evident from the folly ' ypes is called
wing fa.gU;'es;
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A state network for experimenting in grades and varieties of
crops, taking in always more and more new types having indices higher
than the best of the old, Will introduce corrections in establishing
standards and classifying and unifying the various types.
At the same time though, it is certain that in the huge terries
Cory of our country the number of varieties cannot be too greatly ra-
duced without damage to the yield.
Those varieties acceptable for propagation are put into three
groups: "Especially Recommended, t1Reconuaended", and "Admissible".
The especially recommended types are those which under conditions of
not less than years of competitive experiinentatiOn in the State
Grading Bureau prove not only the best in yield but stand up the best
against blight and disease, against unfavorable climatic conditions,
have a high quality of seed, and also fulfill the demands of a mecha,
nized economy.
Soviet scientific.'research work, as distinguished from bourgeois
science, has from its inception wholly favorable conditions of work, for
every conclusion and achievement immediately becomes the property of the
working millions and receives the widest application in practice, where.'
as in the age of the bourgeoisie the most necessary discoveries and in-
ventions find no application to the masses of the peasantry. For the
many millions of peasants newest methods of rational agriculture, based
on the best crop rotation, on the application of improved machinery and
ferti~.ization and use of the most valuable type of crop, are completely
kolkhozes prosperous" consistently carries out the general line of the
the growth of production on a huge scale. The slogan "make all the
Only in our country do scientific achievements become the means
for an unprecedented raising of the well-being of the broad masses, for
Party, which draws on all the greatest achievements of science.
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a thousand meters above sew ccasus and for heights
a level. We need wheat which '
steppes of Itazakhstan and Cr. will ~'aw on the
imea; wheat which grow under the co
of the snowy harsh winters of th editions
e soviet east and the snowless
of the lower Volga wheat which steppes
Yi elds a large harvest under t
ditions of the Northern Caucasu he Co
s and of the Far Eastern coast
one type or even two or three ca , Some
nnot satisfy all these varied
and the thought of scientific wo1ry . needs,
1rcrS and the armies of 'tse
lectianers,r
b . '-Ivy _________________
We need wheat for the valleys of the C
au
ra Asa.a and wheat which Tr-; 11 ...._ ".`"
In all the bourgeois Ares ~?~t
is more and more urgent/ d
that a 'rhola.dayn be declared fors y emanded
caence and invention, due to the ris
in the produetiv1.ty of labor. Under the conditions of capitalism
scientific achievement now does not ,every
enrich mankind, raising the produ -.
tivity of labor, but is directed c
against it, leading to crisis and
employment, un-
Nowhere as in our land is Science based on such favorable con-
ditans of work, representing not g a few individual, solita
scattered, closed-off laboratories idely, but laboratories linked
gle system operatin to a sin-
g in a complex manner, Supplementin
We have gone another.
geneticists, cytologists, "select
xonersrr
, botanists,
physiologists, anatomists, biochemists working on the development
plants which are draw 11t.: of
g proof or cold-resistant, or imm
diseases. Fran the mo une to various
rphology, with the aid of chromo '
of wheat or another to its actual behav1,0r on the plot of a
gade
gale may intervene a complex kolkhoz bri
study of some type of wheat Our
land comprises a hug vast
ge number of the most varied natura _
com
binations, differences o l historic ~
f temperature and soil and
precipitation, and
thus demands an equal, variety of y plants acclimatized and redeveloped
on a higher level of loped
productivity. We need wheat which
irrigated land of Cent will grow on the
jtts~~-crFn
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imust turn to the conquest of the vast spaces of our land so that we may
discover new types and carefully propagate these types on tens of mil-
lions of hectares.
The work of selection was previously carries out on a small scale,
at slave's tempo, without necessary scientific equipment, dooming the
rrselectioners" to the inevitable loss of many years, The newest work,
based on a dialectical rig thud, carried out on a huge scale under the
varied conditions prevailing in the Soviet Union makes possible con-
serving time by using space. Under conditions of great heat, in hot-
houses -- with which our scientific establishments are now provided
by our "selectioners."
hundreds of thousands of seeds may be obtained in one year from a sin-
gle seed, with a six-hundred-fold reproductiveness obtained. In rooms
of artificially-controlled temperature we do not have to wait for cold
weather to subject the available and the newly-introduced types of
plants to experimentation in cold-resistability in snowless cold wea-
ther, in different harsh temperature conditions, as well as under the
influence of high temperatures and dry winds, All this was unavailable
to earlier laboratories. Only under the Soviet Government have we cre-
ated the possibility of large-scale work on hybridization of the most
different crops, and, what is most important, thanks to expeditions to
many countries of the globe, we have amasses the richest stock of diverse
plants in the whole world. One may say without any exaggeration that
the link between the Institution of Plant Cultivation and all the scien-
tific establishments of the globe assures regular receipt and reproduc-
tion of the entire world's growing stock, which may and ought to be used
Is all done that might be done by our scientific establishments
in these conditions favorable for scientific works? No, for far from all
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IIESTRICTEU
of our establishments have adopted those tempos of work which are called
for by the rapid growth of our heavy socialist
mechanized farms with
their specialized demands. The work is often carried on as it was ten
years ago, as if the results were not awaited i atient
~ ly by the many
millions of kolkhoz workers.
Soviet scientific thought has freed itself but, slowly from the
old bourgeois traditions of abstractness in work, from the old non-
dialectical methods of investigation, the incorrect methodology, Only
gradually, with the influx of young Marxist cadres, has dialectics pene-
trated the field of scientific investiato
g ry work. On a number of
plats of land using selective methods of work
, the fruitfulness of ap..
Plying dialectical methods has already been verified -~ and the mastery
of the dialectical method by our cadres
of "selectionersu promises us
beyond doubt agreat victory in the very near future in this field, in
obtaining new varieties of plants.
Matters stand especially badly as regards the distributing of
already revealed and tested varieties, One
might point, first, to the
fate of the Moscow O21t11 wheat, the distributing ng of which was completely.
unsatisfactory; it is enough to remember the fate of Novinka, the fate
of the 17e-wheat hybrid obtained by Professor Neyster, to understand
that those scientific research stages are especially neglected, insuf~
ficiently provided-for sectors of work when
the newly-discovered vatic -
ties aught to have been widely propagated, (The work of Professor Meyster
with rye-wheat hybrids is of exceptional, interest, and one ought to note
here the case, very important theoretical/y, in which he obtained a 56..
chromosome plant and a series of forms of hybrids of rye and wheat, from
which
were isolated a number of varieties of winter wheat distin
i
gu
shed
by their high resistance to cold and drought and by a special, vitreousnAaa ~'
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have been cases in which the best varieties had to
of the grain.) There
be removed from experimentation, for lack of even enought seeds for this
end, when competitive e~erimentation in them was put aside for an
~.
Such cases were linked with the sabotage led by
.
indeterminate time
Vol'f in the field of agr` culture and is a continuation in conditions
~.
of scientific work and scientific work applied to production of that
which the smashed but still not decisively beaten class
class struggle
enemy carries on, a sabotage which did not meet with the necessary con-
current support on the part of all the masses of scientific workers.
models for really Bolshevik work, as, for example:
But we also have
work in acclimate ' zing Egyptian cotton; work in developing a high-yielding
type of sc~gar-beet, as a result of which in our land we completely sub-
stituted seeds of Soviet selection for imported seeds of a German firm
on all the sowed fields of sugar-beet in the USSR; work in developing new
frost-resistant types of potatoes for use above the Arctic Circle; work
in developing very productive types of wheat, rye, oats, barley, and other
crops.
To those deficiencies of the book we have mentioned, characterizing
the first articles on climate and soil, deficiencies represented by a
manifestation of mechanical and dialectical ideas about nature, not con-
?der huge social-economic changes which may take place, one ought
s~,~.ng the ~
to add that in the majority of the articles both agriculture and the
considered unchanging factors, not passing through
plants themselves are
their stages of development and movements.
Agricultural engineering, which to a decisive degree influences
and moreover influences different plants differently, is complete-
plants
ly ignored, except in an application of one or another procedure of
agricultural engineering. Only in 4ew of the articles (for example, that
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t1S1'ttt ?0
on summer wheat) is it mentioned that concurrently considering types of
plants and agricultural engineering completely changes the picture of
agricultural development.
Let us take up the matter of winter wheat for the Trans-Volga
rl ? /"
region. It is known thatieM appliat:ono peer vapors and other
methods of accumulating and preserving moisture in the soil together with
the application of methods of snow retention on a large scale increase'
the ability of winter wheat to endure winters which are harsh but with
little snow. In a number of articles we have the consistent expression
of the view that the whole matter depends upon the grades of wheat used .
and that it is not worth while to create new, sturdy types of wheat to
introduce in the fields of the Soviet Union.
This position does not even have its source in the data cited
in the book, and is in full contradiction with the directives of the
Party and Goverciment concerning the development of sowing of wheat in
the region along the Volga.
The work of the agronomist Lysenko became generally known long
ago, cleverly applying a method of vernalization to the shortening of
the growing season of a number of plants and giving thereby a 15-20
percent increase in their yield. This method of vernalization so de-
cisively shifted various phases of the plant development that it became
possible to speak about transforming winter crops into summer, southern
into northern, etc. A number of plants which in our weather conditional
had never ripened, he succeeded in putting in such favorable conditions
by the method of vernalization that they bore seeds (for example, Eng-
lish and Algerian wheat).
The failure to consider the meaning of the practical results of
the vernalization method, in 1933 already applied to hundreds of thousands
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aESThIG tU
t omission of Plant Cultivation in the USSR, since
of hectares, is the wrrs
already widely used in the south, very greatly
precisely this method,
changes the picture of possible distribution of crops, and may have a
huge significance particularlY in the solution of the problem, -? the
~.
most important problem of today -- of advancing winter as well as summer
wheat in the north.
even thousands, of cases of high yield of wheat
We have hundreds,
with improved agricultural engineering and the use of fertilizer in con-
ssia the Western, Moscow, Ivanovo, Lenigrad oblasts,
,
suming areas (Ueloru
and Northern krays), reaching 30 centners per hectare even
the Goi'kiy
without the application of vernalization which, giving an acceleration
of 10 or more days, could become under conditions of
of plant growth
northern agriculture one of the most important factors.
By using vernalization on a large scale the solution of the prob-
lem of ],and utilization is simplified and accelerated in a number of
cultivation of swamps, plains, unfavorable soil and
zones -? in the
cima.tic Zonesetc. If in the swamps of Belorussia even without using
,
the method of vernalization we obtained fully ripening forms of rice, if
geraniums were obtained there which previously grew in the conditions
of a subtrapa. ?c zone, if we obtained cigar tobaccos with all their valuable
qualities, then the application of vernalization on a large scale -- not
only with wheat, cotton, and potatoes but with other grain and technical
crops -? promises great success.
One ought to mention the achievement of Soviet science in study
of the most varied new crops, which put into wide use can give huge ads
ditional sources of many millions of crops for feeding the population and
of raw materials for processing. Plants rich in albumen, starch, fat,
a wide assortment of varieties introduced for the first
etc., were in
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tIEST RIOT Eo
time in the Soviet Union. Contemporary Soviet agriculture and the agri-
culture which the Soviet Government inherited from Czarism not only
have nothing in common in the social-economic field, inasmuch as the kolk..
hozes, MTS~s, and sokhozes took the place of the old small-scale horses
less farming, but also the assortment of crops has changed. Egyptian
cotton, never before seen in our land has appeared and multiplied; a
huge area is given over to the sowing of sugar beets, exceeding sowing
on the pre-war level; new crops have appeared which already occupy hun-
dreds and thousands of hectares, such as the soy-bean, chicory, Jerusalem
artichoke, new oil-bearing, ether-bearing and rubber-bearing plants, the
castor plant, the safflower, the sesame, the geranium, tea, aurantiaceae,
etc. A number of completely new crops, still unknown even by name to
the general Soviet public, are making headway.
The most serious defect of the book is the absence of a clear
social-political and economic line concerning the problems facing the
different zones of the country.
The book concerns plant cultivation in the narrowest sense of the
word -- i.e., plant cultivation which is abstracted from contemporary
economic conditions, plant cultivation really occupied only with plants
as such, issuing from the statics of that environment in which these plants
are found,
The growth of the population of the Soviet Union and the huge
growth of its needs in connection with industrialization and the socialist
reconstruction of agriculture demand the realization of those directives
which were given by the 17th Party Congress and the subsequent plenum of
the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the VKF (b)
concerning the development of agriculture in the Second Five-Year Plan.
A completely clear line has been given by the Party and Government
tIES TRIG lEO
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ii EST RICTED
for the definitive solution of the grain problem, which is also the basic
premise for the solution of problems of socialist stock-raising. And
thus the problem of technical crops as raw material for light industry
may also be solved
However, the resolving of these fundamental problems brought up
by the Party and Government, and especially of the mcs t important of them,
the wheat problem, is completely insufficiently dealt with in the basic
articles of Plant Cultivation in the USSR. The author of the article on
narily general and abstractly theoretical manner, not clearly putting
grain crops considers the problem of expanding new areas in an extraordi-
first place, giving instead, in a number of cases, ill-founded, incorrect
reasons for curtailing wheat crops in individual districts.
the point that we must expand areas under winter and wheat in the
Wheat sowing in our country covers 35 million hectares, of which
winter wheat is only athird around 12 million hectares -- while two
thirds of the wheat sowing is in summer wheat. Such a relation between
aier and winter wheat speaks for the insufficient economic grounding
and unsatisfactoriness of this division, regarding the distribution be-
tween fall and spring of intensity of work. If one turns to the question
of yield, there the picture of the unprofitableness of the relation be~
tureen and winter wheat becomes even clearer, The relation within
the wheat field ought to change to the benefit of winter wheat, in view
of its definitely large yield -- for, as a rule, in the majority of
districts in which both winter and wheat is sowed with the
same
agricultural techniques, winter wheat has proved always better yielding.
Inasmuch as the book contains pre -war statistics on all crops,
we consider it appropriate here to call to maind the devastating evalua-
tion which V. I. Lenin gave of Czarist statistics, which brought together
dETR1CTED
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iIESTFHUI
under one heading of economy different sizes different levels of tech
piques, different scales of capital, dumping in the same heap poor, mid?
dle..class, kulak, and landlord economies without differentiation, There?
fore, the pre-war data on yields which are used for purposes of compari-
son in all the articles should be taken with a great deal of distrust and
scepticism, especially as concerns the size of pre war seeding areas,
given completely incorrectly.
Comparing the yield of winter and c ?~~~
~ wheat in a.ndlvldual dis..
tricts of the USSR, we see that the harvest of one hectare of winter
wheat exceeds the harvest of suiurer wheat by more than 100 percent.
Thus, for example, if we tape the right, bank of the Dna.epr, in the forest?
and..steppe regions of the Ukraine ?-
according to data of the State Gra_
_
ding Bureau
on the Ch
,
ertoriysk
rccI plot the
i
t
w
n
er wheat U
L1 a11
Sd
yielded 27.8 centners per hectare, while the summer wheat L testsens 062
yielded only 12.7 centners per hectare, and thus the harvest of winter
wheat exceeded that of summer by 15.2 centners
or 119 percent, We
have no less interesting results in the forest?a
nd?steppe area of the
Central Black Earth Zone, where on the Vo
ronezh ~ plot the winter
wheat Gostianum 2
37 yielded 32.2 centners per hectare, as against
O,111, with 11. 5 centners
per hectare, and advantage of 20.8 cent?
pars per hectare, or 181 percent
,?- (1925...26), and also on the Shatilovsk'
1y
~w~1~5W~~~d:~ii'~i~~L~?'
Y/t~f)F?1'~P 7'.~'1o
'plot
i
,
w
nter
;. y?~, yielded 19.6 centners
per acre as against the summer
which yielded
4.7 centners
per hectare, an advantage of 13.9 centers or LJ41? percent.
If we take
.J the left bank of the forest-and?st
epee area of the Ukraine,
in a number of j plots once again winter wheat yield exceeds summer
50-80 percent. Thus, on the Kharkov .~- V;:.
r a% c ?_.plot, for 5 years (1926?1930)
~
gave 22.2 centners per hectare as against LytsstSens
H ES TRIC TED
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al ESTRICTED
062 with 12.1 centners per hectare, an exceeding of 10.1 or 83 percent.
There Ukrainka also gave for these years 21.6 centners per hectare as
against Lutestsens 062 with 12.2 centners per hectare, an advantage of
9.4 centners per hectare, or 77 percent. On the Sum! station Ukrainka
yielded 23 centners per hectare for 6 years against the winter L~yutestsens
062 12.2 centners per hectare, an advantage of 8.9 centners per hectare
or 69 percent.
Data from the sovkhozes and kolkhozes of the Ukraine, the Central
Black-Earth Zone, and data from individual farms also confirms the de-
cisive advantage of winter wheat. If we take the North Caucasus, ac-
cording to data of the State Grading Bureau the yield of winter wheat
r
C
exceeds summer in all zones ..w in the zone of sufficient moisture, in
the zone of variable moisture, and in the drought zone,
.;
(. P.
Thus, for example, the Kabardino plot, located in the
zone of sufficient moisture, for 1927-29 yielded 19,6 centners per hec-
tare in winter wheat Koo eratorki as against the summer L testsens 062
yield of 6.6 centners per hectare .-? an advantage of 13 centners per
hectare or 197 percent, Ukrainka for the same period yielded 1.8
5
centners per hectare as against the winter 0111 6.2 centners per
acre, advantage of 9.6 centners per hectare or 161 percent,
On the Prikumsk plot, located in the southeast drought zone,
Gostianum 0237 gave for I~ years (1927-30) 16.6 centners per hectare
against L utestsens 062 S.2 centners per hectare, an advantage of 11.1.
centners per hectare or 219 percent.
The figures for harvests on the North Caucasian sovkhozes and
kolkhozes for these same years show winter wheat to be superior but in
considerably lesser degree. And so, although the superior yield of winter
I
wheat over sau' is an established fact) the matter of establishing the
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ESTRICTE
predominance of winter wheat must be handled
with special care in the
Ukraine and the North Caucasus -- two basic wheat-growing areas of our
country -_ and in that part of the zone of
' unstable moisture where
wheat is doing well, allowing a high harvest, a high quality for
export.U
If we take the southern steppe of the Ukraine and the Crimea,
data of the State Grading bureau for the
last 5 years shows the same
superiority of the winter wheat harvest over they
(on the ord
er
of 30-60 or more percent). Considering that the grain of the winter
wheat of the southern steppes is the best quality of all the winter
wheat of the Soviet Union, except that of
the North Caucasus, we must
also came to the conclusi.an here that developing the sowing of winter
wheat is necessary,
If we take the steppes of the left bank
of the Dniepr, the aril
steppe of the North Caucasus, and the southern Central Blacks-Earth Zone
we see that here the Gostianum 237 variety gives
a superior
t
y in
i
yield of winter wheat over that
is almost double, In some
the harsh winters may cause great years
destruction of winter wheat in these
zonesp But it is beyond doubt that with proper care in sowing, with
observance of the rules of agriculture.
]. engineera.ng~ this destruction ma
be much reduced, if not brought to a mina.' , Y
mam, and one must notice the
complete inconsistency of the author
who takes up the yield of winter
wheat for the Volga region without Considering agr.~.cultural engzncerin
and measures for snow retention both noted by the same author as very
effective.
The problem of working out procedures
of agricultural engineering
and securing the yield for stable winter
wheat varieties of the lower
Volga region, Kazakstan, Western Siberia as sa vital that it must be given
RESTRICi~91
25
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more attention than it has received hitherto, and more than
this book. Is shown in
on the right bank of the Volga the relation between har
winter and r?,QV,~
wheat shows harvests of espeC1a11f
varieties of cold?~xesistant
winter wheat are higher than ~~'`?`~`~
Curbs the s'tabil' and very little dis-
~.ty of the harvest. But the
of winter wheat a high and stable harvests
are obtained here on1r under con ' .
fallow ground ~txons of using pure
and it is necessary to x membe
in develo r this, to practice this
ping crops of winter wheat
Artificial snow retention '
? ~s also very important in the sou
Zone. On the basis of an anai, s ? thern
y a.s of numerous data -p the insuf .
ly detailed prewar data as Well as the especially details
ble data of the State Graff d and responsi.,
ng Bureau for the last 5 years ~e
draw a very clear conclusion one may
concerning the south of our count
the best varieties of winter that
wheat have a definite advanta
best varieties we have now ge over the
of wheat of 54M
~Y, thus 6U percent. Here we
decisively raise the questi
on of strengthening the winter
field through increasing the
area under winter wheats;.
duction of the best varieties and necessary agricultural en
The comparison of the gineering~
harvests of kolkhozes, sovk
dividual farmers made ' hones and in
n the book (part 2, page 51
the paint that it i ) conva,ncingly makes
is exactly the high..level agric
and seed ultural engineering
grading which gives the huge difference between harvests
the expera mental, stations a
kolkhazeS so ~'~l~plots and harvests of
vl~aozes, and individual farmers, the
If we
percent an account of ' ? r. 'take away 2530
c,
grading, then the re a/ btl".
improve d a r ? s doubtless, ion tort.
g xcultural technology Therefore it a.s a co
conclusion which one of the authors, A. A, xornilav, rear
~ hes
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th.a?t; ??charzrng the vara.ety of seed is tile
most effective and easily
realized factor a.f' the harvest, ?? As the experience in practice of our
kolkhazes and sov.khazcs in the S:
awLncampa] gn of 1933 showed, the most
effective a_a.r~;e~sc;alr and easily ~
.realjzed factor in rai.sir~g of h
is precisely are cu].tv.ra:t en~. r_. arvest
neeri.ng,
The paint of view in the scicnt:ifir,
17r'e ss, whi cl.l attributes to
seed sea_c;ct:i.a.rl the drea.s.jve r?a.lc~ in -?a~.s! ~ _,
~ the ,Y]-e].d is not an acc,a-dE;nta].
s]_ip of the tozlnla.e. A number of ~r
plant growers, ?1se].cct:l_oners, fl and
agranariiz,sts, and also a number of practi_cinf,
. rr
worlrer 4, consider that agri
cu..J.t ctra.l eraganer-,r. a.n~ Triethods for in
creaU~n4T the harvest are not so e:f-
.f'ective as Changing the var,ie..
~Y, and they express].y give .f'a.rst place
selection completelil~ :'or~ge - .tt .~to
fthat even the hest varieties,
i
rrepr?oachable clcz~3lities haven
give no result s when put in unfavorah
on a ~'ie1c1. le conditions.
Ploughed too shallow, on a fi41c1 chop
weeds and i.n:fested h great, yea up with
by a quant - r of pests, no variety of even the most Splendid, can ensure even a rrIed.i ocrc .harvest,
The not unls:nawn Professor V. ir. Talan expressed
av the idea in
this way; "Many of the improved methr'
d'r ' of field cult].vation ~- dee
ploughing, the of fertili. ze,. p
r, tr Glnsltian to crap rotation,
et cetc:.r. a -_? showing r;reat passa.hiliti
es for rain.ncy the harvest, d.e-
rnand, nc:ve.rthelr:!s,, a great disri~,f:,io
11 n of the ecanamy wa.th the Z.ntroduc-t~ on of new mac;fi.nes and more draft anl.rrials, and that is why these improve~
ments will only slowly and step-h~r...s-te
1) win thca.x proper important placep
In the reconstruct7.0 n of ol~r? county ?s , ,.
Y a~~r~.cu].ture, the mu1_ti.i)licatio.n
and mass cZ:i ssemi.nati.on of improved seeds involves comparatively 1a.tt:(.e
expense an the part of the gavernment and the populat:i.orA:lready,
for the very near :future, this Promises .
extz aardinara.ly Large possiha.]_i~
ties, with the introclucta.an of selected and generally improved varieties ?r
A
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This is written in a co.Llection of articles on selection and seed
cultic
vation in the USSR edited by V. V. Talanov. This point of view figures
in one farm or another in a number of articles in Plant Cultivation in
JSsR, and completely contradicts those directives which wholly justify
themselves in practice and assume that the first and mo t
s basic condition
of high yield is the introduction of correct cro -srotation
p and exact ob-
servance of the rules of agricultural techniques for a given crop.
The second plan, which puts aside agricultural engineering as a
"dear]y costing measure1? and linked with "the disruption of the whole
economy,H has led to a number of experts propagating the harmful theory
of the superiority of shallow ploughing, maintaining as though it were
not possible, that deep ploughing is of no importance for the increasing
of the harvest (Tulaykov, Runyantsev, Sokolov, and others), Putting
into practice this theory has led in a number of kolk'hozes and
districts
to the fields being most barbarically choked with weeds to the lowering
of the yield, and thus has come the disastrous condition of a number of
the kolkhozes, unable to fulfill their obligations
to the Government and
even take care of their own needs,
It is ent rear clear that without the use of necessary i
agr cultural
techniques the best varieties are doomed to destruction the
shining ex-
ample of which is the yield in tre steppes of the Lower Tr
ans-Volga' where
the most cold-resistant varieties yielded a low harvest when measures
:for snow retention were not carried out. This influence of
snow retention
on harvest may be seen from the following data of experimentati
on the
.l~plot in Saratov:
. 28 b
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tIESTRICTED
Saratav test plot; 1927.1930
Harvest (centners per hectare)
Variety
Lyutestsens 01060/10
Without
Wi th
snow-retention snow-retention
in centners
per hectare
17,7
13, L~
1'f a 7
in centners
per hectare
Improvement
in percent
20,E
16
18,3
37
21,0
2L
~ art 2, page l,.D , paage 67, of the original text)
)e see that with snow retention the winter-resistant Gostianum
237 gave the maximum harvest -- 25 centners per hectare and wit
hout it
7 centners less. If we take another test plot ~nh still harsher
con-
ditions of wintering, we see as many startling results.
These examples show how wrong it is to take up the problem of
varieties as abstracted from the application of the rules of a ricultL
g u al
engineering which are advisable and are the basic premise for raising g the
yield. Accordingly, in regard to the principal winter wheat regions
of
the Soviet Union, the conclusion must be drawn, that here winter wheat
J
has all the properties not only for covering an expanded area but also
for a tremendous increase in crop yield, The more unexpected and incorrect
are the conclusions which the author of the article on winter wheat
presents to us (part 2, page 62), in claiming that further increasing
the sowin; of wheat is impossible, although this is only relevant
to the
zone of sufficient and fluctuating; moisture of the North Caucasus,
Let us turn to the problem of the progress of wheat in the forest
zone or to the problem of the progress of wheat in the north.
We are dealing with a task no less important and grandiose than
that of irrigating the Trans-Volga region -- the sowing of approximately
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IIESTRICTEO
RICTEU
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
14 million hectares of wheat and obtaining no less than 300 million poads
of wheat in the north,
The party long ago set the objectiv f
e, ally realizable for Socialist
farming of transforming the so-c
7 ailed "consundng,r belt of the Union
into a producing area Much has already been done in this respect, but
the decisive reconstruction is still ahead
Numerous data on plots of
the State Grading Bureau, and also currently gathered date an the ka1k..
hones and sovhozes point to the fact that harvests of winter wheat in the
north (Belorussian, Western, Lenigrad MOSCOW, and Ivanavo oblasts, Gor-
ky kray) considerably exceed the harvest
of winter rye, and are in this
Zane sufficiently stable.
The enthusiasm with which the resolu
Lion of this problem has been
carried out on the kolkhoz fields shows the
great possibilities of swiftp
ly realizing this objective in the very near future.
Already, in June 1933 at the plenum of
the Noscow Committee of
the VIA (b), the decision ha 89>5 00
92 >500
2s~lLis000
Forests for the most part
deciduous).. .. . .
Meadows and zaYmishcha . . .
:L00!000
Saliferous steppes . . . . .
320,000
Mountain steppes . . . . . .
.
130!000
Ploughed land. .
1,,00,000
Various unstudied expanses:
waters shore lands etc. 61 000
Pasture land on rocky steppes 370s000
+ solontsY! saliferous and Unstudied areas.
Pasture land on saliferous
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112,100
 189,200 1,1;58,200 1,6lt7,LQO Pasture land on rocky steppes 370,000
-I- solontsy9 saliferous and Unstudied areas. . . . . . . 112, 00
meadow soils, etc. Pasture land on saliferous
Ser0Zery . . . . . . . . . . .
-i- solonchaki, sands of desert
lands, meadow, saliferous, and
alluvial soils, to ai etc.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved o Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000 002 0003-i'lou ,heU land. . ? . . . 0~ 0Q0
. ? ,,
Various unstudied expanses:
~ 000
waters, shore lands, etc. 6?3
t. Chestnut soils . . . . . . . . .
steppes . . .
chestnut soils.
00,000
Mountain steppes . . . . .. 105,000
Ploughed land. . . . . . . . 100,000
1,786,300 2 2,003,800 Saliniferous and rocky
, ! wastelands winter and
fall pasture land .. . . 825,000
Takyry thickened-saliferous
f. oils) 4 . . . . . . . .
Tugai alluvial soils,
110,000
marshy and salted). . ... 52,000
Sands bare or overgrown). . 655,000
Haloxene forests (according
to data of the forest
service
12Q,000
 aloxene forests according
x
to data of the forest
service
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. Meadows tugai, plavni, etc. a000
~.
Ploughed land, in all around
0 000 and arid steppes,
In all around 137,800,.
4 i G 6 N P 6 . 187,800
total
b. Soils of high-mountain b 9,200 Mountain meadows of the
regions . b6,900 582,300
alpine and subalplne zone 186,000
High-mountain steppes of the
western an ' -Sham
land sons + Perpetual snows,
mountain-meadowa mountain tundra,
high mountain steppe, and waste-
glaciers, and rocks
~'
Ivlountains .
120,000
137,000
Mountain wastelands- of t
Parnir Mountains . . . . .
3h,000
Mountain tundra the
Siberian gal tsy) . . . .
286,000
Snows glaciers, and moun-
taro heights. . . . . . .
Total 6, 7.1G1, Lt00 15,10[, 200? 21, 216, 600
S
-h lakes 136, 2GO-+E1akes 136,200
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
61h1~00 15,105,200 21,21~6,6o0
Total, ,
,
?
Notes:
ana emer~t , is 2,0~0,O .OU square kilometers.
area of ploughed lands, acc ~ to the institute
oln s
The general e of Soil M
bottom land determined. Meadow T bottom land soils are in part counted in with b
nlis not exactly deter
Zonal distribution
of the forest zone.
Soils of s P of the Caucasus.
others are counted in with mountain f
forests ,
ubtro lc for - ol.a Kray,
Asiatic sections forest soils __ krasnozemy and
S
European part here: Kama, Uralj the Central~ ~'
se obla~G .ts are counted in with the E of the
anscaucasia.
so all of Tr
and al
Bashkiria,
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 Moscow Cblast. . . . . . . .
Ivanovo Industrial Oblast. . . . .
Nizhniy-Novgorod Kray. . . .. . , .
19131
19252
19262
116, 675. o 103, 790.7 109, 727.6
23,099,1 21., 0i6.9
3,026.3 3,1514.0
2,0I7,7 2,097.0
1,869.L 4 1,911.6
2L8.8
280.6
739 )499.1; 78, 267.5
Data
within
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
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Republics and Regions of Gosplan
Ukrainian SSR.. . .. . . . . . e o
ZSFSR. .
Uzbek SSR. . . . . . . .. . . ... .
Tadzhik SSR . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Turkmen SSR. . . . . . . . ... . .
RSFSRS . .
Included Northern Itray .. .. . .
I{arelian ASHR. . . . . . , . , , . .
Leningrad Oblast . . . . . . . . . .
Western Oblast . . . . . . , , , , .
19273
Of These
Total Collective State
Farms Farms
112,936.0 752.3 1,227.5
25,261.L 2614.6 606.2
3,36!4.9 22.0 37.6
2,093.9 1.5 2,
1,5815 6.2 5,3
295.7 1.0 2,3
79, 868.1 Li.57. 0 573.7
1,02L..9 1.9 2.2
59.7
1,856.1 7.2 16.6
L,321.9 13.1 37.6
L,81x8.5 15.5 146.6
2, 068.3 )4,O 9.7
5,818.9 11.7 11.9
 54.4
16.6 1, 769.3
37.6 b,283.6
46.6
9.7 2,040.6
11.9 5,727.6
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
. 19283
Uf
Collective
Farms
9.5
17.0
23.1
5.4
14.5
these
State Total
Farms
1,L.09.2 119, 589.5
647.8 25,543,8
41.1 3,491.7
5.8 2,232.3
6.9 1,892.1
603.7
2.3 351.7
705.3 85, L 71, . 2
2.8 1,138.0
0.1 59.2
17.4 1,726.3
40.3 4, 511.7
55.9 5,0L.9.1
10.1 2,121.2.6
11.9 6,080,4
19293 1930Li
Cf These Of The s
Collective State Total Collective
Farms Farms Farms
).;169.3 1,819.0 127,766.73 38,340.20
928.7 719.2 28,362.9 11,252.2
10.7 39.5 3,021.61 L.88.42
43.0 8.0 2,472.02 362,0
68.0 21.3 2,595.96 802.50
6.7 0.3 895.5 132.90
1L8 2.6 426.20 157.50
3,070d1 1,028.1 89,392.5I 25,144.68
13.4 3.5 , 1,118.98 102.87
0.2 .... 60.36 6.99
19.0 19.6 2,077.85 134.36
39.8 43.7 )4,777.S)4 304.60
57.9 62.1 5,226.61t 305.00
18.4. 11.3 2,295.55 , 131.53
88.3 12.2 6,387.79 495.31
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State Total
Farms
1,227.5 11).x, 528.2
606.2 2L,,929.3
37.6 3,398.0
2.L. 2,137.6
5.3 1, 743~
545.3
2..3 326.5
573.7 81,L,)48.1
. 2.2 1,093.6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
080,1 88.3
1,819.0 127,766.73
719.2 28,362.9
39.5 3,021.61
8.0 2,1.72.02
21.3 2,595.96
0.3 895.5
2.6 426.20
362,0
802.50
132,90
157.50
1,028.1 89, 392.51 2,11.1.68
3,: 1,118.98
60.36
19.6 2,077,8S
43.7 )1,777.S)4
62.1 5,226.64
11.3 2, 295.55
12.2 6,387.79
102.87
6.99
134.36
304.60
305.00
131.53
495.31
3,82. 6
993.7
67.29
16.50
45.10
10.00
5.4
2, 724.56
4.45
27.13
41.10
151.62
23.4
25.32
Of These
Collective
Farms
80,111.8
18, 268.0
1,329.0
832.2
1,378,4
438.1
229.0
57, 910.1
420.5
17.7
746.0
2,003.2
2,055.8
876.0
2,108.5
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19293
Of These
Total Collective State
Farms Farms
9,58905
,543.8 928.7
3, 491.7 . 40.7
2,232.3 43.0
1,892.1 68.0
603.7 6.7
351.7 11.8
5,L711.2 3,070.1
1,138.0 13.1
59.2 0.2
1,726.3 19.0
4,511.7 39.8
5,049.1 57.9
2,11.2.6 18.4
Cf These
Collective
Farms
Farms
10, 596.9
2,151.0
108.7
70.0
119.8
30.5
16.5
8,100.3
i14. o
0.1
66.5
120.9
291.4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
Ural'sk Oblast
Bashkir ASSR ?
Tartar ASSN. ?
Central Vora Kray. ? ?
Central. Ela.ck Soil Oblast. .
Lower Vora Kray . . . .
North Caucasus Kray.
Dagestan ASSR. . . .
Crimea. ASSR. . . . ? ? ? ? ' ?
Kazak ASSR . ? . ?' . ? .
Kirgiz ASSR. . . ? ? .
Siberia Krav ?
Buryato-MonFroiia ASSR. .
Far East Kray. .
Yakutiya. . . . . . .
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5,127.G. 2O.L 114.7
2,L9L.6 6.0 10.9
2,698.3 2.8 6.8
6,809.7 28.5 11.3
9,915.1 57.3 211.6
-- -- -- 6,062.0 53.3 32.7
10, 25I.3 126.8 . 79.2
268.1 1.3
810.9 22.1 16.7
l~,298.5 2b.6 11.1.
559.0
8, 553.2 51. o 23.5
310. Li. 1.11
1,08.3 8.1 0.3
No information
a a.
No information
1930
Sowin.. areas for all the years, includirig 1913 are given with adjustments fo /underestimates
General notes; (l) ~
Totals sowings are given for all economy categories (peasant, collective farm, state farm,
and organizations of country and city type).
2 Planting areas in the Union Republics except RSFSR for 1927-29 are given as "productive",
for winter crop failures. For RSFSR and Gosplan, regional divisions "occupied" planting a
is winter crops are included with the deduction of the damage which has been replaced by sp
planting area for 1930-31 in the Union Republics and the RSFSR are given as "productive".
totals for USSR for 1927-29 represent a sum of "occupied" (RSFSR) and "productive" (remain
planting areas. What planting areas are given for 192526 in the "Handbook on USSR for 19
data is taken), is not indicated. There is reason to assume, that "occupied't planting are
unknown is what the planting area of 1913 represents.
3 Duc to technical causes, the present table was compiled at the moment of the articlets iss
and the figures obtained on planting areas in ether articles of this publication pertain t
Therefores the exact data on plantin~- areas in various places may vary s1ight1y-
 5,L27?1.i
2,)9L.6
2,698.3
6,809.7
9,915.1
6,062.0
10, 25Li., 3
268.1
810.9
x.,298.5
8,553.2
310, 14
1,1.08.3
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CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
20.L
1)4.7
5, 2 31, i.
80.6
18.1
5,692.0
326.2
2
851
0
77,
6.0
10.9
2,631.6
16.8
13.3
,
.
2.8
6.8
2,77.5
10.3
9.2
2,776.0
29,0
28.5
11.3
7,165.3
58.6
iI.9.9
7,612.9
203.6
57.3
211.6
10,152.1
71.L
259,6
10,328.7
192.3
53.3
32.7
6,1.30.2
99.0
51.8
6,861.5
295.8
27J4
1
10
685.0
126.8
79.2
9,883.2
301.9
77.9
,
.
1.3
276.1
3.8
277.3
12.3
22.1
16.7
762.2
28.6
22.L.
739.3
91.3
214.6
11i.
14, L7l~. 5
80.8
23.1
14, 818.1
263.5
671.1
8.6
0.9
767.2
22.7
51.o
23.5
9, 053.E
150.5
39,3
9,499.3
5149.7
310.9
17.2
1.)1
328.0
4.1
8.1
0.3
i,516.8
26.7
1.3
1,372?
67.1
No information
No informa
given with adjustments fox/underestimates. In the Column of
(peasant, collective farm, state farm, different institutions
for 1927-29 are given as "productive", that is with deduction
e ional divisions "occupied" planting areas are given. That
the da riage which has ~: een replaced by spring crops. The
d the RSFSR are given as "productive". Correspondingly, the
cupied" RSFSR) and "productive" (remaining Union Republics)
1925'?26 ixi the "Handbook on USSR for 1928" (from where the
o assume, that "occupied" planting areas are given. Equally
piled at the moment of the article t s issue from the printers,
r articles of this publication pertain to earlier da..tes.
sous places may vary slightly.
No information
29.5
~1a. 2
15.1.
91.9
296.5
114.8
173.1
0.14
141.8
2.0
4.6
(1) Data from the control figures of th
(2) Data from the statistical handbook
USSR, 1929? Data only on individu
(3) Data on United Republics besides R
in USSR agriculture" Summary an
the data from "Sdvigi in USSR agri.
()4.) Data for 1930-'31 on United Republj
NKZ USSR (peoplets Commissariat of
(5) Data on RSFSR and rayons of the
1925-26 -~ see note 2, data for l'
(6) Including
(7) Data for 30.31 on Siberia Kray in
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Lion
 i8.1
13.3
9.2
X9.9
259.6
51.8
77.9
23.1
0.9
39.3
1.3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
5,692.0
326.2
29.5
6, 270. 45
2,138.63
116.59
7,135.1
5,138.9
616.5
2,851.0
77.4
14.2
2,933.31
535.53
97.38
3,531.3
1,895.8
244.4
2,776.0
29.0
15.4
2,902.71
220.18
27.4
3,110,6
1,375.5
84.3
7,612.9
203.6
91.9
8,776.2
2,322.9
411.20
9,897.1
6,291.8. .
1,228.3
10,328.7
192.3
296.5
10,763.76
1,692.79
390.84
11,029.2
5,579.9
627.4.
6,864.5
291.8
11118
7, 741. l3
3,781.01
375.62
9,178.6
7, 540.9
909.7
10,427.14
685.0
173.1
11,879.91
6,995.18
390.86
12,t03.1
7,509,5
1,494.5
277.3
12.3
0.1
340.19
13.70.
333.7
89.8
18.3
739.3
91.3
30.6
866.65
407.3
83.85
949.7
519.1
197.5
4, 818.1
263.5
111.8
I,638.9
2,1453.9 .
202, 81
6,093.5
11,599,0
747.2
767.2
22.7
2.0
808.73
250. L6
18.99
1,013.7
44.7 ? ~.
60.3
9,b99.3
549.7
60.9
8,6i6.8
2,534.5
255.1
10,115.4
6,065.2
1,061.3
340.9
17.2
1,372.3
67.1
4.6
866.8
392.2
54.2
973.1
571.11
182.9
No information
142.1
50.8
16.0
1.8
NdiKJrz"e4a!:.wQt+s,Wtr?S,t2;~c^.
(1) Data from the control figures of the Gosplan for 1928/29 (see "Sdvi:cri in USSR agriculture")
(2) Data from the statistical handbook of USSR for 1928, published by TsSU (Centr. Statistical Administration)
USSR, 1929. Data only on individual collective farr-is with corrections of underestimates.
(3) Data on United Republics besides RSFSR and without USSR on the whole are taken for 1927-29 from fe t?Sdvigi
in USSR agriculture". Summary;on USSR -- result of adding United Republics and RSFSR. This is done because
the data fro;il "Sdvigi in USSR agriculture", the Gosplan of USSR and Gosplan of the RSFSR do not coincide.
(4) Data for 1930-31 on United Republics and rayons of the Gosplan is taken from the preliminary material of the
NKZ USSR (People's Commissariat of Agriculture).
(5) Data on RSFSR and rayons of the Gosplan for 1927-29 is taken from material sent by Gosplan RSFSR, data for
192526 -.- see note 2, data for 1930.31 -. see note 1.
(6) xncludinF Kara.Kalpakiya. .
(7) Data for 30'31 on Siberia Kray includes the Buryato.'Nongoliya ASSR.
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
i~ I;t> t, -a t. ~ lira ut~u (: t.:i,:t. (,1 t:
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ii:tn i tt ; (:ii P.tp T1iit t. t ice rti ?vi. r o:t ?ii~3 :L ok o:t' c,ia
cc:~la rtt 1 P:i,,it u:i :t.ft at- :i i,r~t.,j.?e row' ng n iti'.l. t. ) o th ci t t
ila~r ot,tett t;lt;, '~tctt~ 1Xt ??? tar )(4 t#n uUt1:i.. a'~.r:i,v?al, (:t,ri t:hc~ otarvt
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anc
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pt t~ ' 11.1. t to wart t i.t t~i~ttt~: t to yt,~ - a t~.t.i. t t a.... U r ha tx (' oo
l u t , tti ii c , , t1 ~t t~ vfate ct.i 't44t5:t l.s~i t~1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
ti r io ti; .r:t' ot, oxr tt ait .ltt.~x 'i.t~taratx is t~ltt~t~~tta:~. ? t,ict:t.k~l,r~ia ,;aa~ a:lt~wr
tii t}Its t~~~~a~i4 ~ a,y is i t~t.ta .t~h&tt -ittig \t'1rt. its ,,
l:~t, talttl r'it t't,ta x':t.p 1y a.l.~.t.~ail
().t1H tt y :ti.t oat't1 gvow
0 t,tt; :r+ li tiil M t~.ii a :i eras' I~ t t? ~:t~ tr1~ i :t.ai~ t,~t
$~'\ttk t~ ltl 1>tr~~~ t. j itt tut :,r t, te:1t yl :t.tl a, t"c+. ~ 'Lti y oa 't~trr3 a:t`,t"at~t~ c>ht' tilt a
Li
,
,; h
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spring drought, utilizing precipitation of the second half of the grow
ing season which is unavailable to early-.ripening plants,
Finally, in conditions of a subtropic climate, when vegetation is
possible the year round, it is evident that maximum utilization of heat
is possible with the introduction into cultivation of two types of plants:
those needing heat, for the summer, and those not needing heat for the
winter. The current practice is to cultivate one plant, or one type or
another, and thus either not to utilize the heat of the cold half of the
year (in cultivation of corn and cotton) or to utilize very little the
warm part of the year (winter wheat). Such a method of cultivation is
customarily seen in the Caucasus and in Central Asia,
In the matter of allocating crops, it is necessary to consider,
further, their temperature optimum, for a serious rise in temperature
may mean the poor utilization of plants, lowering the yield and weakening
resistance to pests, In temperate countries, all grains, root plants,
plants of the mustard family, the pea, flax, the potato have a rather
low optimum, in any case lower than 20 degrees Centigrade, Therefore
the cultivation of these plants in the south for the hot part of the
year is evidently not expedient. In southern countries all these plants
are cultivated in the cold half of the year and in North America there
is even a term "cold-season crops.tt In conditions of the south of the
USSR (the Ukraine, the Crimea, the Caucasus, Turkestan), all these plants
and those similar to them grow well in the spring and autumn, while in
warm months their growth is clearly inhibited a.. yet just these plants
are basic crops there,
Further, it is known that the harvest of grains in temperate lands
with sufficient precipitation is greater when "bushing" takes place more
energetically, 11Bushing" is possible when the temperature is within 5
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and 10 degrees Centigrade. Above 10 degrees, the grainsgrow in a tube
forms (Toporkov, "An Approach to the Biology of Winter Wheat," Agricul-
lq
tune and Forestry ' ). Consequently, the longer the period of cold
temperature the stronger is the "bushing" and the larger the harvest.
That is why we have such large harvests of wheat and other grains in
Western Europe, larger as one travels further west, where there is a
longer period of possible "bushing." In Russian agricultural litera-
ture the high harvests are attributed exclusively to fertilizer and
techniques of cultivation, although climatic conditions play a large
role here, Actually, the "bushing" period of winter wheat in England,
owing to the high winter temperature and the sea climate, lasts
around half a year, whereas in our land -- with the exception of the
Caucasus and the Crimea -- by virtue of our continental climate, the
subtropic and, especially, tropic plants begin vegetation in high
period of "bushing" is limited to only 1-2 months, On the other hand,
levels of temperature, many of them noticeably growing only in tempera-
ture of higher than 15 degrees, with the warm temperature of the south
almost optimal for them. The development of these crops is less organ-
are exacting in their water needs and stand up poorly in droughts of
of their drought-resistability, whereas plants of temperate countries
ized in the south, however, which is the more incomprehensible in view
the south.
Temperature and soil conditions being equal, the yield of sum-
mer grain, as is well known, is determined by the supply of water in
summer grains the winter precipitation is also important,)
of precipitation during this period. (For winter grains and certain
the soil during the growing period, which in turn depends upon the amount
TRIO TED
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Numerous calculations by David, Shchukin, Ravich, Vyazovskiy,
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EST RICT EU
in and others, as to the dependence of the cereal
Sof oterov, Kurmangal
on agree in finding a ' correlation co-
gain yield precipitation n
efficient for summer wheat exceed 0.8; American research has found the same dependency true for corn. Investigations by linen growers
the same for linen also. For the sugar beet, it is known
have shown
that its yield in the south is directly proportional to the amount of
precipitation during the warm months. Thus, it is evident that, other
to be
conditions equal, the cultivation of a given plant ought conditions being
centered where there is the optimum of moisture for it during the growM
?ng period. In practices the poorness of the soil elsewhere and the
~.
aspiration to have for our economy all necessary products has impelled
us to engag re in cultivation in districts where the growing period was
not provided with the necessary amount of moisture. For these reasons,
cultivation of cereal grains has been moved to the Black Earth Area,
considering that the climate of the Black Earth belt is less favor
not
than the climate of`more northern zones with them' poorer
able for it
soils.
Within the limits of the relationships we have pointed out,
the selection of crops is obviously determined by the totality of
-aria Y\a.L
conditions of our economy _-' but this already goes beyond
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AN AGRICULTURAL EVALUATION OF CLIM TE
Taking into consideration all available information as to the
needs of crops as regards climate, we may determine that we ought to
make the first approximation to an agricultural evaluation of climate
from the follo~dng indexes;
1. The amount of active (utilized) heat during the growing
season.
2. The level of temperature in the hottest month (the period
of greatest growth).
3, Wintering conditions (frequency of low temperatures and the
nature of the snowcovering).
A i
).. ' ? of moisture during the growing period.
One may determine the amount of heat which a plant can utilize
from the moment at which the temperature stays long enough at a cer-
tain level to cause the beginning of growth, which, as we pointed out
above, varies between S and 15 degrees Centigrade. For the majority
of crops, the temperature causes growth to begin at about 10 degrees,
and the appearance of this sufficiently constant temperature may be
rather safely predicted from the curve of the normal yearly course of
temperature. The thermal termination of the growing period is more
difficult to determine, since in the majority of cases, because of
the disparity between the biological features of the plant and the
climatic conditions in the place where it is cultivated, as was pointed
out above, the plants cease growing long before the recurrence of the
temperature which began their growth, However, many crops (melons,
root plants, corn, cotton, the kidney bean, the tomato, and perennial
plants) clearly time the end of their vegetation with the advent of
their original growing temperatures, which may be considered to be
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12..15 degrees Centigrade for many of them. On the other hand, the grain
cereals of temperate lands definitely do not ripen in the north with
temperatures of less than 10 degrees, so this temperature may, as a first
approximation9 be considered also the temperature of the end of their
vegetation. For winter grains, some root plants, cabbages, and peren-
'al grass plants, the end of vegetation as well as its beginning come
na.
at approximately S degrees Centigrade. Thus, adding up the tempera-
tures between l~ and degrees may exactly enough ascertain the an~unt
of actually utilized heat for the majority of crops.
Nevertheless, this amount is in certain cases less than the total
of tomperatures,during the indicated period, since spring and especially
autumn frosts may shorten vegetation prematurely.
Comparison of the average dates of the first and last frosts and
dates of the advent and disappearance of a constant average temperature
of 10 degrees Centigrade shows that on the average there two pairs of
dates almost coincide. In littoral zones the average frostless period
is longer than the period of 10 degree temperature, but in sharply con-
tinental and moreover more southern districts it is definitely shorter.
S
,
For the western Trans~Gaucasus, Central Asia, and Kaza1tan, and also
evidently also for Siberia, the average frontless period is shorter
than the 10 degrees period by 10-20 days, and, approximately, coincides
with the constant 12 degree temperature period as ~.e., with the begin-
ning and end of the growing season-of corn. In littoral districts, the
average frostless period is longer than the 10 degree period by 30-50 days.
The absolutely frostless period in general coincides with the 1~ degree
period, except for littoral districts. Unfortunately, the length of the
ostiess period has been very poorly worked out in general by climatolo-
fr
gists, and in addition it is not clear if the growing season ought to be
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considered coincidental with the average frostless period, as the
Americans do (the American conception of 'killing frost" is not entirely
clear, but un general the dates of the "killing frost" coincide with
the dates of the average frost) or with the period of the definite rew
currence of the first and last frosts, taking into account their inten-
sity. (A map in the ''Atlas of American Agriculture" predicts the prob~
able recurrence of spring freeze-overs within 10 percent.)
The conception of a "harmful'' first frost is unfortunately still
not established. Doubtless the average frostless period for cotton in
our new districts is much longer than that actually utilized by cotton
plants, whereas in America the average frostless period coincides with
the growing season of the cotton plant.
Taking all this into consideration, one may, as a first estimate,
consider the average growing season to be provided with sufficient heat
in the period bounded by the 10 degree temperatures. The total amount
of temperature in this pe nod is less than that duMi g.. the period within
the degree temperatures by 20500 degrees, because of our continental
climate, and exceeds the 12 degree period by 200 degrees and the 15 degree
period by S00 degrees, except for littoral districts in the Far North,
The average temperature of the hottest month gives us an adequate
idea of temperature levels during vegetation through the boundaries of
certain crops for example, -- is better correlated with the June
temperature.
A climatic evaluation of wintering conditions is at present still
not worked out, For conditions of snowless winters (the subtropics),
one may evaluate wintering conditions as the average of the absolute
yearly minimums of temperature, taking into consideration the month of
January, since the recurrence of heavy frosts ("harmful'I frosts) is
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closely linked with the amount of frost in this month. One may, prac~
tically, consider that the average of the absolute yearly minimums will
give about ~O percent of the probability of appearances of these Janu-
ary lowest temperatures. And the difference between the average minimum
and the January temperature gives an indication of other instances of
low temperature.
For snowy winter conditions, such an evaluation of wintering con
ditons is only suitable to wood plants. For plants wintering under
the snow, wintering conditions are determined also by the condition of
the snow and its change during the winter, and in addition by the con-
dition of the spring thaw.
It is best to evaluate conditions of moisture supply by consider-.
ing its income and outgo during growing months -? which may be considered
as being, for the majority of crops, May, June, and July, excluding
those in the southern latitudes.
Calculating only the an ount of precipitation, as we may consider
already proved, does not give a correct idea of the supply of moisture,
because it is very necessary to consider the loss of water through
evaporation. In view of the lack of data on actual evaporation in field
conditions and the sparseness of material on humidity, one ray get some
idea of the relation between income and outgo of moisture by the method
of the present author ?_ dividing the total temperature for the month
by ten, then dividing this by the corresponding total precipitation (G.
of the Institute of Agricultural Meteorology, Volume 22). But since
Selyaninov, "Developing Methods of Agricultural Climatology,' Proceedings
evaluating moisture supply by total precipitation is among agronomists
very common and persistently held to, we include here a chart showing the
disposition of the total amounts of precipitation for May through July,
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RESTRiCTED
material which demonstrates that such a comparison cannot be made when
Temperature :
Moisture balance;
Precipitation in millimeters
10 degrees Centigrade, Far North
15
30
~
15 degrees, North
22
)5
67
20 degrees, Central Black Earth Area
30
60
90
25 degrees, North Caucasus
37
75
112
Thus, the same effect, as regards moisture supply, is produced by
very different totals of precipitation on different levels of temperature.
It is clear that one may deal with precipitation totals only when tem-
perature conditions are similar -~ a 5 degree difference in temperature
significantly changes the value of precipitation.
Thus a monthly total of 50 millimeters precipitation is entirely
sufficient in the north (Moscow), definitely too much in the Far North
(Khibini), and not at all enough in the extreme south (Transcaucasis) _d
assuming, of course, similar soil conditions.
RES TRIG TEI!
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0.5 _ Dry Humid Humid
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aESTRICTED
CLIMATIC MINIMUMS AND OPTIMUMS FOR CROPS
In order to draw up a chart of the climatic limitations of crops,
it is essential that we know what the certain minimums relating to the
climatic indexes enumerated above, essential for cultivating any cropaand
for providing an acceptable average harvest. Concretely, we need to
know; (1) the temperature which causes growth to begin; (2) the minimum
total of active temperature allowing the cycle of growth to be completed;
(3) the minimum low temperature, the temperature of frost damage; (di) the
minimum relation between the income and outgo of moisture during the
growing season; and () the limiting high temperatures.
Taking into consideration that every plant begins growth at a
certain temperature and has a certain period of growth, which we may
take as the period from sowing until flowering, it is necessary, in
order to utilize this datafor determining the boundaries of crops, to
draw up for every crop a chart of the distribution of temperature mini-
mums from the date when the temperature appears which initiates growth,
considering also 'tharmfultt freeze-overs. And for every crop we should
draw up a chart of changes in the moisture balance from the moment
growth begins until the moment of gathering together the total amount
of temperature, necessary for flowering to occur, when growth is reduced
or weakens. It is to be regretted that for carrying out this work there
is, in the first place, insufficient exact information on temperatures
which initiate growth (as is pointed out above); in the second place,
for many plants minimum temperatures for the entire growing period are
not known, from sowing until flowering especially; finally, moisture needs
and critically low temperatures are little known.
Therefore, for the present there remains nothing more to do than
to slightly sim ry stematize the solution of the problem, dealing
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REST MCI ED
with average quantities which include the most important climatic moments
in the life of a plant. The total amount of temperature above 10 de-
grees may be considered such a synthesizing quantity conditionally ex-
pressing the sum of the plant's general needs for amount and level of
temperature. Since the total temperature is obtained by multiplying
the length of the growing period with the average level of temperature
for this period, and since
ten-degree temperature may be considered
the average growth-initiating temperature of cultivated plants in general,
the total of temperatures above this level may be used in estimating the
heat supply practically utilized in agriculture.
This supply has been, in the past, generally considered to be the
sum of temperatures of the period bounded by the 5 degree temperatures,
5 degrees being considered the temperature initiating growth of grains
in temperate lands -M but actually only winter grain utilize heat with-
in these temperatures and even these did not utilize much of the heat
from the time of their ripening until the beginning of winter. Summer
grains of temperate countries though, utilize much less heat during
the S degree period than that available on their northern boundary,
whereas above 10 degrees the actually utilized heat is closer to the to-
tal amount of heat. On the northern boundary of wheat, in places of the
furthest northward advance on the whole world, the total temperature
within 10 degrees varies from 1700 to 1,00 degrees, and this total is
exactly typical for wheat. (According to data of Russian experimental
stations, In conditions of dry climate this total drops to 11..00 degrees.)
If, thus, we determine reliable total temperatures within 10 degrees
for the northern and mountain boundaries of all agricultural crops in
the entire world, we may find climatic minimums for every crop, expressed
in compared units w- ire,, of 10-degree temperatures. (G. Selyaninov,
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aE$1C1 EU
"Developing Methods of Agricultural Climatology,, Proceedings of the
Institute of Agricultural Meteorology, Volume 22,)
Evidently, working out similarly relations of precipitation with
evaporation for the growing period and with minimum temperatures for the
quiescent period, etc., may determine any climatic minimums of a crop,
of course, it is necessary to simultaneously consider ecological peculiari-
ties of the plants being studied on the basis of all available information
on this matter.
And so, considering all available materials on the climatic needs
of crops and interpreting them under the climatic indexes enumerated
above, utilizing a climatic analysis of the actual geographic boundaries,
one may set up the following composite table.
Thus one could put all plants in rising or descending order by
thdr needs for level temperature, then by quantity of heat within this
level, further by their temperature lows, and, finally, by their needs
for moisture. It is to be regretted that this proposed classification
has not yet been made.
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REST RICT EU
THERMAL ZONES OF THE SOVIET UNION
Setting as our problem the most economical utilization of avail-
able resources of heat and moisture and taking into consideration the
actual distribution of these resources over the territory of the USSR,
one must, above all, allot available crops by thermal zones corresponding
to their needs for heat during the growing season.
Expressing the resources of active heat utilized by the majority
of plants as the total of the 10 degree temperatures, one might divide
the entire territory of the Soviet Union into 5 zones, beginning with the
minimum amount of heat permitting agriculture, 1000degrees, the amount
available on the northern border of agriculture, If 1000 degrees is
conditionally considered the unit of heat permitting one harvest, then
we can delimit (for the present, conditionally) five zones within the
following totals of temperature: zone I, 1000-2000 degrees; zone II, 2000-
3000 degrees; zone III,3000-Li000 degrees; zone IV, Li.OOO-5000 degrees;
zone V, more than 5000 degrees.
Thus, in the fifth zone the thermal potentialities seem to be five
times greater than on the northern border of the first zone -- i.e., in
the fifth zone one ought to be able to raise five crops for every one on
the border of the first. But in practice this is not so -- in the first
place, in the extreme south high temperatures and the short day hinder
the development of plants which normally grow in the Far North, such as
early root plants and the potato; in the second place, the energy of
accumulation is proportional not only to the temperature of the air but
to the quantity of solar radiation, which in the north decreases more
slowly than the temperature, by virtue of the longer day of the north.
However, with conditions of a more uniform distribution of temperature
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and length of the day during the year, five harvests of plants less
exigent as to climate is possible (the turnip brassica raga, the ear
ly potato). Experiments on the Black Sea littoral of the Caucasus,
where the total amount of temperature highter than 10 degrees is X300
degrees (Sochi), show that turnips seeded in September ripen in November,
and seeded in March they ripen in June. The heat remaining for July
and August is more than 1200 degrees, which is entirely sufficient for
a third harvest -- but in practice the lack of moisture in the soil in
these months with very high soil temperature (Ii.O degrees Centigrade) and
the exceptional activeness of insect pests makes a third harvest diffi-
cult, But a fourth winter harvest is impossible, because of the ex-
ceptional raininess of winter months and the extreme instability of
temperature, although the turnip b
grows very well in the
winter months (Selyanidov, "The Climatographic Basis of Agriculture on
the Caucasian Black Sea Littoral," Proceedings of the Sochi Experimental
Station, Volume vi). Noting that on the Black Sea littoral the total
temperature above 10 degrees is a little more than L.000 degrees, the
aforementioned data on turnip growing shows that our method of estima-
ting thermal resources has a certain theoretical justification, but
its conditionality is evident. As was pointed out above, it is necesM
sary to consider the supply of sunlight in evaluating thermal conditions,
since sunlight apparently changes heat (H. Lundegardh,Clima and Boden
in ihrer Wirkung auf Pflanzleben," 19201 Therefore any evaluation of
heat supplies would theoretically be more correct not in terms of total
daily temperature counted off at a meteorological observation point,
but in terms of the total calories of solar heat measured by an actinome.
ter, since the plant undoubtedly utilizes not only heat from the air
Iput radiant heat from the sun and the entire universe. A computation
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iESiRiCTED
w/
of the quantity of solar heat in calories made by S. T. SavinovA,y shows
that supplies of this heat in the European part of the Soviet Union are
not distributed longitudinally as are total temperatures, and that the
difference between north and south in quantity of solar radiation for
the swwaer growing season is less than in quantity of air heat -- i.e.,
heat measured by a thermometer at a meteorological observation point,
The quantity of solar radiation in the extreme south of Central Asia is
approximately three times greater than on the northern boundary of'agritl-
culture, while the total temperature is approximately five times greater,
However, the effect of the activity of solar radiation on the rate of
growth of plants is not quantitatively established, and the practical
significance of the computation which we have cited is not clear.
Remembering the conditionality of the aforesaid division of the
USSR into thermal zones, remembering also that areas of total tempera-
ture above 5000 degrees are extraordinarily limited in the Soviet
Union, that for many crops the maximum total temperature has not been
put into round numbers of thousands of degrees, that in addition to the
total temperature it is necessary to also consider the yearly tempera-
ture course, particularly the winter temperature level (the winter
growing season in Transcaucasia), remembering finally, our actual re-
sources of plant species utilized in cultivation and species potential-
ly important for agriculture, we ought to introduce certain changes in
the zones we have outlined to make the following division.
Zone 1 -~ Northern vegetable gardening or exclusively fodder
raising, with total temperature from 100 to 1100 degrees, with culti-
vation of early root plants (turnips) and early potatoes, Grain culti~
vation is dependable.
Zone 2 w- Northern grain crops, with much development in cul.
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1ESTRICTEO
tivation of flax, potatoes, and fodder plants, Total temperature from.
11400 to 2200 degrees, This zone with good agricultural techniques and
sufficient fertilization provides the highest grain harvests (rye
wheat, oats, barley) and is the only zone valuable for flax and potato
cultivation. It might be called the -potato-grain zone.
Gone 3 aW Corn, olive family plants, and in part sugar beets,
together with winter wheat in the west to utilize the autumn and spring
heat and for the most part durum wheat in the east. Total temperature
2200-3500 degrees. South of the isoline 2500.-2600 degrees large-scale
cultivation of ~, soy bean, and rice (the latter with a glaze);
south of 2800 degrees, grapes. This might also be called the zone of
southern cultivation, of particularly intensive fruit-growing, (In the
northern parts of this zone, because of the small assortment of southern
crops which ripen here and their small harvests, grain cereals still
have a certain importance, as is shown on the agricultural-climatic
chart).
Zone 1 -w With total temperature of more than 3500 degrees, suit-
able for cultivation of a number of valuable subtropic annual plants
with a very long '
growing season, such as cotton, tobacco, the castor
`Sc c
plant, .a, the peanut, and luffa. Here cultivation of "early"
vegetables and reaped crops is possible, to utilize spring and fall
heat reserves, In this zone it is possible to cultivate late varieties
of grapes which, south of the isoline on average absolute yearly miniW
mum of minus 15 degrees Centigrade, need no covering in the winter,
This part of the Ltth zone might be designated a wine subz
one, or a sub-
zone of June fruit-raising.
Zone 5 -- The subtropics proper, with total temperature greater
than 14000 degrees (even greater than 3000 degrees), but with a winter
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I EST RICT EU
growing season (winter vegetable raising) and with the possibility of
cultivating subtropic perennials (fig, laurel, tea).
The isoline of an
average absolute minimum of minus 10 degrees is definitely the boundary
for this zone, One ought to distinguish an "orange" subzone on the
boundaries of this zone, with an average absolute yearly minimum no lower
than minus 6 degrees (Sochi), where cultivation of subtropic plants more
sensitive to frost is possible,
In the proposed allocation of crops by zones we have made our
groupings according to the length of the growing season and needs of
plants for a level of temperature, with the goal of utilizing the most
possible of the growing season and most intensively utilizing its thermal
resources. With this objective, we must move grain cereals of temperate
lands significantly towards the north where the thermal optimum corres
ponds to their requirements. Grain cereals should remain in the south
only as winter crops, utilizing fall and spring thermal resources un?
available to plants demanding more heat. We see such a combination of
crops in North America, where winter wheat is cultivated. in the corn
.s\ \
zone. The presence of wheat in this zone in the eastern USSR
justifies itself in the high value of the wheat grain received in these
districts.
Devoting zone 4 up to its northern boundary to subtropic annual
~s\
plants (cotton, peanut, , etc.) is dictated by considerations`
'r
of the people's economy, although yield of those crops with total tem.-
zone even on its northern boundary has so long a growing season and such
large heat resources that utilizing it only for southern plants (corn
soy bean, sunflower)' is not rational. As regards suitability for
cultiva-
peratures of less than 1i.a00 degrees is very small. Nonetheless, this
tion of early,"mid~season, and late varieties of subtropic annual plants
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we must divide this zone into at least 3 subzones according to their
quantity of heat. For the same reason that temperate climate cereal
grains and grain flax must be moved northward to free southern zones far'
more valuable crops; we must move Central Asian rice. This crop, being
entirely an irrigated crop and therefore independent of precipitation,
ought to be moved from zone )I. into zone 3, where its early varieties
are completely provided with head, whereas in zone !j. it utilizes only
60-70 percent of available heat.
The distribution of thermal zones pointed out above, from north
to south, is exactly repeated in mountainous areas from high altitudes
down. The upper boundary of agriculture in the mountains approximate
ly coincides with the boundaries of the forests, as it does in the
north, and is concurrent with total temperature within 10 degrees of
somewhat more than 1000 degrees. As we go lower, and the quantity of
heat increases, first cereals are brought under cultivation, then fruit
cultivation, corn, the sugar beet, grape, and finally cotton and sub-
tropic crops. In general, the upper limits of all crops are determined
by the quantity of heat, as it is in flat country. Every thermal zone
in flat country has an analogous zone in the mountains.
ZONES BY MOISTURE CONTENT
The allocation of crops by zones which was noted above was based
exclusively on an analysis of thermal conditions, but moisture conditions
ought to bring a substantial change in this allocation.
We ought to state that unfortunately in the USSR thermal and hydro
logic resources seem to be antagonistic -- as thermal potentialities in-
crease hydrologic resources decrease, and where a maximum of heat is found
moisture proves to be minimal. In this respect the climate of the USSR
is very different from that of the USA, where thermal and hydrologic fea.
hESTRiCTEU
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ItESTRiC1ED
of an average summer temperature of 21 degrees, where Chinese sugar cane
squeezes it out. In conditions of the Soviet Union, one may speak of a
southern thermal boundary for the beet in the North Caucasus, and also
in Central Asia and the Trans.aucasus, inasmuch as in general with irri-
gation beet cultivation will be economically important. In the North
Caucasus the sugar beet should not appear below the foothills, but it
may be seen on the plains there (ArmaVir and Belorechensk rayons).
This amount of moisture supply over 1,0 guarantees high harvests
of corn and the soy bean, but an acceptable average harvest is received
when the relation of moisture income and outgo is 0.7, which point
should be considered the eastern and southern boundary for reliable
cultivation of iiri.'r grains. The extreme southern boundary of agri-
culture may be taken as a relation between moisture income and outgo
for the growing period of O.5, as a climatic analysis of this boundary
shows to be true over the whole world. To the south of this isoline,
occasional successful sowings of drought-resistant varieties are pose.
sible, but the chance of success is smal?, and hardly justifies itself
economically. Only millet may be raised here, with suitable soil, but
this crop also is very risky.
Corn presents a somewhat different case. With all its drought-
resistability, this crop cannot withstand hot, dry weather during its
flowering period, since under these conditions fertilization of the
feminine flower does not occur. And since in the steppe zone the dan-
ger of dry wind and generally of hot and dry weather increases in the
second half of the year, the earlier varieties have more chance of sue-
cessfully finishing flowering before the dry winds. But in the southern
part of the steppe the probability of dry winds during the flowering
period is so great that this crop loses its economic importance here.
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Unfortunately, to throw light on this matter cartographically is at
present impossible, but we may estimate roughly that dependable corn
cultivation cannot be carried on beyond the isoline of a May-July
moisture balance of 0.7.
Vegetation maintains a steppe character when the moisture balance
for May-July is as low as 0.3. Beneath this point in the USSR, the
s , e
land becomes wasteland. .
It is necessary to mention that in the wasteland zone9 thanks to
the high winter temperature level and a better water supply in the
spring months then in the summer, the so-called "bogara?t agriculture
becomes possible, in which sowing takes place in early spring or even
in very late winter and harvesting before the onset of the summer
drought. In Central Asia, such sowings are provided for where the
relation of precipitation to evaporation for the growin months '
g , in
this case April~June, is not less than 0.5. But the success of bogara
sowings is determined not only by the moisture supply during their
growing period, but also by conditions'of moisture accumulation until
sowing, i.e., for the winter. On flat lands there is little winter
precipitation, and this falls often in liquid form, but in the foothills
and especially higher the snow covering acquires importance in accuinula~
ting moisture for sowing. Higher then 1000 meters above sea level,
there fall more than 100 millimeters of precipitation in the form of
snow.
Evidently a more expedient utilization of precipitation of the
\:ckcold part of the year for , would be to sow in the fall. But iui~ALt unfortunately in the snowless winters of Central Asian plain winter
crops only in Turktnenia,are not frozen out, where winters are milder,
or higher in the mountains, where the snow covering is more suable.
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Just as in southern zones with a moisture balance of less than
1.0 the lack of moisture is keenly felt and we may speak of the economic
effectiveness of irrigation, so in northern zones there definitely is a
surplus of moisture. What relation between moisture income and outgo
should we consider surplus and harmful? According to the chart of
Professor Atstsi, ("Le, climat du ble dans le monde," 1928), the zone of
surplus moisture for wheat is a relation of precipitation to evaporation,
by the method of the author, of around 1.2. But Professor Atstsi's
method is conditional, and actually a moisture surplus is definitely
felt in the northwest European part ofthe Soviet Union, in the high
mountain districts of the Caucasus, on the Black Sea littoral, in the
high mountain part of the Urals and in the Far East, as is seen on
the chart -- i.e,, with a moisture balance of more than 1.3 and especial
ly more than 1.5. In these districts the moisture surplus is as great
an obstacle to cultivation as the lack of moisture in the south. All
research on dependence of grain harvests on weather agree that the hare.
vest in the northwest is directly proportional to temperature, and
high temperature here always accompanies a small amount of precipita-
tion -- but such conditions occur infrequently. In the north and
northwest part of the Soviet Union the combination of the raininess of
the warm part of the year and the melting of the deep snow covering
so thoroughly soaks the soil that water remains for a long time on the
surface of the land, and field work is prevented. This condition is
maintained by the rather large quantity of spring precipitation (in
May of more than 0 millimeters), which with a comparatively low tem-
perature (a May temperature of 10-12 degrees) creates a moisture balance
not conducive to the drying out of the soil.
A comparison of the average dates of oats and wheat sowing with
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aEST aici ED
the average temperature of the day of sowing (table 4) reveals that
swing is as a rule very much
n delayeds and only in the extreme southwest
of the Ukraine and in the Crimea is Sprang sowing done at a temperature
near the initial growing temperature of summer grains -~ 5 degrees, In
a large p art of the Soviet Union, sowing is done at a tempe rature from
7 to 10 degrees, and in the north even from 11-12 degrees. Thy; delay is
especially great in, sowing in the Poles'e, where according to statis-
tical data the average time of sowing is at a 13 degree temperature.
In these districts, because of the impossibility of sowing at
the right time, around 30 days are on the average lost in the spring,
which retards the ripening of the crop, leads to the necessity of utili-
zing earlier varieties, and in the end makes harvest lower, Drying
and drainage ought to be very effective in these districts, if only
because they considerably lengthen the growing season. A surplus of
moisture is a hindrance during the whole growing season and is especially
harmful in the period of ripening and harvesting. In addition, surplus
moisture hinders the work of machines in the field and definitely ham-
pens the mechanization of our farming, as experience with flax-harvesting
machines has shown; finally, surplus moisture definitely worsens the
thermal character of the soil, lowering the temperature of the upper
layers of the soil and doubtless impoverishes the soil of nutritive
materials (leaching), not to mention deterioration of the physical pro-
perties of the soil in general.
and drainage ought to be as effective as irrigation in the arid zone.
And so the entire Soviet Union t be divided into the following
zones according to their hydrologic conditions:
(i) Zone of surplus moisture, or zone of drainage; moisture
balance of more than 1,3, The problem of drainage is especially critical
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in sections with a moisture balance of more than l.S (see map in addenda).
(2) Zone well provided with moisture, with a moisture balance
of 1.3-1.0.
(3) Drought zone, with a definitely felt lack of moisture, zone
of 0c Q.. ; moisture balance from 1.0 to 0,7.
Zone of arid agriculture with unreliable harvests; moisture
balance from 0.7 to 0.~. Irrigation also profitable for basic crops
(lucerne, wheat). Agriculture in the subzone with a moisture balance of
less than 0.6 (see agricultural-climatic map in addenda) is especially
unreliable.
(S) Arid zone or zone of irrigation, with a moisture balance of
less than 0.5 (semiwaste or waste land). Agriculture, effective only
.
idth irrigation. ' sowings in early spring or in the cold part
of the year.
To obtain a correct idea of the hydrologic peculiarities of.dif
ferent zones it is necessary to consider that from north to south not
only the quantity of precipitation and evaporation change but also the
very character of precipitation.
In the first place, the frequency of
rainfall sharply decreases in the south and west, while in the northwest
there are more than 40 days of rain in the summer, in the south in the
steppe belt there are only 20 such days, half as much, and in Central Asia
less than 10 and even as few as ~.
Furthermore, while prolonged rains are a rare occurrence in the
south, in the north they are the rule, and such rains are especially
harmful in field work and, in particular, make. combatting weeds diffi-
cult. In the subtropic zone there are no prolonged rains at all during
the summer, while in the cold half of the year. here there are pro-
longed rains almost exclusively.
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This strongly zonal distribution of crops is distinctly repeated
in the mountain districts, but vertically. Here one meets all the same
agricultural-climatic zones and in completely the same order. The dif
ference is in the fact that certain zones are absent, due to the aridity
For example, there is no fiber flax in Central Asia and
the Nalyy Kavkaz, and for the same reason the sugar beet zone has only
an intermittent extension here, Actually, the reasons for the absence
of fiber flax and the sugar beet in mountainous districts are of a his-
toric and economic order, and, so far as soil conditions permits these
crops are entirely possible within certain altitudes.
Recognizing the basic zonal quality of agriculture, it is neces-
sary to point out that within the indicated zones climatic conditions
noticeably vary, This heterogeneity of climate manifests itself: (1)
in differences in the yearly amplitude of temperature i.e., in the
steepness of its rise and fall? (2) in the degree of stability of tem-
perature; (3) in wintering conditions; and (Li.) in the yearly course of
precipitation, its stability and its character,
This fluctuation in climatic conditions over the expanses of
the Soviet Union is so great that it cannot be without influence on cults
tiva.tion. It is especially necessary to notice the influence of our
continental climate on farming conditions in each zone, The continen-
tal qualities of our climate are important so far as they reduce the
period of spring and fall sowing, shorten the growing season, and, par-
ticularly, the frostless season, raise maximum temperatures in the sum.-
mer, increase the daily temperature fluctuations worsen wintering con-
ditions, and strengthen the changeableness of precipitation from year to
year. Since all these manifestations of the continental quality of
our climate are closely interlinked, it is sufficient, as a first approxi.
;jEsra~crrQ
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tES itT ED
oration, to estimate the degree of continentalness by the rapidity of the
increase in spring temperature (see map in addenda). This estimate can
be expediently made by a calculation of the number of days from the ad-
vent of a S degree temperature, i.e., the beginning of sowing, until the
advent of a constant 1; degree temperature, i.e., the end of sowing. As
is seen on the appended map, this sowing period in the northwest lasts
60 days, in Central Asia and Yakutiya 30 days. How this difference is
practically important is evident,
As regards wintering conditions, the worsening of these conditions
in the east because of the decreased snow covering and increased frosts
imposes a boundary on the distribution of winter crops in the east, of
perennial crops in general (clover, lucerne), and particularly of fruit-.
growing. The appearance of perpetually frozen ground makes this geo-
graphical limitation even more pronounced.
On the appended map is given the distribution of absolute yearly
temperature minimums on the territory of the Soviet Union, as indications
of the harshness of wintering conditions. We may assume that harshness
of wintering conditions considerably worsens from west to east with
the following natural boundaries: (1) the Donetz ridge and the margin of
the Central-Russian highlands; (2) the Volga and thergeni hills; (3)
the Ural and Mugodzhar ranges; (L1.) Altay and the Yenisey River; (5) Lake
Baykal; and (6) the Stanovoy range.
By the first boundary conditions for cultivation of winter wheat
have already sharply deteriorated, by the second the possibility of cul-
tivating this crop are almost nil, by the third the eastward extent of
fruit-growing and perennial grasses (clover, European lucerne) is limited,
the fourth restricts the cultivation of winter rye, the fifth excludes
winter rye cultivation at least until we reach Amur, The situation becomes
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better by the Ussurjysk Kray,
Thus, one may divide the chief agricultural~c
lamatxc zones of the
soviet Union into five or sic sections or regions which cantaa,n different
perennial crops. We also ought to divide off Central Asia, where, as is
pointed out above, winter wheat is frozen
out on the flatlands.
As wintering conditions worsen towards the east, the growing
season also becomes shorter. With the same quantity of heat within 10
degrees the length of the growing season within those points changes in
th
e f o11 owing manner:
Table 7
LENGTH OF GROWING SEASON WITH THE SAS,; AMOUNT
OF TEMPER~TURE
Western Eastern
European European Western Eastern
Fax
Part USSR Part ~ USSR Siberia Siberia
?---~-~..--- ~....-.......... Ya1~ ~tia East
Total temperature 1600
degrees (on the northern
boundary of wheat) 113
110 106 103 97 to
Total temperature 2200
degrees (on the northern
boundary of corn)
1i.5 130 13 ~
~
~_b m 133
Nonetheless, calculating temperature from 0 degrees as is usual-
ly done, somewhat artificially increases the amount of temperature in
its slow westward rise; if we calculate from 10 degrees the differences
between west and east are levelled out revealing that in circumstances
of a sharply continental climate thermal ca
editions for
not worsen so stropgl grains do
y.
Particularly in Yakutiya and in genera' east from the Yenisey to
the Stanovoy range and 1Qingan, summer crops and especially summer wheat
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give unexpectedly good results. In all these regions there peculiarly
unites an average low summer temperatures level with a comparatively high
temperature in the hottest month (July temperature of 19 degrees in
Yakutsk, which characterizes the Tula district), and in addition the
summer months are arid and with comparatively little cloudiness.
a conjunction of climatic condition is seen elsewhere only in certain
parts of western Canaday and in the end provides for wheat ripening in
conditions of a very small amount of air heat, evidently on account of
direct solar radiation. Wheat ripens here with total temperatures of
11400 degrees, though, it is true, with the particular local varieties
having a small yield and small grain. The climatic conditions peculiar
to Yakutiya are a small moisture supply and a sharp rise in temperature.
These exclude the possibility of fiber flax cultivation, but are entire-
ly favorable for early potato and root plant cultivation.
No less original climatic conditions are found beyond the Stano-
voy ridge and Khi~gan, in the Ear East. Here the so-called monsoon
weather is felt, which is characterized not only by arid winters and
rainy summers, which in general are particular to continental countries,
but also by the stability, regularity; and abundance of the summer rains.
In amount of summer rains, the Far East has competition only in the sou-
thern part of the Black Sea littoral of the Caucasus. 120 millimeters
of precipitation in the hottest month, an amount frequent in the Far East,
seen nowhere else in the flatland part of the Soviet Union, where
n
the average amount of precipitation in the rainiest month is always less
than 100 millimeters. If we consider that a moisture balance of 1.3
delimits surplus moisture, in Khabarovsk with a yearly total of 561. m11
limeters -- 25 percent of the yearly total -- while in Smolensk with the
same yearly total, of precipitation but a lower level of temperature'
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ESTRLCTEB
surplus moisture in the hottest months is lU percent of the yearly total.
Comparison of grain harvests with weather conditions in the Far
East reveals that years of poor harvest are those with a large amount
of precipitation at the end of the summer. In addition, a large amount
of rain combines with relatively high temperature of the hottest month,
for example, in the steppe belt of the European part of the Soviet Union,
promote an exceptional development of fungus blights, which in the end
lower the grain harvest in the Far East, Therefore, drying and drainage
are currently nowhere so important as an the Far East.
We may consider a characteristic peculiar to the Far Eastern
area to be the relative aridity of the sprang, co g' after an almost
snowless winter, features which allow sowing as early as temperatures
permit, insofar as soil moisture is sufficient for this work. The autumn
here is also relatively dry, so harvesting conditions for late crops are
unfavorable. But in general climatic conditions in the Far East are con-
siderably worse for agriculture than those districts in the European
part of the Soviet Union (the North Caucasus) corresponding to them in
latitude. The unusually harsh snowless winter (January temperature in
Khabarovsk of minus 22.9 degrees)`, the short growing season with frosts
late in the season, and the excessive raininess of the suit er with a
comparatively low level of temperature in the summer months (July tem~
perature in Khabarovsk of 20.7 degrees, in Nikol~sk'Ussuriysk 2l.l~
degrees) excludes all possibility of comparing the Ussuriysk Kray with
fLQ
the subtro is zone oft '
p he USSR and even with,Kubanr (July temperature
in Krasnodar of 23.6 degrees).
In the Western Trans-Caucasus is seen the best combination of
heat and moisture in the whole Soviet Union. The amount of heat there
is considerably less than in the extreme south of Central Asia, approxi'?
TRIC TEA
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mately 20 percent, but a large amount of precipitation makes possible
the maximum utilization of all available heat resources without
resorting
to artificial irrigation. Finally, the unusually. warm winter in
the
Western Trans-Caucasus permits us to. carry on cultivation the year round
without interruption (winter vegetable raising), which is possible only
in the south of the Lenkoran uyezd in erb dzhan
~Y , in the Apsheron Fenin?
sula and in the Zakopetdagskiy rayon. However, in Lenkoran the
summer
months are very dry, and cultivation the year .round is difficult without
irrigation. On the Apsheron Peninsula the summer is completely rainless
and only the cold months are comparatively well provided with pre
cipita?
tion. In the Zakopetdagskiy .yon irrigation is also essential.
As for the rest of the Western Trans-Caucasus, in those parts
not valleys and not riverain lowlands (Mugan Steppe, etc,) approximately
up to 300 meters above sea level -- i.e., in the foot hills ?- there is
some possibility of cultivating the most frost?resistant subtropic peren?
nials -- for example, the fig, the olive, the laurel, certain bamboos
guayules, and persimmons. But because of the aridity of the climate on?
ley drought-resistant perennial plants may be cultivated here without
irrigation. The low level of winter temperature (January temperature
below plus 2 degrees) everywhere, except in the littoral belt
and fre?
quently repeated free~e-overs give no
prospects of winter vegetable
raising here. This is the situation, for example, in the Zakopetdagskjy
rayon in Central Asia.
It is necessary to conlude with features of a non-climatic order,
leading to this or that readjustment in our estimation of the climatic
possibilities of the land.
Soil features bring about very great differences in the a
gricultural
potentialities of every zone. Here we must notice above all the difference
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in physical properties of the soil (sandy and clayey) and the influence
of topography (exposed positions and valley positions). These features
could bring real readjustment in our estimation of agricultural poten-
tialities, but unfortunateay it is difficult at present to qualitatively
account for them. These features ought to be considered before all others
when zones are divided into districts (P. Koloskov, Climatic Basis of
Agriculture in the Amur blast.) At present we may consider it establ.is hed
only that in the subtropic zone and in the Far East valleys greatly
lower the agricultural possibilities of the zone, seeming to show an im
penetration into the zone of characteristics of. the more northern zones.
We may put aside a consideration of soil fertility, since this
feature may be controlled by man, as well as of the extent of insect
pests, inasmuch as the latter is not determined by climate. Thus, for ?
example, the wide extent of the Swedish fly in t he Central Black Earth
Area and neighboring places is evidently no hindrance to the conquest of
this district by summer wheat, since the Swedish fl appears accidentally
in these districts and ought to be eliminated.
A more insuperable obstacle to the realization of agricultural po-
tentialities
forded by the climate is the swarnpiness, saltiness, and
primitiveness of soils, which at present keeps a huge land area from
cultivation. Western Siberia h
and Eazak~tan suffer especially in this
respect. But here, evidently, only the primitiveness of the soil is a
completely insurmountable obstacle -- saltiness and especially swampiness
may be conquered by technology. Therefore, the appended map on the
specialization of cultivation for many districts shows projects not only
for the first Five-Year Plan but for later plans. Doubtless the practi-
cal realization of the proposed zoning will depend on the introduction
of socialist types of production, the development of techniques and material
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dES TRIC TEll
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its climatic bases and needs only more precise working out of details.
This latter depends greatly on the development of a general cl.imatologi-
cal stud' which, one must say, is extremely retarded. This backwardness
of general climatology, the absence of a summary for our entire land
of the chief elements of climate and especially of practicable climatolo-
resources of our land' but this zoning is completely practicable in
gic maps hinders an agricultural evaluation of climate.
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ADD +NDA
Selyaninov.
Map of agricultural-climatic zones of the USSR. Prepared by
2. Map of the length of the period from 13 degrees in the spring
to 12 degrees in the fall w- growing season of corn, cotton, soya. Pre-
pared by Gedeonov.
3. Map of the length of the average frostless period. Prepared
by Golttsberg,
)4. Map of spring isochrones of 15 degree temperature, establish..
ing the time in which it is possible to begin sowing corn, soya, cotton,
and other plants exigent as to heat.
5. Map of the continentalness of climate. Prepared by Gedeonov.
6. Map of climatic conditions of wintering of perennial plants.
Prepared by Naryshkina and Goittsberg.
?. Map of isotherms for January and July.
8. Map of total precipitation for May, June, and July, the main
growing period. Prepared by Gol'tsberg,
STRIUTED
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;IESl'RlCTED
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USSR AS RI~GARDS T~1T~' GEOCR.~.pTly _.. O9
T'SILS
.... ~.w.....~...... ~. _ ... ......
L. I. Prasolov
INTR()DUCT'ION
In dealing with the distribution of the sowing area of food
and industrial crops and their al_Location by zones and districts,
?'~arst of all we face the problem of the very unequal distribution
of land already under cultivation and the relative limitedness of
the supply of suitable lands on the wide territory of the Soviet
Un:Lcn. The entire sowing area, the different crops as well as wild
,
vegetation, dependent on the zonal differences of climate
and
soil. Soils are closely inked with climate, but reflect also the
influence of other natural conditions; geologic structure, surface
topography, surface and subsurface water, the plant and animal
world, and also human activity,
The geography of natural soils, which has been worked out
9
in comparative detail, may serve as a general indication of the
capacity of the land for cultivation. We may be sure judging from
many existant instances, that the extent of agriculture is strongly
dependent on soil,
We would like to state conclusions in this work on land re-.
sources of the Soviet Union which we have derived from an analysis
of soil geography of the entire Soviet Union, an analysis based on
our most newly collated soil maps,
I. A SHORT" STATEMENT ON MATERIALS AND I''iE;THODS
In the last five or six years soil cartography has made great
advances in the USSR, Expeditions for gathering material on soil
have penetrated all our most distant areas ~.. the Far North Kam
chatka,
LAND RESOURCES FOR PLANT CULTIVATION IN THE
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Central Asia, the Trans-Caucasus -- and in addition have added sign!-
f'icantly to the detail of soil surveys of our agricultural districts.
This work was done on such a large scale that, for example in wheat
Trust research of 1929-30, certain new material could not be fully
utilized and its theoretical significance determined -- this should
be the task of the next few years. Over a 5O year period (from the
time of Dokuchaev's first work) geographic soil research has been
carried on to the following extent (in round numbers):
Dokuchaev and. published in two maps: the Asiatic part of the USSR,
on a scale of 1:L, 200,000 (1926), and the European part of the USSR,
on a scale of 1:2,520,000 (1930). (In 1931-32, a new compilation is
worked out by Soviet soil scientists at the Institute of Soil inc
Total . . . . . . . 21,380,000 square kilometers
All this material (which does not include the detailed sur-
veying which has taken place in the last two years) was gathered and
After the publication of these maps, to facilitate their pracw
tical application, an estimate of the area of different soils was
made, by two-degree latitudinal belts and by chief administrative
districts. (This work was done by the Dokuchaev Soil Institute and
the Institute of Soil Management of the Lenin Academy.) The urgency
planned on a scale of 1:1,000,000.)
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1. Complete area soil
mapping on a scale of
from 1:25,000 to 1:L.20,000 . . . 3,000,000 square kilometers
2. Surveying on foot . , . . . . . 5,000,000 square kilometers
3, Aerial reconnaissance . . . . . 13,380,000 square kilometers
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Lakes, as well as of Administrative Subdivisions, St. Petersburg,
190r) by measuring (with the aid of a planiraeter or a transparent
sheet divided into squares of one millimeter) in one or two degree
trapezia sketched on maps longitudinally and latitudinally, indi-
by Shokal'skiy and Tillo for estimating river basins (A. A. Tillo and
Yu. M. Shokal'skiy, n Estimate of the Highlands of Asiatic Russia,
from the Evidence of the Areas of Basins Oceans, Seas, Rivers, and
in this estimate -- which, however, does not change the main con-
clusions of the work.
This estimate was made by the method developed and applied
rtEs.*calCTE
of the need for this work prohibited our making certain adjustments
victual contours the area of which is known.
The exactness of this
estimate was usually within 1 percent (except for especially complex
contours), which for this scale and in terms of what soil maps are
supposed to show, is entirely sufficient.
In this way, we have obtained relatively exact measurements
of the distribution of the chief types and varieties of soil over
the entire territory of the Soviet Union (a 'total of approximately
50 subdivisions).
An analysis of these measurements comparing them with a given
agricultural and economic geography, beyond doubt can lead to many
interesting and important conclusions. We apply here the results of
our calculations chiefly for an estimate of land resources.
In this connection it should be stipulated first of all that
these results are somewhat tentative and there are limits to the
practical application of soil cartography and the calculations de-
rived from it. Nature, in all the complexity of its phenomena, does
not permit us to consider quantitatively all the properties of soil
aEs TRICTE
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It goes without saying that soil types in themselves and sum-
marily, reflect the agricultural characteristics of the area where
they are typical or predominant. But it is clear that the agricultural
qualities and the yields of individual fields located within the
limits of this territory can be extremely diverse and cannot be di-
rectly multiplied by the size of the territory, because soil strata
are generally quite jumbled, and because of the arbitrariness of
subdividing soils into categories. Most of such categories are not
sharply-defined also as a result of the fact that the quality of
soil changes greatly from cultivation and the application of fertilizers.
In addition, the complicated interrelationship of soil and
plant prohibits any numerical summarizing of characteristics of different
and depict them on maps. A record of individual characteristics,
however, such as for example potassium or phosphorus content is
very interesting in itself, yet this cannot give us an understanding
of soil, as a whole natural substance with a dynamic interrelation-
ship of physical, chemical, and biological properties. Therefore,.
the study of soils combines observations and properties of soils
taken as a whole in genetic groups, giving a break-down and types,
This is the basis for soil cartography, which at present reflects
only in summary form the many different properties of soils within
our present knowledge and observation. On:Ly by making use of such
summary analysis is it possible to map out the soils of large land
areas. Accordingly, we should not reproach soil geographers. We
should not confuse genetic types of soil, as concepts, with a complete
and true representation of soil masses, which in fact are very change-
able in time and space. Genetic types of soil must be observed in
the field, considering every case separately.
TtEscR9CT
IUC TED
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tempts of this sort (scales of soil evaluation) must be recognized
soils which would indicate their agricultural worth. Earlier at-
as unsatisfactory. Agricultural chemistry and agricultural physics
tribution of crops. This short survey serves as a commentary on the
appended basic tables, an analysis of which may form the subject of
the concluding chapters, including possible general conclusions on
the distribution and composition of the land resources of.the Soviet
Union,
tort' of the Soviet Union -- the structure as related to agricultural
lands, taking into consideration that industry may influence the dis-
to its agricultural importance. This is a problem for the future,
perhaps not far from solution -- but at present we can make use only
of geographic comparisons of soils, land, and crops.
There follows below a general survey of soil geography by
zones, which is one basis of the geographic structure of the terri-
plications of these agricultural factors which would make it possible
to a pply the conclusions to a large area, is at present something still
in a rudimentary stage. Therefore, we are not able at present to in-
terpret the size of the .soil area into a numerical expression relative
are experimenting with and applying various methods, often very com-
plicated and expensive ones, but at best they express only individual
properties of the soil. Moreover, a consideration of geographic im-
It is entirely clear that this work may not pretend to be an
exhaustive exposition of the subject. It was drawn up in haste and
is limited in size. A fuller survey of soil geography of the Soviet
Union and the primary data for this survey are being prepared separately.
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IIESTRICTED
II. SOIL ZONES, THEIR AREA, AND THEIR
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND 'SOURCES
1. Tundra
In the Far North along the banks of the Arctic Sea stretches
the wide belt of the tundra, i.e., the forestless expanses, or
arid or marshy land with soil frozen a large part of fie year and
melted in the summer though not very deeply and only fora short
time. Here there is the cold polar climate, comparatively and ?-
i.e,, with an amount of precipitation totalling approximately 200
millimeters per year. The tundra belt stretches for hundreds of
kilometers to the south of the Arctic Ocean and occupies on the whole
2,3L5,600 square kilometers on the territory of the Soviet Union
not considering the belts of transition to the forest zone, the so-
called forest-tundra zone,
The area of the latter in Siberia is
7i6,300 square kilometers and in the European part no less than
100,000 square kilometers. Located in an area of severe climate,
the landscape near the polar tundra greatly resembles the forestless
mountain tops, in Siberia called 'tgol'tsy;" these are to be found
in Siberia and also in the northern Urals and on the Bola Peninsula
covering an overall area of around 290,000 square kilometers.
Soils on the tundra are similar to soils ?of the northern
forest zone, the podsol type and swampy forest soils, But they are
far from identical over the entire huge expanse of this zone. Here
one finds more suitable fodder lands for reindeer (known on the
Yakutsk tundra as "yedomytt) and unsuitable lands -w stony, saline
marshy, and so on.
Differences in soil are conditioned on the one hand by the geo-
logic structure, for example by outcroppings and the composition of
~ .. I
,BEST -
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iESTR1CTEO
a luvi"um (arenaceous or argillaceous) and on the other hand, by
the properties of the surface itself -- now even, now undulabing,
tee. The distribution of snow in the winter and of soil water in
the summer, is effected by the surface of the land., and also by the
depth to which the ground thaws. Where law and even areas predorni-
nate, where the soil does not thaw out to any great depth during the
summer (approximately 30-50 centimeters), and where there is not much
evaporation of moisture wibh the low air temperature, here most of
the tundra is saturated with moisture down to a smallpth in the
susnrEier-times Because of this, air does not penetrate the soil very
well (insufficient aeration) and deoxidation takes place as in
marshy soils, This condition, together with the action of the cold.
polar climate in general results in a weak development of chemical
and. biological processes in the soil, On the other hand, poor ab-
sorption of water on the and tundra, strong winds, and soil
cracking from frost have led to extensive erosion and weathering
of the surface. Not infrequently this also has accentuated surface
slipping and heaving caused by the unequal expansion and contraction
of soils during melting and freezing.
Therefore the tundra is frequently characterized by spotty
areas ('tthe bald tundra") with circles of a 'bare argillaceous detrital
nature. Hillocks and mounds of peaty marshy soils are also very wide-
spread. A considerable belt consists, fi ally, of low shoals on the
banks of the Arctic Ocean, some washed with its waters, others dry,
grown over with saltworts, some bare, for the most part moist, and
in the summer-time almost impassible.
But all these varieties of tundra are not differentiated on
our maps, and. therefore the area of this zone is not subdivided in our
tables,
dES TR! TEL)
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Podsof Gone
In this title is included all the huge belt of northern forests
which occupies more than half of the territory of the Soviet Union,
e.rourid 11 million square kilometers, stretching towards the south
from the tundra of high latitude, reaching as far as the south in
Eastern Siberia as the southern border of the USSR.
As is known, this zone also extends into Western Europe, but
is of considerably smaller dimensions from north to south, although
there are very clearly defined podsols in America, where they occu-
py- a large part of the British dominions, and extend into the nor-
theastern part of the United States.
Podsol and podsolic soils are the only characteristic and the
most widespread kind of soil of this zone but not the only one.
Together witli the podsol, marshy and semi-marshy soils are
very widespread here (and in places are even prevalent) ; humus-
carbonaceous soils (the so-called rendziny), and meadow and alluvial
soils are also very common, though they do not occupy such a large
areas The Russian popular name npodsol,'f at present accepted also
in agricultural literature abroad, is now applied only to the most
The soils of these forests, and the fields located among them,
which were once also thickly covered with forests, represent really
a patchwork of a complex and motley combination of different varie-
ties of podsolic soils together with marshy and semi-marshy soils.
Investigation into all zones of the podsol, especially its northern
almost uninhabited half, is still not sufficiently advanced so as to
make a clear exposition of the origin of these combinations, their
extreme stage of a special soil formation
chiefly of northern coniferous varieties,
dES TRIUTED
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ii ESTRICTED
breakdown in al:L districts, their changes, and their agricultural
1
importance. For around SO years they have been studied from various ??
aspects both here and in Western Europe. In individual cases in
experimental stations and partly with forestation as the objective)
the chemical and physical properties of podsolic soils have been
studied in detail, with particular emphasis recently on the occurence
of acidity and the means of eliminating i?t.
Here we may give only a very short and general sketch of these
soils, isolating their basic varieties, and thus try to break down
all this huge zone into its chief geographic components.
As is known, forest podsolic soils when brought under cul-
tivation are quickly exhausted and demand manure and mineral fer-
tillzer. They are comparatively poor in nourishing substances, and
in their natural condition possess unfavorable physical properties
_.. they easily dissolve in moist periods and contract when they dry
out, which renders difficult the necessary aeration of the soil.
The upper layers of the soil contain little humus and few argillaceous
particles, their powers of absorption are insufficient, and the soil
base (acid soils) is not impregnated, so the nutritional substances
gradually leach away and are carried off' by the flow of the soil
moisture.
All these properties are the more strongly felt the more the
soil is reduced to podsol under summer conditions --.i,e,, the more r
its original mineral mass is decomposed by the constantly descending th
!r
flow of soil moisture continaing products of the decomposition of the a
forest floor in the form of carbonic acid and other soluble acids
of the humus, rf'he visible result of this decomposition of the mineral
mass is the accumulation in the soil of finely broken up quartz powder,
~n
,r
r lI / ~
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002 10003-5
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ESTR1CTEO
as a residue of the disintegration of fragments originally of rocks
and minerals, owing to which the soil under the upper humus layer is
bleached, becoming sometimes completely white, loses its binding
argillaceous particles, and becomes a dust-like mass similar to ashes.
At the same time, the lower layers of the soil, where the argilla-
ceous and other products of erosion are held, become thicker and more
water resistant, hindering penetration o1 water to the deeper roots.
All these phenomena vary greatly, chiefly because of the distri-
bution of surface moisture, which depends upon surface topography
and the character of the surface vegetation. Together with podsol,
which is the most advanced stage of this process, strongly-, average-,
and weakly-podsolic soils may be distinguished. How essential the
difference between them is in practice may be judged from the fact
that podsols and strongly-podsolic non-arable soils need around 18
tons of lime per hectare, while weakly-podsolic soils need 3-i tons
or less. (Experiments under the direction of K. K. Gedroyts in the
former Soil Management Division of the GIOA, 1926-27.)
Unfortunately, here we come up against the lack of research
into podsolic and generally northern soils, precisely in regard to
a quantitative expression for the degree of podsolic development,
concerning a clear understanding of such development relative to
soil acidity and how this related to the content of nutritive sub-
stances. The degree of podsolic development of soils, clear enough
by externals (by their morphology) , has still not been linked up with
their chemism or their origin, as a result of which their gneral
geographic distribution is far from clarified.
Therefore on our general maps we could not chart boundaries of
the different degrees of podsolic soils. These are given at present
only on certain more detailed maps of okrugs and rayons. In addition,
+ h
TRICTED
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;AESTRICTEO
the difference between podsolic soils still does not exhaust the
aforementioned degrees. No less complex and, in addition, important
f`or agriculture and forestry are differences in mechanical composiw
tion also in chemical composition of the mineral mass of these soils,
and in a number of other compositions and features. One may say that.
every soil feature, be it the thickness of the separate layers, their
form, composition, transitions from one stage of these to another,
and finally the whole structure (the entire cross section) of soil
taken en masse in nature has various differences and combinations
which identify in one way or another, the soil properties. Culti-
vation partly evens out these differences, partly complicates them,
since cultivated podsolic soil is quite different from virgin soil --
it loses the upper layer of forest floor, the podsolic soil becomes
mixed with the humus layer, its acidity for the most part decreases,
and microbiologic activity increases. Plowing in itself changes
the topography of the soil surface (which is especially noticeable
on the small strips of the peasant fields).
We cannot consider geographically all these changes, and,
generally, we do not even have maps of the extent of cultivation
of forest soils. We can judge how widespread they are only from
the location of inhabited places. Therefore, on our general maps
we may divide soils only into the three chief types of mechanical
composition: argillaceous-loamy (heavy and average), arenaceous-
loam , and arenaceous. Gravelly types are 'shown separately.
On maps and on the basic tables it is evident that on our
Eastern European and Western Siberian plains argillaceous and
argillaceous-loamy types are equally widely distributed, insofar
as may be determined at present from information far from complete.
Arenaceous soils are considerably less widely distributed, their
4LSTRICTEo
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ESTR1CTED
'kilometers in all (we do not include.
area covering 3u6yU00 square
here, of course, arenaceous areas in the southern desert zone).
In hilly and mauntaanous districts we customarily see a.very
'cai composition of soile, leading to
frequent change in the mechanl
a eletalt' sails, i.e., soils rich in
widespread development of usk
gravel. This is far from alwaY's an indicator of poor ..ploughing w~.
on the contrary, in northern districts such changed soil sometimes
it warms up more quickly and is dryer.
is preferred because
soils, in general, are principally
Arenaceous-loamy and arenaceous
less sorted out in the water currents
f owned from allu~-a, more or 'del
or basins which deposited them. Therefore, we find them wa. Y
European north and in Western Siberia,
developed an the plaids of oux
where sails are formed primarily on
whereas in Eastern destruction
mountain slopes and heights on top of the products of the
rocks we find clayey soils more or less
of the original dense s
abounding with large fragments of these ricks.
As regards this, WC note that in Eastern Siberia one often
sees soils among the podsollc sol 'ls which are not very podsolic and
o~tency, whereas on the plains of Western
in addition are of weak p odsols.
of the European north there are any deep p
Siberia and a part
Many researchers point out also that in the northern half of
influence of a harsher climate the process
the forest zone under the
to have died out and has usually
of evolution towards padsols seems
marsh conditions, The approximate boun-
become an evolution towards
their main areas, are indicated on the map
dories of these subzones,
of the Asiatic part of the USSR. In the European USSR the northern
ol't is seen on the Kola ?enisula.
"dwarf pods. of the soil and.
Sandiness is an indication of the richness
1ESTR1CT ED
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for the most part considerably richer, but frequently have unfavorable
physical characteristics -- they may be too heavy for cultivation,
hold too much moisture, and may be warmed up and aerated only with
difficulty. Therefore argillaceous loaany soils are for the most
Heavy soils (argillaceous-loamy and argillaceous soils)' are
also of its technical properties for cultivation.
part preferred, especially for certain crops (for example, potatoes).
In the north, in addition to the soils absolute richness --
determined by its chemical make-up (independent of its mechanical
make-up and of the degree of podsolic development) and the amount
of fertilizer applied -- its physical make-up is also important.
This determines the use of the soil itself, determining particularly
whether vegetation will obtain its required maximum warmth and elimi-
nation of moisture surplus. o naturally in evaluating the agri-
cultural quality of this or that distract an factors are especially
important which bear upon the supply of warmth (rolling hills,
southern slopes, etc.) and, so also, the removal of the surplus
moisture is very important.
Swamp_suruspmoisture soils occupy a very large part of our
northern zone. They are not yet being studied in sufficient detail,
Large sections of the forests and meadows here are swampy, with the
so-called podsolic gley soil or peaty podsolic soil. In their natural
surroundings under a dense forest cover, very often too much decompo-
sing vegetation accumulates and bryophyta grow up, which retards or
completely cuts off the oxygen supply to the minerals of the soil
anaerobic microbiologic processes begin, he soil deoxidizes, and oxide
compounds are formed and even products of certain completely recon-
structed compounds (for example, sul?'urous compounds).
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These compounds b themselves for the most part are toxic to plants,
and the deoxodized soil, supersaturated with moisture, becomes for
the most part ttgley soil, u impermeable blueish clay,
With the further growth of bryophyta, such soils gra
dualy
become peaty swamps on which the forest dies out. But peaty swamps
have also been formed and are at present being formed in
~' another
way, by acqueous vegetation and then bryophyte which grows over
lakes
and stopped-up rivers. Thus, highly developed peat bogs are formed,
grown over in the final stages with white brophy-ta S hagn
n (p um species),.
and as deep as 5.10 or more meters. Sometimes their formation stops
at a stage of herbaceous vegetation (reeds sedges, etc.), or a forest.
or meadow soil is for different reasons transformed into a herbaceous
swamp.
By virtue of the dynamic quality of all those phenomena, soils
of the northern zone represent, as has been
said, a detailed complex
which it is not easy to analyze, the more so because
all these places
are accessible only with difficulty and often they are almost in-
accessible. Swamps and transitional semi-swam s show o
p on more de-
tailed maps very intricate configurations.
It is quite understandable that at present
he peat marshes
which we have studied and mapped are those
which are being exploited
in our industrial districts, being one of our most important power:
resources. But we do not have even approxjmate information concern-
ing the huge expanses of marshy forests in the north, e spec is,lly in
Siberia. Especially rich in swamps is the lower O b ever basin,
for example, the basin of the Vasyugan~ lover. +'.
derrtly pastern
Siberia is less swampy, but here the swaps form w
a terwr~;sistant
layers, allowing a large area to be perpetually frozen over In
a& 1'RIGTEDI
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Yakutiya, in the Transbakal region, and in the Far East, unique thick-
ets of marshy.brushwood
f birch and willow species) are widespread,
the so-called ttyerniki.tt Not infrequently they occupy up to 50 per-
cent of the total land area, located in the wide flat ravines of the
mountain slopes. Their semi-swampy soils, somewhat peaty and gleyey,
are still very little studied, -
The further one goes towards the north, the larger an area
is taken up by swampy soils, and in the forest-tundra belt they pre-
dominate. But it is unknown exactly how much of this area is really
peat bog,
on our maps we could not give the contours of swampy and semi-
swampy soils, because these are not measured; but we have indicated
them everywhere, where there is information concerning them. In
addition to the map of the European part of the USSR, a small map
of the swamps of the Leningrad Oblast is printed in black (with
the exception of the Murmansk Kray), drawn with all possible com-
pleteness according to a detailed topographical map. It shows how
many swamps there are in this district and how difficult it is to
represent them and allow for them on general maps.
Swamps, and also peat bogs and mossy and semi-swampy soils,
are conditionally unsuitable areas, since, apart from utilizing
their power resources in the form of peat, they may be transformed
into good forest, meadow, and arable lands. Certain species of low-
land swamps represent especially favorabs.e soils rich in nourishing
elements.
According to data of the onetime Central Statistical Committee,
in I$7 on all Russian territory there were 3, 736, 6t~O square kilome-
ters of marshy lands; in this calculation tundra marshes were evidently
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and alluvial soils; these are often almost the most valuable part
of the land in agricultural productivity.
are not infrequently humus-carbonaceous soils (rendziny) and meadow
the northern zone is close to 1,500,000 square kilometers (not
counting the tundra).
As was mentioned, among the swamp and podsolic soils there
great. We may consider that the general amount of marshy land in
of semi-marshy soils, as is evident from the aforesaid, is very
The amount of marshy woodland, meadows, and different species
in which, probably, are counted only the real peat marshes, more
or less valuable for peat extraction.
the general area of swamps in the USSR is 373,000 square kilometers,
lands (not including tundra marsh lands). According to Vikhlyaev,
mation, in the RSFSR there are 351,670 square kilometers of marsh
included. According to data of the Institute of Agricultural hecla
Humus-carbonaceous soils are formed where there are outcroppings
of limestone, marl, and gypsum, or affluvia containing a large quan-
tity of liming fragments (carbonaceous moraine), because of which
the podsol formative process is held up, and a dark soil is obtained,
richer in humus and devoid of acidity (natural laming), similar to
Meadow soils are also formed on river bottom lands, where the
soil constantly obtains new material from the alluvium, which is v' y
rich in nutritional substances. But in the low parts of the bottom
lands these alluvial meadow soils are for-.the most part too moist
and become marshes, although they not infrequently yield large hay
the steppe chernozem or black soil.
By the tabulation of the Institute of Soil Management, meadows
harvests.
'ES TRIO TEl)
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of the USSR is accepted to be 9,321,820 square kilometers, (B? I.
Forest and Lumbering in the USSR, 1930) of which number,
Seliber,
size. The general area covered by forests on the entire territory
and the area of ploughed fields in this zone amounts to the same
occupy approximately 400,000 square kilometers in the northern zone,
6,179,910 square kilometers is accessible. If we separate from the
general forest area forests of the chernozem zone, and also of the
Caucasus, the Crimea, and Central Asia (.n all, around 510,000 square
kilometers) there remains for the northern zone (podsol zone) a
forest area of around 8,812,000 square kilometers in all. All these
are inexact, since only 28 percent of northern forests are
figures
inhabited and studied.
Doubtless much land which may still be utilized in agriculture
may be found in areas now given over to forests, marshy expanses,
and fields yielding folders as yet unstudied. But how much and to
what degree it is accessible may be determined only by a detailed
consideration of soils and lands, taking them in small units. One
ought not exaggerate their possibilities. The colonization of
Siberia under Czarism was going along at a rather rapid tempo when
it raet great difficulties in planning lots for immigrant settlement
among the forest expanses. It was found that suitable lands were
already exhausted there -- though, it is true, without reclamation
measures having been taken. Doubtless the most practicable and
rational thing to do in this case will be to utilize the northern
expanses in an economy of combined livestock raiding and lumbering.
3. Chernozem Zone
The chernozem zone is largely seaprated from the podsol zone
by a forest-and-steppe belt, the soils of which represent either a
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iESTRlCTEO
special kind of northern chernozem or a more or less degraded
more podsolic; due to the influence of the forest) chernozem. These
soils represent in their properties a transition to the chernozem
and everywhere in our central belt, for example in the former Ryazan-
skaya and Nizhegorodskaya guberniyas, ploughed fields on the grey
forest argillaceous soils are considered to be better than the nor-
therm podsolic soils. Therefore, we add this tranditionai belt
to the chernozem zone in our general estimate. Grey forest lands af.
the forest-and-steppe area (on the map legend called very degraded
chernozem lands -w III and III on the European map, and 13 on
the Asiatic map) occupy an area of 47L.,OOO square kilometers, of which
a considerable part (around 60 percent) is under deciduous forests.
(We do not include here the also very degraded or secondarily-podsolic
soils which have the appearance of podsol and preserve in their prop-
erties no essential chernozem features.)
Let us mention briefly tiie basic characteristics of the
chernozem. They may be reduced to these:
(1) The chernozem is notable for a comparatively high quantity
of humus (from L. to 15 percent), uniformly impregnating. the mineral
mass of the upper layer; (2) the cl-ierriozem humus is primarily dark
organic matter indissoluble in water; (3) the chernozem soil solution
has for the most past a neutral or weakly acid reaction; (4) the ab-
sorbent power of the chernozem is high, and it is saturated at the
base (which is primarily of calcium) -- so lime is not needed;
(;) the upper humus layer of the chernozem has a granular or small..
lumpy texture favorable for cultivation and the interpenetration of
of water and air; (6) the humus layer is continually passing to a
;lower lever and meeting there accumulations of carbonate of lime
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dESTRICTEU
("beloglazka" ELittle white eye/ and other forms), and still deeper
gypsum (sulfate of lime); (7) the silicate part of the soil changes
very little' at a different depth and usually contains an important
amount of argillaceous particles; (o) the potency of the humus soil
and the depth of the lire accumulation varies within l or 2 meters,
and stays constant over large areas, characterizing the chernozem
"sub-zone"; (9) the chernozerri may lie on various rocks: granites
s
disbases, shales, sandstones, limestones, clays, argillaceous soils,
and sands. Their most frequent base however, is yeliow-.brown carbon-
aceous (iee., containing an admixture of carbonate of lime) argilia
ceous soil, formed from alluvia in the post ice-age period.
These basic features are seen over he entire vast chernozem
zone, but quantitively they differ. In the south as the climate
becomes more arid the humus content and the potency of the chernozem
fall, while salt accumulations are near to the surface. The rich and
potent cher.nozems of the central zone becomes first ordinary cherno-
zem and then southern chernozemo Towards the north potency and humus
content also decrease, while leaching increases, Here the typical
chernozems becomes leached and degraded, and still further north
they become very much degraded (grey forest soils)q
Such a gradation of soils is especially evident in the Central
Chernozem Oblast in a northwest to southeast direction. With this
the physical properties of the soil change, as do its structure and
also all the other properties important for agriculture,
The diagram appended below indicates how the amount of humus
in the chernozems changes according to type and depth, From
y top
to bottom is given the depth of the soil in centimeters. The cross-
hatched bars denote humus content in percentages, under these subtypes,
dESTRICTED
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41 ESTRICTED
:Crony :left to right: (1) grey forest soil; (2) northern chernozem;
(3) leached -but podsol, ? (Li) rich chernozem from the uncultivated
steppe; (;) rich chernozem from ploughed land; (6) ordinary chernozem.
We see this gradation i.n the former Tambovskaya guberniya.
Towards the west, :Ln the Ukraine, relatively more potent
cbernozerns prevail. They have :less hurnus, while in the east, beyond
the Volga the opposite is true: the chernozems are less potent but
with more humus, although the latitudinal subzones indicated above
may be noted there.
The Cis-Caucasian and Crimean steppes form another special
soil zone, which is distinguished for its relatively potent chernoze.ms,
in steppe areas slightly leached, with a. certain content of carbonate
of lime in the bop :layer and an unusual small-lumpy structure (cher-
nozeins of the Sea of Azov region), whereas nearer to the mountains.
(at Krasnodar, for example) leaching increases but strong potency
i.s prescrved.
Siberian chernozems are another sly cial zone. ri'hcy are for
the most part not very potent, or their humus layer descends in
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narrow vertical strata so its thickness is quite variable. In addi-
Lion, throughout the chernozem zone there are very many solontsy
/ark-co1ored soils with hard prismatic subsoils, usually strongly
alkalin 7 saliferous meadow lands, and the so-called tlsolods't Lsoil
containing organic salts dissolved from the humus laye7. (This re-
fers only to the chernozems of the western Siberian lowlands, while
the Kuznets Basin chernozems are closer to the type of the northern
part of the Central Chernozem Zone),
To evaluate all these features from the point of view of
agronomy and to express their quantitative importance is very difficult.
Leaching and the degradation of the chernozem doubtless leads to a?
decrease in its richness and a deterioration in its physical proper-
ties; which causes a definite demand for fertilizer, with the soil
responding even to damp phosphorite. But the less and climate of
the forest-and-steppe sub-zones, on the other hand, favors more sta-
ble harvests. Strong, rich chernozems are the most highly endowed
of soils, and have in their natural condition the best physical
characteristics, The chernozems of the Sea of Azov region evidently
approximate these,
Ordinary and southern chernozems characterize a more and zone.
Here the grainy texture becomes coarser, more lumpy, the density of
the soils increases, and indications of salinity appear, yet these
soils are no less richly endowed than any of the other sub-types.
~fherefore, in these sub-zones there are principally ;rain crops.
It is necessary to add that along the river valleys ar;illa-
ceous chernozems become arenaceous-loamy and arenaceous soils. Yet
on high lands of the Donets ridge, the Crimean mountains, the Volga
region, and the Cis-Ural belt, and also in KazakM1 tan, there are many
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41ff1 MCI Et
chernozems abounding in crushed stone.
Finally, the "mountain chernozems" are especially noteworthy.
These cover several inter-mountain valleys of Dagestan and the Trans-Caucasus, the Armenian volcanic plateau, the foothills of the Central
Asian mountains and a part of the Altay Mountains. These mountain
chernozems are a reserve still comparatively little utilized, the to-
tal area of which is not less then 100,OC)0 square kilometers, but
probably with a considerable number of stony places difficult of ac-
cess. In the foothills of 'cyan'-Shan', the mountain chernozems are
very valuable "bogara" (not irrigated) plowlandsI
In add:Ltion to the strictly chernozem soils in this zone there
are also patches and deposits of soils of other types, such as:
solontsy, meadow soils, and alluvial soils. These last in certain
sections represent a valuable meadow reserve. In western Siberia
there are around 190,000 square kilometers of saliferous chernozem
steppes and saliferous meadows (zaynishcha), which may also provide
a good fodder reserve,
The subtypes indicated above are present in all zones in ap-
proximately equal proportions. In the Asiatic part of the USSR the
total area of the chernozem zone is considerably smaller than in the
Lurope an part a
We may draw up the following totals, by subzones:
?tsrRIerED
~./3;z w.
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?IESThICTEO
European
Part
Total, in
Asiatic square
Part kilometers
Chernozems
.._--....-
Greatly degraded argillaceous and
arenaceous loamy
22,000
171,600
396,600
Degraded and leached argillaceous
28, 250
60,900
319, 7 ~0
and arenaceous loamy
Rich and potent argillaceous
21,200
L1, 200
292,i.00
230, 200
1L5,000
275,200
Usual argill.aceous
176,,00
59,800
236,300
Southern argillaceous
Various tees of arenaceous loamy and
arenaceous
101, 300
)49,300
150,600
8S0
l
--
ioL., 8 j0
Sea of Azov argillaceous and carbonaceous
~.,
l0
Chernozems in a complex formations with
solonetz and 'tsolod 1
103,1001
216,100
319,200
900
lb
118, loo
~3~~a00
Mountain chernozems
Totals
~
1, L67, 300
862,0002
2,329,300
L Principally in the Trans-Ural region.
In addition, 71,00 square kilometers of zaymischa located in western
~
Siberia
It is evident from this table that the most typical chernozems
(the 2nd, 3rd, Lit}~, and 7th on the table) occupy on the whole around
1,000,000 square, kilometers, almost all ploughed; while in other parts
of the zone around ,U percent of the total area is ploughed. On the
whole the area of ploughed land in the chernozem zone reaches, in
,
round figures, l,~0O,000 square kilometers
hould not say that the process of land utilization is
Ve s
completed even in the chernozen zone, although no "free" land remains
STAICTEZP
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aEST tCTE~
for areas of deciduous forests, sal feraus chernozerrls,
here except
and the so-called seropeskl dsa.ridg, s,nd' also zayma.shcha and
Lray
aLLuvial meadows, but ]. ? is o'rav:cous that the specialiZation of
t
zones and the intensification of' agriculture may still increase the
the chernoZem zone. With regional specialization
productiv1-ty o
(in particular crops and in combined types of farming), crops are
. c .Cr0C ifl to lat itudi n.al subzOnes, secondly,
located, f ~.; .~.r,..ty,. ~- -~
according to basic t es of chernozem (solonetz, arenaceous-loamy,
~
mountain) , and, thirdly, according to a combination of climate and
soils (the Ukraine, ne, the Central ChernoZern Zone, the Txans_Volga
. Caucasus, Siberia). The fact is that the latitu-
region, the North
dinal chernoZem subzones do not indicate all the interrelations of 'f.
w.
climate, soil, and vegetation .-_ in addition we must make district
~
4
} ? For example, on the southern chernoZem of
and county su.bc~~ visions .
icts the combination of crops may be different, and
different distr
h
ern districts becomes in the east exclusively
winter wheat of the west, ~.
spring wheatetc. Consequently, our totals on the preceding table
, ry
be broken down still further into administrative districts on
will
basic tables, 'y
our
,r
lonsago, Professor Nlarbut, an American soil scientist,
Not ~
visxtinC, our countrY at the time of the Second International Con-
compared the area of our clicrnozem to the
press of Soil Scientists, la
kmerican chernozem from the standpoint of wheat production on the
world market, and arrived at the conclusion ghat the USSR has here
an advantage over the United States. (C. S, Marbut. "Russia and the
- ---------------
United States in the World's Viheat Market." Geog~
1931, I. In the raph Review,
October issue of the smae magazine, the second ar-
Marbut was published, ~IAgriculture in the United
ticle of Professor
RESTRICJ$,;,
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EsTaIGTED
marks in crosshatches on his map only the and steppe zone corres-
our southern chernozem subzone, although in the central
ponding to
as is well-knowln, chernozems are also widespread which.
states named,
correspond to our leached and degraded chernozems (prairie soils).
l~eanwhi le in Eurasia 1~iarbut shows all the chernozem zone, in his
arrangement only leaving out a part of the forest-and-steppe central
r
chernozem belt and the Central Vora region. In addition, the
eastern Siberian chernozer is mistakenly shown as chestnut soil,
whereas here more frequently forest-and-steppe soils are predominant. {
(This mistake is again made on Marbut's map and in his second article. j
on the maps of Professor Marbut the darker crosshatching signifies
chernozems and the lighter signifies chestnut soils together with
to poorer chernozems.) On the other hand, Mkarbut entirely omits
chernozems of the eastern Transbaykal region (Nerchinsk steppe, etc.)
The tongue of chestnut soil placed south from Semipalatinsk through
Lake Balkhash is probably a mistake.
Therefore 1vlarbut's estimate needs revisions, especially if
one considers the specialization of agricultural districts we have
ronosed, with wheat crops predominating in the southern part of the
py
chernozem zone.
It is evident from our table that the area of the chernozem
zone is on the whole larger than Marbut has indicated. And the
zone of chestnut soils is also larger, In all, the area of ploughed
lands in both zones is now around 1,600,000 square kilometers. A
30 percent increase in this area is possible, and also a large expan-
sion of the use of agricultural engineering measures.
But all these corrections do not change the general conciusion
of Professor Narbut, which is essentially true,
dES Talc TEL?
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It'
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aEST R%C1 ED
4. Zone of Arid Ste es and Chestnut Soils
This zone .forms the extreme southeast of the western European
plain. Broken by the semi-circle of lands in the depression around
the Caspian Sea, it continues towards the east as a wide belt,
occupying a large part of Kazakstan and entering the borderland
low parts of Eastern Siberia the Minusinskiy, Selenginskiy, and
Argunskiy districts. To the west of the Caspian Sea, it is
intersected by the Manych and Don approximately opposite.the Donets
River depression, Only in the lowest part of the Tavricheskiy
peninsula and in a narrow belt on the lower northern and western
banks of the Black Sea may dry mugwort steppes be seen, with soils
of chestnut shades and saliferous, but of a somewhat other type than
in the southeast. Also, in the southern mountain districts of
Transcaucasia and Central Asia, going from the and steppes of the
plains to the low foothills, comparable chestnut soils are found.
Soils of these steppes differ, in having a small humus
content (2 to !~. percent) and a humus layer of little depth. The
arid climate with a hot summer and cold winter permits only temporary
surface sail moistening, so that near the surface salt accumulations
are retained, not only calcium salts which do not dissolve easily,
but also easily dissolved chlorine and sulfuric acid salts of alkalis.
The entire design of the soil seems constricted in comparison with
the chernozem. Grainy and small-lumpy texture disappears completely,
and the soil is either powdery or forms coarse heavy lumps. In
addition, owing to the dryness of the air and strong evaporation,
salts here, with the ground level of the water near, are everywhere
on the surface of the land, These have their origin in saliferous
clays deposited by the ancient basin of the Aralo-Caspian, and also
in other sea deposits which outcrop in many places in this zone,
qEs TRIC TEfl
111
./3?
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HESTflICiEO
According to the theory of K. K. Gedroyts, with the lowering
clays begin to be slowly leached out and to lose their salts, but
in.the form of humus and clay particles the soils are absorbed
of the level of subsurface water the original solonchaky or saliferous
these particles may wash down to some depth in a particular diluted
condition. Then, the upper layer of the soil loses its clay
into their base of alkaline salts (chiefly sodium). With moistening,
and acquires a characteristic acicular texture. Thus, solonchaky
become solontsy and soils in various degrees saliferous, forming
a complicated diverse complex characteristic of the arid steppes
particles and becomes sandy and dusty, while the lower layer thickens
of Kazakstan and the Lower Volga region. (In Siberia and in the
n
black earth zone there are very many of them.) Solonets soils
may be frequently ploughed, and in moist weather give good harvests,
but in time of drought, crops are first to die off on these soils.
~.
5olonet~ soils must be irrigated with great care, since their physical
properties are unfavorable to irrigation. The problem here of
securing of sources of fresh water for drinking and for machines is
very important and even acute. Irrigation is essential, and we
must use all possible means to have it.
The transition from the chernozem towards the south and.
southeast is very gradual. At first, there is a wide belt of
dark-chestnut soils, close in quality to the southern chernozems
and still largely ploughed. Further to the south there are light-
chestnut soils, for the most part combined with saliferous soils and
therefore in this area the ploughed fields always have lumpy soil, and
irrigation is little utilized because of the lack of water and the
danger of salting the soil.
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ESTRICTEO
We ought to note that in Kaza star chestnut soils frequently
alternate with rocky steppe land in districts of the so-called
melkosopochnik, which consists of remnants of the erosion of ancient
mountains, where there are outcroppings of various dense rocks --
granites, quartzites, slates, etc. -- as a consequence of which
the soils are not suitable for agriculture.
Ploughed fields comprise less than 10 percent of this zone.
A large part of the expanse is occupied by saliferous and stony
steppe pasture land (up to 60 percent). But if we add up areas,
for example the chestnut soil areas, which are set aside as having
soils of saliferous composition and very rocky places, and therefore
conditionally suitable for agriculture, then we have, together with
apart of the foothill non-irrigated steppes, around 600,000 square
kilometers, So "dry farming" still has adequate unused land resources
here. The voluminous material from investigations in recent years
in Kaza1tan can indicate in exactly which districts these lands
~
are located. Unfortunately, this material is still for the most
part uncorrelated and could not be used in our computations.
The Kazak,stan and Lower Volga region also have in their
,
river bottom lands considerable meadow expanses, as steppe "estuaries"
and as the so-called "overflows" /azlivy7 (on the lower Ural River).
With the resolution here of irrigation problems, the present relation-
ships among farm lands evidently will be changed. The largest
area, though, will be given over to grain crops and livestock raising.
5. Zone of Barren Steppes and Gray Earth
Soils of the barren steppes are called serozemy ray-earth
soils, since an insignificant amount of organic matter (humus),
usually less than 2 percent, together with a certain amount of
dES TRIC TE~
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carbonate of calcium, very often imparts to the surface itself,
especially on watered fields, a grayish or more properly yellowish..
gray shade. The maximum aridity and hotness of this zones climate,
solanchaky here. Soils of lowlands are all more or less salted,
concurrently, very weak leaching of salt's, So there are very few
100 millimeters, conditions the small quantity of humus with,
where the yearly total precipitation in places does not reach even
(as with chestnut soils and chernozems) is seen relatively seldom.
andthe converse losing of salts with the formation of solontsy
Repetek station), Frequently sulfate and other salts bleach out
onto the surface as a crust, in connection with which their
crystallization induces swelling and loosening of the soil, and the
so-called "swollen solonchaky" are obtained (locally known as
kebiry). Also very characteristic is the formation of saltpeter
in certain places where organic waste materials have accumulated.
Yet one cannot say that the salt solution in all soils of
this zone is on the whole harmful to plants. Where depositions
have not again formed and where the level of subsurface water is
low, soils have, however, leached out gradually over the centuries
evely formed crystals, half consisting of sand (for example, at the
More often, salted irrigated fields or flat lowlands where rain
waters accumulate become unique soils known as makyry? In many
cases in the serozem zone an accumulation of sulfuric acid salts
is seen close to the surface, primarily of gypsum (GaSO )) often
in the form of an unbroken layer of crystals. These accumulations
are especially noticeable in pebbly-gravelly barren soils, and lie
so near the surface that they can be seen in ruts on a road, They
are also sometimes observed in sandy soils, where they make large
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and even a part of the relatively immovable carbonate of calcium
washes down to some depth. All probabilities are that not all
depositions on which serozem soils have formed were originally
salted -- for example, loess of the high flatlands and the foothills
were probably deposited. by the muddy waters of streams issuing from
under ancient glaciers. With the subsequent lowering of the places
where these currents flowed and the shaping of the modern river
valleys, these loess alluvia were eroded, forming hills and benches
on the foothills or plains, level though above the river beds.
Upon these were formed the typical loess soils of the barren-steppe
zone -- serozemy which are the chief resources of cultivated lands
of Central Asia, its chief wealth, long artificially irrigated by
canals, nourished by the waters of the Syr-Dartya, the Amu-Darya
and other rivers, Loess, a finely porous rock with small granular
texture, water-permeable, is favorable to irrigation. There is good
natural drainage because of the hilly terrain of the foothill plains.
This makes it possible to water the crops here without making the soil
salty, in spite of the fact that many centuries have passed since the
old oases of Tashkent, Samarkand, and other similar places first
used irrigation,
Such typical serozemy on loess (25 on the Asiatic map)
encircle in a narrow winding belt the foothills of mountains of
Central Asia, occupying in general an area of around 85,600 square
kilometers, We must realize, though, that on the general map, all
details of this belt could not be separated, and therefore, there
also appear on it sections which are not loess and are unsuitable for
agriculture -- for example, ledges of the old conglomerates,
different dense rocks, etc. In addition, in the loess belt itself
up with hills for irrigation.
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g eros~.ori (1- e?, washing out t
w
h
On the low plains under the mountains, where the cl?
.mate
is much dryer. and hotter than in the foothills, and where processes
of salon and
ea
er~ng, and other
phenomena of the destruction of the soil surface) are effective,
serozemy of a lighter shade are seen with an i.nsxgnlflcant humus
content, These alternate here with Solon
chaky, takyry, stony
waste lands, new unstable affluvia, and, finally, with Y, wa.th sandy waste
lands, These lands no less than the barren serozemy (often of
various bright colors) would be a valuable land. reserve with
irrigation, and some of them also have long Since been transformed
into oases (for example, the oases of
Khorezm).
Professor Albrecht Penek, the well.-known German geographer.,
who is much occupied with questions of the
future (as he incorrectly
believes it) resettlement of land, in his recent
report to the
London Geographical Society concerning the potential capacity of
Central Asia for resettlement, called attention
to the fact that
the Amu~Daroya and Cyr-Dartya Rivers carry into the
Y the Aral Sea and
Lake Balkhash so much water that in the
course of a year a one-meter
layer is added to their surface of approximately
83,300 Square
o a
'
pprox ~-ately a third of this land might be irrigated
an area of around 120,000 square kilometers (not counting tubay
lands), of which not more than 1/3 is at resent
p oasis land. Thus,
there is still a rather large reserve of lands for. irrigation, which
are now marked out for use in Tadzhikistan
. and other districts The
and. transformed into oases, (Zentral Asien, Zeus
chrift der Gesellschaft
fur Erdkunde Zu Berlin. 1931, _nwnber 1-2).
Measuring on a map the whole expanse of se
rozems except for
areas of continuous sand, solonchaisy, and stony waste lands, we obtain
sTRIciED
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rnat potentiala.ties, owing
the zone of barren steppes
to the ahas g
of light and heat, and owing to the fact that there
e abundance,
tly utilized for fruit growing.
par
e
z y
.860'800 square kilometers.
sandy serozemy, etc.
takyrys
742ab00 square kilometers
sandy wastelands a o a .......
All this land is utilized for winter or fall pasture. Among
are also haloxene forests valuable for
the sandy wastelands there ar
area of 120,000 square kilometers. As places for
fuel, with a total
raising caracul lambs, certain sands are rated by specialists as no
less profitable than the chernozemy. One must add to this the
possibility of using certain sands for rubber bearing plus which
are gathered wild or cultivated,
m zone also belong certain parts of Azerbeydzhan
To the seroze
'onand the Kalmyk region, in the
fDagestan,oothills of the the North_CaucasGaucasus rega. ,us along the Caspian Sea, and also a small
s are widespread, mainly an very new
part of ArraenJ Here serozem
with irrigation, they are partially used
alluvia (on loess), but
n etc. In the North Caucasus, in the Ka~Yk
for cultivating cotto ,
? ns-Vo a (in the former BukeeV Orda) there are
region and the Tra ~
also huge sand expanses much of which are drifting sand dunes.
In all there number in. the. European part of the USSR around
80,000 square kilometers of serozemY and, light-brown soils similar
,
re arenaceous-loamy (in the lower Volga).
to them, of 'which half a
Of Tight-bro~~ soils, only the soils ` of the s~o-called Berovskiy
a delta around A:strakhan~ are, with irrigation
mounds n ,
in the~volg
san dY wastelands is, nonetheless, huge, and
area of stony and
al Asia republics, where it numbers:
redominates in size in our Centr
p
.
m with solonchakr and stony,
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still is water in the rivers available for irrigation, the water
flowing from the mountains onto these desert plains.
In the Transcaucasus at Lenkoran', and on the Black Sea
littoral from Sochi to Batwn, the soils are unlike all others in
the Soviet Union -- krasnozemy Lred-earth soils] and zheltozemy
,'5ellow-earth soils], and brown forest soils in a stage of transition
to krasnozemy and zheltozemy. The latter, however, extend much
further onto the slopes of the Caucasus, under deciduous forests.
Krasnozemy and zheltozemy are notable for the fact that they are
greatly leached (contain no1Vlime) yet not transformed into podsol --
on the contrary, they contain comparatively little silica, but
are rich in clay (or in part with hydrates of iron and. aluminum).
They are essentially different from podsols, in which silica is
accumulated and clay particles are washed beneath. But krasnozemy
also have an acid reaction, and their absorption ability remains, as
their base is not saturated. The brown forest soils of the southern
deciduous forests occupy an intermediate place between them.
It is conjectured that krasnozemy of the Batum area (such as
red laterite tropical soils) originate not so much in modern as in
ancient processes of the weathering of chiefly volcanic rocks.
In natural state under forest trees, humus accumulates on the
surface of the soil and bleaches out, as do the forest podsolic
soils of the northern forests. Brought under cultivation, this
upper layer is easily washed off, and the lower layer of ancient
red clay comes to the surface. It is also known that on the low
littoral terraces?from Sochi to Batum there are unique soils similar
to the northern podsols, though not exactly like them, and in the
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:iiSTRICTED
lower reaches of the Rion River there are also large peat bogs.
However, a full analogy to northern conditions cannot be found
here, because of the influence of the warm moist subtropic climate
of the Black Sea littoral, with precipitation 1,500 to 2,000 and
m'llimeters Yearly. And whatever is the origin of the krasnozemy,`
more ~.
they represent, apparently, especially favorable soil for certain
crops, for example, tea.
Brown forest soils, being leached and having no salts, but
comparatively clayey and not lacking nutritive elements, may also
be preferred for certain crops, such as fruit trees, certain
varieties of tobacco,. etc.
The.area of the krasnozemy of Batum and Lenkoran' is established
(very approximately) as ~,80o square kilometers. The area of the
forest soils in the Caucasus and in the Crimea is as much as
brown
62,000 square kilometers, and almost all of it is found in forests,
some of which are very valuable timber, and some of which are
deteriorated, sparse and scrubby woods.
7. Sails of HighaMountain Regions
Especially distinctive are high mountain regions of the
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c%_:Jt\ V,
S
Caucasus, Tyan'-Shan', the Altay Mountains,;
the
Cherskiy ridge, and others, above the forest zone, with perpetual
snow and glaciers on the heights. Also, in the Caucasus,, Tyan,'.-Shan',
and in the kltay Mountains, above the forest zone is a still wider
zone of subalpine and alpine mountain forests, representing excellent
summer pasture land, and in some places (in the subalpine zone) are
n
utilized on a small scale for, barley cultivation, Mountain-meadow
soils are a special type -- leached, more or less rich in humus,
but not swanpY, bearing especially abundent flora. Soils of the
?ES T8j TEll
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EiRiCTEO
are more like the chernozem soils. But, since
subalpine meadows a
usually mountain meadows, especially those of the high alpine zone,
alternate with rocky slopes and heights, of course we cannot i
consider the available area in the mountain meadow none to be more
~
than half of the total area. This is particularly true because many ~.
~t
mountain meadows are ;, damaged by excessive pasturing and are eroded
bymountaa.n streams. Here soil preservation should be practiced. k
? ;~
h
On the .--o h;gh tablelands of Tyan'-Shan' (the so-called.syrty), for
example valley, in the Archa valley and Lake Chatyrkul',
in the Altay ,
E
instead of mountain meadows there are unique highmountain steppes.
~,
These occur on the high tablelands of the western Alt ays (in OyratiYa)?
They have unique mountain-steppe soils somewhat reminiscent of the
chestnut soils of arid steppes. These soils are all good pasture
lands.
On the most western branches of the Tyan'-Shan' system in
KitgiziYas Uzbekistan, and Tadzhikistan, the zone of mountain
meadows is very little developed. Here the arid mountain steppes --
saliferous rise to great heights (Li3 on the Asiatic
partly, even,
map), while on the Pamir Mountains at heights of around Ij.a000 meters
above sea level real wastelands are seen, with soil reminiscent
of the serozemy of the low flat lands of Central Asia. The mountains
of Siberia (beginning with the Altays) and the Far East (and even the
northern Urals) have no mountain-meadow zones They are covered to
their tops with forests, and only the very highest places represent
t?gotttsyt' /barren mountain summits], where vegetation and soils are
~
reminiscent of the tundra of the Far North. The upper
somewhat
boundary of the forest on the southern frontier of Siberia lies at
.
2000 meters), while in the north it gradually
a great height (1~Q0 to
4iE~cTAIC
+nrc
rEg
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n the serozem gray-earth_ zone -- Turkmenia and Karakalpakiya
6. In the serozem zone, high-mountain_districts:
Murmansk territory )
)
Northern territory )
)
Siberian territory )
)
Ural region )
Buryato-Mongolia -- mountainous, districts
Lower Volga territory -- deserts and solontsy
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In the chestnut-soil zone
The Lower-Volga territory (30 percent in the chernozem zone)
Kazakstan . . . . . . (10 percent in the chernozem zone)
Dagestan . . . . . . . . . (around 25 percent mountains)
Transcaucasia. . . . . . .... . . (around 60 percent mountains)
Tadzhikistan and Uzbekistan. . . . . . . (around ~0 percent mountains)
Kir izia . . . . . . . . . . ? ? ? ? (around 8; percent mountains)
The least homogenous of these are the Siberian territory, the
North Caucasus, Dagestan, Transcaucasia. But the western part of
the Siberian territory is more homogenous. The vast extent of the
tundra, swamp, arid and stony steppe lands, sand areas, solonchaki,
solontsy, and high-mountain areas gives one a conception of the
relatively low capacity of the land,
The largest expanse of these 'unsuitable" places is found in;
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h.
Kazalc~stan
Turkraenia
Tadzhikistan
Kirh.zia.. . . .. ,
S stony steppes, soiontsy, and
"mal ?~
ovodlen /emi-arid land7
deserts, stony wastelands,
solonchaki, and nmalovode"
r
) mountainous districts
Dagestan . . . , deserts, solonchaki, mountains
But in all those districts the lack of suitable lands is
compensated for by mineral wealth, or by various means of exploiting
the land or by the possibility of expanding industrial crops.
Agricultural specialization, is called for by all conditions of
industrialization of the USSR.
In the table below appended, a calculation is made of the
areas of s oil zones on the whole (guided.. only by a soil map), and
we try to estimate which types of fields each zone contains. In
this, certain numbers are deliberately rounded off in hundreds of
thousands of square kilometers. We see that the distribution of
fields is subject to natural climatic and soil tonality. The northern
zone is almost 95 percent occupied by forests, marshes, and tundra.
Three quarters of all the plowed land of the Soviet Union is at
present in the chernozem zone. Of all the southern zone, not more
than percent is under cultivation; the rest is primitive pasture
land, barren steppes, or mountains. From this one may see how
greatly agriculture still depends on natural conditions, particularly
on soils, and how important it is for plant cultivation and livestock
raising to know how to rationally utilize these, and to remake them.
4'E5P9/CTfO
S /3O ..
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The problems which arise in this matter are more or less
well known, but they will become still clearer if we estimate, now,
utilizing following table, the total number of fields in all
utilizing the
Soviet Union, dividing them into 3 categories.
GENERAL ESTIMATE OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE USSR
1. UNSUITABLE LANDS OUTSIDE OF THE ZONE OF
AGRICULTURE;
Tundra and forest-and-tundra (total) . . . .
Mountain tundra (gol'tsy)? . .. . ? ? .
High-mountain barren lands of the Pamirs . . .
Deteriorated or inaccessible mountain meadows.
Land under snow, glaciers, water, and various
unstudied and unused expanses . ?
Desert lands of barren districts (total) .
Stony barren lands and solonchaki. . ? . ? ?
Total, Group I . ?
II. UNSUITABLE LANDS WITHIN THE ZONE OF AGRICULTURE.
Unsuitable forest areas (except for haloxyla). .
Marshes of various kinds ? . . . ? ?
Chernozem solonet steppes ... ? . . . ,
Zaymishcha in Western Siberia, . ? . ?
Mountain steppes .. e . ? .
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kilometers
;88, 000
775,000
700,000
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II. UNSUITABLE LANDS WITHIN THE ZONE OF
AGRICULTURE (Continued);
Solonet steppes of the chestnut-s
oa.l zone .. .
Stony steppes of the chestnut.soil zones .
.
Takyry in Central Asia ?
Plavni /bore -land and small islands stony, with
bush vegetation7and tugai . .
III. SUITABLE LANDS
Plowed lands
Total, Group II. ,
Meadows (irrigated, d -valle ~iwtq
~ Y,,~ . ? etc, .
Forest suitable areas, ? . , , ? . . , . `
Pastures on suitable lands in the chestnut..-soil
zones ? a . ? ? ? . . . . ? ? ? . .
Pastures on suitable lands in the serozem
zone
Mountain steppes (1/3 of the entire
area ? ,
Mountain meadows ( of the entire area . ?
!6o, ooo
370,000
110,000
oup ITx ? ? . 9,530,000
From this estimate it is evident that the area of possible
reclamation is large, even if one rejects
~ ,..entirely the lands of
Group.x,, The 2nd, 3rd, Lth, 6th, 8th, ~ , and 9th catenaries in Group
Iv belong entirely to the reserve for future reclamatj.on, and in
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can be considerably raise
Figures for, the last group indicate that for the
farming methodsa
exansion of the present sowing area there is a considerable reserves
p
fields or their production
any case can give excellent fodder five
.
d above what it was under prime
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1 From forests (S percent of the suitable area)
2 From marshes (10 percent) . . .. . . , ..
3 Mountain chernozem steppe (30 percent)...
Saliniferous chernozem steppe (10 percent)..
From deciduous forests of the chernozem zone
300,000
10,000
L.0,000
30,000
(10 percent) U3daoa?.?. ?.?
30,000
b Steppes with chestnut soils (30 percent of
the suitable area) . ?
200,000
7 Steppes with serozemy (30 percent of the
suitable area) .. . . . .
130,000
8 Takyry of Central Asia (20 percent) . ... .
22,000
g Plavni (30 percent) . ...... . . .. ..
5,000
Total
817,000
In attempting to carefully divide this into basic areas we
receive the following totals;
Reserve for the expansion of the sowing area In square.
kilometers
In this way, with most careful computation of areas and
soils, which in fact, already are being turned to agriculture at
the present time, our ploughed land can be increased approximately
130 percent over the areas and soils now under cultivation.
This increase may be achieved in all zones, although not
equally. First in order, obviously, is the utilization of chestnut
soils in "dry farming" under grain crops (for the most part in
Kazakstan).
RES TRICTEII
/51-
RESTRICTED
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As has been already said, here the chief obstacles to the
utilization of lands are arid climate, salinity of soils, and lack
of water. Therefore, the profitableness of utilizing the arid
steppes for land cultivation might be disputed in favor of an
economy of livestock-raising alone.
The next largest reserve is in the northern districts, for
the utilization of which radical improvements are demanded, partially
already begun and carried out, There is a certain reserve in the
chernozem'zone, and then in the serozem zone, and also in our
subtropics. The latter are not isolated on our composite tables
because due to their small general areas their occurrence must be
exactly calculated, and this calculation has stall not been made.
But here we are not concerned with the huge areas which are needed
for wheat or fodder cultivation. An expansion of the area of
individual crops in the south cannot influence the general disposition
of the sowing area, and therefore the exclusion of individual southern
crops in favor of fodder crops and crops for local subsistence is
always possible.
Obviously it is very important to consider land utilization
with crop specialization, and with the value of the utilization,
considering also here the possible construction of industrial centers.
Favorable and unfavorable soil and geographic properties, while they
have no absolute importance, nonetheless very substantially influence
the profitableness and relative utility of one or another method of
land utilization, and hence influence the desirability of corresponding
agricultural methods. The objective of this study will be reached if,
even in a first approximation it clarifies these problems raised.
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ESTRICTED
I-~GE PROJECTS AND RECL.dATION
PROBLEMS TN THE USSR IN CONNECTION WITH T,HE
Socialist reconstruction of the USSR agriculture, which opened
great possibilities for the development of all its branches, brings: up
daily greater requirea~ents for new lands suitable for establishing
large Soviet or collective farms, ?02' the
9 development of the various
crops necessary for our national economy. And dur' the c oming years
these requirements will be inareasin
g
Under such circumstances it is quite natural that in a number
of areas and concerning a number of farm crops, we already are faced
with the necessity, and an other areas with other crops we shall reach
very soon the necessity of conversion to agricultural use
18or ge land
areas which need various types of reclamation work to
be done before
they can be used effectively,
These are either lands which are now not used at all or else are
not used adequately (not completely, not intensely enough),, the so-called
"inconvenient" lands of different kinds.
The total surface of such lands in the USSR is very greal
,
counted by Scores of millions of hectares. In most of the areas it
accounted for only approximately, and in many others only Pa' tlY or
even not at all, It stands to reason that, from this enormous land
fund the transition to proper agricultural use is and will be t '
akaang
place first on lands in
the districts where the need for the widening
of agricultural areas is most actual, and in such
land sections which
are to a certain degree already known and which
Will most efficiently
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Accordingly, the "inconvenient" lands will be qualitatively and quan-
titatively expressed stronger, the more unregulated the water balance
of the given territory, the farther the average (mode) devices froth
unity, and the importance of the coefficient of its water-balance. It
is thus understandable that the greatest amount of "inconvenient" lands
and their most extreme manifestation and therefore the greatest need
for reclamation, we find in the first and third zones
excessive and insufficient humidification.
zones of
The first zone -~ that of excessive humidification, occupying
the northern art. northwest area of the USSR is the zone of predonm-
mating arid and anhydrous territories __ steppes, senni-deserts and
Between these zones there is the second zone of unsteady humidi-
fication. This is a more or less wide belt extending from the east and
southeast, to the west and northwest of the USSR. It forms a transi-
tion between the first and third zones: the zone of the dying out
swamping process6S and the appearance in its southern parts of semi-
arid territories, ravines and sends.
The excessive humi dif acts on zone includes the following USSR
areas; the Northern region, the Leningrad oblast, the Western oblast,.
BSSR eloru$s Moscow Oblast, Ivanov Oblast and Nizho rod
~~.~, . the
eastern parts of Siberia.
As mentioned before, the water balance coefficient in this zone
iS steadily above no
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stSraiciEo
faot that the moisture influx is greater than its consumption, the
folbwing hydrologieal and soil conditions are oharaet eristic for .the
excessive humidification. Zone; more or less near-surface occurrence
and water levels; -great density of the hydreraphic system; high
of gro
stanch of wad er levels in the majority of water streams; a compara-
tively low filter capacity of many of them; and, finally, the presence
of enormous swamp areas and swampy lands in different stages of swam-
paness. In various parts of the zone all those conditions are expressed
sireng].Y or weakly depending on "local" factors, but the general degree
o their expreSsion diminishes in the northwest to southeast direction,
to ether with the decreasing significance of the water balance coef-
g
ficient.
From the indicated water balance direction (characteristic for
the excessive humidification Zone), it is possible to judge the basic
tYFe of reclamation needed here. Since we are not able to influence
substantially such water balance factors as precipitation and evapora-
tion oeforts of reclamation. must be directed to the flow of water.
a
It follows that there must be the needed speeding up of the flow of
ace water as well as of ground waters in the lands being improved.
sari'
Thereforea reclamation in the excessive humidification zone leads first
all to the regulation of the water intake of the swampy rivers and
of
sir cams to increasing their water runoff capacity. Without this, all
,
other measures of drainage would have little significanoe. The second
group of measures to be undertaken is to connect the area being drained
by a system of main as d secondary drainag a canals . Finally, on the
basis of this general ix-troduction of canals, the water supply of the
reclaimed land should be and can be regulated.. This is done with the
proper drying or drainage, together with whatever else has to be done
in terms of the requirements of growing one or another crop on these
dS TRICTEJ
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i usi RIOTED
lands. For many meadows and forested areas, the first task will be to
take the proper steps in preparing for the particular crops; cutting
down hillocks, cutting and notching, etc.
The primary targets for reclamation will be the vast swampy
bottom lands and many river valleys of the zone under considex'atiol,
in order to utilize them intensely, mainly for meadows and partly for
vegetables and other crops. In many cases of bottom land reclamation,
it will be quite pertinent to raise the question of regulating not only
their water, but their nutrition as well by way of using, besides drain-
ing, irrigation with spring freshets rich in silt. The purpose of this
is not humidification, but fertilization and compensation for nutritive
substances (mainly potassium) which are found in inadequate quantities
in swampy soils. Further, of great importance in the zone under con-
sideration, will be the drying and draining of the excessivelyhumidi-
fled mineral soils which are becoming swampy, arable lands as well as
in areas converted from forest into lands to be used for flax, dairy'-
vegetable and in the extreme North (arelo-Murmansk and Northern ae
also for Soviet and collective grain farms. As to the forests,
a considerable part of them is swampy (mainly water dividing moss
swamps). The question& forest draining is raised with the purpose of
creating normal conditions to extend plantings. Of no less essential
importance, however, is the question of converting surplus forest areas
to agricultural uae. This applies to forest areas with 25-30 per cent
above the normal amount of timber. In the zone under consideration,
this constitutes a total area on tha order of 1 million hectares
(Northern .. 28 million hectares; Leningrad Oblast - 2.0 million
heetares, ; Western Gblast - 2.0 million hectares; Central Sblast - 2.0
million hectares; and Uralblast - 10 million heotares). The agricul?
tural use of these areas will require, besides uprooting and ploughing,
also drainage work in part of these areas.
aiNiCiED
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The swamp -area in the entire excessively humid zone, not count-
ing Siberia, constitutes about 56 million heotares (on the average 20
.
per oent of the total area); of the se, about 38 million hectares are
in the extreme north and the ttnidra; besides them, the area comprises
about 18 million hectares, of which about 8-9 million hectares are
moss and forest,mershes and the remaining area consists of transitory,
depression and bottom land sumps. Excess humidity aid mineral soils
becoming swampy are not accounted for, and are not included in the
above figures. According to very tentative information, the excessively
humid lands occupy about 3.0 million hectares of the existing arable
land. Thus, the total area of agricultural importance (meadows, forest,
gardens) which needs to be drained, amounts to 13-1!i million heotares
of the zone under consideration, not counting the draining of parts of
areas cleared of forests, and the reclamation of forests aid swamps in
Siberia.
The largest reclamation projects envisaged at present (river
regulation, pa' tly due to slides and drying up) on the entire enormous,
above mentioned swampy area, are givenin the proper table. In the
above mentioned index are included only the projects which are more or
less outlined according to the present time data,of the land organi-
zations. They are included in the present five-year plan, and in part
relate to the following period. Not included are may projects which
will become apparent during the following years in connection with the
development of industry sad transportation, etc. Many draining projects
are in the north, in connection with the planned Kama'-Pechora waterway,
and others.. to the excessively humid zone within the borders of
Siberia it stall is outside the agriculture]. belt and the snouut of
swamps here is completely disregarded. Siberiat s agricultural belt is
mostly in the zone of unstable humidity or it borders on this zone.
It will be examined below.
~cJl`HiCiEO
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a ESTRICTED
NAME OF PROJECT
Prisukhonokaia depression
AREA in
HECTARES
Vologda district 165,000
Komel'skaia depression
Komela and 'Situ rivers
Vologda district,
Griazovetskiy rayon
25,00o.
Kholmogorekiy swamp area
Arkhangelsk district
20,000
Pinezhskiy, Kuloyska:y and
other rayons
Arkhangelsk district
30,000
Kuromskiy swamp area
North-Dvina di8trjct
15,000
Kitayskie swamps
Volga and Dina rivers
basins' water divide
20,000
Chan swamp
Arkhangelsk district,
Plesetskiy rayon
20,000
Soviet farm "Polar pioneer"
and colleotive farms in
its vioinity
Karelo-Murmansk region,
Louki station 18,000
I I LENT NGRAD REGI ON
Bottom lands of the outflow of
the Dolgaia and Samarka
rivers
Luzhskiy district,
Rudnenskiy rayon
18,000
Bottom land of the upper Sul at'
river
Pskov district, Novorzhev
rayon
20,000
"Giant" sovkhoz and suburban
Leningrad distri
t
U
i
dairy-garden sovkhozes
c
,
r
tskiy
and Detskosel'skiy rayons
50,000
Bottom land of the Sum river
Garden-dairy sovkhozes on the
Sestraretsk belt railroad
Leningrad district, Kotel'-
skiy rayon
10,000
Leningrad district,
Porkhovskiy rayon 179000
Collective farms of the
Visherskiy rayon
Novgorod district,
Viaherskiy rayon
20,000
Swamps in the Polist' river
basin south of Lake Ilomen'
Novgorod. district,
Lyohkov. kiy rayon
400,000
"rl'ioh" kal'khoz
Loydenopol'skiy district,
Oaatskiy rayon
30,000
Collective farm group Onezh' e
Loydenopol'skiy district,
Oshtinskiy rayon
20,000
IESTRICTEO ;3
LOCATION
NORT1 ERN TERRITORY
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NAME OF PROJECT
AREA IN
LOCATION HECTARES
Swslnp area "Zharkovsko-
svitsk'y mokh"
Smolensk district, Bel'skit'
Baturinskiy, I1' nskiy,
Preahistenskiy-rayons 180,000.
. (plan 30,000)
Bottom lands of rivers: ssa,
Konspliata, Los'ma, Nitsa,
Loksha, Peska, Vyrovka,
Chistik and others
Velikolutsk district,
Sebezhskiy, Loknenskiy,
Oktiabriskiy, Pakhomskly
rayons
32,000
Bottom lands of rivers: Munoz, Pzhev district, E1'tsavskiy,
Kosh, Plavenek, Log, Pressey, Azhevskiy, Pogorel'skiy,
Dobrynia, etc. Bakharevskiy rayons
16,000
Bottom land of the Sezh raver
Viaz'ma district, Gzhatskiiy
rayon
8,000
Bottom lands of rivers: Derzh,
Sadik, Ulitsa, Oleshnia, eta.
Viaz'ma district, Novodumskiy,
Viazemskiy~, Gzhatskiy
rayons
15,0G0
Bottom lands of rivers: Zhizdra, Sukkhinicheskiy district,
Dabusha, etc.
Polkhinskiy, Kozel' skiy
and other rayons
12,000
Bottom lands of rivers: Minoz
Sozh, Navli, Oster, Ostrik,
etc
Bottom lands of rivers mutt,
Vykholki, Sudogti, Voblia
and others
Roslavl' district, Stalolits-
skiy, Roslavl'skiy, Shu-
maiohskiy rayons 35,000
Klintso vkiy district,
Nozybko~rskiy, Starodubskiy,
Gordievskiy and other
rayons
IV MOSKVA REGION
28,000
Swamps at the Mologa river
150
000
sources
Bezhetjciy rayon
,
Bottom land of the Dubna
river
Kimry district (between
Sergievo and Verb ilki
stations of the Northern
Railroad
80,000
Bottom land of the Yakhroma
river
Dmitrovskiy district
12,000
Kashin_Kal{azinskie swamps
Towns: Kashin, Kalyazin
60,000
Swamp areas along the rivers:
Gnaa, Nerskaia, Shoe and
the bottom land of the
Oka;, river
Orekhovo-Zuevskiy aid
Kolomenskiy districts
145,000
Petrovsko~Orshiriskiye swamps
Ter' district
70,000
7 ?%TRICTED
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AREA IN
N)ME OF PROJECT LOCATION HECTARES
Meshaherskiy forest meadow- Area between the Kliaz!mma
swarsp area (Southern aad river from the North,
Northern Meshchera) along Oka river from the South,
the Pria arid ? Oka rivers Yuna, Polia, Sh'ey
rivers from the West and
Gus' river from the ? East
a) South Mescheras
Lowland swemps gradually run-
ning into the Oka river bottom
land, covered with swampy for-
est, meadows, pastures and
fields (12%). Drainage of
these swamps makes it possible Riazan' district 1,100,000
to develop dairy farming
(meadows) potato aid flax crops,
hog breeding and improvement
in forest grciwingo For the
near future reclamation of a
130,000 hectare area is en-
visaged.
r M rr wrw SS rwwrwrrwo ar r rrrnrrr w rM rrr rirrr rwrrrrr~rrrw.rw rrww werrrrrrr~rr~r,r?
1) Other explorers determine Mesohera as the area from the Oka river's
bend beyond Dednovo village, to the Kliaz'ma river's right bank,
area of 2.0 million hectares,
V-IVANOVSKAIA INDUSTRIAL REGION
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Northern Meschera, covered with
bog moss (sphagnum) swamps
aid poor soils, represents a
project of 2nd priority Vladimir district
The Buzha and Pelia river basins
Bottom land of the Unzha and
Kolka rivers
Bottom land of the Uvod' and
Suvoritsa rivers
Swamp lands in the basin of the
Lukh river and its tribur
taries
The ravers Site ahd Yan?~ basins
Nero lake basin
Bottom lands of the Solonitsa
and Korba rivers, etc.
900., ,000
16,009
n tr
1!,Q00
Shuysk and Kineshma die-
tricts (between Kineshma
and Garokhovet$)
000
200,000
Rybinsk district
18,000
Yaroslavl' district
30,000
Kostroma district
10,000
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a ESTRICTED
VI NIZBNIY.-NOVGOROD
NAME OF PROJECT
The Vetluga river bottom lad
Bottom lands of rivers: Linda,
Kuztma, Ukhta, Uzola, Ymza,
etc.
The Volga ai Oka rivers bottom
lands (planed for the veer
future)
REGION
AREA IN
LOCATION HECTARES
Nizhniy-Novgorod district 15,000
p
The Viatka river bottom land.
(Bakhchin skoe, Chashkovo, Viatka district (Khalta
Zenzins]coe, Vodinskoe,
Pikhal' skoe ~a d other
swamps )
rinskiy, Viatskiy, Murash-
kinskiy, Kote1Inichakskiy
rayons)
"Gady" swamp, etc. Viatka district
200,000
Bottom lands of the Kama and
Verezovskaya rivers (Smoky Viatka district, Ki;bayskiy
swamp, etc.) rayon
Swamps along the Kobra river Viatka district,
Sinegorskiy rayon
Bottom land of the Tesha river A~zamass district, Lichidea-
evskiy end Azamasskiy
rayons
25,000
10,000
20,000
Bottom land of the rivers Lolan',
Usia and others Nolinskiy district
10,000
VII URAL REGION
Tarmanskiy swamp area between Tiumen' district
300,000
the Lska and Tur rivers
Swamp area, No . 1 Ishimskiy district
150,000
Maslianskiy and Tur' evskiy
swamp areas
pyshminskiye swamps
Swsunps in the Kama river bottom
lend (also Kraseva and
others
RESTRICTED
t ?
10,000
30,000
25,000
Shadrinskiy district 26,000
Perm' district 30,000
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i ESTRICTED
As to the Belorussian SSR, the tot/ swamp area in it amounts
to about 2.6 mi3,ljon hectares, that is 2l per cent of the entire t?r-
ritory of the republic, not counting the excessively humid soils
among the field lands. Of this swamp area about 600 thousand hecta
res
are peat swamps, so that for agricultural use about two million hoc
tares should be available. it is p1 pined to drain towards the
end of
the current five-year plan not less than 20 per cent of all the
BSSR
swamps. The largest swamp body requiring regulation and drainage is
the vast group of predominantly depression swamps in the area
o f the
Pripyat' river, between the Pr ipyatt river in the southwest the
... , Dnepr
river in the east and the Zhlobin-Bobruysk-Slut$k line. The y
dotal
area is above 1.2 million hectares. Daring the first five-year plan
in the BSSR are included the following large re ulation-drains
g ge pro-
jects (indicated are areas not exhausting the whole project, but my
cluded in the current five-year plan):
1,
2.
3.
14.
5?
6,
7.
Basin of the Braginka river
Oreas
Vedrich
Taltka
f' Pol ota
sf H H
Ukhliast'
Usizh-Bug
80,000
Liubanskiy and 50,000
Glussky rayons
Rechitkiy rayon 40,000
rultovitstcay rayon 25,000
Polotskiy rayon 20,000
AyiUlovsxuy rayon 10,000
Tobchanskiy.rayon 8,000
IV
Directly bordering the excessively humid soil zone is the zone
of unsteady humidity. Through a number of gradual transitions this
zone runs together in its northern parts with the excessively humid
zone in the southern parts - with the arid zone.
To the unsteady humid zone, the following areas partly belong:
the northern and western regions of the Ukrainian SSR, the Central,
;:Es TRIC TED
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other districts). The total area of
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Black Soil region, the southern parts (below the Oka river) of the
Moskva Oblast, Central Volga region Bashk' ~ republi.a, southern part
of the Ural region, a cons' datable part of Siberia, Yakut ASSR aid
? n olian ,USSR. The water balance ooefficient in the unp
Bura.ato-~o g -
steadily humid zone fluctuates around 1.0, deviating in some p1'aaes
above the 1.0 and in others under 1.0. A.coordingly we find in the
zone under cons.deration the presence of swamps and swampy lands, but
~.
with lesser density of expansion (mainly in river valleys) per area
unit, as well as areas characteristic for the arid zones sands., ra-
vines, lands requir1rg irrigation and added humidity. Consequently,
the necessary reclamation leads in some cases to drainage and regula-
tion works., and in other. cases and sections, to a Wide development of
work an irrigation and water supply, on runoff regulation of surface
waters with the purpose of supplementary soil humidity as well as pre-
venta.on of (reinforcing of ravines) and measures for reinforc-
erosion ing of sands., We shall start the examination of reclamation projects
in the unsteadily humid zone in the Ukraine.
Within the borders of the Ukraine SSR, forest and forest-steppe
the zone under consideration. We have here a oon-
belts belong to
sand swampy lands -about 1,600 thousand
siderable amount of swamp
hectares, mainly of IransitorY and lowland type, dispersed in separate
bodies over the entire area s eoially rich is the Korostenskiy dist
~ p
r ~
antlY concentrated in river valleys. The swamps
~.ct),but predom' ~
are rather rich, very suitable for the development of te? hemp culN
areas in the Ukraine are the swainps in the
tore. The largest Vamp
rivers; Irdyn', Ross, Irpen', Tetorev,
vs,ll eye of the f ol1 awing
Zdvizh, Oster, SmolyaXaka, K1, even', TYas' nin' , Supoy, Trubezh, Su1a,
there (Kiev, Poltava, ChernigOV, Nezhin,
` Khoro~.. ~lobov~a ,and o ,,
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these swamps, suitable for use in the near future, is about 4o0 thou-
sand heotares. Their reclamation is directly connected
with regul a-
tion of the rivers mentioned. This work already has been started.
During the current five-year plan it is plaimed to drain about. 262
thousand hectares, of which 1,1.E thousand heotares require intensive
drainage.
Flooded lands should also be mentioned. These include Dnes-
trovokiye (between the Dnestr.'and Turunchuk rivers
. ) in the Moldavian
ASSR with an area up to 30 thousand heotares the flooded lands of
the Bug and the In u ~ in the N~,
g ~ kolaevskjy district with an area of up
to 20 thousand hectares,
Tn the Central Blaok-earth region the swamps and swampy lands
are concentrated mainly in the river bottom lands and they cover an
area of about 250 thousand heotares. Among them the bottom lands of
the following rivers should be indicated; Tikha a Sosna 12
Y (,000 hec-
tares); SVan (8,000 hectares); Khopr (7,ooo hectares); Savela (8,000.
heotares); Usmanka (6,ooo hectares); Bityug (6 oo0 hectares);
Chernaya Kalitva (5,000 heotares); and of the rivers North Donets,
Vorona, Motyr', Psel, Prat, Potudan', Kiroch Bobrova
ya, Chelkovaya,
Oka, Kroina, Don, Vorskla and others with a total swampy area above
18,000 heotares.
Besides the drainage work, large water supply works have to
take place here on the lands of the sovkhoxes and Boll act'
xve farms and
Maohine-Traotor Stations; for the near future, these works are out-.
lined over an area of about 850 thousand heotares. Irrigation will
be necessary hero also, mainly for vegetable crops a
zzi p~'t1y for mead
0W8; total area about 100 thousand heotares.
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RESTRICTED
In the Central Volga regions as in the preoeding one, reclama-
tion of both kinds - draining and water supply - irrigational - have
to take place. The largest areas indicted for drainage and other rei
clamation work are the followings
1) the Sura river basin (guznetskiy, Penzenskiy, Syzranskiy, U1' yanov-
skiy districts and LM.O.), an area of about 50 thousand hectares;.
2) the river Moksha basin (Penzensk district end A.M.O. ), ei area of
about 140 thousand hectares;
3 ) the Cheremshan% river basin (Ul' ianovskiy district), an area of
about 33 thousand heotaras.
As to the water supply and irrigational reclamation work, such
will take place mainly in the Trans-Volga arid part of the region, in
the Samara, Buzuluk, Drenburg and other districts. We shall talk be-
low about these reclamation projects.
A considerable part of Siberia and the Far-Eastern region,
specifically most of its agricultural belt, is in the zone of variable
humidity. Besides the very large areas of swamps and swampy lands
which are within this belt (according to very approximate calculations,
more than 10 million hectares), there are also quite large steppe
areas of distinctly arid. olimate which have to be watered and irrigated.
Further on, we shall indicate the largest reclamation problems of drain-
ing and irrigation in Siberia and the Far-Eastern region which now are
standing out more or less clearly in connection with agricultural re-
construction, The realization of these projects will make it possible
to create meadow lands and to develop animal husbandry, flax industry,
grain and technical crops, and will also facilitate the cultivation of
rice (Far East region).
3ESTRICTED
/7/
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To solve these problems, it will be necessary to carry out vast
projects to regulate rivers, to strengthen banks and protect low areas
from floods (Far East region), to drain, and in places irrigate sovkhoz
and collective farm areas. These are large problems and still they do
not cover all the possibilities of this region. During the current
five.-year plan for Siberia and the F.E.R., some of these problems al-
ready have been tackled, but so far, on a small scale. The entire re
clamation area in Siberia during the first five-year plan consists of
650 thousand heotares for draining and about 100 thousand hectares for
irrigation. The following are the largest Siberia and F.E.R, draining
problems;
( Om' , Tara) and L& e Chan
(Chulyrn, Kargat rivers and
others)
Vasyuganskiy swamp area
Rybino-Kargalinskoye area bord-
ered by the Intysh, Ishiza, and
Om' rivers
Barabinskiy swamp area, part of
the basins of the Irtysh river
Novosibirskiy and
Barabinskiy districts
4,000,000
Narym region
1,000,000
Tarskiy and Tshimskly
rayons
2,100,000
The river Ob' bottom land (total Biysk, Barnaul, Novosi- 350,000 (in the
area 1.8 million hectares) birek districts butter industry
Swampy land areas along the riv-
ers: Zeya, Nara, Selendzha,
rayon)
Tom', Urga, Tu, etc. Far East Region 400 000
Prlmorskiy rayon. Basins of Lake
Khania, of Ussuri, Luau, Van,
Khor, Bikin and others
Biro-Bidzhansk rayon. Basins of
river Lnur and its tributaries
Ik, Bira, Dabur, Bidzhan,eto.
,t U
600,000
800,00o
The largest of the irrigational projects outlined at the present
tune are the follovuing:
1) Irrigation of the Koybal'skaya steppe (southern part of the Abak-
anskayo steppe) situated between the Abakan ands"isey rivers
'rC
h
(Minusinskiy distriot, Bemskiy rayon), on en area of 6o,000 hea-
9ESTRIOTED
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tares,' on 10,000 hectares of which irrigation work is being
at the present time with the waers of the Uya river,
2) Irrigation of the Aleyskaia steppe from the Aley river
district) on an area up to 22,000 hectares.
skit' district, with a total area of L5,000 hectares.
Rub stovskiy
Irrigation of the Iyusskaya and Uibatskaya steppes of the Khakas-
The majority of these systems allow the introduction of valuable tach-
nical crops; for example, sugar beet.
In the Buryato-Mongolian ..SSR, in the zone of irregular humid-
ity, there are also considerable areas which in order to be used need
drainage as well as irrigation. We shall indicate the following as
the largest of the draining projects outlined at the present timer
1) Keymarskiy swamp area, Tunkinskiy rayon (10,000 hectares).
7.
2) Kabanskiy swamp area along the aka Zagda Duran, TomlY' Y,
mur and other rivers of the Kabanskiy rayon (16,000 hectares).
3) Itantsingskiy swamp area along the Itantsa river. Verkhneudinskiy
rayon (8,000 hectares).
Among the irrigation projeots we shall indicates
) In the Selenginskiy rayon in the Selenga, Dzhida, Khilka, Sulkhari,
and Iro rivers valleys, on an area of about 10,000 hectares.
2) In the Kiakhta rayon, in the Chikoy river valley, about 10,000 hoc-
tares.
The zone ofvariable humidity gradually becomes the arid zone
of unsuff iaient humidity. This latter zone covers a vast area in the
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aEsi a1 ED
USSR It includes the southern part of the Ukrainian SSR, Crimean
the left bank part of the Central Volga region, Lower Volga re-
ASSR,
ion, North Cauoasus region, the Dagestan ASSR, the Trans-Caucasus
g
Kazak ASSR the Turkmen SSR, the Uzbek SSR, the Tadzhik SSR,
SFSR, the
and finally the Kirghiz ASSR
The water-balance coefficient in this zone everywhere is below
unity, and therefore, we have here a number of very characteristic
hydrological conditions -~ a sparse hydrographic system, low water lev-
el in the rivers, deep ground waters which are quite saline, dryness
of
of soil and in many cases the developffient/processes which make theca
saline. Soil erosion develops and soil is blown away, with the forma-
tion of ravines and unstable sands. However, the water balance on all of this s vast territory of inadequate humidity varies considerably, --
from 0,7-0.6 in the. zone's northern sections (for example, Northern
in its extreme south aid southeast sections (for ex"
Ukraine), to 0.05
ample, many parts of the Turkmen SSR). Corresponding to the range of
n of coefficient of water balance, and the degree to which
fluctuata.o
above indicated hydrological conditions are present, the
all of the
degree of aridness and extent to which there is urgent need of addi-
tional moisture in tail zone, varies greatly. I. some sections, ir-
rigation is necessary only ~ during certain and periods or for certain
very valuable crops which need a lot or water. In other sections, ir-
i ation is a basic prerequisite for any type of farming.
rg
In some places, due to the composition of purely local condi-
also have here excessively moist lands; for exemple, the
tions, we
sedimentary 1snds in river deltas (Kuban', Dnepr
swampy lands of the Black Sea sore, and others located in southern
clixnactao i.;ona ? and because of this, in most cases, very valuable
coedit .
RESTRICTED
Dos, Volga), the
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laud.
The total area of lands whose reclamation needs a supply of
water rid irrigation in the entire arid zone of the USSR is very
millionsof hectares. Here, however,
large,. and is measured in tons of
we come up against conditions cowiaon to arid. countries: there are con-
siderably more lands requiring irrigation and suitable for, it, than.
there are water supplies which could be used for this irrigation.
Existing water resources and their irrigational capacity represent
here the limits to which irrigation can be developed. Therefore, ir-
rigation projects have to be studied starting with the irrigation pos-
sibilities of individual irrigation sources, insofar as we have data
on these. But, unfortunately, on many of them the necessary' data is
not available. The second limiting factor for reclamation' projects in
the arid zone will be the suitability of soils for irrigation and agri-
culture in connection with their hydrology, topography, salinity, etc.
In this regard, we are far from having the necessary data, particu-
lar)Y for those indiea ed projects for which detailed exploration has
not yet been accomplished. Therefore, the figures given below on ir-
rigated areas in most cages are only tentative, rough ones, which have F
to be made more precise as a result of adequate research and study. !~
F
We shall start the study of reclamation projects in the arid
zone of the USSR, coi encing with the Ukraine. The steppe belt belongs
to the and zone of the Ukraine SSR. This, in turn, may be divided
into two basic parts along the line of Berdiansk, Zaporazh' e, Zinov' evsk.
The northern part is mainly subject to local irrigation, while the
southern section maces more demands upon national irrigation. The fol-
lowing rivers serve as sources of irrigation in the Ukraine: Dnepr,
.tiEsrRierEu
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ESUIctfo
_ etc. At the present time the
Bus, I ~: Ingulets, Volch' ia, Sarc~al.a, Ukrae
? an projeGt$ are indicated for the
following. p~`~cipa]' a.rr~.gati
(first priority):
raZh+e sections, from the
Dnspropetravsk ~d Zapo
1) In the 2,000 heor
water of the Dneprostroy day,
Dnepr, river, from the upper
the right bank o an be ir-
the left bank and 45,QO0 heotares on
tares on
~. total about 68,000 hectares.
rigat ed
2) Prom the the Dnepr tributaries diso g ~
;
p
?an of the follow~g areas is ossible
along the left bank, the arrig~ta. ~'log..
e Kil'when river; L0,000 hectares in the Pa
5,000 hectares from th ,,~ 000 hectares
lch' a Samara river; azd about 3s
radskiy rayon from the Vo y
the Volch'ya and Tersa rivers.
from
dam and the tribut~c"i?s
From the lower water of the yepr .
3) ate the following
w the dam, it is possible to irrig
discharging below
hea... ~a.
areas:
a) on the left bank;
and riQer8.?...0 9,000
from the Malaya Moskovka
....12:000
't r+ BeloZerka river ......................
ostaevka rivers...?.?.?,15,aoo
n ,+ Rogachki and Garr
b) on the right bank: 000
from the Tonal Duke river. .. 1 000
a to 5aksagan' (Kr~.vorazh' e)
' 1+ Kri'VOy Ruz) river.. ? ?x,000
,+ Solenaya (Nikapo ,
'r ~+ Yngulets river. ?....??
nl + to 6,000
n ++ Dnepr - from N~kop
? ...................17,000
In the gherson rayon.... Total 1 ,000
14.) rigati.on of the lower Dn epis left bank steppes, ~ gross
Tr a1
es net L80,000 hectares) w by way of a mechanic
area 600,000 h$ctar (
j:'3fljJffD _;.
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RESrRacreo
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raising of the Dnepr river water through the facilities of the pumping
station at Kakhovka, which obtains energy from two lower hydro-electric
stations (Nikopol' aid Gornostaevka) (secondarily, from Dneprostroy).
region; total gross area about 120,000 hectares,
5) Irrigation of the right bank steppes in the Kherson-Nikolaev
6) Irrigation from the Southern Bug; total gross area about
160,000 hectares of which 115,000 hectares sre on the left bank and
L5,000 heotaros on the right bank.
7) Besides these areas, irrigation is indioated in the Donbas
area from nearby rivers and streams on an area of about 25,000 hectares.
In the Kharkov rayon the Lopan', Uda, Donets, and Vorskla rivers should
irrigate an area of about 17,000 hectares; in the Melitopol' rayon from
the Molochnaia, Berda and Kal'mius rivers, an area of about 8,000 hec-
tares; in the Moldavi ' ASSR, an, area of about 75,000 hectares; and in
the Kremenchug rayon of Poltavshchina, an area of about 5,000 hectares.
With all the souroes mentioned it is planned to irrigate about
300,000 hectares during the current five-year plan.
In the second place, irrigation in connection with the Dneprostroy
should include the irrigation projects of the higher areas between
Kokhovka and Nikopol';
a) on the left bank - about 500,000 hectares
b) on the right bank - about 200,000 hectares.
But these problems are yet entirely unexplored and represent also con-
siderable technical difficulties in terms of having enough Dnepr water
(building of reservoirs).
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etc. and 3) production of a considerable amount of hydro-electric
power. This will be achieved by the joint impact of the following
measures; establishing- regulatory reservoirs on the upper part of
the river; building canals for irrigation and water supply; currying
off part of the flood waters into the sand and reinforcing the lower
ricer area. V~ithout regulation of the runoff, the Terek river is
capable of irrigating about 900,000 hectares. By regulating the run-
off with reservoirs, it will irrigate up to 1.3 million hectares
(obtaining besides that, about one million kilowatts of hydro-electric
power). The entire Terek problem is being worked out now, but part of
the water supply and irrigation systems is already underway. The
Alkhanchurskaya system can supply 175thousand hectares with water, ir-
rigating 18,000 hectares' The Mato-Kabardinskaia irrigation system
would be able to supply water to 65,000 hectares, irrigating 33,000
hectares. The Tersko-Smirnovskiye canals should irrigate 100,000 hec-
tares and supply water for 1,000,000 hectares. Then there are the
Kumskiye and Sunzhenskiye canals.
in connection with the Terek river problem there is also the
problem of using the Sulak river (Dagestan Republic), which, a.h addi-
tion to hydro-electric power, can irrigate an area of 150-200 thousand
hectares,
In Dagestan also, the problem of using the Semur river should
be pointed out. Its irrigation capacity is about 20,000 hectares; and
the smaller streams in the Derbent (Terekomeyskaya and Rubasskaya sys-
texas) Kizlyar, Bab aiyurtovsky districts.
Use of new sources and reconstruction of old native systems
will make it possible to increase the cotton area to 75-80 thousand
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hectares (instead of the 17,000 at present), and the
up to 25,000 hectares,
area
It is further necessary to indicate the large problem of land
irrigation in the Sal'skiy district, from the Sal river over an area
of 100,000 hectares (regular and also estuary irrigation).
The next largest problem, up to now little known and r equiring
adequate exploration, - is the Manych problem. It speoifies the con-
struction of a navigable-irrigation canal along the Manych river valley,
connecting the Black Sea with the Caspian Sea,. On the upper section,
below the water divide of the canal, with the aid of two dams, a tre-
mendous reservoir will be built. Water will be fed to the canal from
the flowing surface waters of the Stavropol' plateau as well as by
canals leading from the Kuban' and the Don Rivers. The carrying kbut
Cl )
of this project will make possible/the irrigation of about 1.5 million
hectares in the lower Don area - 150,000 hectares; from the mouth of
the Manych to Proletarskaia - 150,000 hectares; on the canal's south-
ern slope - 600,400 hectares; and in the Kalmyk oblast M 600,000 hec-
tares, making these areas available for the production of alfalfa,
gambo hemp, cotton, tubers and other crops; and (2) the attainment of
about i60 thousand kilowatts of hydro-electric power at the dams; and
finally, this development will be of enormous importance to tranepor-
tMion.
Besides these large irrigational problems, there are in the
North Caucasus: 1) problems of water supply for almost all the terri-
tories of the region; ponds, artesian and shaft wells must be built
when organizing sovkhox and collective farms. They total area requir-
lug such water aupply measures about 30 million heotares; azd 2)
smaller irrigation problems; as, for examples a) the Kalaus river
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valley irrigation (Stavropol' district), an area oe 255,000 hectares;
b) water supply through the Digorskiy canal (North Osetiniya), 'a
.
L.0,000-hectare area, c) irrigation of a 20, 000-hectare area in the
Ust'&[edveditekiy rayon, d) irrigation of 100,000 heotaxes in the low-
lands suitable for valuable garden-Orchard crops,
or Don river area,
rice, etc.
Besides the irrigational problems in the North Caucasus, we
have also a number of drainage problems. The largest problems of this
kind an the North Caucasus are the drainage problems of the naturally
very valuable but swampy lands - Kubanskiye, PriazovSkiye and Adygeyskiye
flood lands, and AksaYskiYa and Donskiye lands flooded in the spring.
The total area of the Trans-Kuban' lower left bank (from the
Mips ?ps river 15 kilometers from Krasnodar to Varenikovskaya station) is
of which 65,000 hectares are subject to first
about 200,000 hectares,
priority reclamation. The total area of the Azov' lowlands, located
an the river Kuban' s right bank between the Kuban' , the Sea of Azov
and the Protoka river .. is above 600,000 hectares, of which 100,000
hectares are marked first prioritY for reclamation. In the Adygeyskiye.
...The essence
s 50,000 hectares are indicated for reclamation.
lowland the
of lowland reclamation amounts to regulating the flow of/Kuban' and
Protoka rivers, and of the mountain streams which empty into the Kuban'.
It involves draining swampy areas, protecting them against future
floods, and prov necessary irrigation. Rich lowlands can be used
~.d~?ng
for rice, IJMNi vegetable, orchard and grain orops.
The .ksayskoDonskoye lowlands represent a sweunpy area on the
its tributaries, the Aksay, Tuzlovka, eto.,
shores of the Don river and
which is flooded yearly by the spring waters of the Don and Aksay? The
flooded lands are now being used as inferior hay-cutting meadows. They
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are sources of malaria for Rostov, Novocherkassk, and Azov. Reclama
tion of the lowlands, repairing the banks, drainage and irrigation
will make it possible to use them for valuable vegetable and berry
crops, rice, etc.
First priority is indieated in reclamation of flooded land on
an area of 80,000 hectares, under conditions which tie in the interests
of both agriculture and the fishing industry.
Further, drainage of the Instisunskiy swampy land in the Gunder-
messkiy district should be indicated, This is a total area of L.0,000
hectares located between the Terek river on the north, the Belaya
river on the west and spurs of the Caucasus mountains on the south
There are large swamp areas which need draining in the Dagestan
ASSR. Among these, attention should be given to; 1) regulation and
draining in the lower Aksay and Aktash rivers - an area of 20,000 hec-
tares; 2) draining the swamps at the Karg al inskiy gap over an area of
60,00o hectares; and 3) regulation and draining at the lower Samur -
about 6,000 hectares.
We shall turn now to reclamation problems along the Volga. The
largest problems here are those of irrigation in the Central arui Lower
Volga regions.
In the Central Volga region the irrigation of a total area of
1.3 million hectares is enviseg ed; by the use of local streams as well
as the Volga itself. The main irrigation projects indioaed are;
Donguzskiy and Kin].' skit' from the Ural river - about 100,000 hectares;
Tlekskiy, from the Tlek river ? about 100,000 hectares; Volzhskiy (both
north and south of the Volga river) - about 600,000 hectares;md the.
M N -
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are souroes of malaria for Rostov, Novooherkassk, and Azov. Realema-
Lion of the lowlands, repairing the banks, drainage and irrigation
will make it possible to use them for valuable vegetable 'and berry
crops, rice, eta.
First priority is indicated in reclamation of flooded land on.
an area of 80,000 hectares, under conditions which tie in the interests
of both agriculture and the fishing industry.
Further, drainage of the Instisunskiy swampy land in the. Gunder
messkiy district should be indicated. This is a total area of 4.0,000
hectares located between the Terek river on the. north, the Belaya
river on the west and spurs of the Caucasus mountains on the south.
There are large swamp areas which need draining in the Dagestan
ASSR. Anong these, attention should be given to; 1) regulation and
draining in the lower Aksay and Aktash rivers ? an area of 20,000 hec-
tares; 2) draining the swamps at the Kargalinskiy gap over an area of
60,000 hectares; and 3, regulation and draining at the lower Sarmur -
about 6,000 hectares.
We shall turn now to reclamation problems along the Volga. The
largest problems here are those of irrigation in the Central and Lower
Volga regions.
In the Central Volga region the irrigation of 'a total area of
1.3 million hectares is enviseg ed, by the use of local streams as well
as the Volga itself. The main irrigation projects indicated are:
Donguzskiy and Ktnel' ekiy from the Uraraver w about 100,000 hectares;
Tlekskiy, from the Tlek river - about 100,000 heotaree; Volzhskiy (both
north and south of the Volga river) - obout 800,000 hectares; and the
I,j
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remainder from the Samarka river (about 65,a0U hectares), Salmysh,
Chernaya and other rivers.
The largest reolamation problems and objeets in the Lower
Volga region are the followings First, there is the problem of ex-
tensive Trans-Volga irrigation. This problem specifies the irriga-
tion of the Trans-Volga steppos with the Volga river water raised part-
ly by powerful pumping stations into large reservoirs from which,
over a main canal system, the water is distributed over the area to
be irrigated; and partly supplied through a naturally-flowizig canal.
This problem is closely connected with the Greater Volga prob-
lem; that is, the construction on the Volga of a series of multipur-
pose dams (for power, irrigation and transportation). Depending upon
one or another variation in how the Greater Volga problem is worked
out, and how irrigation problems are decided, this will lead either
toe 1) greater emphasis on mechanical water-raising versus gravity;
or 2) the location of the irrigated land areas - either predomin-
antly in the Syrt section or in the Caspian depression. eaording to
the main variations, irrigation from the Volga river is possible over
a total area of 10 - 12 million hectares on the left bank aid up to
1.0 million hectares within the boundaries of the Kalmyk oblast. Use
of the irrigated lands is envisaged for wheat, falfa, sugar beets
and other crops. In this connection, the main purpose iss 1) to ob -
taro a reliable wheat supply; and 2)' to establish a reliable irri-
gated source of fodder so as to develop animal husbandry in the region.
The next large problem is they rgeni-Sarpinskaya problem which
specifies water supply (300,000 hectares) and irrigation (100,000 hec-
tares) in the northern part of the Kalmyk steppe, with the'use of the
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eni strearns as well as the water raised mechana.-
y
~
local flow of the rg
cally from the Volga river.
t~,an roblern of the Volga-Akhtu~-
~ucther~ there is the recl~n& P
vul.th work an the banks ind3cat ed, to-
binskaya flooded land and delta,
rri anon of a total area of 800,000 hectarcs
gather with drainage and ~ g
to floods by the Volga. These lands caul.
of valuable lands subject
ve etables and technical, crops such as gs nbo hemp,
be used for growing g
cotton, and rice. This problem is being Forked out now and its solution
n of the interests of both agriculture and
will require an. ~,ntegrat. ~o
the fishing industry.
n roblems, therd are in the
ano p
Besides than menta ~.oned reclam
smaller irrigation projects, of which.
Lower Volga region a nutaber oi
we shall indicate the following: 1) irrigation of 10,000 hectares
from the Khopr river in the Mikha lovskiy rayon; 2} irrigation of
~'
I~edv?ditsa river an. the I~edv?datskiy rayon;
the
11,000 hectares from
to 18,000 hectares from the Ilovliya river in the
3) a.xra.gatian of up
irri ation of 14,000 hectares in the Krasnoarmey-
Kamyshin rayons L.) ~
skit rayon; 5) arragat he 15:Q00-hectare steppe strip of the
~.on of t
? ion from the Balanda river in the Atkarskiy
Akhtuba river; b) yrrigat
11 000 hectares on lands in the
distract; and 7) ~,rr. ~,gation of up to ,
?me strip of the Kalmyk and other regions.
marxta
Among the reclamation tasks in the Lower. Volga region has in
many other acrid areas),; of greatest importance is the supplying ?f
dive farms which grow gram and raise
water to sovkhoZes and collective
e b making ponds and digging wells, and al so
livestock. This is done by
regulate and direct- the use of local streams of sun-
by undexte~k~.ng to to regain
building inlets to retain water, anrf ways
fade graters ? ~, out of
4th snow and water. Pproper carry ~
rn~r3,sture by
It
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these measures will make it possible to use considerable areas of
lands'uot being used at the present Limo.
The UraloKushwtnskaya problem of Kazak~stan, as to its natural
and technical conditions, is closely related to the problem just ex-
amined. The plan being outlined at the present time specifies the
building ding of a dam on the Ural river at the vill e of Kushunaskiy.
This is to ensure a regular flow of water from the Ural to the Kushum,
regardless of the spring flood water level in the Ural. An 8L.00 h?p.
hydra-aleetric station is to be erected at the dam. The areas to be
Irrigated are along the Kushum, from Kolovertinskiy village to
Uzen' . Farther, the water is conducted into the Ashche-Say revine
and the Solianka river, expanding the irrigated area into the Ulektin-
sk d area and into the Baigutinskaia depression Besides that,
~.ye flood ,
the steppe rivers of the Kamysh-Samarskaya depression (Uzen', Dyer,
th side
ate.) are used for estuary irrigation - that is, from the right/of the
Urals. Al80 the Baygutinskaya depression rivers are used, but on the
,
side of the Urals. Due to the flooding of the Kushom river bed,
left
the grater level in the Kamysh-Sainarskiye lakes also rises, which makes
for better fishing. The entire irrigation area, according to the out
line, is about 800,000 hectares, of which 300,000 hectares are regu- ti
1arty irrigated and 500,000 hectares are irrigated from the estuary
or fflimann. ccvrding to sections, these areas are distributed as fol-
lows: in the Uralo-Kushumskiy sector - OO,OOO hectares regular and
hectares "liman" irrigation; in the Kamysh~Samarskaya depres-"
200,000
' QOhectares f'liman" irrigation; and in the Barutinskaya
sion - 212,Q.
depression 93,000 hectares "liman" irrigation. The irrigated area
will be used for technical crops, vegetables, grain orops and grasses
in the "limens") In the southern parts of the irrigated areas,
(mainly
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r.ce and cotton crops are planned. The realisation of this project
~.
will allow us to create a reliable supply of fodder, making it pas
G
.
sible to have axonal husbandry here on sovkhozes, and making it post
sible to reconstruct the farming of the Ural region.
In Kaza~stan and North Kirgizia large irrigation tasks are
r
the building of the Turkestan-Siboria railroad,,
those connected wa.th
and the problems of the K , Karaganda and other areas. It oan be
bas
uz
assumed that, with the maximum use of existing grater sources suitable
for irrigation in these areas, the irrigated section in the Turksib
~ ,
sectors oan be expanded from the present 500,000 hectares to about
..
2.3 _ 2?5 million hectares. The lar est irrigated area increase will
g
be in the Dxhetysuyskaya (].i4. .. 1.5 " million hectares) ark/ the Semi-?
insk district (0.k _ 0.5 million heoteras), Kai tan and North
palat . S.
,
K r 0,.. million hectares).
~.rg? ~z~ya (0.3
The construct Turkestan-Siberian railroad opens wide
~.on of the .
possibilities for the development of irrigation. Further, we shall
indicate the main possible irrigation projeots wnion are already stud-
another, and for which there already exist suggestions
ied one way or ,
of one kind or another. We shall do it according to the main river
basins.
l) In the xrtysb, river basin, according to the amount of water in
~I
several hundred thousand hectares is possible, l
it, the irrigation of
considered yet. It is planned to ir-
but this question has not been
lake Zaysan, using water from the ~rtysh
rigate only the lands around ,
the Kali Kurchutn and other. rev-
tributaries. This would inolude
altdzhir steppe, along the Kalydxhir riv-
ers. Speeif ioa1ay., in the K
it is possible to irrigate an area of
arts right and left barks, ,
).42,000 hect>aregv. Here it is possible to cultivate grains, alfalfa,
,
and auger beava.
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2) In the Ii' river basin it is possible to irrigate considerable.
areas. The II.' river's irrigation capacity can be assumed as being
about 1.2 million hectares. The actual area which it irrigates at
present is about 250,000 hectares. Due to the insignificant gradi
of the Ii' river within the borders of the USSR, getting water out of
it presents certain difficulties. In building the canal head inside
of China., gravity irrigation is possible on the left side of the
valley ooTering an area of 200 800 thousand hectares (different es-
tiraates for different schemes) of new lands up to the Charyn river
.
and within the Union's borders. Further, it is possible to utilize
for irrigation the Ii's tributary, the Charyn river (Kayen' river
Its irrigation capacity, if a reservoir were built, would be about
100,000 hectares of good, elevated lands of the Ii' valle
Y.
. on the left side, - from the border to the community of Iliyskoye,
it also is possible to have mechanical irrigation (for example, on rice
plantations). 'here are also considerable land areas for irrigation
in other, mainly lower sections of the Il iyskaya valley (rayon of the
Bekan meadows with an area of up to 1,000,000 hectares). Irrigation is
possible also from other I1' river tributaries; for example, the Chilik
river and others. Besides using these tributaries for irrigation, the
. Y
can give considerable anoints of hydro-electric power (over 1,000 000
horsepower), which can be used to raise the water mechanically from t
y he
Ii' river in order to irrigate the lands of its valley. The I1' valley
lands can be used for growing rice, sugar beets, alfalfa, grain crops
and fruits (in the more elevated seitions of the valley).
3)
Among other rivers of the take Aalkhash basin, we shall mention;
a) the Karatal river, from the Central section of which it is
possible to use the water for irrigating an area of 80,000 hec-
taxes;
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b) the Bien' and Aksu rivers, where it is possible to irrigate
rj0,000 hectares of new lands;
c) the Lepsa river and its tributaries which could be made to
irrigate about L.0,000 heotares,
14) The Tentek river, which waters the vast Alakul' skaya valley, with
proper exploitation could be made to irrigate, in addition to already
irrigated lands, another 80,000 hectares. is area is suitable for
the development of grain crops (but not rice) and alfalfa.
j) The Chu river which flows through a valley between the Aleksandrov?
skiyrange and spurs of the Trans iYskiY Alatau has a good climate.
According to the project outlined, making use of sax separate systems,
it could irrigate a total of about 270,000 hectares of lands suited to
k rrwl~, I
valuable crops: , . , rice, grapes, alfalfa, sugar
beets, fruit trees, early-ripening varieties of cotton. The project
already has been started, an part. The construction of a dam and reser
voir will make it possible to get about 200,000 horsepoWer of hydro
electric power, which can be used widely by agriculture and industry.
6) In the Auli atinskiy section, it should be mentioned that it could
R
be possible to increase the irrigation in the Talas river basin by
~
more than an area of about Lo,000 heotares (in Kirgizya and Kaze4stan).
In Central Kazak~tan there are large problems of using the runoff
~) n area
of the steppe rivers for "liman" and regular irrigation of a total/of
1,000,000 heotares. The main irrigated areas can be obtained from the
following river sYst erns : Uil (70,000 hectares); Turgay (up to 180,000
hectares ; Trgiz (557,000 hectares; Sary-Su (up to 200,000 heotares;
Nura (up to 215,000 hectares); and others.
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8) In the north of Kasastan, there is a large problem of wateri
enormous waterless areas in the Akmolinsk district, areas 1acking both
ground and artesian wat er, or even surface reservoirs. The area
such lands, quite suitable for agriculture, exceeds 2,000,000 hectares,
Among these lands, three main areas should be mentioned: a) in the
Chaglinskiy rayon about 500,000 hectares; b) between the Nura, Dengis
and Isham rivers - 700,000 hectares; c) west from the Ishim
the Ishim river ?a, the former Turgayskaya region about
tares. The water supply of these lands is possible only by
canals deriving the water from the nearby Ishims Chaglinka-and other
rivers, with the construction of dams and reservoirs on these rivers,
We shall turn now to the cotton areas of Central
occupied land reserves are concentrated here in the basis
rivers: Syr-dar'ya and Amu-dar'ya. Along these river basins we
examine the main aspects of irrigation development.
1) Fergana. The exploitation of the Naryn, Kara-dar' ya, Isfary,
Ak-Bura and other rivers, feeding this section, - under the condition
that their flow would be regulated: This makes it possible to
gate an area of about 1.3 million hectares; at the present
irrigated area consists of about 900,000 hectares, so that one may speak
of an increase of about 400,000 hectares of which about 100,000 hea-
tares fall to the )yr-dar' ya and the Naryn and the rest to the'rivers
starting in the Fergana proper.
systems (fallows) as well as among new lands. The extension of irri-
Suitable lends are among the existing:
gation has already beguns Uoh?Kurganskaya steppe (20,000 hectares);
Yangi-Arykskaya system (25,000 hectares); Ak-Burinskaya system (2Q,OOo
hectares); Kuygan-Yarskaya system (47,000 hectares); Savayskaya steppe
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(9,000 hectares); Nizhniy Khann (13,000 hectares); Narpay (9,500 heo-
tares); eta.
2) Golodno-steppe rayon. It has about 750 - 600
sand hectares; Golodnaia steppe proper - about 530,000 hectares;:
lands suit able for irrigation: Dalverziuskaya steppe
steppe - about 50,000 hectares. Irrigation of all these lands`
Nuratinskaya steppe - about 150,000 . hectares ; acid Chardarinske~ya
sible from the Syr-dart ya river. Irrigation of the Dal
steppe is already nearing completion, For the Golodnaia stepp
irrigation project is outlined for 405,000
In the Chardarinskaya steppe irrigation of 21,000 hectares
hectares will be irrigated without
section). According to the exploitation plan
er, the increase of irrigated land in this region'.
to 535,000 hectares.
3) Chirchik'4ngrenskiy rayon irrigated by waters from
.Angren, Keles and guru-Ke1es rivers has
.gated area of about 20,000 hectares..
flow by building reservoirs, the entire irrigation
rivers will be about 725,000 hectares,
meke use of the Chirahik river
the building of the Chatkalt skiy reservoir will b e about
tares, sothat the increase of 'irrigated areas,
naw irrigated in the Chirohik basin, will
tares.
14) 0t1'9.1'8kiy rayon between Chi*ent and Turkeetan
plains area of Syr-dar' ya and Arys? rivers,
RES TRIO TEO
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region whore cotton can be cultivated.
two-thirds are suited to cotton growing. This is the limit to
rigation consists of about 350-!00 thousand heotares, of which about
ta, with en area of 1,000,000 hectares of lands suitable for irriga
5) Farther, comes the vast section of lower Syr-dar'ya end its del-
Syr-dar'ia river in this rayon, the irrigation of some 250,000 hectares
north latitude. ,according to the preliminary plan for exploiting the
tion, but not for growing cotton, since it lies above the 43d
i foreseen. For the irrigation of all the suitable
river and the question might arise as to the transfer of water 'from
er river region, there might not be enough water in the
other sources (for example, the Tl river), but these
yet being worked out.
Thus, it is possible, by utilizing the river
tributaries, to expand the irrigated
Syr-dar'ia river basin by about 1.6.17. million
be accomplished by regulating the flow of
building of reservoirs.
river can be estimated as at about L.,o00,000 hectares (without
the Amu-dar' ya basin. The total 'irrigation oapacity of the Amu-dar
We proceed now to the prospects of
regulation) and up to 5,000,000 heetares
eer Tsinxerling determines Amu-dar'`ya
1,500,000 hectares above the now irrigated area.
bution of free amounts of water: the existing irrigation
1,300,000 hectares.) The irrigated area in the Aimu-dar'ya basin
heotaress upper river area - 385,000 hectares; lower
about 1,300,000 heotaree. The following are the main
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of the existing and future irrigation developmnent indicated in the
plan now being worked outs
Ao Upper River Section
Lands along the Banks
3) Chardzhuyskiy - 37,000 " 3) Burdalykskiy
2) Ersarinskiy - 3b,000 " 2) F&rabskiy
1) Kerkinskiy - 36,000 hectares 1) Khadzhaysky
Central River Seatiou
Left Bank Right Bank
South-Eastern Kara-Kumy
Mervskiyeand Murgabskiye low-
1>~ d+s
Tedzhenskiy oasis
Other areas
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Surkhan-Shirabadhkiy
Ka f irnig anskiy
Vakhshskiy from lake Aral
Pandi-Kul iabskiy
Shurakhanskiy
Chimbayskiy 187,000
Iahau-Dzhekenskiy 70,000
Kungrad-Khodzheylinskiy 140,000
Kunya-Dar" inskiy - 297,000
South Khorezmskiy
Kara-Kyl'skiy oasis
4o,oo0 hectares
60,000
260,000 '"
.0,000 "
146o,000 'I
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The following are outlined as first priority projects: irri-
gation of the Vakhsha river valley (100,000 hectares.); reorganization
of South Khorezmt s irrigation (possible increase of irrigated area,
about 130,000 hectares); irrigation development in the Konya-Dart inskiy
rayon (increase of about 200,000 hectares); irrigation reorganization
in the Ersarinskiy rayon (increase 36,000 hectares) and others. Bring-
ing water from the Amu-dartya river to the Trans-Caspian region is a
second priority task.
There are large reclamation tasks in Central Asia; also in the
Zeravshan end Kashka-dar'ya river basins. With the flow regulated by
reservoirs and the water distributing junctions rebuilt, the possible
irrigation area in the Zeravshan basin is estimated, in terms of the
scheme worked out, as about 600,000 hectares.
This will represent sn
increase of about 100,000 hectares of irrigated land, in this basin.
irrigated area.
By reorganizing the system and building two reservoirs - on the
Kashka-dar'ya and on the Guzar rivers ? the irrigated area in the
Kashka-dar'ya river basin can be raised to 110,000 hectares, which will
be an expansion of approximately 50,000 hectares above the present
It is necessary, however, to make a reservation by saying that
all the mentioned area figures are only approximate estimates, since
for many projects the necessary explorations and studies have not yet
been made; and there is no precise data on either water supply or land
characteristics.
Thus, by carrying out adequate irrigation hydroteohnical
projeots guaranteeing the proper use id regulation of the flow of the
existing rivers ?- the irrigated area in Central Asia which now covers
about 3,L.00,000 heotares could be tripled; that is, it could reach
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10,000,000 hectares, of which 8,000,000 hectares would be located in
the cotton belt.
Toward the end of the current five-year plan, it is planned to
bring the irrigated area in Central Asia up to 4,500,000 hectares, of
which increase of about 1,000,000 hectares will oome from both large.-
scale developments ( 650, 000 hectares) aid from small-scale develop-
ments (500,000 hectares).
We shall turn now to the Trans-Caucasus SFSR. The prospects
and possibilities for reclamation work here are quite considerable.
The basic kind of necessary improvdtnent is irrigation. At present the
irrigated area in the Trans-Caucasus SFSR is about 900,000 hectares
(1.2 million hectares with applied water). But in a number of rayons
there are swampy lands (their total area about 250,000 hectares), id
drainage is needed.
The basic reclamation problem here is that of using the reserve
supplies of water and land in the Kuro-Araksinzk basal, The irrigation
capacity of these rivers (Kura and Araks) together is about 2,000,000
hectares. ho land reserves considerably exceed the irrigation pos-.
sibilities. 'he preliminary plan for using water of the Kuro-Araksinskiy
basin indicated the following plan for use of the Araks river wab er;
(a) without flow
rye ulation
(b) with flow
regulation
Muganskaya steppe
175,000 hectares
290,000 hectares
Mil'skaya steppe
11
000
185,000
Persian Mugans
4
70,000
Total 235,000
Tilic TED
545,000
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The area irrigated in the Mugan9 at the present time represents
about 50,000 hectares, so that the increase will consist o 12O-'235
thousand hectares. During the Five-Year plan it is intended to bring
the irrigated area in the Mugant up to 90,000 hectares. The irriga-
tion of the Miltskaya steppe is also started. The irrigation system
imini comrade Ordzhonikidze (the Gyar-Ankh canal) is being built to
irrigate 33,000 hectares. As to the Kura river, its irrigation poten-
tial is determined - without flow regul ation - as a total of 500-600
thousand heotares. This includes the Shirvanskaya steppe (d7 out 340,000
heotares ), the Milt skaya steppes (about 150,000 hectares), ad the
Salfianskaya steppe (about 50,000 hectares).
All these calculations are being more accurately defined at
present by the "Zakvodkho&* Trans-Caucasus Water Works. ~j'hese are the
largest problems of the Trans-Caucasus. There are, besides, a number
of smaller but very important projects representing the utilization
of smaller water sources, some of which as yet are not in use at all,
and some of which are not fully used. By regulating the flow and
reconstructing the system of these sources, their watering potential
can be increased. The flow regulation of the Trans-Caucasus rivers
is especially necessary, because the majority of them have a maximum
discharge during April-May which is not suitable for watering crops
like cotton, rice, fruit trees, etc. Among these projects, the fol-
lowing should be mentioned;
1) Development of irrigation from the Torter river ( Azerbaydzhan).
Regulation of its flow by building reservoirs will make it possible
to bring the irrigated area up to 80,000 hectares, as against the
present 40,000 hectares. Also, it will represent an increase in ?he
percentage of cotton growm from 25 per oent to 50 per cent.
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/ 9.
--.---.--.-------.--.----,,.--..,.-., -.,-- .--.' .&-,--,--------.-..--.".--I
11
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 II
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2) Kara-Sakhkaltekoye irrigation from the Kura raver over en area of
11,000 hectares (Azerbaydzhan).
3) Irrigation from the Alazan' river in Georgia of an area of 1.5,000
hectares. The work being carried out.
(Crec.4" c ;e)
14.) Irrigation from the Iora river in ): The irrigation poten-
r, .7
tial of this river is about 100,000 hectares, located near 'Jiflis (ir-
rigation of the Samgort ). In its lower reaches, it is suggested that
this river can be used to irrigate 155,000 heetarea in the El'darskaya
steppe.
5)
c'za r'9 k
Irrigation reconstruction in the Tiriponis-Veli valley ( )
from the Liakhva river: total area about 29,000 hectares, of which
15,000 hectares is on new lends.
6) Irrigation reconstruction in the Sardarabad (Armenia) area from
the Araks river -- total area about 22,000 hectares, of which 7,000
hectares are on new lands. The work is going forward.
7) Irrigation of Kirov from the Zanga river, whose source is take
Sevan (Gokcha): area about 1.5,000 hectares. The use of waters of
take Sevan (Gokaha) will make it possible not only to obtain a con-
siderable amount of hydro-electric power, but also to enlarge the
irrigated area.
Toward the end of the current Five-'Year Plan it is intended to
bring the irrigated land up to 1,200,000 hectares, of which LQ0,000
hectares for cotton. The expansion of irrigated areas is indiea4ed
as due to large projects -~ about 110, 000 hectares; and small projects
about 100,000 hectares.
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Besides the irrigation projects, there are also large drainage
projects in the Trans-Caucasus SFSR. The large areas of swampy lands
in the Trans-Caucasus are boat ed mainly in three sections:
1) along the Black Sea shores in the Kolkhida depression, where
they exceed 120,000 hectares;
2) in the lower Kura river area, along the left bank above the
junction with the Araks;
3)
in the Erivan trough.
Partial drainage of the Poti swamps has been start?d. Drains a works
are being carried out to some extent in other sections as well.
VT
We have examined above the large land areas which require
hydro-teohnical reclamation work in order to be used for agriculture.
However, there are in the USSR enormous land areas, the exploitation
of which is possible only as a result primarily of agro-technical
methods (agro-forest reclamation work) and then partly, of hydro-teoh-
nical measures. These are areas of sands and ravines frequent mainly
in the zones of unsteady aid insufficient moisture. According to the
$t, grolestt (agro-forest) data, following are the areas of these lands
in the RSFSR;
Sands
Ravines
Western oblastt ................. 50,000 hectares 10,000 hectares
Moskovskaye and Ivanovskaya
oblasts.....
Central Volga region..........
Lower Volga region...,,.......
.. 15,000
.. 124,000
.l, 1.00, 000
Central Blacck-earth oblast'.... 5!,000
North Caueasus................
674,000
Dagestan republic.............. 500,000
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22,000
279,000
329,000
220,000
7,000
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I-u
The sand areas of the Ukraine SSR cover about one million hec~
tares, a particularly large section of which is in the 1eshki rayon.
If reclaimed, it could be used for grape cultivation and other crops.
The ravine area in the Ukraine is also very large. Works on the raw
vines during the present Five.Year plan extend over the following
ravine systems ; Ouch.-Slavechakskaya, Pridesnirask aia, Priros' evaya,
Taslinskaya, the Donbas ravines and others. Their reinforcement will
add about 20,000 hectares to the agricultural area.
But especially large sand areas we have in Central Asia, where
they reach several tens of millions of hectares. The problem of
reclaiming and using these areas has not yet been studied at all.
Al; the conclusion of the present brief essay which shows clearly
the incompleteness of our data on the presence in our Union of unused,
"inconvenient" land areas in different areas, and on the posibilities
of using adequate reclamation to bring them into the agricultural turn-
over, we consider it absolutely necessary to consider most seriously
the question of a systematic and detailed registration and cadaster of
all free land areas which need reclamation. Also, the possibilities of
accomplishing such improvevnezats should be studied. This question has
been raised before, but it has not yet been adequately worked out. Now
its solution has become absolutely necessary aid if it is worked out,
the author will consider the task of the present essay accomplished.
Supplement; Map of reclamation possible in the USSR, in connection
with the problems of the plsnt-growing, compiled by A. N. Koatyakov.
is
ED
/(f
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SCHEMATIC MAP OF THE PRINCIPAL
RECLAMATION PROJECTS IN THE USSR
Legend; Green dots - projects for irrigation
Red dots - projects for drainage
Grey shaded . areas for development of
water supply.
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q Si ait! ED
DIVISION OF FIELD CROPS INTO DISTRICTS IN THE USSR
N. V.`Kovalev
The planned specialization of agriculture can be accomplished
under the conditions of the soviet regime. and the socialistic.
only
economy. Under capitalism, where the national economy interests
are treated by the governing classes as the interests.of large-scale
owners, where the profit determines the action.-- specialization in
our sense is impossible. Private ownership contradicts and excludes
.
a planned specialized economy in general and that of agriculture
in particular.
The agricultural specialization, which is formed under the
conditlons of the capitalistic market economy, will be always distorted,
incomplete, and never be rationally worked out. This is because
the uncontrolled market and the cruel laws of crises and competition
not only stop economic development and its rational specialization,
but they constantly throw it far back from the level of achievements
attained during one or another period. And under the conditions of
the capitalistic regime's between-crises periods, the anarchy of
production, the permanent fear of crises also competition, force
agriculture to safeguard itself by way of numerous crops of great
variety and not uniformly planned. Under the conditions of competition,
not only a firm direction and a steady economic, course in the
perspective is impossible, but even a strong positive answer for
tomorrow.
Inasmuch as the entire national economy under the capitalistic
regime, based on the principle of private ownership of the production
capital, can not be planned -- its separate part, agriculture, can not
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be planned either. Therefore, it is quite clear, that the truly
planned rational specialization can be accomplished only under the
conditions of the Soviet socialistic economy, meaning by that the
specialization of the entire country, whole republics, regions and
districts, as well as the specialization of single large Soviet and
collective farms. Only under the Soviet regime, where the interests
of a single farm, district or region are tied together with the
plans of the entire national economy as a whole, are subordinated
to the interests of the entire working people, is it possible not
.only today, but tomorrow as well to have definite direction in the
development of one or another branch of the economy. Only under
these conditions.is it possible to establish concrete tasks to be
assigned to one or another part of the economic system. The October
revolution of the proletariat in alliance with the peasantry, secured
all the prerequisites for the development of the socialistic economy
and the planned economy.
With the strengthening of the Soviet Union's national economy,
the planned economy is being carried out more completely, enveloping
more widely and more deeply all branches of the national economy. Not
so long ago, agriculture in Russia represented a semi-natural type of
economy, where fifteen million separate peasant farms produced the
most variegated products for the farm itself, and only in some areas,
where they produced for the market, was specialization complete.
However, this specialization under the conditions of the capitalistic
regime was built on the foundation of self-directed market relations
and this could not in any degree be considered a rational specialization,
similar to that being carried out in the USSR. Only, the Soviet Union,
having destroyed private property over the means of production could
R5$ TRIO TED
-Aoa.
>4a.~
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It isnatural and comprehensible, that the planning principle in the.
RESTRLU I Ui
accept the task of developing a rational specialization of economy.
national economy is getting stronger with the strengthening
development of the socialist construction.
us to confront the problem of socialistic reconstruction in agriculture
The greatest achievements in the field of socialist industrial
development, the building of industrial giants, made it possible for
as well.
At the present time, our success in this domain -- collectiviza-
tion of up to 60 percent of the peasant economy, construction of the
largest sovkhozes in the various branches of agriculture, agriculture's
conditions of market relations of the capitalistic economy, specialized
emphasis is unplanned or according to the terminology of the bourgeois
economists the economy evolves. Then, under socialist planning,
in contrast, specialization within the economy can be built and is
being built on a rational basis. For purposes of rational economy
specialization, we can not take as a foundation the data of the
accidental elemental evolution created by market conditions. The
market itself under the present USSR conditions is affected by the
sphere of planning, inasmuch as the commanding heights of the
national economy and trade are concentrated in the hands of State
organizations, cooperatives and collective-farm associations.
firmly, even to the problems of area specialization and the problems
of rationally locating agricultural crops and varieties. Under the
mechanization, and an expansion of the power potential r~ all this
makes it possible to introduce the planning principle much more
Under the conditions of the Soviet Union, specialization of
agriculture is an inseparable and obligatory part of the plan for the
RES TRIC TED
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The basic distribution direction is given by Gosplan USSR in
its directives for the FivepYear Plan (published in 1932),
"The distribution of the production potential in agriculture
which constitutes the most important link in the national economic
plan, has to be in complete conformity with the development of socialist
industry and transportation and also with the formation and development
of new industrial centers and areas. The agriculture of each area, has
to wholly satisfy the needs of the processing industry working on
local agricultural raw material, and to secure completely the supplying
of the workers and the city population of large industrial centers
with agricultural products which are to be used fresh, and can not
stand up under distant shipment (milk, vegetables, fruits, berries).
In supplying these centers with other kinds of agricultural production,
nearby agricultural areas must be relied upon. This is necessary
so as to relieve the transportation system as much as possible of the
burden of carrying shipments of farm produces The already existing
as well as the new enterprises of light industry and food industry,
the largest meatpacking plants, synthetic rubber plants, sugar
factories, etc., have to be provided with raw material base in the
nearby agricultural area and the agriculture in these areas has to be
directed towards projects which take into consideration the raw
material needs of the processing industry.
In reorienting the raising of field crops, each region and
district has to set itself a goal for obtaining maximum volume
agricultural production, providing grain products for the needs of
the local population and fodder for animal husbandry. In order to
provide food and raw material for the needs of large industrial
areas, for export and other national needs -- large centers of goods
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production (wheat, cotton, new fiber crops, meat, butter, wool,
etc.), have to be organized during the second Five-Year Plan.
of particular importance will be the development of new
branches and crops, especially those which will free the USSR
from foreign dependence (silk, tea, rubber-bearing plants, etc.).
These crops have to grow considerably in order to cover the
country's needs."
The distribution of crops is a part of the general problem
of sectional specialization and is related to general economics of
the national economy as a whole, and the area under consideration in
particular. What can be done depends upon the distribution and
strength of power stations, the local prospects for industrial
development, the railroad and water transportation systems, means
of communication, the degree of farm mechanization, etc. SpecializaM
tion means that production assignments must be worked out for each
area. It is quite understandable that these assignments can not be
determined once and for all. These assignments are determined not
only and not so much by the natural conditions, as by the combination
of social-economical relations andtechnical achievements.
It is understandable that the growth and development of industry
which turns the backward areas into forceful industrial and power
centers (Kuzbas, Karaganda, etc.) and the social and technical
reconstruction of agriculture, change not only the assignment volume
for the given area, but the character of these assignments for the
area or region, as well.
This establishes a sharp distinction between the specialization
carried out by the Soviet Union and the "specialization " which was
developed by bourgeois economists and wreckers (Chay'anov, Kondrat'iyev),
9 ES TRIg TEU
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RESt aici ED
who did not want to see the successes of socialist construction,
and who opposed this development and credited the market and the
natural conditions with the main role.
Work on agricultural specialization is carried out by a
number of institutions and is unified by the Institute of Agricultural
Economics and Reconstruction of the Agricultural Economy, The
present work, the work of the Institute of Plant Cultivation
considers the general requirements of national economy, without
their numerical expression. This institute has to give a preliminary
outline of a reasonable distribution of crops based upon natural
limitations. In other words, it has to work out the potentialities
for expanding production, to the extent that such production depends
on natural conditions. Such division is artificial and would be
harmful if it were not purely a work method, temporarily adapted
with knowledge of its shortcomings.
The assignment of crop distribution is indeed colossal
because it is necessary here -- taking into consideration the possible
problems of national economy for the given region or district -- to
consider also, almost to the letter, for each crop the adequate
qualitative characteristics according to separate areas, that is, the
intensity of yield of a given crop and variety, quantitative and
qualitative content of various production substances (starches, sugar,
proteins, fats, fiber yield, etc,) for different purposes, adequate
merchandising properties of products -~ characteristics of fruits:
their transportability, durability in storage, suitability for
dehydration, canning, etc. It is necessary to determine by means
of the quantitative and qualitative indicators on hand the value
of each crop and variety, the relation between the quality and
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quantity of production -w and the natural conditions, the field
chemistry process, mechanization and prospective agroteehnical
methods influencing the environment,
Based on the data of the mentioned general and particular
accounting, it is necessary to determine those zones and areas of
the Union in which one or another crop or variety can yield the
highest production of best quality. If the crop distribution was
based only on the natural data, without taking into consideration
the general demands of the national economy and its economics as a
whole - then such division into sections in itself would have no
practical sense, because the natural conditions and the division.
into sections done according to these conditions are providing only
the general background, where important corrections should b
introduced, which sometimes radically changes the situation. A
great number of crops have the most favorable distribution conditions
in the same sections of the USSR. For some crops, such areas are
far more limited than for others and therefore, the crops which
can not be grown or can not produce even somewhat satisfactory
yields in other sections, should be placed in these areas ahead
of
other crops.
It follows that the general assumption must be changed, that
crops must be grown in those areas best suited to them; and some
crops must be taken from such favorable areas and be developed in
other regions. For example, in Central Asia and in the Trans-
Caucasus, very many crops can be cultivated and they find for
themselves relatively good conditions, At the same
time the national
economy requires the distribution in these areas of such crops as
cotton and southern subtropical crops. This requirement forces
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While the general contours of sectional specialization appear
clearly enough against the background of the tasks of the national
economy, the detailed solving of problems of crop and crop variety
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many crops from these areas, thus bringing about a basic correction
to the regionalization on a purely natural basis.
But this is still not enough. As we already indicated, it is
necessary to take into consideration both the present and future
power generating centers and the prospects of industrial development
in the areas. The Dneprostroy development allows to approach in a
different way the problem of securing humidity for the southern USSR
with the irrigation of up to one million hectares, which can, not
but influence the crop distribution. The Kuznetskiy basin development,
with its power centers, can not but affect the crop distribution
of this enormous area along a thousand kilometers. The social
reconstruction of agriculture allows us to present in an entirely
different way -- more clearly and firmly many problems of
sectional specialization. And finally, it is necessary to consider
that the successes of industrial technique and farm mechanization, are
introducing essential changes in the sectional division of crops and
permit specialization at a faster rate, It is understandable that
the specialization of areas and farms in them, raising the general
productivity of labor on the basis of rational utilization of local
natural resources and conditions, requires a highly developed
transportation systeim and an adequately organized mutual supply of
products among the specialized areas for their uninterrupted work,
distribution becomes complicated due to the fact that;
(1) A number of the Soviet Union areas, and especially areas
of our border lands, we do not know well enough;
(2) At the present time we do not have data on the number of
crops and particularly, the number of varieties, in a number of areas.
lIES TRIC TED
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Nor do we have data on the dependence of quantitative and qualitative
properties of a crop upon the area's natural conditions or agricultural
methods, and finally,
Regionalization of crop location is decided on the go,
(3)
during a stormy growth of industry and socialist construction in
agriculture. And in this dynamic movement of things, the tasks of
each individual area lag behind, and in connection with this, the
location of crops does not receive due attention, and continually location
will require correction.
Thus our contemplated crop locations are, so far, only
preliminary outlines, which should in no measure be considered final.
Nevertheless, planning crop locations can not be further postponed,
the need for this is present and the time is ripe, particularly
because
in connection with the new Five-Year Plan, This is proved even by the
fact, that actually, a considerable part of the data and conclusions
given in this work have already been carried out in practice by way
distributing crops during the 1931 fall sowing campaign, by
of
planning the 1932 spring sowing campaign, and in the development of
sovkhozes and seed industries, etc, The leaders of the different
the USSR People's Commissariat of Agriculture (Nakomzem),
sectors of
of economic, state and collective-farm systems, in the process of
carrying out our work together with us, have derived from this work
the necessary practical conclusions which came from doing the actual
work.
The great task of creating a map of efficient distribution of
n Safi
agricultural crops can be carried outponly by the entire collective
(group) of scientific workers from the Institutes of the All-Union
Academy of Agricultural Sciences imeni Lenin but also by the entire
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collective of production workers, office workers and workers of
individual enterprises. In this connection, everyone must do his
share of this work.
. We have to stress once more that according to the
instructions of the Academy Presidium, working out the scheme of
regionalization is the responsibility of the Scientific-Research
Institute of the organization for Socialistic Agriculture and
Economics (NIOKSKhE). The Institute of Plant Cultivation is
responsible, as mentioned above, for working out the tentative part
of the crop location plan. This involves a reasonable distribution
of crops by nature zones, but taking into consideration the needs of
the national economy as a whole as well as the over all prospects
of one or another area.
An analysis of all the conditions of nature indicated below,
is necessary in terms both of the over all picture and of the
particular crop. This analysis covers the varieties of crops,
relative to their interaction with environment, and also it measures
the influence of agricultural techniques, the yield, the reliability
of crops and varieties, quality of production, etc. Such an analysis
's needed both for the present time as well as for the future, in order
to determine those tasks which in terms of the reconstruction of
agriculture mean the introduction of new crops and varieties.
The need for regional location of crops is of particular
importance at present. This is because now that field cultivation
is done on a basis of planning, and now that collectivization has
met with rapid success following the turning point in 1929, this
has made it possible to widen considerably the sowing area of the
Union and improve the prospects for bringing new lands into use and
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RESTRICI ED
more intensive farming of field crops. This is envisaged for the
immediately following years as is seen below from Table No. 1.
We see a slow process of sowing area expansion during the
first years after the war and the revolution, and then a rapid
speed up beginning in 1929. This made it possible in that year
to exceed considerably the prewar figures. The total figures of
the Union's sowing area increased from 111t,528,p00 hectares':
in 1928 to 119,589,000 hectares in 1929, reaching 127,767,000
hectares in 1930 and 137,515,000 hectares in 1931, which represents
an increase of 17 percent against the prewar figures for the present
territory of the Soviet Union.
Among single republics and regions, the first places in sowing
areas of 1930 belong (after the RSFSR) to the Ukrainian SSR and within
the RSFSR -- the North Caucasus region, the Central Black-earth region,
the Central Volga region and the Siberia region.
The greatest increase of sowing areas in 1931, as against
1927 gave:
Lower Volga - - - - - - 52 percent
Central Volga - - - - - 45 percent
Kazakstan - - - - - - Li1 percent
Bashkiriya
- - - - - - 39 percent
Urals Region
- - - - - 30 percent
Such expansion speed of sowing areas and of their regions
compels us to pay special attention further on to the prospective
relative importance of further intensive and extensive farming of
field crops, with emphasis in one direction or another. (The
relative significance of sowing areas in the Union for various crops
in 1931 is seen from the table in the supplement to this section).
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to field crops. Special separate studies are devoted to regionaliza-
an outline of leading and complimentary crops, limiting this work
significance of the individual areas, compiling for each of them
of various different crops and in this connection, to consider the
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The present work intends to compare the natural requirements
in this respect constitutes only the data for the final development
of regionalization predominantly on the basis of natural factors, and
Even though the work submitted represents a first outline
tion of vegetable and fruit-berry plants,
to consider also the economy factors indicated in the instructions
with general reconstruction problems, have tried to a maximum degree
cultivation yet it is evident that the authors of this work, starting
by the economists of the Soviet Union's plan for field crop
on the basis of: data of oblast, kray, and republic planning agencies,
The plan. on crop distribution being described is worked out
of the USSR Gosplan and other government agen a.es,
subject by a special VIR commission. In this connection, there were
finally, exchange of opinions in a number of conferences on that
institutions, various literary sources indicated at the end and,
of the State system for testing varieties and by experimental
practical material of the results of comparing crops and varieties
of specialists of the VTR A11-Union Institute for Plant Cultivation,
individual field plants done for the present publication by a number
economic organizations and scientific institutes, writings on
consideration of the possible expansion of adequate crops, depending
export requirements and needs for the domestic market, and then,
industrial centers with sources of raw material, and with food products,
various points of departure. These considerations included supplying
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on favorable factors or factors limiting the importance of the given
crop. Other considerations include the soil climatic factors of
individual area relative yield and stability of crops on the basis
ss
statistics and data of experiment sections of the variety testing
of
systems; stems; comparative production quality in relation to the influence of
climate and soil of different areas, and the necessity resulting from
this to consider the increase in sowing of one or another crop in the
respective areas in order to be able to better evaluate the material
for export or for technical use. Besides that, in clarifying the
relative value of crops being compared in various areas, consideration
was given to the present crop distribution, and particularly to the
large-scale experiments in moving some of the crops during recent
years and the possibilities of reclamation and use of lands (according
to the data of special articles in the present publication).
In the thus obtained work, there is the crop distribution
according to republics, regions, districts and also natural areas
and zones embracing parts of separate regions and districts.
Absent from the work is the crop distribution in one or another type
of farm, because the farm types themselves are not outlined yet by
the Collective Farm and Sovkhoz Institutes. As crop location is
not given by types of economic specialization, at first glance, the
variety of crops in some of the territories and distracts seems very
large. For example, there is a whole list of root tubers (rape,
turnip, sugar beet, chicory) which often is given for the same regions.
In developing different types of farms, the choice of each area's
crops -- seemingly manifold -- has to be redistributed and properly
adjusted to the emphasis of each farm. It is quite natural that for
the type stressing mainly grain growing, there will be a minimum of
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row crops and technical crops. On the other hand, for farms which
stress technical crops (cotton, flax, etc.), the grain crops will
be kept to an established minimum
In the first volwne of Plant Cultivation in the. USSR there
are special sections devoted to the location of such crops as are
important to the national economy as grain, food and feed plants and
fodder grasses. Forthe problems of cultivating technical, vegetable,
fruit and berry crops there are special studies and such crop location
problems will be given in the proper sections of the second volume
of Plant Cultivation in the USSR.
The length of the articles by individual republics, in no way
indicates the importance of these republics in the national economy
or the attention paid to them by the Institute and the authors of
this work. For example, it was taken into consideration, that
the Ukrainian People's Commissariat of Agriculture (NKZ) publishes
detailed data on regionalization and therefore, in this work the
data is given in a more concentrated form. On the other hand, the
limited presentation on such parts of the USSR as Siberia, or
Kazakstan, is due to the insufficiency of data available to the
r
authors, and an inadequacy of such data also on the spot. Basically,
we considered it necessary to throw more light upon those parts of
the USSR which up to now have been written about less completely.
The authors are aware of all the defects of the present work,
particularly those due to the hurry in which it was done and to the
fact that it was already too late to include the following remarks
and corrections.
The present summarization edited by N. V. Kovalev and
V. V. Talanov, is compiled within the boundaries of the northern
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non-black-earth part of the Union, while Eastern Siberia and the
Far East -- by V. P. Kuz'min; on the forest-steppes, steppes and other
southern zones of the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR -- by V. V. Talanov;
Trans-Caucasian Republics by P. M. Zhukovskiy; on Central-Asian
Republics the work is carried out by a commission consisting of
E. V. Bunakov, M. G. Popov, N. N.,Sapozhnikov and R. T. Abolin; the
latter also prepared the last part.
P. M. Zhukovskiy was closely connected with the work on
technical crops and P. P. Ivorykin -- on fodder. The meteorological
data is from published sources as well as on the basis of practical
material gathered by the Agrometeoroloy Division of the VIR.
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T MENTS OF INDIVIDUAL CROPS UPON VEGETATION CONDITIONS
AND POSSIBILITIES OF MOVING THEM FORWAhD AND ROM ONE REGION
OF THE USSR TQ ANOTHER
-----
V. .a--------
V. Talanov and V. P. Kuz'min
GRAIN CEREALS
Springy at
Our basic food crop -- spring wheat -- makes certain demands upon
oil-climat ditions, in order to obtain sufficient yields,
s~.c con
resistance and good grain qualities. Its high yield is connected with
sufficient recipitat,ion in May-July and especially with soisufficient p and air
humidity y during the period the spike is forming, and the grain is
blossoming and ripening.
Even when precipitation is more or less sufficient, the low
relative air huma.dzt~l y during blossoming, connected with high temperature
and strongdrying winds, can become a factor greatly lowering the yield
of spring wheat, making it impossible to move this grain crop into
reasons limiting, the possibility of expanding and
certain areas. Other
moving the spring wheat area are; the required minimum growing period
(which makes it difficult to cultivate high yield types of wheat in
the norths due to the short duration of non-frost periods); the harm
done by pests, particularly by the Swedish and Hessen flies, which do
a sufficient development of spring crop wheat sowings
not allow yet
northern part of the Central Elack.arth Oblast, in the south of
a.n the
ffST1CTEO
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the Moscow and Ivanovo Oblasts, in a considerable part of the right-bank
'y..Novgorod Kray and the Central Volga area, as well as the extreme
zhna.
N~.
northwest part of the Lower Volga region; and, finally, harm done by
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various fungus diseases, which are especially prevalent in more humid
climates and which can be reduced only by introducing resistant crop
varieties (Far East and the more humid part of the North Caucasus).
Regarding the question of areas, where it' is desirable to
intensify and move the spring wheat crop, we must pause over three
relevant points.
First, is a consideration of the borderline of
possible expansion and movement of spring wheat to the east and north..
Then, there is the question of insuring yield by sowing winter wheat
in areas most suited to it, Finally, there is the matter of the
relative value and yield capacity of tough and soft spring wheat
varieties.
We assume, that the necessary expansion of the more valuable
crops in the more favorable, for them, warm and sufficiently humid
sections of the North Caucasus and the Ukraine, will require not only
limited sowing of barley there in favor of corn, but also moving
part of the spring wheat crop from these sections into other areas.
At our disposal we have averages for 20 prewar years on yields
of spring wheat on peasant lands, which, of course, under the new
conditions of large scale mechanized socialistic economy, have no
real meaning in themselves, but so far, they are the only data for
the comparison of yield in different sections over many years. At the
same time, averages indicate dependence upon precipitation during
May-July.
We can see from this data, that the highest mean yield of spring
wheat on peasant lands before the war was in the Kuban' River area;
7-8 centners (with a mean precipitation, May-July, above 10 millimeters,
At the same time, at the opposite end of the spring wheat area
in the northern forest-steppes of West Siberia and Trans-Urals
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aEsi RIOT ED
(also well humidified, with a mean precipitation, during these months,
rs similar mean yields were obtained_- above
above 1~0 millamete )
7 c?ntners per hectare, reaching in the foothills rayons of the
Biyskiy and Kuznetskiy Okrugs, even up to 8-9 Centners a hectare.
Tightly lower, but also similar yields of 6-7 centners a
Lead ones, were obtained in the northern
hectare and comparat~-vE~-Y s y
steppes of the Ukraine, ' n the Donetskiy basin, in the Donskoy and
~.
adjoining parts of the former Sal'skiy and Stavropol?skiy Okrugs. But
at the same time, a comparable yield was obtained in the southern
forest-steppes of the Tr ans~?Urals and Western Siberia (in the former
Kurganskiy, Omskiy, Chelyabinsk-y, Kamenskiy, Barnaul?skiy Okrugs)
~
avlovsko-Kokchetavskiy Rayon of Kazakstan
as well as in the Petrop
thills -?- with 130-150 millimeter precipitation
and the Altay foo
during May July and with comparatively few arid, poor crop years,
The Ukraine's eastern steppes, the arid steppes of the North
es on the Central Volga's left bank and
Caucasus, the forest-Stepp
south arid southern black-earth parts of Trans-
also the farther
Ural, Western Siberia and Kazakstan -?~ have a considerably lower
~. ~
and very unsteady yield (~-6 centners per hectare), which is due to
the low precipitation mean 130 millimeters during May-July) and
its falling down to the minimum quite often in some years.
In the acid steppes of the Ce'htral and Lower Volga, especially
in the Lower Trans-Volga, where the mean precipitation during May-July
is 7~-100 millimeters -- the average yield capacity drops down to 4?~
is observed in the former Temirskiy, Akmolinskiy,
centners. The same
Pavlodarskly, Atbasarskiy Okrugs of Kazakstan, with very frequent
extremely arid years causing exceedingly poor crops (3~L times during
the 24 prewar years). Besides, there are in the latter mentioned
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s as well as detritus soils, little suited to
regions many saliferou
agriculture; with frequent tremendous droughts it is not expedient
?nto these regions (at least not in the near
to move the wheat i .
? l drought-resisting wheat varieties are introduced
f~iture) until. special y
and until farming techniques make great strides in the fight against
drought
The resulting general conclusions in connection with wheat's
movement to the east, come down to the following;
The gradual decrease of spring sowings in the North Caucasus
and the Ukraine is quite possible parallel to the increase and
intensification of its cultivation in the forest steppes and black-
West Siberia and Trans-Urals, where, as we have seen,
earth steppes of
the mean yields are not lower than those of the Ukraine and North
is q ossible to expand wheat areas since there
Caucasus . There it iq p
are free wastelands and wheat crop rotations can be intensified.
To a lesser degree, spring crop expansion is still possible
? the black-earth steppe and in the northern part of the dark
in t
chestnut brown steppes in the Trans-Urals, West Siberia and in
with considerably lower yield and great risk of poor
Kaz4tan, but
the re ion located south from the Orsk, Semiozernaya,
crop yearse As to g
vlodar Semipalatinsk line (where the precipitation
Atbasar, Akmolinsk, Pa ,
is year , and :e ss than 100 in May-July) and
less than 3OO millimeters a y
a considerable part of the Favlodarskiy Okrug, which has saliferous
lands in the northwest, the expediency of a more or ss considerable
movement here of spring wheat in the near future is very doubtful.
ssible only after a thorough preliminary exploration
In any case, it is pa
: their climatic conditions, whether
of these Kazakstan territories
there are nonsal non-detritus lands, the possiblity of obtaining
us
~.fera,
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Fresh waters, he possibilities of extreme decrease in wheat cultivation
an extensive use of mechanization, which would make
expenses through
intense wheat cultivation worth while even with an average production
entners a hectare. Finally, the probability of periodical
of c
absolutely poor crops should be taken into consideration, as well
as the necessity of the later following conversion to fallows with
corresponding expenses of fallow cultivation.
As to the Arid Trans-Volga, considerable perspectives for area
expansion and increase in wheat production will open up after the
camplet ofthe great irrigation projects ('Greater Volga", etc.),
~.an ,.
which could give not only vast fodder crop areas for animal husbandry
in the southeast, but also (together with some technical plants) of
wheat farming development on irrigated lands.
The spring crop wheat production increase within the boundaries
of the forest-steppes and less arid parts of the Trans-[lrals, West
Siberia and Kazakstan steppes, can be large enough if there is
adequate crop rotation with grasses and partly with fallows,Rwhieh would
.
insure the maintenance of more stable yields. This trend will make
to remove much of the spring wheat crop from the Ukraine
it possible
and the North Caucasus. At the same time, as additional guarantee of
sprang wheat production in case of drought an adequately large area
would be kept under winter wheat in the "sufficiently humid" zones'df
North Caucasus and the Ukraine.
The movement of wheat to the central part of our Union (southern
part of the Moscow and lvanovo Oblasts, the right bank of the Nizhniy~
Novgorod Kray and the Central Volga and the northern part of the Central
Black~arth Oblast) can be permitted only if the selection stations
effectively solve the problem of introducing varieties which will resist
the Swedish fly and other unfavorable conditions of the area.
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Q}~
~J~CN'4
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iESTR1CTED
to the nonwblack~earth north, even though in this part of
As
the Union wheat has been assigned a relatively unimportant place,
,
due to the expansion there of fodder crops, flax, potato and grey
at the present time, nevertheless, wheat must receive
cereal grains,
adequate emphasis here, particularly in connection with a growing
emphasis on clover sowing and the expansion of vetch grown in rows
an excellent preparation for spring wheat.
Within the boundaries of the non-black-earth belt of North
Siberia and the Far East of the USSR, spring wheat has the possitnlity
of a very great expansion in the Southeastern Trans-YeniSeY area, where
the summer Conditions permit a wide expansion of early spring wheat
varieties. These conditions include strong sun radiation and moderate
precip tion, on more fertile,weakly lixiviated, podzolic soils, which
~.ta
are rich in humus and turning into black soils.
frequently
To the east, beginning with the Yenisey, in the open taiga and
forest-steppes part of the area, in some places steppes, in a wide
belt taking in the Predbaykal'iye, Buryatskaya SSR, southern part of
the Yakutx ?ya, al t i.ye Trans-Baykal) and Priamur' iye, spring wheat
Zabayk
can be in most cases in the group of basic grain crops. Only in the
Primar'ye in the future it may lose in importance to soy bean, and rice,
and the millet family crops taken together. The too short growing
corn
the not infrequent effects of early fall frosts are very
period and
noticeable as they are on other grain crops. Besides that, in the
Far East exceptionally abundant summer precipitation and fungus diseases
are very harmful. In connection with it, in spite of generally high
wheat yo- ? eld.s, the quality of the grain is, on he whole, not good, either
for marketing or for food.
As to the northern part of the European area, spring wheat can
be intermittent or located on "island" areas, due mainly to the
dESTRICTED
0 7 M
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particularities of soil conditions and also to the location of
agricultural pests. Soil types according to their mechanical and
chemical characteristics, their structure, the ground water level,
etc., are here the deciding obstacles requiring a basic change
through reclamation and the application of agrotechnical developments..
Spring wheat fields here are more reliable in the zone of southern
coniferous and mixed forests, than in the deciduous zone, where
fungus diseases, Swedish fly and a number of other yet little known
causes are limiting the prospects for this crop. Within the boundaries
of the swampy coniferous forest zone, wheat crops are adapted mainly
to dry terraces of river valleys, the warmer loamy and sandy loam,
usually carbonate soils. Under these conditions and using early varieties,
wheat can move as far north as field cultivation crops are grown.
Depending upon the condition under which mildew-resisting early
varieties are introduced, and depending upon soil conditions (the same
"wheat" soils) spring wheat care succeed also in the humid western part
of the forest covered north.
As one of the decisive factors for spring wheat expansion in
the northern part of the European area, should be considered the cost
of bringing in wheat grain since wheat always has here a claim to
better soils, which could be used very successfully for more valuable
crops: flax, beer brewing barley, etc. But in terms of planning the
wheat area can be increased here considerably at the expense of other
crops, mainly following tilled crops and clover. Taking into
consideration the existence of early-ripening spring wheat varieties,
their response to calciferous fertile soils, lack of weeds, etc., it is
possible at the present time to influence quite strongly the geography
of spring wheat plantings. The development of grass field rotation,
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which effects soil structure, the tremendous extension of fallow
plowing, which frees the soil from weeds, extensive use of mineral
fertilizers and lime, and, in regard to the plant itself -- the use
of early high-quality spring wheat varieties and in the future of
"vernalization", etc., together with the study of cultivation
techniques for spring wheat under the conditions of northern agri-
culture --' this is what provides an entirely different background
with different aims for the solution of the wheat problem in the
northern forest belt. Besides the sub-'taiga and the southern
taiga of the entire Trans-Urals in the northern part of the Soviet
Union, where spring wheat can be widely cultivated, such crops can
be developed considerably also: in the Central and Southern
Predural'ye, in the southern part of the northern kray and almost in
the entire Nizhniy-Novgorod Kray in the European part of the Union.
Besides this area, which is more continental and more suited to
spring crop wheat in regard to climate and soils, its crops can be
greatly increased in the profusely humid belt: in the north of
the Belorussian SSR, the Western, Moscow and Ivanovo Oblasts, as well
as in the central and southern parts of the Leningrad Oblast, especially
since the development here of reclamation projects and the use of
mildew resisting varieties.
Scientific research clarification of the reasons for spring
wheat failure in the broadleaf forest andsteppe-forest belt of the
European area, will certainly make it possible in the nearest future
to join together the wheat zone of the steppe-covered south with the
wheat "islands" of the swampy-forest north on the fertile but non-
wheat black-earths of the northern forest-steppes. For grain farming
in the north this problem is of great importance, in connection with the
fact, that the grain areas of the northern republics, krays and oblasts ~-
with the specialization of field industry -- belong in the majority of
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cases to the broad-leaf forest and the northern forest-steppe belt,
where they have at the present time to be based mainly on rye and
As to the southward movement of sprang crop wheat, within the
boundaries of the southern Ukrainian and Crimean steppes and the. arid
Prikum'ye steppes (in North Caucasus), it is not expedient, because
oats crops.
spring wheat yields here are very low, due to dry winds during the
blossoming and ripening period. Its yields are considerably lower
than those of winter wheat which moreover, is a grain of first class
In working out the rayons for specialization in spring wheat,
it is very essential to clarify where it is necessary to give
preference to hard wheat versus soft wheat. On the basis of data
compiled by the variety-control system and the experimental institu-
tions it was made clear, that the hard wheat varieties on old arable
(but not too weedy) soft lands can give not only a high yield, but
even a higher one than the soft wheat, in such regions as; southern
forest-steppes (former Khar'kovskiy Okrug), semi-arid southeast
steppes of the Ukraine (former Dnepropetrovskiy Artemovskiy, Stalinskiy,
quality.
(tarIt.(ao~'Sk;,
Luganskiy Okrugs), as well as in the Donetskiy, Donskoy,
Sal'skiy Okrugs of the North Caucasus. Of course, the cultivation of hard
wheat varieties can not be limited to this one area, They also have
to be cultivated in the enormous areas of waste and virgin lands on the
grain sovkhozes and koozes of Central and Lower Volga, Trans-Urals,
West Siberia and Kaza1stan. There, however, the more the land is
cultivated, the more the soft wheat will be ahead with higher yields,
with the result that hard wheat could be preferred only because of less
loss through falling off and frequently a higher price for export.
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Winter Wheat
As far as winter wheat is concerned, we consider that the
regions most suitable for it are those which have mild winters and
sufficient precipitation. Winter wheat can stand low summer
precipitation much easier than the spring crops. Of particular
importance for it are of course the conditions which insure it against
destruction by frost. In this respect, the safest regions should be
considered those with January mean temperatures not below minus 6
degrees Centigrade. This includes the former Kubanskiy, Maykopskiy,
Armavirskiy Okrugs and the corresponding parts of the "zone of
sufficient humidity" in the Adygeyskaya Autonomous Oblast and the foot-
hill parts of the former Terskiy, Stavropol'skiy Okrugs and the
autonomous oblasts of North Caucasus. Analogous conditions are in
the forest-steppes of the Dnepr's right bank in the Ukraine.
This is our emergency wheat, though the quality of grain here is
not very high.
The best areas for quality winter wheat are: the Crimean steppe,
the southern steppe part of the Ukraine; in a lesser degree -- the
eastern steppes of the former Terskiy and Stavropoltskiy Okrugs, on
chestnut-brown soils which give a winter wheat grain of the best
export quality, though with lesser crop reliability (due to droughts).
The next sufficiently (though somewhat less) favorable area
for winter wheat is the western part of the Dnepros left bank forest-
steppes and also the so-called northern steppes (MoldavianASSR, the
former Pervomayskiy, Zinov'yevskiy Okrugs), Less secure from the
point of view of destruction by frost, but able to give good yields during
favorable years are the areas of the eastern part of the Dnepropetrovskiy,
Zaporozhskiy Okrugs, the region of the Donetskiy basin and the adjoining
Donetskiy and Donskoy Okrugs of North Caucasus, which have a much lower
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ESTR!CTEO
winter temperature (from minus 6 degrees to minus 9 degrees, January
mean temperature). Due to the considerable lack of snows a mass
expansion of winter wheat plantings in these areas is inexpedient
unless all the precautionary measures are taken against freezing.
This will probably be possible already in the coming years
through moving winter resistant winter wheat "gostianwn 237" into this
region and by taking the necessary steps to use better agrotechnical
methods;among which an important role can be played by earlier sowings
of winter crops, establishing conditions favorable for snow retention,
etc.
when all these steps are taken, winter wheat cultivation here
can become sufficiently safe and therefore it can permit (provided its
yields continually increase) a gradual decrease of spring wheat in
this zone where it and rye had been predominant.
Special attention should be paid over the coming years to the
forward movement of the winter wheat into almost all the regions of the
Central BlackEarth Oblast, The existence at the present time of enough
winter-resistant varieties, makes this movement quite possible, with
the exception of only part of the oblast east of the Don, where this
expansion is also possible, but only with great caution, with timely
sowing of only particularly winter-resistant varieties of Saratov
selection and with the practice of snow retention.
In the Central Volga and Lower Volga Krays, along the Volga's
right bank, the expansion of the winter wheat cultivation is possible
only with the most cold resisting varieties of Saratov and Bezenchuk
selection, making use of snow retention. In the steppe part of the
Volga's left bank, winter wheat cultivation to date is risky even with
the most winter resisting varieties and with the use of all the best
agrotechnical methods to prevent destruction by frost. Its future
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depends upon the prospects in the work of the Grain Farming Institute
in Saratov which is developing rye-wheat hybrids and especially winter-
resistant varieties of winter wheat,
of great interest is the question whether it is possible to move
winter wheat north, into the podzolic soil zone, in order to substitute
it where possible, for winter rye. Experimental as well as experience
data tell us that in certain northern spots winter wheat can be a more
profitable crop than winter rye, not only because of a higher value of
grain, but also due to higher yields.
Winter wheat being so far only a little used crop here, it has
not been sufficiently studied as to its requirements under new conditions,
but the data which is already obtained indicates that the main limiting
minimums for winter wheat in the north will be (aside from the question
of warmth and snow during the winter season) soil fertility, soil
structure, ground water level and soil acidity. Provided that the
climatic conditions are the same, the main deciding factor will be
the soils which can be regulated through fertilization, introduction
of crop rotation with grass-sowing, reasonable cultivation, lime
treatment and drainage.
Preliminary experimental data indicates definitely, that through
an adequate choice of time and methods of sowing winter wheat, it is
possible to fight quite effectively against climatic drawbacks and to
influence considerably the success of wintering.
Experimental data and the results of actual sowings indicate
that in relation to its requirements winter wheat has to start conquering
the north at the western part of the forest zone; Belorussian SSR,
Western Oblast, central and southern parts of the Leningrad, Moscow and
Ivanovo Oblasts, with their milder winter aohditions, and also the
central and southern predural'ye (Ural's foothills), with its deep
snow. Within the boundaries of this climatically most favorable northern
ESTRICTEfl
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area, the winter crop wheat, however, could not expand without
interruption.
First of all, clayey, structural soils with sufficient amounts
of humus (carbonate, forest loam) should be chosen, while swampy,
peat, sand, little developed soils, in low locations, etc., should
be avoided.
Very much depends here upon the success of development and the
acceptance in practice of rational agrotechnical methods. The intro-
duction of winter-resistant winter wheat varieties of the specific
bio-type (which can stand not only low winter temperatures when there
is a sufficiently deep snow cover, but also the sweating out, the
soaking), as well as the improvement of the cultivation technique
must change immediately the scale of winter crop wheat plantings in the
north and change the largely automatic practices from the path of
evolution to the road of revolution.
The new large scale of reclamation projects and the general
background of cultivated field crops -- which comes with socialistic
reconstruction of agriculture ?- will doubtless move winter wheat
very extensively from the existing quite limited regions safeguarded
by nature. The deepening of the selective work on this crop in the
north of course will soon lead this crop beyond the above-mentioned
basic northern border of the winter wheat zones
Rye
This crop together with wheat is a basic food, mainly for the
rural population. In the areas of less success with other grain crops,
it has tremendous value as fodder but its importance as an export item
is very slights
Therefore the amount of rye production and its regional distribu-
tion to a high degree is connected with the production possibilities of,
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1ESTRICTEO
mainly, wheat and fodder grains. It depends upon the, volume of grain
needed and the amount of concentrated fodder available, as well as. upon
the question of competition between these principal grains when it
comes to the distribution of crops.
Being a great cosmopolitan rye has the possibility of expansion
all over the Union, but wheats successful competition in the south
is pushing rye northward, leaving it in the south only to a small
extent to insure that there be grain crops there, where spring wheat
is not very reliable due to the arid climate, while winter wheat does
not succeed due to severe winter conditions.
Besides this factor `competition of a more valuable cereal), other
important conditions have to be considered in assigning areas to rye.
As a crop, in terms of grain quality, it stands above those
grains which follow it, in this regard: barley and oats. Rye, in spite
of its sometimes low yields, has to move into regions once in a while
not satisfying its requirements of natural conditions in the north. It
is particularly important for those regions of the northern swampy..
forest belt, which due to the extreme lack of roads are remote from
grain supplies and from the main lines of transportation.
M
The demand for major relief for the transportation system in
the near future from carrying supplies, by producing them locally,
applies particularly to the northern areas of the Union, where
the largest industrial centers of the country are located, with their
large population which needs grain to be shipped in.
This raises the problem of the possibility of increasing the
production of grain in the north without interfering with its own
specific agriculture. By raising the balance in its favor, the nonw
black-earth north will, by transforming itself into a "productive"
region, become ]e ss dependent in regard to grain.
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ilfl?STRICTEQ
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The necessity of saving valuable exports of southern grain, from
consumption in the rest of the country, is a matter of immediate
concern. It is possible to attain this in large measure by producing
rye in the non-wheat-growing, non-black-earth north.
Analogous to the need of the population to supply itself with
grain, is also the need to use rye for fodder in the northern animal-
husbandry regions, especially in the far away areas not connected with the
corn growing regions, and in the regions little suited to growing barley
(forest-steppes).
All this makes it essential to move rye sowings northward,
where it will find for itself in the majority of cases, favorable
conditions for its growth.
Only the more populated northern industrial regions are limiting
their needs for this crop as an economy factor; partly due to the fact
that they are better served with transportation, and partly because
they utilize their areas more intensely for specifically suburban
varieties of crops.
The second limiting circumstance -- the necessity of having
fallows -- is eliminated by the extensive introduction of weed
fallows, which are quite necessary in the north specializing in dairy
animal husbandry. At the same time, being a winter crop and demanding
a more even labor distribution over time, as well as a more complete
use of inventory, rye is particularly of interest for the north with
its short summer and, therefore, great emphasis on work in the fields.
Besides its use for grain, winter rye is of great value as a
very nourishing green fodder; with special fall sowings for spring
the Union where winter is exceptionally long and the grass grows in the
feeding, and, again, particularly suited to the north and northeast of
spring as the snow melts away.
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RESTRICTED
According to its biological properties, rye is a crop much
better suited to the climatic conditions of the north. With few
exceptions, its highest and most steady yields are obtained just here.
. As a crop developed from weeds, rye does not demand much in
terms of soil conditions. Rye is second after oats among the grain
crops to lay well-grounded claims to the low-valued lands like: peat
swamps, sand soils, uncultivated forest clearings or soils cultivated
by the seminomadic national minorities of the east.
Early ripening and the year long development cycle are tremen-
dous advantages for winter rye in??comparison with other grains.
This insulates rye from the effects of summer droughtsa from the
damage caused by the fly family insects, from the unfavorable conditions
of late fall harvesting. This makes it possible to make use of the
abundant fall and winter precipitation and thus protect this grain
from the lack of precipitation in the summer.
Being thought resistant and not demanding of the soil or its
cultivation -- these are the main characteristics of rye -- particular
noticeable in its spring crop variety, which therefore is especially
suitable and effective among the not agriculturally inclined population
of Trans-Baykal and Central Asia.
As to the damage caused by fungus.. diseases and insects first
of all mention must be made of the spread in the south of winter owlet
(Feltia segetum Shif.). It is an extensive zone stretching from the
Dnepr to the Volga, along the north of the Ukraine SSR, the southern
Central Biackarth Oblast and the north of the Lower Volga Kra
y,
where it has two generations. Considerable also is the damage caused
by this pest in the northernmost part of Nizhni -Novgor
y od Kray and the
southern part of the Northern Kray, There is also not a little
fighting ahead against slugs in the humid warm west
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IIESTRICTED
The fungus diseases of rye are particularly manifest under
the conditions of the extremely humid and warm summer in the
primor'ye, where the frequent result is "drunken" grain; this does
not result with grain crops of the local Far-East varieties. Winter
rye, winter resistant in comparison with other crops, has nevertheless
its basic biological minimum in. the combination o? factors .. .
making it possible to survive the winter. The principal factors are
thermic winter conditions and the function of the snow and ice cover.
As a second biological minimum in dry regions, consideration should.
be given to the necessary amount of timely fall precipitation.
The analysis of soil-climatic and other natural factors in
connection with the principal requirements of rye, make it possible
to divide the territory of the Union and to outline a certain number
of regions favorable for obtaining high and steady yields.
However, the distribution of rye planting areas in exactly
this order would in many cases be radically contrary to the overall
interests of the national economy. Here has to be indicated first
of all the inexpediency of rye planting, in spite of its high yield,
in regions where it is possible to cultivate a number of valuable
technical crops and wheat.
The North Caucasus, Western Ukraine and the southern part
of the Central Black-earth Oblast are the first examples of areas
with the highest and most reliable yields of rye. Similarly, the
entire spring crop wheat area of forest-'steppes, which comes next
to the northern forest region in rye yields, is not a place for rye,
with the exception of those areas intensely plagued by the Swedish
fly. To the contrary, in spite of hardly favorable conditions of
drought and 'severe winters in the steppes of the North Caucasus,
Ukraine, Povolzh'ye and Siberia, rye has to be continued there, though
on a small scale, because of the even lesser stability of other crops,
RESTRICTED
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dEST MCI E0
in order to be sure of yields in unfavorable years of drought or
bad winter.
does not meet with any obstacles in its expansion, connected
Rye
natural environment, in the entire forest zone, as well as in
with
of the forest-steppe where the spreading of the Swedish
those parts
fly and other reasons limit drastically the possibility of spring
wheat cultivation. Conditions for wintering or soil conditions
as yet present considerable limitations to otherwise continuous areas
of winter wheat in the Central Biackarth Oblast, in the right
bank area of the Central Volga Kray and in the belt of ohm ging
soils in the northwestern part of the Ukraine, in Nizhniy-Novgorod
:ray, in the Tatarskaya SSR, in the k3ashkirskaya SSR and in the
Urals Oblast.
Within the area of the non-black-earth north, winter or spring
rye has to be one of the basic grain crops almost throughout. There
are limitations only in the denser' populated industrial areas and
at the northern limits to where field cultivation is possible, where
the extremely severe natural conditions limit the possibility of
the cultivation of the most early
sowing this grain, allowing only
ripening kinds of barley. The zone of southern coniferous and mixed
forests in the non-black-earth north guarantees a yield of rye
second only to that of the North Caucasus and Western Ukraine. In
some localities of the non-black-earth north, where insufficient
precipitation and soil humidity limit the sowing of oats, the
prevalence of the Swedish fly limits barley, or the exceptionally
low natural soil fertility requires frequent fertilization and it
rules out a number of intermediate crops -- rye remains the only basic
grain crop (such are, for example, the sand stretches in the south of
the Nizhniy-Novgorod Kray, in the Ivanovo, Moscow, Western Oblasts and
dESTRICTED
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1ESTRICTE.D
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aEST RICT EU
the Belorussi SSR, and in the Poles'ye of the Ukrainian SSR). Those
an
are the basic economic and natural factors determining the distribution
of this country's second primordial crop in the reconstruction prospects
for field crop varieties of socialist agrieulture.
Oats
The principal factor determining oats production in the future
machines for its main grain consumer the
is the substitution of
horse. CorrespondinglY, the amount of oats grain production will be
the increasing demand for tractive power, and,
changing depending upon
on the other hand on the rate of mechanization in agriculture,
transportat? and in those industrial enterprises (forest, mining)
~.an
where the horse was of great importance. In view of the tremendous
? today of the horse, with the need to improve its
general ~nportance ,~
g the next years to decrease the oats
feed' there is hardly need durin
~.
grain production. The regionalization of oats sowings, as far as
possible, should correspond to the depopulation of horses.
tian in food is not large. Neither is it of any
Oats cansump
ce for export. However, to meet export requirements,
great vnportan
grain must be produced in regions where it will yield its highest
merchandising qualities.
A factor of f extreme importance in determining the extent of
oats production and its geograpby, is the possibility of replacing it
with fast growing core wlthdrawing grain in tl~e south and southeast
arid combining its plantings with other more valuable crops.
'ng to their biological properties, oats are exceptional'.
ccorda.
A
non-'exact?ng as to growth conditions. The principal advantage of this
~.
from weeds, consists of its ability to get along with the
crop derived
left-over fertility, lity, foUowing the growth of more valuable crops.
Together with rye, oats represent one of the most reliable swamp crops.
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Oats gets along well with all the various poor podzolic soils. Oats
is very little affected by insect pests. The most important fungus
disease of oats -'-'smut -- injures it more severely in the more arid
regions.
The possibility of gathering by the means of this crop a
great amount of foodstuff from:the least valuable areas axx3 under
less favorable conditions, brings up the necessity of research in the
field of a more complete and heterogenous utilization of oats, analogous
to what is done in the south with so{bean, corn, etc.
The principal demands of oats upon the environment are climatic,
and first of all: great amount of humidity, a sufficiently long period
of warmth and not high, even summer temperatures.
Accordingly, the highest and most reliable yields of oats
are secure within the boundaries of the northern non-black-earth belt
and in the forest-steppe, not expanding as far north as barley and
winter rye, due to its later ripening. Here, the role of oats is
particularly important in the areas of mixed forests and forest-steppes,
where the Swedish fly curtails the distribution of spring wheat and
barley. At the transition of the forest-steppe into the steppe, oats
begins to suffer considerably from lack of moisture and its yields
here become unsteady.
In growing selected varieties, a better quality grain (character-
istically less flity, larger, etc.) is guaranteed rather by the humid
north than the south, but it has to be mentioned that for export, the
grain from farther south -- Central Black'4arth Oblast, Northern
Ukraine and Central Volga, Tariya and Bashkiriya -- is more valuable
due to its purer color, resulting from the great amount of precipitation
in the north during the harvest, making a grain which is more or less
"maranthaceae).
dESTRICTEO
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Our steppe-covered south with its enormous plowed areas aria
longer field work periods will be mechanized sooner
than the forest...
Covered north, where the horse will be. retained for a longer period.
The grain growing south will find for the work animal the necessary
fodder besides oats and will be able to utilize the
, surplus feed gram
locally without overloading transportation facilities. And oats, which
are needed in the north, in that location give the best results on
both yield and quality of grain. Thus, Considering ~ Ong these circumstances
it is necessary, in the regionalization of this crop,. to carry out
a basic push northward and thus liberate the southern area far more
valuable crops.
This will cause a considerable decrease in area under
acts,
which will have to be compensated for eth
(tog er with all the measures
for raising the yield of oats) by a distribution of oats in
the north,
which will yield a gross grain harvest which is high enough in relation
to needs. This has to be considered particular in
jY connection with
the fact that in the north, the prospects for oats will
be more limited
than before, partly because of the introduction of
crop rotation, and
partly because of the priority introduction of a number of
basic crops,
subject to expansion, like clover, flax, hem
p, potatoes, beer-brewing
barley and grain barley, etc., all of which will push oats in the crop
rotation to':bhe most unfavorable position. In Connection with all this,
within the boundaries of the non-black-earth
north and the forest-steppes
oats have to be maintained, in the majority of regions within . the grain
group, as one of the basic crops in terms of the size
of the area. Its
importance can decrease in the extreme north, in the
~ subarctic regions,
in the relatively dry region of poor sand
soils of the Oka-Volga rayon
and the western sand areas of Polesfye, Ukraine Belorussia and the
southern part of the western Oblast, where the odzol'
p ac sandy soils
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demand more frequent fertilization, and oats, as a crop first or second
in requiring fertilizer, is less profitable in comparison with rye,
clover, potatoes, etc,, and can be of less importance.
The importance of oats increases considerably on the periphery
of the Leningrad, Moscow, Urals Kuzbas,.:; and other industrial areas,
where a great number of horses is concentrated for short-haul
transportation, in the lumber regions in Kareliya, Northern Kray, etc.,
as well as in the horse-breeding and border regions.
The great plasticity of oats in the sense of its adaptability
to environmm is provides the possibility of a very easy manuevering with
the. distribution of its plantings in accordance with the requirements
of the country's economy, which keeps changing in time and space,
Ba~~
Having a very wide range of biotypes, barley, in some of its
varieties, is a crop much more drought resistant than oats;.
which competes with it as a feed. It apparently suffers less from
seizures in the south than does. spring wheat. At the same time there
are varieties which make it possible for barley to be a crop moving
ahead of other grain crops to the north and into the high-mountain
areas.
With the widening of the general barley planting area, and with
the simultaneous even greater relative expansion of corn, another good-
yield and valuable feed crop, barley's importance among other grain
crops of the USSR will probably have to be decreased and the percentage
of its sowing area reduced. The absolute decrease of area and reduction
in barley production in the next years to come, is hardly desirable due
to the following reasons;
Barley is one of our main export grain crops, being exported
from our southern ports in very large quantities. As a beer-brewing
product it is exported from the western parts of the USSR.
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REST KICT ED
Though corn cultivation is being developed, it can not completely
substitute for barley. In the first place, it does not grow as far
north as barley, and secondly, with the need for developing animal
husbandry and hog raising in the country, barley has to become a crop
additional to corn for the feeding of pigs not only in the northern
areas but everywhere, in order to obtain a superior quality of bacon.
The example of our competitors on the international market --
Canada and the United States of America, where up to recent times, a
very intense expansion of barley areas could be observed (in spite of
mechanization and a decrease in work animals)--also indicates the
correctness of the above deliberations.
In the USSR barley is cultivated for feed, food and for technical
purposes. In the last respect, besides its use for beer and malt,
barley is becoming more important in obtaining malt extract -- a product
necessary for textile industry and for a number of other needs.
We have four main barley areas in the USSR, two in the non-
black-earth north and two in the south.
In spite of the relatively small participation of the non-black-
earth north in the general barley production, it is necessary to pay
here considerable attention to this crop; first, because of barley's
very great importance in the extreme northern belt, where, in connection
with the exceptionally short growing period, this crop is the only one
or the most important one among the food and feed grains. Secondly,
emphasis is needed on this crop in connection with the fact that in
some spots of the non-black-earth north, with a most even distribution
of warmth and abundant humidity, there are concentrated the main areas
of? low-protein beer-brewing barley. Moreover, these areas are close
to the nation1s borders, which is very important for export. Not ].e ss
important is barley here as a feed product for hog raising, and particularly
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northern areas is predominantly for feed, seldom for beer brewing and
valuable for beer brewing as well as for grain. The grain of other
north of the Nizhniy-Novgorod Kray, produce also high quality material,
aESTRICTED
the north of the Moscow, Ivanovo, and Leningrad Oblasts and the
The third barley area where it has to retain its great importance,
only partly giving way to corn, is the arid steppe in the south and
southeast of the Ukraine, in the Crimea, the and part of North
Caucasus and in the southeastern part of the TsChO. Here, due to
high drought resistance, barley gives higher and more steady yields
than oats 1 - 2 times higher than spring wheat, and in the Crimea
and the Prikum'ye, it competes with corn, which under the conditions
of these regions, is a relatively low yield crop. This is an area in
which barley, in terms of grain quality, is of a feed type. and the
area should, if possible, be retained for it in the interest of export
( near ports) and to supplement corn for feed. Finally, in connection
with spring barley, it is necessary to pay attention to some of the.
as because it is needed to supplement corn feed in hog and
well
poultry raising.
Ukrainian forest-steppe. In the last mentioned region, barley areas
have to be retained due to rather good beer-brewing properties, as
barley is of lesser importance though it has good beer-brewing.
properties here as well as along the northern right bank of the
In the south of Belorussia and in the Poles'ye of the Ukraine
then of lower quality.
In the mountainous part of Armeniya (Leni.nakan), record beer-
brewing barley on a world's scale is obtainable, and therefore, its
foothill areas.
cultivation has to be expanded here by all means.
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It is necessary to pay attention to the expansion of winter
barley cultivation not only in the suitable sections of the Trans
Caucasian and Central-Asiatic republics (in cases when the grain crops
should not be pushed out by cotton), but also in the arid parts of the
North Caucasus and the Crimea, which have sufficiently mild winters
insuring wintering of the crop, and a hot summer. Under these
conditions, it produces high yields and has quite goad beer-brewing
properties.
In other areas, barley can retain a limited importance. In
the central regions of European USSR (the following applies also to
spring wheat), barley so far does not have sufficient grounds for
expansion, due to a number of yet little clarified reasons and partly
due to injuries caused by the Swedish and Hessen flies, In the east
and southeast, barley can not compete successfully' with spring wheat.
Thus, the wider feed and technical use of barley in the
reconstructed economy of the USSR is forcing us to pay much more
serious attention than before to this crop, particularly in these
areas; arid southern, abundantly-humid western, the and
far northern regions.
Corn
Considering the increase of corn production as very important,
the expansion of its basic plantings 'should be adapted to areas
guaranteeing safe yields sufficiently high and steady.
The climatic factors which are supposed to determine (following
the decisive aspects of a social economic nature) the areas of corn
farming specialization are: higher or lower precipitation (particularly
in July), length of the non-'frost period which determines the
possibility of using corn varieties of higher yield, but requiring
a longer growing period and, finally, sufficiently high temperatures
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RESTRiCTED
during wing period. The great aridness of the climate in during the growing the
as well as the shortness of the non-freeze period and the
southeast (
de;fa~?c th at the northern borders of corn expansion)
~.ency in warm
creates the need for earljer-riPening varieties which escape the seizure
during the blossom and ripening periods, marked with high temperatures
and low relative air humidity, which occurs here frequently in July and
~.
August; and which happened ' n some parts of the North Caucasus in 1930.
~.
In connection with the above-mentioned and comparing our
conditions with the "corn belt" of North America, we consider the
so-called "zone of adequate humidity" in the North Caucasus as an
area most favorable for corn and corn-winter wheat farming (including
say bean and other mar e valuable technical crops, particularly sunflower).
the forest-steppes and steppes in the foothills of the
This zone includes
former Kuban, MaYkop, Armavir and Tersk Okrugs and also the autonomous
ablasts of Adygeya, Kabarda, Osetiya, Ingushetiya and Chechnya.
Characteristic for this zone is the ripening of late varieties of
as well as
h eld capacity, though in some of its northern sections,
hi g yi
in the mountainous parts, it is expedient to give preference to early
ripening varieties in order to start early after the corn harvest with
the sowing of the winter wheat.
Not lesser yields (of quite late ripening varieties) are
obtained in the Pontiac zone of Georgia, together with Abkhaziya,
~ .
a, However, in spite of that, corn should be
Adzhar?rtan and Kakhetiy.
~.a
as much as possible by fruits and, more valuable subtropical
replaced here
crops.
Quite favorable for corn, but when using earlier ripening varieties,
there is also the area of adequate humidity in the Ukrainian SSR -- the
~.
southwest part of the forest-Steppes and s teppes of the right bank of
the Dnepr' (AMSSR, former Kamenets, Mogilev, Tul"chinsk, Pervomaysk Okrugs)
A'IES TAlC TED
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where raising corn, together with sugar beet, has to be of
leading
importance,
Corn should be of sufficient importance in the remaining part
of the Ukraine's forest-steppes and in the southern
parts of the
forest-steppes of the TsChO, where the amount of precipitation guarantees
a high yield, but the lack of warmth and the very short non frost
period requires early varieties which have time to
ripen. Slightly
less favorable, yet, areas adequate for corn
cultivation include the
semi-arid parts of the Ukraine~s northern steppe and the neighboring
parts of the North Caucasus, Here, corn areas
have to be expanded
not only because of the adequate yield possible but particularly,
in order to obtain a larger amount of feed for the
development of
hog raising and also in order to raise the yield
~ of the grain cereal
plantings which are to follow, in view of the fact
that corn clears the
fields of weeds.
Corn is not fully reliable in terms of its hardiness and
yield
in the southern arid steppe of the Ukraine and the Crimea
on the
southern black-earth and brown-earth soils, But
an adequate expansion
of this crop.,(while taking into consideration the above circumstances)
is necessary here too, since corn is the most drought resistant of the
grain cereals, This applies also tbthe arid. zone of the
Lower and
Central Volga,
Exceptions are the particularly arid semidesert areas?
the
former Stalingrad and Pugachev Okrugs and the ASSR of the Volga
Germans, the northern part of the former Astrakhan'
Trans~Volga
part of the Kamyshin as well as the adjoining particularly arid parts
of the Uralrsk, Sal'sk, Stavropoly and Tersk Okru s, F
g or these areas,
even corn is not sufficiently drought resistant, and is susceptible to
seizures while blossoming, Corn, moreover does not adapt itself well
RES TRIC TED
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to saliferous soils. Accordingly, it is not a reliable crop here,
giving a low yield which sometimes is even lower than that of barley.
In the northern: transition to forest-steppe, part of the
Central Volga Kray, the expansion of the corn area is desirable, but
low precipitation, deficiency in warmth and the shortness of the non-
frost period are limiting factors. Accordingly, it is possible to
use only the most early ripening varieties, which, haaever, usually
are not sufficiently high in their yield capacity.
It is extremely desirable to expand the plantings of corn in
the spring wheat area of the Lower Volga and the steppe part of the
Central Volga, but we assume, that here, mare. than in any other corn
area of the USSR, the solution of the corn problem will depend on the
right tempo of mechanization in its cultivation, particularly in
harvesting.
A few words are in order on the possibility of corn cultivation
I
in West Siberia and in Kaza1stan. Accord:i..ng to empirical data at
our disposal, corn may be grown in the southern part of the former
Troitsk Okrug, in the central part of the Kustanaysk Okrug, in the
Slavgorodsk, Rubtsovsk, Semipalatinsk, and Minusinsk Okrugs, but only
by using particularly early-ripening varieties which, however, produce
low yields of small grain. Besides, the low growth of the plants
hampers mechanical harvesting on large areas and therefore it should
not be considered expedient -- at least not in the near future -- to
push this crop to any extent into these areas.
Millet
At the present time, millet cultivation is adapted to the most
divergent areas of the USSR. Large areas in the Central Blackarth
Oblast, in the Ukraine and in other regions are occupied by it instead
of by more valuable crops. In spate of millet's high yield in these
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areas with good climatic conditions, we assume, that in terms of
planning it makes sense to carry out the concentration of mass planting
of millet mainly in the arid areas of the USSR, where this crop,
being more droughts-resistant, can have a higher and more constant
yield, in comparison with other crops. Such are the enormous spaces
of the particularly arid steppes of the Trans~Volga and Kazakhstan which
have brown soils that specialization in millet could be carried out
there as an insurance against the less steady spring crop wheat yields.
As to the TsChO and the Ukraine, the millet plantings can
remain there only on small areas, inasmuch as this grain might be
needed in some parts of these oblasts for development of the poultry
industry.
Buckwheat
Buckwheat plantings require a sufficiently humid climate
in 'order to avoid seizures while blossoming. Buckwheat gets along with
a short growing season if there is no threat of premature frost.
Keeping in mind that buckwheat gets along quite well with poor sandy
soils, it could be possible to adapt its plantings in the future
basically to the abundantly humid areas of the southern part of
Belorussia and the Ukrainian Poles'ye, predominantly sandy soil areas,
and to the poorer soils of the Bashkirian foothills. This would lower
buckwheat's relative importance in favor of other crops in the program
of expansion onto richer soils.
Here it should be considered, however, that due to the taste of
buckwheat groats they usually are preferred to millet, which up to
now enjoyed an exceptional preponderance in the choice of cereals.
Therefore, from the point of view of improvement and introduction of
diversity into the nation's nutrition, it seems expedient, at any rate,
not to diminish the absolute area of buckwheat planting, not only in the
Efi
LC (,1 /f r
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aEVfNiCTEO
above-mentioned humid and warm optimum buckwheat areas in the European
USSR, but also in the West Siberian and East Siberian Krays and the
Asiatic Far East, even if the yield w111 be sometimes lower than that
of mille tr According to former crop distribution methods, when the
success of and interest in a crop was determined by the stability of
its plantings, this was of interest for the improvement of nutrition.
Yet, since this was a crop which required moisture, of course, it
could not compete with drought resistant millet, which on account of
the conditions of nature, had greater possibilities for expansion.
LEGUMINOUS GRAIN CROPSI
The species, types and varieties of agricultural plants grouped
together under the general name of "leguminous grain crops" are quite
diversified. Here are included the comparatively well known and widely
used crops of peas, kidney beans, lentil, and vetch, and crops which
up to recent times were less prevalent; beans, lupine, chick--pea;,
vetchling, serradella, Phaseolus mungo (a bean), and, finally, a
number of crops reintroduced into the USSR: French lentil, velvety
beans, cowpea, pigeon pea and others.
All these crops accumulate protein, which is a most valuable
nutritional substance. Depending upon a number of properties pertaining
to the various species and crop variations, crops may be used in many
ways: for food __ as cooked ripe and green seeds; for feed -- as
crushed seeds, flour, green bulk hay, for silos, for land enriching, for
export and, finally, for processing for canning.
The need for increasing the protein food of the population, the
exceptionally sharp protein deficit experienced in the feed rations of
the various types of animal husbandry, the need for green fertilizer
1 This section on leguminous grain crops is compiled by L. I. Govorov,
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ttEsrROCtEo
and the enormous possibilities for expanding export, dictate the
necessity of all-out measures for the most urgent expansion in the
USSR of areas under leguminous grain crops.
The diversity of species, types and varieties of leguminous
grain crops, with the exceptional range of their ecological particu-
larities, makes it possible to cultivate individual forms of these
crops from the northern agricultural borders to ttie 'subtr'opics of
the USSR..
Considering the country's growing need for different ways to
use leguminous grain crops, the area under these crops has to increase
during the coming five.-year plan, both in its absolute size and in
its relative proportion to the total sowing area, The needs of the
different branches of the USSR socialistic economy can be satisfied,
if the plantings of all the leguminous grain crops reaches at least
10 percent of the total planting area. We shall limit ourselves
below, to defining only the principal crops of the leguminous grain
group,
This is the most widespread crop of the leguminous grain group,
due to the fact that it is not demanding upon soil and climatic
conditions. Its cultivation for green forage, for silage and for soil
enriching, is possible at the northernmost agricultural borders.
On the swampy and heavy loamy soils of the northern oblasts and
krays of the USSR, the growing period of the pea is drawn out, and
often the pea does not ripen completely. Accordingly, growing it
successfully in the taiga-swamp zone for seed is possible only in
elevated places. The pews southern limits reach the southern black-
earth varieties where it changes into chestnut black-earth. The low
precipitation (for May-July below 17S millimeters), the considerable
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 In comparison with pea, lentil requires more warmth and less
moisture. Its northern limits of cultivation in the podzolic zone
reach not higher than the 7 degree (~. (l,-~~
north latitude. In the Preduraltye
(t r t -i) a
Zaural~ye~and in the Southwestern Siberia, its border runs through the
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damage caused by the pea weevil "brukhusand the successful cultivation
of the southern competitors from among the leguminous grain crops --
kidney bean, chick-pea and vetchling -- all serve to limit the southward
expansion of pea growing. The maximum range of pea cultivation areas
are: Poles'ye and the right bank of the Ukrainian SSR, the entire
TsChO, with the exception of its southeastern steppe part, and the right
bank of the Central Volga Kray on black-earth and podzolic soils. These
regions of relative density in pea plantings have to widen their areas
at th.e present time and during the coming years, in order to meet
the growing demand for large-seed export types (of the "Viktoriya" type).
Besides that, peas are of local importance for food and for
supplying animal husbandry farms. Pea growing must be expanded in all
the oblasts and krays of the European USSR, beginning with the northern
black-earth varieties of the northern forest-steppe zone and extending
northward to the southern regions of Kareliya and of the Northern Kray.
Consideration must be given to the tremendous possibilities for
expanding pea planting areas in the Trans-Urals and in Western and
Eastern Siberia, beginning with the subtaiga zone on the podzols and
the black-earth of the forest-steppe, particularly in the southern
parts of the former Tomsk and Krasnoyarsk Okrugs and in the former
Achinsk Okrug.
The absolutely small areas of pea plantings in the Trans-
Caucasus mountainous regions and in. the arid soils with sufficient
precipitation in the foothills of the Central Asiatic republics has
to be expanded.
Lentil
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forest-steppes along the areas with a May-July precipitation of not
lass than 1G0 millimeters.
The basic and at the same time the optimum planting areas with
prospects for further expansion of large-seed export lentil are the
right bank of the Ukraine SSR, the northeast part of the TsChO on
rich black-earth, on the right bank black ear. th of the Central Volga
and Lower Volga Krays and in the Tartar ASSR.
An expansion is needed of the areas of small-seed types for
food and feed supply in the a.aodzolic zone to which the large-seed
types adapt themselves to a lesser degree, in the southern parts of
the Moscow Oblast and the Nizhniy-Novgorod Kray, in the Ivanovo Oblast,
in the former Aleksanclrovsk, Vladimir and Shuyslc Okrugs, in the Ural sk
Oblast, in th.e former Perm', Sverdlovsk and Zlatoust Okrugs, in
Southwest Siberia and in the former Uarnaul and Novosibirsk Okrugs.
Vetch
For green fodder and hay, vetch makes the same demands upon
climate and soil as does the pea. The areas of these crops almost
coincide. In the northern sections, vetch cultivation for hay has the
advantage, its green bulk drying more easily, compared with the pea.
The northern border of vetch cultivation for seeds runs slightly
south of the Minsk, Pskov, Smolensk, Moscow, Vladimir, Izhevsk, Ufa,
Troitsk, Tyumen', Tara, Novosibirsk line. The optimum areas for
obtaining good quality grain, covering the domestic requirements of the
USSR and the needs of export are; TsChO, with the exception of the
southeast part, the southern and southeastern rayons of the Western
Oblast, Poles 'ye and. forest-steppes of the Ukraine SSR, southern part
of the DSSR and the western corner of the Central Volga Kray.
Cultivation for seeds has to expand northward into the southern half
of the Moscow Oblast, in the southern par, is of Ivanovo Oblast,
_ryRll ~ , y
h i j~ VIII ~ Mp{~ ~
r. I''C.'
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nly-Novgorod Kray and the Ural' sk Oblast, in the central part
Nizh
of the Western Oblast and. in Belorussia.
In Siberia the areas of degraded black earth and clayey Siberia a soils
in the forest-steppe zone which have a MaywJuly precipitation of 16O-
200 millimeters) can be considered as safe for vetch seed cultivation.
Kidney bean
This crop which requires more warmth and gets along with This is a
the 1G0-1~0 millimeter precipitatiori of MayaJuly. As a field crop the
~.
northern boundaries for growing lentils are: the southern part of
Belorussia and the northern border of the entire black-earth zone. In
vegetable .farming, the early varieties can move northward up to and
inclu.da.no Leningrad. The most favora'ole areas are; (1) TsChO, with
~
ossoshansk,,Ost,rogozhsk, Belgorod and Borisoglebsk Okrugs;
the former R
es of the right and ]ft banks of the Ukraine SSR; and
(2) forest-steep
(3) the North Caucasus Kray in the zone of sufficient humidity. It is
move kidney bean cultivation northward; into the southern
necesUar~r to
half of the BSSR, into the right bank black-~,a rth zone of the Central
and Lower Volga wer Volga Krays where there is sufficient humidty. The
'sting kinds of the Phaseolus acutifolius type, have to be
oughtrest ~,
dr
the Trans-Volga areas. It is necessary also to
pushed forward into
increase plantins in the Ukraine SSR steppe areas. Particular
attention should be paid to the increase of kidney bean plantings in th.e
-Caucasus: in level places -- bush varieties -- and in the
Trans
mountainous part (up to 1300 meters) -- climbing varieties grown
together with corn. It is just as necessary to have kidney beans
in the vegetable areas of the Central Asia republics.
L..,~ne
This is the best land-enriching crop for sandy and clayey soils
which have sufficient moisture. Up to the present time its cultivation
L
/r c2'/9
w
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4ESTR1CT ED
fertilizer was limited to the BSSR, separate spots in the
for green
Western Oblast and the sandy soils of the Ukraine SSR. The next
expansion region is the enormous area of sand and sandy loam fields,
beginning from the west along the northern border through Polotsk,
Smolensk, Serpukhov towards Vladimir and Nizhniy-Novgorod, and in the
from Zhitomir along the northern border of the black-earth zone.
South,
Lupine fertilizer should be provided and mixed with the sandy soils of
the northern non-b1ack-earth zone, in the individual rayons of West and
Last Siberia. Lupine plantings for fertilizer are possible also on the Tr
ans?Caucasus tea plantations. Particular prospects are open to
non-alkaloid lupine, both as a fodder crop and for food.
To insure the protein balance in regard to food and fodder,
decisive steps must be taken to expand the area growing "forgotten crops",
such as beans, chick-pea and vetchling.
Beans
Beans make slightly more demands upon soil than the peas and
vetch and they T require more moisture. Only the temporary lack of
of the early-ripening types hinders the forward movement of this
seeds
crap up to the Leningrad Oblast. The regions next in line to receive
this crop are Western Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Nizhni.y-Novgorod Kray
and the lvanovo Oblast. Considerable sowing areas should be developed
(t1v~ t l b.rr
in the Predural'ye -- in the mixed forest zone -- in the Trans-Ural
subtaiga zone and farther south, with May-July precipitation not below
millimeters. Fully satisfactory areas are BSSR, right bank of the
17~
Ukraine SSR and the TsChO, with the exception of rayons with precipitation
below 17S millimeters during May-July. It would be very expedient to
keep and if possible, to expand sowings in Tadzhikistan, and in the
mountain areas of southern pamiro-Alay.
4ESTRICTEO
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Chick-pea
This is an and area crop. It is susceptible to fungus diseases
when there is an excess of humidity. The areas for expanding sowings
of chick-pea should be the chestnut black-earth steppes of the Central
and Lower Volga Krays and of the North Caucasus, the steppe part of the
Ukraine SSR, the Crimean ASSR, the foothills of Dagestan, the dry
farming areas of the Central Asia republics and the arid areas of Trans-
Caucasus.
Vetchling
Special measures are needed in order to expand its planting
areas. As a crop more drought-resistant than pea and vetch, it is
not subject to injury by weevils, requires less warmth, and, in
comparison with chick-pea, it produces higher yields of seeds and more
green bulk. Vetchiing should occupy the in-between areas, between pea
and vetch in the north, and chick-pea,bordering in the south upon the
arid sections. As areas of its penetration can be identified briefly
as semi-arid steppes of the Ukraine SSR and of the Central and Lower
Volga Krayse
Among the new leguminous crops deserving attention in the
practice abroad and producing quite successful positive results in
experimental plantings in the USSR, are the following crops;
Serrad2ila
Rightly called the "clover of the sand fields", culture suitable
for green feed and for land enriching. Its cultivation areas almost
coincide with those of lupine.
Velvet Beans
Unsurpassed as green bulk in combination with corn for the humid
subtropics of the USSR.
TRC
S / -
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 STiiCTEfl
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R~ctEo
Fertilizer and a natural soil thickener for poorest swampy and
loamy fields under subtropical conditions.
French lentil
The most drought-resistant crop of the entire leguminous group.
It has to be introduced to the farms of the Kazakstan and other" Central
Asiatic republics.
TECHNICAL CROPS
It is necessary to pause here in order to clarify the most
suitable areas for the cultivation of technical crops, such as flax,
hemp, sunflower and also potato. Brief summaries and their
9
more detailed development on the cotton plant, sugar beet and new
technical cultures are in the second volume of the Plant Cultivation
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The experience of many centuries shows the northern forest
zone to be the main location for growing flax for fiber. Such
adaptation of fiber flax is conditioned by its basic requirEm ents of
natural environment: cool climate, evenly humid, with an even
distribution of warmth during the growing period. The amount of
humidity as an essential regulator and the distribution of warmth is
here apparently most important. As to the amount of active warmth,
judging from the fact that within our flax zone boundaries we observe
a steady improvement in fiber quality going from south. to north, one is
compelled to think, that here (if we are not seeking a continuous supply
of completely ripe seeds and best quality fiber) the limiting minimum
in warmth mc~xelikely will be rather in its surplus in the south than
in its insufficiency in the north. As to soils, it is difficult to
determine some one definite variety among the great number of them.
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On the whole, it is noticeable that the highest yields and fiber of best
quality are obtained from structural clayey varieties and silt soils,
as well as from new soils, resulting from forest clearings. The
requirement for fertility is here not less important than the requirement,
for soil structure and the requirement that it be free from weeds.
In connection with these basic requirements of flax fiber, the
geography of the fiber properties receives quite definite tonality,
approaching the latitudinal division. Within the industrial flax -
growing zone, according to the State standards, we have a fiber of
lower grade on the sandy soils of the warm southern part of Belorussia
and a better grade on the clayey soils of considerably colder Vychegda-
Sukhonskiy Rayon. The intermediate groups are located between these
rayons, relative to the Zonal.ity of temperaturr;s and precipitation.
In correspondence with the indicated demands of flax, the best conditions
for it in the USSR are in the northwest and in the maritime area of
ti~.e Far East Kray.
In the west of the USSR there are old tested locations for
raising high quality flax, which have created their own well-known
strongholds, typical in fiber properties and in flax varieties
developed there. Such areas are, first of all All-Union Pskov
Sanctuary, Vologda Rayon, Votsko-\Tyatskiy, Yaroslavsko~Tverskoy,
Smolensko?Tverskoy and Kostroma-Vladimirskiy Rayons,
Socialist agriculture introduces a number of additions and
corrections into the existing geography of fiber-flax plantings. First
of all, he collectivization and creation of continous flax block areas
together with a specialization o:e rayons, expulsion of crops competing
with flax for better areas and furthering crops which stimulate flax
yield (clover and other grasses in the flax-dairy and dairy-flax areas,
etc.) facilitates a considerable increase in the planting acreage of flax
1 ESTEIICTED
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aErt gC'tED
in tested areas. Mechanization of harvesting and primary processing,
chemicaiization and the fight against so-called flax-fatigue of the
soil, improvement in cultivation techniques and in harvesting, makes
it possible also to gather and work up large additional quantities of
soaked flax straw, Particularly great is the importance of mechanized
cultivation and processing of flax in the areas new for flax in the
sparsely populated rayons in the north of European USSR and in Siberia,
The labor volume required by this crop and. the low amount of working
hands, put the brakes on the expansion of flax there. The tractors
and flax-pulling machines, plants for primary processing operated on
Angarstroy current, the electric power projects of the Yenisey,
Kuzbass, Ural, etc,, have to create new flax areas not less important
than the old ones.
The possibility of having large electric power installations
makes it possible for flax to conquer little developed areas, with
good quality fiber, in the southern half of the Northern Kray as well as
in areas which so far have extremely little to do with flax, as; the
north of Predural'ye, the entire zone of subtaiga and northern forest-
steppes of Siberia, from the Urals to Baykal and the Amuro-Ussuriyskaya
lowlands in the Far East Kray.
Fertile clayey soils, devoid of swamps, of the subtaiga and
forest-steppe zone of Central and Eastern Siberia in the Achinsk,
Krasnoyarsk, Kansk and Irkutsk Okrugs, and the quite favorable climatic
conditions of this zone, produce an excellent quality fiber and serve
thus as a good concentration place for the use of Angara and Yenisey
power, No lesser possibilities in that respect are the coniferous
woods and the forest.-steppes of the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia
within th6 borders of the former Tarsk, Barabinsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk
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and Barnaul Okrugs (particularly the Maslyaninskiy, Cherepanovskiy,
Leogstayevskiy and Zalesovskiy Rayons, where the conditions are so
favorable, that the flax long ago started spreading speedily of its
own accord). Enormous flax yields are obtained in the Ussuri-Amurskiy,
Khabarovskiy Rayon of the Far. East Kray,
At the same time, for the future there is no zone limit for
fiber flax, and in the European section, it is slightly south of its
present limit; in the degraded black earths of the TsChO. I'his is
indicated by the success of our selection in producing varieties
resistant to fungus diseases.
In this forest-steppe belt and farther north in the belt of
broad-leaf forests, there is a very meagre variety of cultivated
crops, due to the prevalence of Swedish fly and for other reasons.
In the near future, the intermediate types of flax can be grown
successfully, predominantly for oil and also for a lower quality fiber.
According to the geographic test data of the VIR, fears that fat content
would drop with the advance movement of flax, have turned out to be
groundless. The iodine content, moreover, increases.
The cultivation of flax (brevimul.ticaulis) for seeds is possible
everywhere to the south, but in order to obtain greater yields and
better quality oil, it is more expedient to move this crop southward
and eastward. Its best areas should be considered to be the arid
steppe parts of the Lower Povolzh~ye, North Caucasus, West Siberia,
Kazakstan and the mountain areas of Central Asia, where the flax for
linseed oil does not compete with any other more valuable crops.
Thus, in comparison with the former distribution of flax plantings, the
following changes are possible; to increase cultivation in the old
flax-growing areas at the expense of farm collectivization, specializing
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in, and mechanizing cultivation; to increase emphasis on growing flax
for fiber, expanding the growing area into the northern part of the
European zone, with special emphasis on obtaining quality fiber; to
advance fiber flax into the subtaiga zone and into the northern
forest-steppe belt, east of the Urals to the ocean, making use of the
growing power potential; to make more intensive use of the zones of
intermediate types of flax by planting mildew resistant, selected
varieties; and, finally, to concentrate the formerly dispersed
plantings of flax grown for flaxseed, relating this to the distribution
of other oilproducing plants in the southeast part of the USSR.
Besides establishing a more accomplished social-economic basis,
increasing power installations and the development of mechanization,
other factors have to reflect on the success of flax cultivation expansion
and concentration and on its higher quality: the fast increasing
possibility of extensive use of mineral fertilizers, and as to influencing
the plant itself __ the already obtained good results through our
selection of high-quality flax varieties, immune to fungus diseases
and with high yield of fiber or oil. Here should be mentioned also the
successfully developing production of flax seeds which supports the
possibilities of the fiber flax industry movement northward where the
seeds often do not ripen, and the "vernalization" of flax, which will
be of great importance, especially in the same direction of conquering
northern areas, producing better quality fiber.
Hemp
The coarseness of fiber and the lesser value of hemp oil does
not diminish our interest in this crop, particularly during the coming
period which is characterized by the necessity of doing away with
dependence on imported fiber (manila, jute, sisal, etc,) and of increasing
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to the maximum the production of coarse fiber, in accordance with the
demands of agricultural mechanization which is developing rapidly
(bags, twine, rope9 etc.), the developing fishing industry (netting),
the growing fleet (rigging), etc, From here follows the need for a
greater increase in hemp production with its corresponding distribution
by rayons.
The basic factors determining hemp production, from the point
of view of its demands upon natural factors, are the weather conditions
and the fertility of the respective areas. Basic minimum biological
demands apply very sharply to hemp which is particularly sensitive
to the length of daytime, to temperature and to the general characteristics
of weather aspect during the first 1 - 12 months (June is the critical
month of growth. A short day and a low temperature below l~ degrees
greatly slows plant development and lowers yield. The exceptionally
high demands upon nutrition represent the second biological minimum of
hemp.
It is not clear yet how important for the successful development
of hemp is the organic substance of manure, for data of the TsChO
experimental institutions and those of the Western Oblast, definitely
indicate very high significance in this respect to be found in mineral
fertilizers, Large doses of mineral fertilizers, peat and green
fertilizers are very effective; which makes it possible to take hemp out
of the special hemp field into the homestead plots and into the fields.
Thus, in the future we shall be able to satisfy the requirements
of hemp's second biological minimum. More than that, according to the
data of the same experimental institutions, abundant fertilization in a
great measure weakens the importance of the first minimum -- weather
conditions, which enables us to fight the climate as well, Hemp's third
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minimum is its high susceptibility to injuries in some areas from the
corn moth (Pyrausta nebulalis Hubn) and broom rape (Orobanche ramosa
S.
Hemp broom rape tends to develop more south of our hemP~, -growin
g
sections and less to the north, where the incidence of seed ripening
falls rapidly. It has been observed, that damage from broom rape drops
off considerably as hemp is supplied with abundant fertilizer.
Judging from the geography of properties of the obtained fiber,
it should be assumed, that successful hemp cultivation is considerably
derably
influenced by a number of other factors of economics and natural
character, There is no doubt that in every respect the importance of
variety is considerable. Among the factors determining the o tz'm
g p um
of development is certainly the humid type of summer with an even
temperature, characteristic of the best hemp growing areaso
The geography of hemp fiber properties, according to the
government standard, which reflects to a large extent (with the former
primitive methods of cultivating and processing the bleached hemp straw)
the general ecological environment of individual areas mentioned
~ among
the best' Pridesninskiy Region and the area of the upper Dnepr.
(1st
quality rope a~ most of the southern part of the Western and Ivanov
0
Oblasts, the western part of the TsChO and the Cherni ovshchina
g in
the Ukraine), further (2nd quality rope and first quality twine) ~' ) central
part of the TsChO and southern BSSR. Inferior material was produced
in the central Volga forest-steppe and in other more continental areasA
With the various types of hemp, the natural area of its possible
and profitable cultivation expands considerably. The le ss valuable
hemp, in terms of fiber quality, but earlier ripening
North-Russian hemp
has a different range of biological minimum requirements and it can
advance northward almost as far as field cultivation goes
The late
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ripening Italian hemp which gives a very profitable yield and an excellent
quality fiber and other late varieties of hemp, on the other hand,
according to the VIII data, can ripen even for seed in the North Caucasus,
in the south of the Ukraine and in the Ussuriyskaya lowlands of the
Far East Kray.
Accordingly these characteristics of the crop should be
considered together with the fact that the crop's maximum growing
area extends neither as far as the northern border of the fiber flax
zone nor as far south as the zone of other technical cropsa Thus, this
crop does not compete with other valuable crops, but on the contrary
increases the worth of the ordinarily small number of crops in the
forest-steppe region. The basic hemp areas which should be noted
are: the southern Belorussia, northern Ukraine, the southern part
of Western Oblast, the western and central parts of the TsChO, with
their high and even precipitation and a sufficiently warm spring with
long days. In this hemp region which goes south into the flax region,
fiber' production should be mechanized not less for hemp than for flax,
particularly during the period from the moment crops ripen up to the
time that fiber is obtained. Chemical considerations here should be the
basis for expanding production. On a smaller scale, hemp can grow
also along the southern border of the flax-fiber zone. Late hemp
varieties with high quality fiber should be used in the humid parts of
the southern Ukraine, in North Caucasus and in Primor'ye in the Far
Last Kray.
We expect here much from the physiologists, who have to find a
way to shorten the growing period of this valuable variety. This period
should be shortened at least enough so as to get the seed to sow to grow
the fiber for the coming year. With vernalization, it would be possible
to push late ripening hemp far to the north.
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North of the flax growing zone is another northern hemp zone,
which should be mentioned because of its local importance, Here
even as a secondary crop, the hemp can become of great industrial value
in the regions of large rivers and lakes with their fish industry and
navigation We refer particularly to East Siberia and to the areas
of the national minorities (Khakas, Buryat, Yakut, Tungus, etce), where
in the forest areas, large quantities of cow manure is hardly used
s
neither in the field nor for heating purposes
Soy-bean
The soy-bean crop which should be considered very important
requires special attention in order to properly locate its growing
b
area. Its demands upon precipitation and temperature are similar to
those of corn, but it requires a greater amount of precipitation
particularly during the period of blossoming and ripening, since it
is a plant of the monsoon climate.
We presume, that the most favorable regions for soy-bean
cultivation (besides the Far East, where the possibility of wide
expansion is quite certain) are in the zone of sufficient humidity
which is the same zone as for corn in North Caucasus, but more in
the
foothills of the autonomous oblasts, in the former Armavir MaYko
p
Okrugs, and to a slightly less extent, on the Kuban'. Steadier and
higher yields than in other areas where soy-bean is now grown are
obtained hire as well as in the humid rayons of Georgia) due to
sufficient precipitation and warmth,
Soy-bean cultivation yields considerably inferior results in
the steppe parts of the former Kuban} and Armavir Okrugs and in the
autonomous oblasts, in the so-called "zone of unsteady huml.dxty". In
this zone which has lower precipitation anifrequently lower air
humidity in July it sometimes happais that the plant suffers from
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heat seizure while it is still ripening. Accordingly, earlier
ripening varieties are needed than in the zone of sufficient humidity.
Quite favorable for the expansion of the soy-bean area is also the
southern forest-steppe and steppe of the Dnepr's right bank, but only
if early ripening varieties are used. In a lesser degree it refers also
to the southern part of the left bank forest-steppe, where its
cultivation is possible but only with the introduction of earlier
ripening varieties.
We consider it would be unstable and hardly expedient to grow
soy-bean for seed in the semiarid northern steppe of the Ukraine, as
well as in the analogous low yield areas of the former Don, Donets,
Sal'sk and northern part of Stavropol' Okrugs of the North Caucasus,
One should restrain from suggesting the arid, zone of the Lower Volga
chestnut soils, the southern steppe of the Ukraine and the Crimea, and
the northern part of the former Tersk Okrug for soy-bean cultivation,
since precipitation there is not sufficient to make it a success.
In West Siberia and in Kazakstan the attempts at soy-bean cultivation
are still in the experimental stage in the southern foothills, of the
more humid parts of the former Rubtsovsk and Semipalatinsk Okrugs.
It is too early to speak of the possibility of its cultivation here.
All that was said above about soy-bean cultivation for grain,
does not exclude the expediency of planting it for green fodder, hay
and silage in a number of areas besides the ones mentioned, as, for
example, in the steppe part of the Ukraine and in the TsChO.
Sunflower
In order to expand the cultivation of corn and soy-bean in the
North Caucasus, the area under sunflower in the "zone of sufficient
humidity" will have to be somewhat decreased, all the more so, because
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a considerable part of its area is serously affected by broom rape,
since plantings are made too often in the same place. There are
sunflower varieties resistant against one type of broom rape. Against
the so-called "bad" type of broom rape which is widespread in the
North Caucasus and partly in tle TsChO and in the eastern steppes of the
Ukraine, the resistant varieties have been noted only in the most
recent years, and accordingly, they could not be widely available.
From the point of view of natural conditions, some decrease of
sunflower plantings in the North Caucasus is quite possible, since
its cultivation can be considerably expanded instead in the Lower and
particularly Central Volga region, as well as pushed into new areas
of black-earth steppe and into the further south parts of the forest-
steppes of the Trans-Urals, of Western Siberia and of Kazakrstan.
Sunflower requires a shorter growing period than corn and it
is sufficiently drought resistant. That is why, for these areas,
it is a row crop no less valuable than corn. Besides, there are at
the /resent time very early ripening varieties, grown by the Steppe
station of the VTR (dwarf variety), the Saratov and Omsk stations.
Reproduction of these varieties should be pushed ahead and the eastward
advance of sunflower, cultivation should be furthered, under these
circumstances, and by all means. It will be particularly expedient
not only because of its plantings being distributed on new lands,
less endangered by broom rape, but also because it will introduce a
row crop?in this region which needs it badly in order to clean tke
fields of weeds, substituting clean fallows for spring wheat.
Potato
The potato growing area must be greatly expanded in connection
with the following considerations: the increased rate of vegetable
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Consumption, animal husbandry development, development of potato
processing in starch-molasses and distillation industries, for the
manufacturing of denatured alcohol, motor alcohol and synthetic
rubber.
One of the basic factors in the distribution of potato
planting areas is the cumbersomeness of transporting potatoes, the
spoilage and, the great losses from shipping. Thus, it is particularly
necessary to plant potatoes as near as possible to the places of
consumption. Due to this factor, it is necessary to establish
potato growing areas where industrial population is concentrated,
husbandry areas where the feeding is based on local fodder
in animal
supplies other than potatoes and, whenever expedient, in the localities
where enterprises have already been established for processing
potatoes, where this is sensible.
Establishing new animal husbandry regions based on potato
feeding, well as new processing enterprises, has to be done while
taking into consideration an expedient area distribution of the crop in
the sense of making maximum use of its characteristics.
In comparison with other crops, potatoes are exceptionally
cosmopolitan, there being a great multitude of varieties which increases
their general ecological flexibility. Within the USSR, they can be
cultivated successfully on a large scale as a vegetable crop, entering
the tundra and the arid steppes and making use of peat-swampy and sandy
soils of the abundantly humid north.
However, due to cultivation demands, not all the areas are of
equal importance. Among the most important conditions for potato
raising are the following; the length of the warm frost-free period,
allowing time not only for a complete growing period, but also for
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safe harvesting without too much effort, which is particularly
important in uninterrupted mass planting areas, especially before
the complete harvest mechanization takes place. The development
period has to be characterized by moderate temperatures, not high
and not low, and by a great amount of precipitation. Potatoes are
particularly sensitive to precipitation, which limits their success
in the arid steppe regions of the south and e ast. The humid mountainous
sections of the south, however, present very favorable conditions for
potatoes. All this has to be taken into consideration in the areas
where our sanatoriums are located, which up to now are not sufficiently
provided with potatoes, The soils should be preferably light, sandy
loam or clayey (but not structureless), black-earth or podzolic soils
with sufficient fertilizer added. when well fertilized, even sandy
soil is suitable if it is not dry or if it does not have a low level
of ground water. The most clearly expressed embodiment of these
conditions we have in the west of the European part and to some extent
in the Primor'ye in the Far East.
Finally, a no less decisive factor in the distribution of
potato crops is the spreading of diseases, though the regulation of
this factor is at the present time to a great extent in the hands of
7man. We must indicate as particularly favorable conditions in this
respect those of our coniferous forests in the north. Unfavorable
conditions are found in the south of the European part and in the
northwest (south and west of the Leningrad Oblast, north of the
PSSR, etc.). Other areas are in an intermediate position,
In terms of all these properties, the northwestern part of
the Ukraine, the southern part of the DSSR and of Western Oblast
with their long growing period, humid and evenly warm summer, light
soils, average exposure to diseases, and, most important of all, in the
absence of more valuable crops which need these sandy soils, these
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areas are of eat interest for growing potatoes. For the same last
~'
mentioned reason, it is just as important to grow potatoes on
mentioned sand soil areas of
the humid zone along the Oka, Klyaz'ma, Unzha, etc.,
in the Moscow and Ivanovo Obiasts, along the Unzha, Vetluga, Vyatka,
Volga and Oka Rivers in the Nizhniy-Novgorod Kray, etc.
Corresponding with all these considerations, the basic potato
areas of the USSR have to be distributed within a close radius from
's industrial centers in the zones of accumulated sands,
the COUntry
and in the belt of the abundant humidity in the western section of
the European area, in the humid Far East Kray, in the alluvial
areas of dairy animal husbandry and hog breeding in the northern
pasture
non?black-earth zone of the USSR, and in the areas where potatoes
are processed into starch, molasses and alcohol (mainly in the TsChO,
Moscow Oblast, Ivanovo Oblast, BSSR, etc.).
The use of agrotechnical and physiological methods which speed
up the process of tuber ripening, the practical solution of ?tlie problem
of rowLn seed potatoes, as well as that of tuber storage under the
;, g
conditions of the polar north, must make it possible to have a
reliable potato supply for our northernmost areas of industry and
other enterprise.
Due to the fact that in the south potatoes are significantly
susceptible to the so-called infections of degeneration, and because
of the difficulty of making frequent deliveries of seeds for replacement,
extensive practical experimentation should be made particularly in the
maritime section of the south, with growing sweet potatoes, which are
prevalent in areas of comparable conditions in America.
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FODDER CROPS
Red clover/
One of the most widespread fodder crops with great prospects for
further development in the USSR, is red clover, an irreplaceable bean-
family perennial fodder crop for the entire north, for the major part
of the non-black-earth belt's central zone and for some areas of the
northern black-earth belt of the USSR.
The maximum range of red clover crops should be considered to
be those areas where swnmer precipitation during May-July is not
below 17~-200 millimeters. The approximate border line of such
optimum areas of red clover in the south follows along the Poles'ye's
southern border in the Ukraine, through Kursk, Voronezh, Tambov, Penza,
north of Kazan', along the northern border of the Tatar ASSR, and in
the Bashkir ASSR -- through the Ufimskiy, Birskiy, Myasogutovskiy and
Sterlitamakskiy districts. Moreover, particular areas may be singled
out in the humid zone of the Caucasus. In Siberia in the Biyskiy Rayon,
the steppe section is not included. The area does include the foothills
of the Altay. In the north, almost the entire Leningrad Oblast and the
southern part of Northern Kray will form the border of the optimum
regions for growing red clover.
Within the optimum conditions for the clover zone mention..
should be made of sandy soils, unfavorable for red clover cultivation.
There, clovers can be grown only after the addition of an adequate
amount of manure or mineral fertilizer. Mention also should be made
of the swampy soils, where clover can be developed effectively only after
1 Written by the fodder crop section of the VIR. Here are given
deliberations in regard to the distribution of two fodder crops offering
the greatest possibilities in the field cultivation in the USSR.
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adequate reclamation work has been done. Red clover can be grown as
far north as field cultivation is possible, where under the snow cover,
it winters fairly well.
Drought hinders the southward expansion of red clover, and the
yearly isohyet of LS0 millimeters closes up from the south the areas
where the crop is reliable and worthwhile to grow.
The winters without snow in some parts of the European and
Asiatic USSR are ruinous to the wintering of red clover, particularly
for the variety which is reaped twice. In West Siberia red clover
growing can be considered safe only in some subtaiga areas.
Red clover growing hardly reaches East Siberia, beyond the
Yenisey, since the continental climate is unfavorable to the growth of
this crop.
Up to the present time, we do not have red clover varieties in
quantities suitable for industrial uses. It is true that by sowing
the same seeds for tens of years, some local red clover types have been
developed in a number of areas; among them are the more widespread and
more valuable single harvest -- Perrn~, Ufa (clovers of the Bashkir
Republic), central Russia, Yaroslavl', Pskov clovers and the twice
reaped -- Ukraine, Kursk and other clovers.
A,
The two basic types of cultivated red clover, for double and for
single reaping, have their separate areas where they are widespread. The
area of the two-crop clovers is in the southern parts of clover growing
regions. One-crop clovers are in the northern sections. The area of
the one-crop clovers is about twice as large as that of the two-crop
clovers and in the future it will be the most rapid to expand.
Between the two above-mentioned mass distribution areas, there
extends the belt of mixed clovers, where both types of clover are equal
in importance and in their quantative distribution.
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Up to the present time clover seed production was dispersed
all over the clover planting areas, with the exception of the extreme
The basic areas for the commercial production of seeds are in
north.
the Ukraine, the TsChO, Nizhniy-Novgorod Kray, the clover rayons of
the Bashkir ASSR and Urals Oblast, as well as in the Biyskiy Rayon
(without its steppe section) of West Siberia. It will be necessary
in the future to develop the most favorable areas for clover seed production and to determine the main clover hay producing areas.
Observations indicate that excessive fall humidity unfavorably
influences the seed crop of red clover. The slightest lack of
humidity (July-August 1L.O millimeters) during the second part of the
growing a period, on the other hand, creates rather favorable conditions
for seed production. It should be mentioned, that in American practice
high yields of clover seeds are obtained in arid areas under the
conditions of irrigation. Thus, clover seed production for the
market should be concentrated in areas with a sufficiently dry autumn,
in the southern and southeastern sections of clover growing areas.
Blue alfalfa
In the USSR, this is a crop whose growing region as yet has
not been clearly defined. Almost in all the countries where alfalfa
is sowed, it expands its areas at the expense of other less valuable
agricultural plants. We see striking examples of this in North
America, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. The same will soon
take place in the USSR where an enormous expansion of areas is outlined
for blue alfalfa crops.
The wide adaptability of alfalfa to the most variegated soil-
climate conditions, its easy and speedy evolution to narrowly defined
types and varieties, often highly adapted to wintering, drought resistant
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and immune to a number of phyto-pests: all these considerations taken
together make it imperative to increase the area under alfalfa.
Even now we find large alfalfa areas in different longitudes
and latitudes of the USSR, beginning with the south
the irrigated rayons
of the Central Asia and Trans-Caucasus republics and
then, through the
dry steppes of North Caucasus, the Crimea and the
Ukraine -- to the
:forest-steppe, the TsChO and the Volga region,
Alfalfa has expanded
considerably also in the forest-steppes of
West Siberia and it is moving
on to the Far Last Krayo We know further of alfalfa
fields 111 goad
condition at individual locations in the Leningx b i s
acM and Moscow Oblasts
and in some other rayons, north of the Moscow Oblast?
One of the main factors helping blue alfalfa to conquer new
areas is its facility to hybridize with yellow alfalfa. As a result
of these hybridizations, valuable species and varieties eties are obtained,
which not only retain all the best and important particularities and
qualities of blue alfalfa --- like yield capacity,
speedy growth and
tenderness -- but acquire the frost and drought resistance of yellow
alfalfa which further facilitates the expansion of blue alfalfa
cultivation, To a lesser degree, the same particularities are obtained
by some of the blue alfalfa strains exposed to the
effects of natural
selection, These biological particularities of alfalfa
strains and
varieties are seen clearly in the fallowing examples:
During the extremely severe and snowless winter of 1928-29,
in the USSR, in the Ukraine, at a VTR station near Khar kav, the
percentage of destruction by frost of some blue alfalfa
strains was as
follows;
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Percentage of freezing out
of blue alfalfa
Alfalfa from Egypt -
Provence
U Semirechinsk -
Khiva
100 percent
58 , o0
3G..OO
30.00
26,00
10.50
10,20
1E Yellow ------------- 0.00
Thus, alfalfa can expand from the extreme south to the far north, and
the limitation to its cultivation is not frost, but rather., excessive
humidity, soil erosion and the nearness of moisture in the subsoil.
Besides that, other fodder grasses are beginning to compete with
alfalfa in the north. Red clover, for example, produces seeds farther
north than does alfalfa,
Extensive cultivation of hybrid alfalfas, valuable due to their
characteristics in relation to frost and drought and their high seed
productivity, will drastically widen the areas of blue alfalfas in the
USSR. Growing the best yellow alfalfas will permit alfalfa to enter
those regions where up to now it was not possible to hope for large
alfalfa areas.
of northern latitude; What main strains and varieties of blue
We are informed that yellow alfalfa grows near the Arctic
Circle in Alaska, in the Yukon River Valley, beyond the 6Lth degree
alfalfa do we have now in the USSR and that place can they occupy?
According to our observations, the best strains of blue alfalfa of those
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ESTh0TEQ
in the world, are the following: Alfalfa from Provence, "Matboro" from
New Zealand, Hungarian, Fran coniari from Germany, Ukrainian from the
left bank and blue from the state of Kansas in North America.
The best of the hybrid group are: the whole "Grimma" group
from North America, alfalfa "Ladak" and finally, alfalfas grown by the
Krasnokutskaya experimental station. Best among Asiatic alfalfas
for the watering conditions of the Trans-Caspian republics are, so far,
the Turkestan and Turkmenistan varieties, In the Trans-Caucasus,
in places where there is now a local irrigated alfalfa and in not
high areas with arid soils, the alfalfa from Provence and Hungary can be
developed. High arid soil areas have to grow the highly resistant
creeping Armeniyan alfalfa.
The southern foothill areas of the North Caucasus can grow
alfalfa from Provence and Hungary. In dr;er areas of variable
humidity, these alfalfas have to give room to the Ukrainian alfalfa
which is gradually being displaced farther to the east, in the arid
steppe region, by hybrid and yellow alfalfas. The 'dry steppes of to
Crimea and the southern steppe of the Ukraine can grow the hybrid and
Yellow alfalfas?
The yellow and hybrid alfalfas are gradually being replaced
towards the forest-steppes by the Ukrainian alfalfa, which can spread
beyond the Ukraine northward to the TsChO and the forest-steppe
sections of the Volga region. Hybrid alfalfas can be grown still
farther north. In the more arid sections of the Volga region, with
severe winters, hybrid and finally yellow alfalfas should be spread..
As to West Siberia, its forest-steppe region can be occupied
by the Kra$h,okutskiye alfalfas and by Grimma, while south, towards
Kazakstan, groups of hybrid alfalfas, close to the yellow ones and the
yellow ones themselves should be grown.
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In the Central Asia republics, so far, Turkestan alfalfa can
stay, which is highly valued in North America due to its injury-
resistance (particularly valuable is the alfalfa from the Chirnbay
Rayon), and farther south -- the endemic alfalfas of Turkmenistan.
Seed production of the above-mentioned alfalfas in the areas
of the USSR which are most favorable will prove to be a very
important practical measure to free our country from foreign dependence.
NATURAL CONDITIONS AND ZONES OF FIELD CULTIVATION
NATURAL REGIONS IN THE USSR
As a basis for dividing the USSR into natural regions, there
have been taken the particularities of climate, soil, relief and
natural vegetation, the distribution of which represents to a
considerable degree the summarized influence of the basic natural
factors, inasmuch as they have not yet been changed by the human
being. For this purpose were used vegetation maps by N. I. Kuznetsov,
soil maps by L. I. Prasolov, as well as a great number of other data
listed in the supplement to the first volume of the "Plant Cultivation
in the USSR". In considering factors of climate, attention is given
principally to those which can have direct influence over the success
of cultivation or desirability of one or another area distribution
of field crops. The aridness of climate was determined by total
yearly precipitation, by the total of May-July precipitation (decisive
for early spring crops), July-August (for late crops) and, finally,
the mean relative air humidity in June (at 1;00 p.m.) which is of
an essential importance for the successful blossoming and ripening of
cereal grains. The mean July temperature, the total warmth of the
growing period and the length of the non-frost period are taken as
indicators for the possibility of pushing crops requiring one or
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another temperature regime and length of growing period. Finally,
the mean January temperature and the depth of snow cover at the end
of winter are taken into consideration as indicators to a certain
degree, which show whether it is feasible to grow winter crops or
perennial plants (grasses). The data for the registration of
climatic factors is from maps and writings of the Agrometeorology
Department, some of which is printed in this study, and other sourcese
In determining the regions, the particularities of soil were
everywhere taken into consideration. In many cases, the soil zones
and regions naturally fitted into the climatic ones, as deriving
from the latter (see supplement 2). Together with the description of
natural regions within krays and oblasts, which is in the second part
of this work, concrete data is given on each region.
In general, the entire USSR (with the exception of the Trans.-
Caucasus, whose regionalization is described separately), according
to the combination of all those natural conditions which are reflected
in the particular direction to which field cultivation tends, can be
divided into the following main natural zones, combining a certain
number of the indicated regions:
Zones with a Particularly Short Period of Warmth
Arctic zone of forest-less tundra and forest tundra with shrubs
and stunted trees, lichen, moss and sedge swamps, poorly developed soils
in the permafrost zone.
The extremely short growing period and small amount of warmth
exclude the possibility of extensive agricultural development. However,
the long days and non-setting sun in summer can be widely used for
growing early vegetables in covered ground and, on light soils, on
elevations with southern exposure. This can compensate considerably
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little snow, nevertheless, make it possible to grow winter rye, but
only in the west, and puts a limit to the clover growing area.
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for the lack of warmth in growing potatoes, frost-resistant grasses
and oats-barley mixtures.
warmer estuaries of large rivers carrying fertile soils
The
which cut through the tundra, are covered with abundant bottom land
egetation. Agriculture here first of all must overcome the following
vo
~s: shortness of the warm period, winters with low temperatures,
factozo
little snow and exceptionally unfavorable soilconditions. At the same
time there are a number of factors which should be directed towards
y
furthering the development of plant cultivation. Among them are,
about two months of continuous light of the polar day, an extremely
large amount of w:Lnd power, tremendous peat deposits which could be
used successfully for heating and lighting hot houses. The nature of
soil-climatic conditions implies first of all the need to develop vast
pastures.
Near-arctic zone of northern coniferous forests in the European
USSR, in the northern, also considerably swampy, West Siberian taiga
and in the dryer northern taiga of East Siberia and the Pacific Ocean
Kr.ay. A cover of moss predominates in the forests, and in the wide
river bottom lands. There is peat and there are poorly developed
odzolic soils, considerably lixiviated in the west, weakly, in East
p
Siberia. Fertile alluvial soils are along the rivers. The climate,
in comparison with evaporation, is very humid, causing considerable
swampiness. There is a small amount of warmth and. a short growing
period (on the average, less than a hundred frost-free days), which is
enough, however, to insure the development of grasses, potatoes,
turnips, barley, hemp and flax for fiber. Severe winters with relatively
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More favorable conditions for field cultivation are along valleys
and terraces with lower-level ;round water or layer of permafrost, with
a natural run-off of surface waters. These grounds are more easily
warmed up, are protected against wind, and in the valleys of large
rivers, they are partly warmed from proximity to large water masses.
Among the rocky, little-developed and peat soils of the "Scandinavian
shield" especially in the west, but also farther east, a good soil
background is provided by grassy lowland swamps, the use of which
should have top priority. Little developed soils require abundant
manuring which, from an organizational point of view, makes the
organization of dairy-vegetable farming very expedients
By chosing early and frost-resistant crops and varieties it
is possible to make use here of the positive characteristics of the
humid climate, particularly in the direction of obtaining a large
bulk of vegetatives. However, the short summer and long winter make
very categorical demands upon technical and mechanical equipment,
relating partly to harvesting and canning (tractor-mowing, drying,
filling silos and storing vegetables)
With great opportunities for using cheap peat and wood fuel
and with the heat energy of electric power plants crops can be
grown which need a lot of warmth. Vegetable growing can be developed
considerably more on open {;round and with the use of less complex and
expensive installations than in the preceding zones
hwmountain_zone, This zone has various characteristics in
different mountainous areas depending upon their geographical position
and elevation above sea level. There is the belt of perpetual snows
or bald mountains covered with mountain-tundra vegetation, sub-Alpian
and Alpian meadows, mountain-forest, mountain-steppe and non-forest
The zone stretches in a long belt from the Central Asia
rocky areas, T
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aEST MCI EU
desert in the southwest to the mountainous tundras of the Chukot
peninsula in the northeast, covering the major mountain systems on
USSR territory, Due to the expanse and diversity of geographic
relief, the climate and soil characteristics in different parts
is very heterogeneous. The high mountain systems in the west of
the zone, situated in more southern latitudes with a less continental
climate (Caucasus, Altay) have a richer and more luxuriously developed
vegetation, including broad-leaved forests and Alpian meadowso Less
high mountain systems of the continental East Siberian elevation
(Sayan, Yablonovyy, Stanovoy, Verkhoyanskiy ridges, etc,) have in
lower stages mountain-taiga and mountain-steppe characteristics, with
permafrosta The severely arid mountain country of Pamir with a
continental climate has mountain-desert characteristics
The severe conditions of climate and undeveloped soils in the
mountain zone make agricultural development seldom possible, adapting
it mainly to the exits of river valleys and limiting its choice of
crops to those requiring least warmth and the shortest growing periods.
Places more suitable for agricultural development require reclamation
-?- clearing of passes and pastures, banking the slopes, protection
against soil erosions, etc. In may places the small amount of snow
in winter makes it possible to have winter pastures.
Forest Zones (not including the northern taiga).
Zone of southern coniferous foresls in the central iforest
o"_the ]uropean USSR with a rare participation of broad-leaf tree
species and broad-leaf grasses, with large areas of moss swamps. The
soils are on the whole considerably podzolic, frequently swamped and
swampy; clays, clayey, sandy barns; along rivers often pine forest
sands; in river valleys -- alluvial soils with vast bottom lands. High
humidity of climate, length of non-frost period (100-130 days) amount
of summer heat and winter characteristically severe but with much snow.
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This makes possible the growing of clover, large assortment of
cereal grasses, tubers, potatoes, high quality flax and gray cereal
grains. With normal applications of fertilizers, exceptionally
high and steady yields of these crops are insured. In comparison
with the preceding zone, the vegetation of waterless valleys is
developed much richer; which together with more extensive possibilities
for grass sowing the development of meadows becomes much more important.
An extensive, simpler, and successful use of new lands developed
from forest clearings is possible with clearing done by forestry
units, at the same time making extensive use of power installations
for field cultivation (tractor pulling, primary processing plants
using forest scrap, etc.).
Zone of mountainou!_coniferous and. coniferous-leafy forests
of the Ural and ("chernevaya!'W taiga) of the ^Kuznetski
Alatau _ancl
:&y, The soils are strongly or weakly podzolic, rocky; in the
zone's southern parts, there are degraded black-earths. Conditions
of good humidity though sometimes with a rather short frost-free
period (100-120 days), in spite of everything, are adequately favorable
(with added fertilizers) for the cultivation of crops, potatoes,
vegetables, early-ripening grains, among them spring wheat, particularly
in the Altay section and in the "south of the Urals" region.
The uneven terrain in places makes an environment favorable to
the development of fodder growing in field cultivation. On the whole,
however, the area is better suited to the development of a pasture-
forest economy,
w ?W.,....,~.,~_. ~,_...~...
a.ferou.s leafY. forests ti.w,.,..,u tw-h?e Europ
.. _.. .,.,.._.._,._.,..~. n ean
Zone of xna.xed,,^-con "...
IESTRICIED
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section and ,in Siberia. In the European USSR -- mixed forests with
large number of broad-leaved species. Heterogeneous podzolic soils,
 1AlCTED
many huge loam areas, sometimes with considerable humus content.
Low swampiness (except the western part).
The most favorable area of northern agriculture -- large
amount of precipitation, long frost-free period (110-lIO days)
makes it possible to cultivate the USSR's best flax, clovers and
a large number of other fodder crops, gray cereal grains, beer-brewing
barley of high quality, and in some places a- winter and spring
wheat.
'IesrRrcrEa
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electrification, mechanization, chemicalization and the development
In the Siberian section of the zone, there are partly swampy
coniferous forests (the so-called "urmans" and "sub_urmans"), partly
in timber areas in the south, where there is an admixture of birch and
aspen. Soils are considerably swampy and. podzolic. The climate is
humid, with a frost-free period long enough for successful cultivation
of flax, potato and oats. In the south, there is spring crop wheat.
The snow cover guarantees sufficiently steady clover and rye cultivation.
In the southern part of the zone, the Swedish fly is widespread.
Very favorable agricultural conditions and the presence of
a large number of industrial and electric power centers just in this
zone of the non-black-earth north, create a more favorable environ-
ment for the speedy adaptation of vast lands, more extensive use of
of all for regulation and an increase of production in this basically
cultivation and an increase in yield, conditions are suitable first
of a large scale economy. Just here, with specialization of field
amount of heat and with good response of soils to fertilizers are factors
"consuming zone". An abundance of humidity, with an already high
which should be made use of by agriculture, especially. Agricultural
success depends in many cases on an excess of soil moisture as well as
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eci itat:ian, particularly at the end of the summer
on atmospheric pr p
aina e and crap protection against putrefaction
and in the fall. Soil dr g
ssar conditions for agricultural development.
are here, therefore, nece y
ores.
.,....f. _._,. .. ts ,.o~
Abundantly _humid. zone .of...m x 4
sand and clayey. soil s_._
of pine forests on podzolic, sand, loamy
The long, frost-free period, with the greatest amount of warmth
in the non_black-earth area. The character of the soil and of the
humid climate make possible a very successful
evenly warm and
cultivation of clover, flax, hemp, grain and beans, beer brewing
barley, winter crop wheat and the crops of loamy sand soils -- potato,
lupine, buckwheat, etc.
n abundance of moisture and an already very long growing
~. .
period make it passible to cultivate a wide assortment of particularly
irin_, field crops and late, high-yield varieties.
moisture~requ ~'
Limitations are provided by large block areas of poor sand (and in
the southwest also swampy) soils, which, however, respond very
effects 'vely to fertilizers, among them green fertilizers.
white... beech,.
Zone of mountainous. broadleaf forests (.... aak._,
beech) on forest and podzolic...s_o].s._.._o.f.. the....Cauca~us _and
mountainous _
C rime a Abundant humidity, mild winters, sufficiently long
the_.A
re favorable for the cultivation of winter wheat,
frost free period, a
corn and tobacco.
Zone broad..leaf . forest.s,.of. the Black Sea....shore.. and
n
.,..p.f . souther.
mild climate, large amount of warmth
the Crimean with a particularly
and the longest frost-free period in European USSR (200 and more days)
^
makes it a region for fruit growing and southern technical crops.
rarest-Steppe Zones
the forest zone, the northern forest-steppe with
Tran57.tary t0
re islands of broad leaved forests on degraded
leafy -tree graves and la g
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REST atcMt ED
and lixiviated black-earths of the European USSR. In climate and
possibilities of field industry, there is quite a similarity to the
southern mixed forest zone, but with more favorable soils. The
effects of the Swedish fly are very considerable, which is rather
limiting to the cultivation of spring wheat and barley.
, _
Forest-steppe (meadow steppe) with islands of broad-leaf
forests (groves) in the European USSR. Rich fertile black earths.
Due to the vastness of this zone, from the Dnepr's right bank in the
southwest and up to the Ural foothills in the northeast, the cli,rate is
different in different parts of the zone. In the Ukrainian part of
the zone, the sufficient humidity, the rather long frost-free period,
and a mild winter are favorable for the cultivation of winter wheat,
sugar beet, and corn. The less mild winter in the TsChO makes the
winter wheat a less reliable crop. The shorter growing period gives
first place among row crops to sugar beet and not corn, but sunflower.
Presence of the Swedish fly does not permit a successful spring wheat
and barley crops Finally, in the forest-steppe of the Central Volga
left bank region and the Bashkir ASSR, severe winters, in spite of
an abundant snow cover, as yet make it impossible to grow winter wheat.
The amount of precipitation, though considerably l er than in the
southwest section of the forest-steppe, is sufficient for a reliable
spring wheat crop, and the length of the frost-free period permits
growing early-ripening sunflower varieties in advanced areas.
The transition toot Zone ("urmanLi...meadow,...soJl.c~nchak
forest steppes Mn...Westb,era,a. (Baraba, Tarsko-Ishimskiy Rayon) on
swampy and partly saline soils of floodland straps. Sufficient
precipitation and a lowlands location provides favorable conditions
for the formation of natural meadows and pastures for growing fodder,
fiber flax and -- on better lands -- even spring wheat.
tIESTRICTEfl
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RESTRtCTEO
tIES TRIC TED
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and lixiviated black-earths of the European USSR. In climate and
possibilities of field industry, there is quite a similarity to the
southern mixed forest zone, but with more favorable soils, The
effects of the Swedish fly are very considerable, which is rather
limiting to the cultivation of spring wheat and barley.
Forest-steppe (meadow steppe ) with. islands of broad-leaf
forests
.w.ests (groves) in the . European USSR. Rich fertile black earths.
....._..._.,.....
an abundant snow cover, as yet make it impossible to grow winter wheat.
The amount of precipitation, though considerably lcw er than in the
southwest section of the forest-steppe, is sufficient for a reliable
spring wheat crop, and the length of the frost-free period permits
growing early-ripening sunflower varieties in advanced areas.
The transition, to forest wzone ("urman'!~ meadow SQ Qr~c.h
orest, steppes..,_in West,,..S~er~; (Baraba, Tarsko-Ishimskiy Rayon) on
left bank region and the Bashkir ASSR, severe winters, in spite of
and barley crop. Finally, in the forest-steppe of the Central Volga
Due to the vastness of this zone, from the Dnepr's right bank in the
southwest and up to the Ural foothills in the northeast, the climate is
different in different parts of the zone. In the Ukrainian part of
the zone, the sufficient humidity, the rather long frost-free period
9
and a mild winter are favorable for the cultivation of winter wheat
9
sugar beet, and corn. The less mild winter in the TsChO makes the
winter wheat a less reliable crop. The shorter growing period gives
first place among row crops to sugar beet and not corn but sunflower.
Presence of the Swedish fly does not permit a successful spring wheat
for the formation of natural meadows and pastures for rowing f
growing fodder,
swampy and partly saline soils of floodland strips. Sufficient
precipitation and a lowlands location provides favorable conditions
fiber flax and -- on better lands _- even spring wheat.
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Northern forest-steppe of the?West Siberia type, with frequent
birch groves ("kolki") on dark gray podzolic soils among steppe
areas on podzolic, saliferous and lixiviated black-earths. Unsteady
humidity, but usually sufficient for good wheat crops; favorable
also for fodder crops.
Faathil~ f?or t-steppe of theTrans ..U '. 1....,..Alt:.ay.,...._Kuz.ne.t
A1atau and. park-like birch groves of the latter are distributed on
regular and lixiviated (and partly fertile) black-earths. Sufficient
humidity due to the mountains., with moderately-warm summers and
good soil conditions guarantee good yields of spring wheat, fiber
flax, fodder crops and this makes it possible to develop vegetable
growing near the mining regions.
Shrub and roclcy...s epees... the fapthills ~of the_ Altay represent
a southward continuation along the Alta.y of the preceding zone; in which
connection, they preserve, due to vertical zonality, comparatively good
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for field cultivation in the entire USSR. Natural conditions guarantee
humidity, have a slightly warmer climate and a longer frost-free
period. Therefore, besides wheat, sunflower growing is possible.
South erzi,...fore.s. _~e..reppe....os...Wes ..,.... be ~ a... yp .. represents a
transition to the steppe, with predominantly open steppe areas and
birch groves here and there, but less frequently than in the northern
forest-steppes. Soils are black~e arch, partly saliferous and
lixiviated (under "kolki"). The climate is more arid than in the
preceding zones, is most suited to spring wheat, but it makes the
yield not fully reliable.
..Footha ~.1 f~r~s.tpate.pee.s.....o!.....the.....N.o.rth...fauc.asna, on eroded and
degraded black-earths. :Due to vertical tonality, the humidity is
sufficient, sometimes excessive. The warm climate with a long growing
period (170-190 days) and mild winters, make this zone one of the best
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*ES MC ED
not only steady high yields of winter wheat, corn and soy-bean, but
also of a number of southern technical crops as well. To these
bones should be added also the mountain steppes, forest-steppe islands
and the open taiga of the Predbaykal'ye, Trans-Baykal regions in the
east, with heterogeneous soil covers from podzolic soils to fertile
black-earths. The climate is characterized as extremely continental,
with a short (1c0.11S days) growing period, not sufficiently humid
or arid, with considerable sun radiation, a very severe winter and
little snow. As to wintering, the Pr.edbaykal'ye section is more
favorable and in,protected places winter rye is a crop which can be
relied upon. On the whole, the climate makes it possible everywhere
in this large zone (sometimes with irrigation) to produce spring
wheat and oats and, in Predbaykal'ye, even flax. In perspective,
field crop possibilities in this naturally rugged zone will be
changing considerably in connection with the completion of the
Angara River project. Large power installations applied to agro-
technical developments have to be used in the fight against the severe
climate, in compensation for the tremendous lack of manpower in field
cultivation and for the exploitation and mastery of the taiga.
Steppe and Semi-Desert Zones
Priamurskiye, Prjussuriyskiye and Zeysko~Eurenskye__meaow
j& pc _on alluvial soils and podzolic mainly clayey soils of the
lowlands. Located in the monsoon region with its warm summer with
extremely abundant precipitation, but a dry spring. Winter in the
greater part of the zone is cold without much snow. Within the Zeya-
Amur lowlands, the growing period allows the cultivation of spring
wheat, oats and in the southernmost part -- early soy-bean varieties
In the Ussuri River basin and Lake Khanka,?with a warmer climate and
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a 120-1~0 days frost-free period, rice and soy-bean crops can be
completely relied upon.
The type of winter, manifested in the considerable and deep
cooling of the soil, the aridness of early spring as well as the
abundance of fall precipitation in some places leading to soil
swampaness, necessitates that adequate steps be taken to warm the
to humidify and improve it. The exceptionally abundant
Sa11,
precipitation during harvesting, requires an extensive as possible
'
~.t
power installation, harvest mechanization and organization of drying
and other methods for crop protection against damage. The considerable
development of fungus diseases, connected with the warmth of a humid
summer, requires particular attention in the choice of agricultural
crops and varieties.
Flooded lands on,..._.
of the Volga ppn,. Dnepr `~er?k and KubanRvers,? Though the major
,?...,...s..,part of them is in a more or less and climate, the latter~s influence
by conditions of good (and excessive) soil humidity. With
is modified
reclamation, the flooded lands can become an area for the
adequate
cultivation of very valuable crops, depending upon temperatures
cultivation their geographic location, for race and cotton an the south, and for
fodder, vegetables and. fruits, everywhere.
t huma,cty_ an of_~fi thP,,,rorth.w.ucss with
Zone su:;,ca ... ..
diversified grass steppes on fertile near-Azov black earths. Mild climate,
abundant precipitation, a very long frost-free period
(190200 days) and rich soils, present in the zone (together with the
foothill zone of the North Caucasus) particular possibilities for the
development of southern technical crops, corn, soy-bean and especially
a reliable yield of winter wheat,
RESTRICTED
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ES iRICiE4
Zane? of ,unstead;~?humidity ?inYe??Nord, Caucasus, with diversified
grass steppes on near-Azov black-earths. Climate similar to that of
the preceding zone in warmth and length of the frost-free periods,
suitable for cultivation of the same crops; greater fluctuations in
annual precipitation, slightly lower than the mean, making yields
somewhat unsteady.
Semiarid. _.divers~,f'ied grans steppes on regular .. (.and i n Nor'.th
aucasus, thP, near-Azor_ type) black earths forming a belt south of
forest-steppes, within the northern and eastern steppes of the Ukraine,
the former Don Okrug of the North Caucasus, southern part of the TsChO,
northwest part of the Lower Volga region and the central part of the
Central Volga Kray and Bashkiriya. The general character of the zone is
semiarid (125-175 millimeters of precipitation during May-July and
145-50 percent relative air humidity in June), and it causes a. not
fully reliable yield. The climate varies in different sections. The
zone's western part (Dnepr's right bank region), due to the mild
winter, is favorable for winter crop wheat cultivation; together with
the rest of the zone within the Ukraine, which has a sufficiently
long frost-free period, for corn as well. The part of this zone within
the Ukrainian left bank region, North Caucasus and TsChO is -- due to
winter temperatures and lack of snow -- not sufficiently reliable for
growing the at present usual winter wheat varieties. There are great
possibilities, however, for advancing this crop with new winter-resistant
varieties. The semiarid steppe of the Lower and Central Volga region
is risky even for winter-resistant varieties. This zone is sufficiently
favorable for spring crop wheat and sunflower.
Arid diversified grass sEppes an southern black earths forms
the next belt to the southeast within the European USSR. A comparable
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ESTRICTED
belt stretches along West Siberia and Kazak~ta
n n, from Orenburg to
Kustanay, Kokchetav, and Slavgorod. The mean
precipitation for
May-July of 100-150 millimeters in some ears: '
years. is considerably below
these figures, which, together with
the low mean relative air humidity
(average for 1:00 p. m, in June -? h5_5O
percent makes the yield of
spring wheat with a good grain qualit the
y, principle crop of this zone,
unreliable, Winter wheat is destroyed by frost during the severe and
snow-free winters,
ES TRIG TED
..-~. ~. on dark and light
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,the v~rY arid, southern: feathEr~,grass ste
~,~?pes on_~chestr~ut soil
of,~th Central anti Lower Vol
i noss, the
neighboring part of the
North Caucasus and the analogous belt in the Tra
ns-Urals, south of the
line from Orsk to Atbasa.r, to the northern part of the Pavladar Okrug
and Semipalatinsk, demarcates an area of low precipitation (mean for
May-July 75-120 millimeters), with. a low relat'v
~ e air humidity (average.
at 1:00 p, m, during June, 38?L5 percent), frequently falling below
quality glassy grains,
Verb arid. southern feather-grass ste
~.........:.M.....,.__- eon dark-
~~" tree n ,...__._..._...__.....?..,..,..._.. ~_..__....,._.......chestnut, _ soils
~_..~.?t~kxa~pe,~,e urzmea,~Prikum~ e and
.._.wDagestan with low precipitation
(110-1S0 millimeters during Nay-July),
y), hot cl~.mate and relatively low
air humidity (only about 40 percent in June) has, however, a long
frost-free period and a comparatively mild winter. These conditions
create in this zone a region for the adoption of
new techn~. cal crops
(cotton) and the cultivation of winter crop wheats with highest
normal., which makes it impossible to have yields which are at all
resi.s~f:.ant wheat varieties and such crops as mills
t is possible only at
satisfactory, Therefore, the cultivation of even the most dxought-
extreme risk, particularly in the Trans-Urals region.
Very aril _hi,11~yof_.,VOlcanic formatio
- ~..__ .~.__..,~.,..~.._.....~._._..~.... ~ri.).._.~~pli~deser~ eleva?~,P~
au~,~ ~~a~rn eatl~._er-grass and _t''u`wOorr
.,...w_..........._....._,,....:g.._.._a~...~.nd....g'~ss- ste es
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chestnut soils, frequently of detritus characteristics. Also, a small
amount of precipitation (in some places, slightly larger, due to
elevated relief) and worse soils make agriculture without irrigation
possible only in the most favorable places of the zoned
Very. and grass serradesert steppes on light-chestnut;,
k
sandy loam an _sand sails in Kaza sUan (in the former Pavlodarsk,
Semipalatinsk Okrugs) has all the unfavorable climate conditions of the
preceding zones, plus unfavorable soil conditions
(1-I a talei~~,,xt rEmel .on complex light-
E
chestnut soils with spots of solonetz. An extremely small amount
of precipitation (mean for May-July 50-100 millimeters) frequently
diminishing to a negligible amount, a sharply continental climate
with hot summers (with an extremely low relative air humidity (June
average: 3~-)40 percent, but frequently considerably lower) makes
it possible to have field cultivation here only with irrigation or in
deep ravines.
Juq io;
-Saltwort semidesert of the Kazaks tan and. Ka1 ykiya
with an extremely_ ar7.c~; climate (50-75 millimeters precipitation and
lower, during May-July) and solonets and sand light-chestnut and
brown soils -- unsuitable for agriculture.
Zones of Central Asia Republics South ofMKazastan and Kirgiziya.
High-mountain
.Ta:bagatay. Alpine and sub-Alpine meadows, in some places fir tree
forests. Mountain-meadow, gravelly-detritus, rocky soils. Due to
climatic and soil conditions, agriculture is almost impossible.
Pastures have a rich supply of fodders,
tov
Hig~m~untaint of the Parrliro-Alt. Vegetation is
characteristic of the steppes. Instead of fir forests, there are
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chestnut soils, frequently of detritus characteristics. Also, a small
amount of precipitation (in some places, slightly larger, due to
elevated relief) and worse soils make agriculture without irrigation
possible only in the most favorable places of the zone.
Very acid grassy semidesert steppes on light cheatn?a1~.,
d -loam and sand soils in aza.
sany.
Kk~stan. (in the former Pavlodarsk,
Semipalatinsk Okrugs) has all the unfavorable climate conditions of the
preceding zones, plus unfavorable soil conditions,
(iu:Wor
Extrernelj grid _grassMw_semdser on complex light-
chestnut soils with spots of solonetz. An extremely small amount
of precipitation (mean for May-July ~O-100 millimeters) frequently
diminishing to a negligible amount, a sharply continental climate
with hot summers (with an extremely low relative air humidity (June
average: 3~-40 percent, but frequently considerably lower) makes
it possible to have field cultivation here only with irrigation or in
deep ravines.
-saltwort semidesert of the Ka,zak~stan. and, I~almykiya
with an extreme/ _arid climate (;0--5 millimeters precipitation and
lower, during May-July) and solonets and sand light-chestnut and
brown soils _.. unsuitable for agriculture,
Zones of Central Asia Republics South of Kazastan and Kirgiziya,
climatic and soil conditions, agriculture is almost impossible.
forests. Mountain-meadow, gravelly-detritus, rocky soils. Due to
High mquntan
_.~....,"~ .~s,.._.of _
r :, Alpine and sub-Alpine meadows, in some places fir tree
Pastures have a rich supply of fodders,
I~igh-mountain of the Pamiro-Alta, Vegetation as
characteristic of the steppes. Instead of fir .forests, there are
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aErc MtTED
of saddle trees and leafy shrubs. Soils are more rocky, Due to
growths
climatic and soil conditions, land cultivation is almost impossible.
It 1s a pasture area though inferior to the previous one considered.
thi~11 ten es of Central wTyan'shan' a~ D~hungarskiy
A1.atau and 'T'arbaata. In some places, there are growths of steppe
shrubs and ' leafy trees. The soils are black-earth and chestnut, less
e
ften gre -earths, frequently gravelly-detritus. Semiarid and arid
o ,~ y
climate with a 250-600 millimeter yearly precipitation including a
rainfall of -100 millimeters during May-July. Irrigation is possible
to some extent. The summer temperature (22-2L degrees in July), and the
length of the frost-free period (10-160 days) is not adequate for
growing cotton. The region is one of grain farming and orchards,
Mountain and foothill steppes,.. of ~tpe , hest T_yan' -span',. _ Pama.ro-
lta anclKopeda; The steppe shrub growths and leafy forests are
more diversified than in the preceding area. Chestnut and gray-earth
soils often are gravelly-detritus. The climate is humid in winter
and spring, very and in summer, with 250-1,000 millimeter yearly
preca.pitatn including 7~-100 millimeters during May-June. The
~.o ,
JulyWSeptember period has no precipitation. Length of the frost-free
period (160-180 days) and the summer temperature (2L-27 degrees in
July) make possible the development of spring crop plants, which need
an average length growing period. Winter crops can be grown, making
use of winter-Spring precipitation. This is an area of grain farming
and fruit growing, and to some extent an area where arid-soil cotton
and other technical crops are grown,
semidesert alone the_ northe~^n foothills of~the Centr._a],
,Foothill ?___......-....~......~-----~._ ___..._..~. ~ .,, ...... ~... ~..
~ the Dzhun arsl~~ Alatau~and at the southern foathi~.ls
MO.l Ai
the Tarba ata~. .mod steppe and irrigated lands on gray earths.
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The climate, in comparison with the 3rd zone is more arid, but
warmer and with a longer frost-free period. With irrigation it is
possible to cultivate early-ripening cotton in the south and technical
and grain crops in the north,
foothill semidesert clang the .foothills of the Guest T~'yan! shard!
and Pamir,--<ay, Desert steppe and irrigated lands on gray earths,
There is a hot climate with mean summer temperature of 25-28 degrees
and a frost-free period of 180-210 days, 175-L~.00 millimeters is the
yearly precipitation, Conditions are particularly favorable for
raising cotton of the average early-ripening and average late-ripening
varieties. This is a basic area for cotton growing.
Extremely acid and hotLL desert ofWestM Uzbekj.~st,an and South
2'urlneniya, The soils are desert type and "takyr~T (firm loamy soil.
saturated with salt) type grey-earths, saline river deposits or ttsolonki",
The climate is particularly hot, with a 28-31 degree summer temperature,
and a 210-250 day frost-free period, precipitation is 70-200 millimeters
a year, Irrigation is indispensable. Conditions are favorable for the
cultivation of late-ripening long-fiber varieties of cotton, among them,
Egyptian cotton.
Dry s ubtro acs of South Tadz Southwest Uzbekistan and
Southwest Turkmen Desert steppe and irrigated lands on gray
earths. The climate is particularly hot. This is in contrast to the
preceding zone with milder winters. Mean January temperatures for
many years have risen to zero centigrade and even to 2-1j. degrees move
zero, which does not exclude the possibility of a periodic occurrence
of rather deep freezes of short duration, of as much as l5 degrees
below and lower, Conditions are favorable for the cultivation of
tES TRIG TED
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longer staple, lower-Egyptian varieties of cotton. In experimental
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`cal erennial crops also are being worked out,
cultivation, subtrop1 p
f . the lower gnu-Darya River ana
River ana lake lowlands .?.._.......~....._,........y......_.........,.....,..,...,.rv , ~.....,.~.....r.......
k halo lon growths, "tugaynyYe" and solonchak
Sou~Za~,stan, Blac xY
shrubs, meadows and reed covered alluvial banks. Soils are "takyr"-
like and partly saline. Climate divides the area into two parts.
( a) Thelowerr.,eachesof the 1_ R ver -- with a hotter
...__ .._ .,~..__._.........._.__
summer and a 1 rose-free period.. It is possible t180-200 day f
' _in, average early-ripening and early-ripening
raise average late r~.pen g,
cotton crops;
es of the rivers.. in ,South, ~azak~ran with
(b ) The lower reach
and a shorter growing period of 160.180 days.
moderately hot summers
row rice and new fiber-bearing plants as well as
It is passible to g
alfalfa.
Most arid desert, sandy and loamy-gravelly with solonchaks
and loamy ~ t1 taiYrs" . Soil and climatic conditions without the
`~ i ation makes land cultivation impossible. There
poss~.oa.l~.ty of ~zr g ~
shee and camel raising. The area is divided into
are pastures for p
two parts;
(-- better provided with potable well water
deserts
a)
and with more of a variety of fodder;
(b) R -claYeY and clay solonchdeserts -- very little
-----*--*---------
well water and predominantly wormwood-saltwort fodders.
ZONES OF FIELD CULTIVATION
of the considerations in the preceding section on
On the bass
e a,nsion or decrease in plantings of different
movernent, advancement, xp
crops, in correspondence with general problems of the national
economy and agricultural reconstruction, as well as in terms of the
~.
natural requirements of these plants in the particular regions described
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REST %CT EU
above in supplement 6 we give listing of zones and subzones for
field crops. In each of them, the general nature of crop raising
(its specialization) is identified in terms of the basic crops
should soon be of predominant importance. Consideration is
which
given also to those additional crops, which though unable to occupy
large areas should be expanded, since their production is of particular
importance.
Poor Agricultural Zones
- aature arctic zone is located in the tundras and
tundrap
1. The
the extreme north of the European and Asiatic parts
forest tundras in
The short growing period, the small amount of warmth,
of the USSR.
considerable swampiness, weakly developed soils and the presence of
permafrost makes impossible a more or less important development of
field cultivation. Only rare oases in river valleys and flooded
meadows makes it possible to use the limited grass assortment to improve
fields and pastures as well as for growing oats and barley together.
hay
Feed resources are represented mainly by natural pastures (lichen,
swamp vegetation, diversified grasses of shrub pastures) and rare
but very rich hay fields in bottom lands.
On covered ground, it is possible to grow various vegetables,
mainly for greens. By using methods which speed up ripening in the
more favorable protected locations which have light dry soils, it is
possible to use open ground en ground for planting early varieties of potato
and turnips.
vegetables in hothouses, is a branch of activity which must become
Use of an enormous amount of wind energy, of peat and coal fuel,
of heat and energy from electric power and heat plants, for growing
firmly established in places where there are concentrations of population
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importance.
Poor Agricultural Zones
1. The tundra-pasture arctic zone is located in the tundras and
large areas should be expanded, since their production is of particular
~7
REST RtCt LU
above in supplement 6 we gave listing of zones and subzones for
field crops. In each of them, the general nature of crop raising
(its specialization) is identified in terms of the basic crops
which should soon be of predominant importance. Consideration is
given also to those additional crops, which though unable to occupy
forest-tundras in the extreme north of the European and Asiatic parts
the USSR. The short growing period, the small amount of warmth,
of
considerable swampiness, weakly developed soils and the presence of
permafrost makes impossible a more or less important development of
field cultivation. Only rare oases in river valleys and flooded
meadows makes it possible to use the limited grass assortment to improve
bay fields and pastures as well as for growing oats and barley together.
Feed resources are represented mainly by natural pastures (lichen,
swamp vegetation, diversified grasses of shrub pastures) and rare
but very rich hay fields in bottom lands.
On covered ground, it is possible to grow various vegetables,
.
mainly for greens.. BY using methods which speed up ripening in the
more favorable protected locations which have light dry soils, it is
possible to use open ground for planting early varieties of potato
and turnips.
of an enormous,amount of wind energy, of peat and coal fuel,
Use
of heat and energy from electric power and heat plants, for growing
vegetables in hothouses, is a branch of activity which must become
firmly established in places where there are concentrations of population
fESTRiCTED
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of river and lake valleys, etc., and the water-divide swampy-forest
covered with a woods blanket of moss and the poorest of grass
lands,
vegetation. There, in the mountainous pasture zone, swift mountain
rivers do not form inundated meadows. Fodder lands are chiefly the
dry mountain and valley pastures.
ssibilities from point of view of soil and climate
Farming po
r5 -- besides the geographic position of some specific places
conda.tzo
depend on the geographic relief and on the importance of vertical zonal-
ity in terms of climate and soils.
The high mountain Altay-Sayan subzone has forest pastures and
Alpine pastures at the higher altitudes in places suited to farming.
It has a wider variety of crops than the two more eastern subzones;
and continental East-Siberian (pastures, potato-vegetables,
the dry
fodder crops, sprang wheat, spring rye-oats) and the more hid Far
Eastern (pastures, potato-vegetable, fodder crops, barley, rye, oats,
spring wheat) . These two subzones are of a mountain-taiga spring g and
mountain-steppe type.
In spite of the more continenta.1. climate within the latter
two subzones with their more level terrain and wide valleys, there are
'lities for a relatively important development of farming in
oss?b:>w
p
along the rivers (Tunkinskaya, valley, Upper Lena, Upper Angara,
strips
Amgun', Ud, lower reaches of the Amur, etc.).
Generally speaking, the basis for agriculture in the zone is
'ng use of natural pastures and hay fields. The choice of
in making
cultivated plants is among very few. In various parts of the zone,
ists mainly of potatoes and vegetable crops in mining districts
it cons
and of a combination of barley, oats, rye,, and more rarely wheat -- in the
more remote sections. Reclamation in order to clean up hay fields and
~.
a
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aES"TA1CTE41
engaged in industry and in other enterprises. Lichen cultivation, and
in places where dairy farming is developed, the transformation of
lichen swamps through reclamation (removing the moss cover) into areas
of phanerogamae, will increase the number of reindeer which the
pastures can feed and it will supply fodder for animal husbandry.
Many bottom lands have not yet become part of agricultural economy.
Of particular interest, is the problem of using waste from fishing,
hunting, and trapping, from the production of hides, etc., as well as
making use of a number of seaweeds, in order to obtain a combination
of fodders and fertilizers,
2. Mountain-.pasture, agriculturally poor zone. Stretching along the
southern border and embracing an enormous territory in the eastern
section of the USSR, this zone includes the Dzhungarskiy Alatau,
Altay, and Sayan mountain ranges and the branched out orographical
system of Pribaykal'ye and the Pacific Ocean Kray. Tentatively,
the dividing line in the east between the bottom land pasture zone
(see next zone) and the zone of mountain pastures, is traced east of the
Central Lena lowlands with its bottom lands and "alasnyye" hay fields,
In some places, however,.f,rther east, along the Amur, Ud, Amgun', Tym,
on Sakhalin, and in other plaees,the lowland bottom land type
of landscape repeats itself, just as within.the bottom land pasture
zone, farther west, the mountain pastures of the northern Urals are
included as well as the Tungus mountain range and several other ranges.
The transition of the mountain-pasture zone into the tundra-pasture
zone in the northeast is very gradual. Here in the mountains, branches
of the tundra reach far to the south.
In contrast to plain bottom land pastures of the northern zone,
where the main sources of fodder are the floodland and mainland meadows
lIES TRIG TED
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pastures, arranging better runways, establishing regulated pasturage
and hay mowing, and selection of fodder grasses suitable to the
different mountain districts, coordinating this with the development
of large scale animal husbandry, making the proper selection of animal
breeds; all this will make it possible to have a much more extensive
agricultural utilization of this zone which, at the present time, is
very little used,
3, Bottom land pasture, potato-vegetable. fodder crops, barley-rye
zone. Colossal in size, this zone covers the northern coniferous
forest belt of European USSR and the northern taiga in the Asiatic
part. In the European part and in West Siberia, the zone is swampy
and forest-covered. Areas suitable for field craps have been made
into river valley terraces, which provide run-off for surface ar~1
ground water and make the soil less swampy and lighter "warm",
The East Siberian section is not less forested, but it has less swamps
and, unlike the western section, it has weakly podzolic soils, but
with. a considerably greater prevalence of permafrost. There usually
are strips of sandy soil along the rivers. On the water divides,
there are mainly peat swamps and. usually more moist tenacious
("cold") soils, The rivers in the valleys, having collected a lot
of water, and because they flaw slowly, carry fertile alluvial soils
which form flood meadows -- the zone's basic wealth, Bottom lands
surround the lakes and swamps which overflow, while the swamps them-
selves, without improvement, have a vegetation of little value for
fodder,
An interesting potential supply to be developed is in the
fertile and easier cultivated lowland swamps, which - with proper
fertilizers -- give very high yields of oats (for hay and green
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fodder), tarnothY with clover and other feed crops. The forest cover
moss and the forest pastures are not very productive.
is mainly ,
Severe winter, the short growing period and small amount of
summer heat make it possible to cultivate only cold-resisting and.
early_ripening crops.
ssibilities of inundated meadows, as well
The agriculturalo
as waterless and swampy pastures and hayfields, are not everywhere
sufficiently realized, particularly when one considers that the size and
these areas can be greatly increased. This can be done
productivity of
by clearing away the trees and bushes, by draining, by banking the
bottom lands, restoring protective forest belts, calculated to keep
the bottom lds clear in terms of the amount of water collected, the
r
an
nature of the soil and ground, etc. In the same way, it is quite
possible in very ymany places to improve the waterless pasture by
replacing the moss cover by sowing grass. And by organizing a
regulated cutting g of hay and use of pasturage, this should improve
considerably the quality of the fodder products.
It is possible to improve hayfields and pastures by additional
a considerable assortment of perennial cereal grasses.
sowings of
be increased by an extensive introduction of mixed
Fodder resources can
oats and barley sowings and potato plantings. Potatoes and vegetable
craps are become~., ' n.r very important in the locations where mining and
lumbering IS under way and in the centers of the lumber industry.
In connection with the extreme lack of roads and the remoteness of
the zone, much attention has to be paid to grain crops, counting them
among the necessary components of the grass-field-tuber and meadow
plants crop rotations.
Basic among the grain crops is the earliest of them -- barley,
-
farther south rye as well, and oats in the southernmost section, which
aESTRICTED
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rye and perennial grasses.
ti
ed
Farther south., though under slightly more continental coofS,
n with more summer warmth, the subzone of bottom
but in that connectio ,
land-pasture, of potatoes and vegetables, fodder crops, and rye-oats-
barley in the coniferous forests.of the Trans-Urals and West Siberia
can count among its basic grain crops rye and. oats and a large
variety of grasses.
the Angara and Upper Lena valleys in the east (bottom
Finally,
a e cro s, wheat-rye?oats-barley subzone) have a
land-pasture, for g p
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is of basic importance in the lumber areas. In certain places spring
cro of secondary importance in t~ west, and
wheat can be produced as a p
as an additional crop in the east. It is necessary to grow peas,
particularly the fodder variety.
Besides potatoes9 everywhere in the southern section it is
me other crops for technical use: flax, hemp,
possible to grow so ~. Iecra.
r
!
ca
~ (Camelir~a sativa) .
~,~ *
and winter ~
white mustard,
mainly to the amount of summer heat. and the degree of
ccording n
A
t, the zone can be subdivided into four parts
climate conta.nenta.~~. y,
haracterized by the individual grain crops. The
which are well c
is the most vast and coldest area with a shorter
northern subzone
growing period bottom land-pasture, potato?vegetable, fodder crops,
barley). It occupies the entire northern belt of oasis farming in
the European and. Asiatic parts of the USSR. There are less
in sowed grasses, especially in the continental
passibilities for grow, g
where barley and potato are of greater importance.
east,
More favorable conditions for all these crops are in the
subzone located in the European part of the USSR.
barley-rye potato
s here offer more reliability for crops of winter
Wintering candit10n
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REST RCTEU
decidedly continental climate. They have a summer' with highly heated
air and soil, yet, at the same time with very cold winters and little
snow. There are very limited possibilities, specifically, for making
use of the existing variety of fodder grasses. The adoption of speedy
methods in selecting local and world-wide fodder grasses has to be done
here without delay. In the grain crop group, spring wheat holds one
of the basic places, together with rye and oats.
Due to the short summer, it is very important for the zone to
introduce mechanization of fodder harvesting and arrange for stage
of produce during the long winter. Tremendous bottom land areas are
in many cases not yet utilized. Due to the lack of machines, many
hundred thousand tons of hay and ensilage are lost even in the more
populated districts. Their utilization could make it possible to
develop extensively animal husbandry for dairy products and meat
and. to have enough supplies for raising reindeer, particularly in
view of the frequent lack of fodder in winter. In organizing fodder-
vegetable Mate farms, this matter can be developed here in the
immediate coming years.
L1.. Bottom land meadow, fodder crops, flax, oats-rye-barley. This
zone is in the southern coniferous forest belt with a richer grass
cover, in the southern relatively less swampy and more heavily
cultivated section of the podzolic-swamp zone of European USSR.
Besides less swampiness, this zone differs from the preceding zone of
bottom land-pasture of near-arctic location, in having a longer
growing period, a considerably higher amount of summer heat and a
less severe winter. As there, field cultivation is concentrated chiefly
within the huge waterless land areas along the rivers, but in consider-
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tES1 P1 ED
ably wider strips Agricultural development is hampered by the
abundance of forests and swamps, and the basis of agricultural
development consists of making use of natural fodder resources and
improvement of hay fields and pastures with specialization of
cultivated areas also in the direction of fodder. In this connection,
it is possible to decrease the relative area given to grain crops by
increasing their yield and by having grain brought into heavily
populated industrial locations.
Here, the assortment of crops suitable for cultivation is
considerably more valuable and larger. In addition to perennial
cereal grasses, grass sowing here has to be based mainly on clover
(single reaping variety)a flax cultivation is possible everywhere,
and the conditions of the zone's southern section are of particular
interest in this respect, due to the high quality of fiber obtainable
here.
The important place of barley is giving way to oats which is
needed here in numerous districts of intense lumbering. Increased
also is the absolute importance of potatoes and peas for food and
fodder. In some places the early types of spring wheat find good
conditions for development, which is very important for remote
regions with difficult grain transportation facilities, Generally
speaking, rye and oats are basic grains.
In the western zone section, the vegetable, potato--tuber,
clover-oats subzone is of particular interest as a supply source for
the Leningrad industrial district. Of basic value here are vegetables
and fodder. With intensification of crop rotation and a decrease of
fallows, and also because of a considerable concentration of horse
raising in this industrial and border region, first place in the grain
group goes to oats instead of winter crop rye.
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Lure zone farther north. However, the more favorable climate
land_pas
and soil conditions make it profitable in many places to change the
less valuable pasture and forest lands into cultivated meadows and
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REST aid ED
The adjoining swampy subzone to the east has a combination
cal for the zone; fodder crops, rye, oats,
of crops which is typi
flax (in the south).
The subzone of the Vychegda, Dvina, Vaga and Onega is an
has a transitional. climate between north and
inter river area which
south, between Jwamp_forests and podzolic-swamps, Zt grows clover-
flax and r wbarle3r-potatoes, but due to the shortness of the growing
,~e
having basically a fodder-flax combination of field crops,
.,
period,
it should have, in its grain group, barley as a basic crop in addition
,
to rye, expanding oats, however, in the rapidly developing lumber areas.
The expan6~.. 'on of the lumber industry puts potatoes in one of the basic
positions of importance as a field. crop for the table, for fodder, and
as a vegetables
The moderately warm and less swampy Sukhovskaya subzone has
very good prospects for an intensive development of flax growing with
hgh. quality fiber. 't'his is a flax-clover, rye-oats subzone,
i~,
Similarly, in the neighboring Predural.'skaya subzone, the natural conditions and the possibilities of a more rapid mechanization
about a more intensive development of flax growing. In
must bring
tior~. with the great importance :for the industrial Priural' ye
connec
( analogous with the Leningrad subzone) of oats in comparison with
cultivation here basically Consists of such crops
winter rife, field
as flax, clover., oats and ryes
The improvement of flooded and waterless valley hayfields and
pastures requires, on the whole, the same measures as in the bottom
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%EST OT ED
plowed fields for a more abundant source of fodder. The zone's high
humidity is most efS..'ectively used with the cultivation of fodder
but at the same time, the same abundant humidity r equires the
crops,.
use of a lot of technical equipment for harvesting and for fodder
storage. Lixiviated soils are very much in need of chemicalizati.on. and oats-.rye. This zone is located predominantly in
5. Flax-clover *-..
the mixed forest belt in European USSh. Slight swampiness and an
exceptionally favor able humid climate with an even distribution of
warmth and precipitation and. a mild winter, determine the basic field
crop characteristics of this subzone. Here flax and clover are among
the leading crops. Root tubers and silo crops, which have here much
more extensive ossibllities for future development, add considerably
p
ereal grass fodder assortment. Wintering conditions
to she clover and c
for grain crops not only guarantee highest winter rye yields, but make
possible also the development of winter wheat. Oats, which like
b eer-brewing barley enjoy here the most reliable of
moisture and
conditions. The latter finds a place for itself paz~ticularly in the
West where the favorable characteristics of the zone's climate are
,
more sharply manifest. Oats will be a most widespread component of
the grain crops in the flax-clover and meadow crop rotations. Of the
bean family it is necessary and possible to develop extensively food
peas and fodder peas "peliushka", and in some places: horse beans,
lentils, lupine and vetch for grain and seed.
Flax and clover, as well as a large assortment of other fodder
crops, can be considered as a basic group everywhere in the zone, In
a
certain parts of it, the following are distinguished, the certain p great
importance of beer-brewing and fodder barley in the more humid and
~.mpo1
warm western subzone (flax-clover-rye oats-barley) and the great
iES TRIO TED
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importance of potatoes in the central near the Vora industrial
region. The other two subzones have a crop combination which is
typical for the zones flax-clover-rye-oats, with greater emphasis
on clover and oats in the Predural'ye.
With the development of the net of machine-tractor stations
and plants for primary flax processing, the density of plantings,
greatly exhausting, the flax soil, here will be quite considerable and
the podzolic soils of the zone will need particular attention to
chemical reinforcement. Similarly, due to the concentration of a
large population and a large number of electric parer and industrial
centers, this zone,particularly within the non-black-earth north,
has to be provided, first of all, with means for. improving the
cultivated areas, and for bringing wastelands into cultivation through
reclamation. All this is needed in order to bring closer to the consumer
the products of dairy and vegetable farms and to brim; agricultural
raw material to the factories and plants,
6. Rye-oats-wheat, flax-clover, and pastures. Analogous to the
preceding zone of mixed forests in European USSR, there is a very
narrow strip of mixed, coniferous-narrow-leaved forests in the
Trans-Urals and West Siberia. Due to intense swampiness anal a
considerably more continental climate, the expansion of planting area
is rather limited. At the same time, it is possible to develop
flax and clover cultivation. Swamps, flooded meadows and waterless
valley forest hay meadows and pastures further the development of
dairy cattle breeding. To the basic grain crops -- winter rye and
oats -- spring wheat is added, the natural conditions for the. growth
of which, improve rapidly as the crop moves south to the next zone.
Favorable conditions of a rather short but sufficiently hot
summer, should be used for a more extensive preparation of the soil,
aEs TRICTED
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particularly through reclamation with drainage. South of this is the
zone which is transitional to the typical spring wheat zone:
7. Spring wheat, rye-oats, flax with subzones of potatoes and
vegetables, and fodder growing in the regions of the Kuzbas~l and
Angarstroy. Spreading over open taiga areas in the East and partly
in West Siberia, over foothills and. mountainous open taiga. in the
foothills forest-steppe of the .Altay, as well as over meadow solonchak
forest-steppes of north Baraba and forest-steppe islands of the
Predbaykal'ye, this zone is sufficiently humid and spreads mostly
over degraded and lixiviated black-earths, partly over forest, weakly
podzolic and swampy meadow lands. Natural, conditions as well as
reliable and high average yields of spring wheat, are favorable for an
extensive development of fiber flax plantings and for an expansion
of fodder crops for the benefit of dairy farming. Enveloping the
Kuznetskiy and Cheremkhovskiy basins, this zone has to become the main
supplier of dairy products, potatoes, vegetables and root tubers, as
well as of bread for the working population of the largest industrial
centers of the Kuzb asp and CherembasN; at the same time it can use for
its agricultural development the power potential of the Kuzbass,
Angarstroy, etc. Oats have to 'oe kept on here for horses in the
mining and lumber industries and rye to lessen the load of work during
the sowing and harvesting periods. More attention should be paid to
the expansion of flax cultivation in this area which again is growing
this crop. This applies also to growing ensilage and grasses (clover
in the west of the zone, vetch with oats in the mountain and foothill
sections, American couch grass and alfalfa, broom grass and sweet clover
in the meadow-inundated river bank, forest-steppes and open taiga),
Extensive cultivation of new lands (gained through forest clearings and
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reclamation of swamp areas) will make it possible to expand fodder
craps, flax sowings and root tubers, without decreasing the areas
under cereal grains and especially, wheat.
An enormous improvement of the soils for intensive cultivation,
odzolic soils, will take place here with the help of
particularly on p
nitrate fertilizers, which will be produced in tremendous quantities
within the zone at the Kuznetskiye and Angarskiye plants which process
coals
Rye-Potato ---
8, Rye Zones
-pataco zone. This zone is transitional to the broad
leaf forest-steppe belt and the southern part of the mixed forest
zone of European USSR. It has a more or less common soil basis of
sandy barns and sands, but is climatically different in various
sections. he abundantly-humid western part, covering the south of
the BSSR and of the Western Oblast, can more appropriately grow the
group of rye, clover, potatoes and hemp crops. The central, Moscow
suburban area should grow vegetables, potatoes, root tubers, and a clover-
oats r combination. The eastern section is suitable for rye, clover and
potatoes. Additional crops in some places are, oats, flax, peas,
buckwheat1 lentils and lupine. The need for an increase of winter
noted. The forage assortment, besides grasses, consists
wheat is to be
of ensilage crops and among those, in some places are: corn, sunflower,
beans and root tubers.
Being transitional to the grain growing south, this zone to
a great extent together with the next one south which grows rye, oats
and potatoes, must undertake the production of grain, particularly rye,
in order to lower the grain deficit of the farther north flax and fodder
zones. The presence of sandy soils and the relatively long growing
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period, with still good conditions for growing clover, call for
developing hog raising and potato processing enterprises, using large
quantities of potatoes. With the development of mechanized farming
.
with the application of chemicals, very favorable conditions are created in the evenly
humid western part of the zone for large area plantings
of hemp. Mechanized sowing, harvesting and processing of these
basically laborious crops, the application of chemicals, enriching
-, sandy soils with legumes, and expanding grass sowings: all this
the
should be developed as the way to raise the productivity of field
crops in this zone.
e Urals metallurgical
9, The zone of cloverwpot'vegetables, oats_ry
zone). Stretching in a long belt of longitudinal direction along
the Urals metallurgical district, this zone in different latitudes
differs only in so far as the secondary crops are concerned.
Practically throughout the entire zone there is retained he production
of clover, potatoes, vegetables, fodder root tubers and oats. In
different places, there is barley, rye and wheat, depending upon
latitude and the distance from the metallurgical centers. Forestry
~.
is verYworthwhile on the cut-up terrain. There is difficulty and
expedient under such conditions, to have mechanized
it is IeSS L
which there is little opportunity. The chief emphasis
farming for
of farming here is on growing vegetable, fruit, berries and fodder
for dairy herds. Stress is laid on developing the proper pasture
crops an ,~ d hayfields, and on obtaining fodder from cultivated areas.
.
10. The rye, oats and potato zone is in the area of the northern
forest-Steppes on lixiviated and degraded black-earths and, in terms
of the relative importance of additional crops, it is divided into
two subzones:
i
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r p~'w~f
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aES?T RICT EU
(a) Rye-oats-potato-hemp in the southern sections of the
Moscow Oblast, Nizhniy-Novgorod Itray, in the northern TsChO, in
the Ukraine's Polestye, as well as in the former Penza Okrug and
the eastern section of the Mordva Autonomous Oblast and the
Central Volga Kray, and
(b) Rye-oats--potato-spring wheat in the former Ulyanovsk
and Syzrant Okrugs of the Central Volga, parts of the Tartar ASSR
south of the Kama River and along the right bank of the Volga, as
well as in the northern forest-steppes of the Bashkir Republic which
adjoins from the east,
In terms of the overall direction. of agricultural development,
the entire zone should stress primarily potato growing and hog
raising, together with the production of grey cereal grains, with a
more intense development of hog raising in subzone "a", with less
stress in subzone "b", where dairy farming should be more developed.
Of leading importance among the technical crops of this zone
should be potatoes (mainly for plant processing but for fodder
purposes as well), which find here sufficiently favorable conditions
for good yields, Sunflower and corn (with the exception of their
cultivation for ensilage) can not be groan on account of the lack of
warmth and shortness of the growing period,
Of the grains, leading importance goes to grey cereal grainsb
Among winter crops, rye is the crop, since due to severe winters, a
noticeable forward movement of winter wheat can not be counted on
in the immediate years to come, that is, in view of the fact that
there is a lack of winter resistant varieties. With sufficient
precipitation in this zone, oats still produce rather high yields of
grain which, moreover, is of export quality. Due tote extremely
tIES TRIG TED
I( 4.
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aESt MCT EU
widespread prevalence of the Swedish fly, barley can not be grown
here and spring wheat can be moved only into subzone
"b"
In the
entire zone, as secondary crops, great attention should be paid to
the expansion of lentil and'pea plantings.
Of essential importance in subzone tTat~, together with rye,
oats and potatoes, there should be hemp' which, due to good soils
and sufficient precipitation, finds favorable conditions for good
yields, and in the western section of the zone, for good fiber.
quality as well. Among the fodder crops, there are clover with
timothy, the vetch-oats combination and ensilage crops. There
should be an extensive development of clover sowings for hay and
as artificial pasture for hogs? Into subzone ttb", which is slightly
less and and. suffers less from the Swedish fly, spring wheat and the
earliest ripening sunflower varieties can be moved in from the south.
Hemp can not be of any real importance, In connection with the
necessity and possibilities of dairy farming, fodder crops have to
be extensively expanded (vetch-oats combination and particularly
sowings for ensilage).
Spring Wheat Zone
11. The enormous spring wheat farming zone stretches in a belt from
the Ukraine and the North Caucasus to East Siberia, including the
semiarid forest-steppes and acid steppes of the European southeast
as well as comparable districts of the Trans-Urals, Siberia and
e last mentioned areas are comparable to the southeast,
Kazakstan. 2h in terms of the amount of precipitation, soils and natural vegetation.
They differ from it, however, in the severity of the winter, in the
less hot summer, the shorter growing period, and accordingly in the
somewhat different combination of crops additional to wheat.
iiESTRHCTED
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aEST MCI EU
According to that, and the difference in soil-climatic conditions,
particularly the degree of aridness in moving from the north to south
and southeast, the spring wheat zone has to be subdivided into the
following subzones:
(a) Spring wheat, oats-rye, clover-potatoes located in the
northern forest-steppe in the former Kungursk Okrug and Mesyagutovskiy
Canton among the forests of the Predural'ye. Sufficient precipitation
and more or less favorable soils (lixiviated and degraded black earths)
cause high and reliable yields of spring wheat, therefore, this sub-
zone should become an area for more intensive cultivation, But,
together with spring wheat, it is necessary to develop also dairy
farming and production of other supplies which are difficult to
transport but are needed for local consumption by the population in
the nearby industrial and metallurgical centers of the Urals. The
above-mentioned soil-climatic conditions are quite favorable for the
development of fodder crops (particularly clover) also for seeds,
root tubers, ensilage plants and potatoes for food as well as for
fodder, Oats should be kept for industrial needs and rye for the
purpose of supporting fields planted with winter crops (prolongation
of the planting and harvesting campaigns)A
(b) The spring wheat-oats subzone with grass sowing is
analogous to the preceding one in soil and climatic conditions, but
located in the northern flood land meadows and foothill forest-steppes
of the Trans-Urals, West Siberia as well as over the lix:iviated and
degraded black earths with more or less sufficient humidity which,
however, can not be counted upon
Together with good. and rather steady yields of spring wheat
(which areas are being greatly expanded) the conditions of nature
ESTIliCTED
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should be continued. Among the additional crops, subject to particu-
~ESTR1&TED
favor dairying (and in suburban metallurgical districts of the
subzone, near the Urals and Kuzbass, this includes fresh milk).
In addition to natural meadows and pastures, it is necessary to
develop fodder crops as much as possible, among these particularly
a mixture of American couch grass and winter-resistant types of
alfalfa (in the northern and foothill sections, also clover),sweet
clover for pastures and sunflower for ensilage. Oats cultivation
movement, as well as to the further expansion of spring wheat plantings.
but the longer growing period permits the cultivation of sunflower
(most early ripening varieties). So far, it does not cover a large
enough area, but particular attention should be paid to its forward
the preceding zones is less favorable for the growth of fodder crops,
of the Bashkir ASSR. The slightly more arid character than that of
Buguruslan, northern part of the Samara Okrug and the adjoining part
lar development, there is flax for. fiber in the humid northern and
foothill sections of the subzone, and sunflower and hemp in the
southern part of the Altay foothill forest-steppes.
(c) The spring wheat, sunflower, rye-goats subzone is on the
fertile black earths of the European forest-steppes in the former
Areas under rye (due to the impossibility, so far, of winter wheat
cultivation) and oats (with good yields and good grain quality)
should
be continued. Grasses, root tubers and ensilage plants should have
their place among additional crops.
(d) Spring wheat, grass, with sunflower in
This subzone occupies the southern forest-steppes of Trans-Urals
Siberia and Kazak~stan, on fertile and regular
black earths, with semi=
arid climate; similar to the preceding subzone of
11 ESIRICTED
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%kaSWt ?t1 ED
(f) Subzone of spring wheat, sunflower and oil flax, lo-
cated on the and southern chernozem steppe of the Trans-Ural
region (the former Troitsa Okrug), Western Siberia and Kazalt-
stand It resembles the preceding subzone located in the Euro-
pean part in aridity, continental climate, and its rather low
and undependable yield of spring wheat, though of excellent qua-
lity. The presence of large areas of virgin soil and unculti-
vated land makes possible the advance and very large scale ex-
pansion of the spring wheat area, but only on the necessary con-
dition that only "dry farming" methods and systematic crop rota-
tion be used. For the same considerations that apply to the ana-
logous zone of the European part of the USSR, extension of the
following crops is projected; sunflower (except on solonetz soils),
oil flax, cucurbits, and the same grasses.
ri llet is
the most drought-resistant grain, and can survive here. It is
cultivated as a standby crop. Winter rye is killed by frost,
and does not thrive here.
(g) Subzone of spring wheat, proso millet and cucurbits
found on chestnut earths, It has a very arid climate, and is
situated in the border region of the former Kamyshin Okrug, in
the northern parts of the former Pugachev Okrug, Trans-Volga, in
the Volga German ASSR, in the northwestern part of the former
Stalingrad Okrug, and also in the northeastern arid part of the
northern Caucasus, and in Kazakhstan. It is a spring wheat re-
gion, with low and very unreliable yields of excellent quality.
The remarks on the application of dry farming methods and forage
grasses in the preceding subzone apply here also to the greatest
possible degrees In view of the instability of crop yield, it
is imperative to develop beef cattle farming and to find more
iESTR1CTEO
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3EST ?1t1 ED
drought resistant forage crops,. which so far include zhitnyak
( Triticum cristatum), Sudan grass, sorghum and proso millet.
The last named is essential as a stand-by crop. Wide develop-
ment of cucurbit culture and of mustard and saffron growing is
j
possible. ~Jinter rye can survive. Sunflower and corn do poorly s
account of the excessive aridity of the climate, and to some
on
extent on account of the salinity of the soils.
Y
I'
(h) Subzone of spring wheat, oats, spring rye, and pas-
ture, occupying an extremely large area of the open taiga,
wooded steppe, and in places, on the steppe of the trans-Baykdl
and Amur regions, The climate is typified by exceptionally con-
tinental character, the dryness and great heat of the short sum-
mer and the bitterness and lack of snow during the winter. The
s
soil cover is not uniform, being broken up by the relief features
of the zone. In general, the primary crops in the separate sec-
tions of this subzone are: spring wheat, oats and spring rye, with
varying proportions of winter rye, buckwheat, barley, millet and
~-
potatoes. The existence of various types of pasture and meadow
land of spring-flood, mountainous, steppe or taiga areas, is of
great significance for the development of animal husbandry.
In many places with poly-metallic ore deposits, vegetable
farming should be organized.
Transformation of land through reclamation into plowlands,
the organized development of irrigation in the south, and the Se-
lection of plant strains to meet the specific conditions of the
zone should act as a powerful stimulus to the productivity of
grain farming of this zone, which is extremely important to the
economic life of our eastern regions, and should help to strength-
en the cultivation of spring wheat, which is a more valuable crop
than spring rye or oats,
(:,) The spring wheat, oats, soybean subzone embraces the
?tStN1GTE~
'3/,
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Amur and Maritime regions
hot and very rainy summers favors abundant harvests of spring
wheat and oats, though the cold snowless winters restrict the
cultivation of winter grains, Moreover, the length of the grow-
ing season in the south aids the ripening of the earliest-ripen-
ing varieties of soybeans. Increasing the sowing of grains. in
the future would be dependant upon the selectman of strains which
are resistant to fungus diseases, while increase in soybean grow-
ing hinges on quick development, on a large scale, of fast matur-?
In the interest of the development of livestock and dairy
farming, it is necessary to increase the expansion of growing of
forage grains, and to utilize the rich natural meadowlands more
eff ec Lively
The shortness of the harvesting season and the high hu-
midity during this period emphasize the need for mechanizing the
harvesting of meadows and sown crops, and for organizing the dry-
ing of the crop, just as the intense chilling of the ground in
winter, the dryness of the spring, the development of swampy con-
ditions during the very rainy summer and autumn, and the exis-
tence of an environment favorable to the growth of fungus dis-
eases, demand special attention of agricultural technology, and
the selection of seed, crops and varieties,
12, The zone of oasis agriculture (in semi-desert areas) `on cam-
Alex saline-chestnut soils, with saline components predonn nant:.
in the southern part of thetrans-Volga.cantons of the Volga Ger
man ASSR and the former Pugachev okrug, in the Trans-Volga pores
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
49.
RESTRICTED
while. the cultivation of potatoes for industrial purposes should
be continued in the northern part of the subzone. There is room
for expansion of fodder cultivation to facilitate development of
animal husbandry based on the wastes from the sugar beet industry.
(b) The sugar beet and whiter wheat subzone is located in
an area of rather mild conditions,with a good moist climate, on
the wooded steppes of Left--Bank and night-Dank regions of the Ukrc~ir~e,
Its foils consist of degraded., leached charnozemst
The sugar beet and winter wheat, which give a consistently
high yield in this subzone, sound the keynote for the
specia:liza?-
tion of agricultural c>conomy. Corn 2nd forage crops, including
early red clover, vetch-oats, blue alfalfa, root crops and silage
crops, are also of great importance for the expansion of the ani-
mal husbandry feeding on by-products from beet sugar mills , Soy-
beans, _lentils, and kidney bens are also very important, in this
connection, iiakhorka tobacco produced. in the Priluki-Konotop re-
gion should also be noted. Growing of potatoes, winter rye and
oats should be curtailed, and can be left primarily to areas with
poorer soils, consisting of sandy foams and sands s
In the regions with suburban economy (Kharkov, Kiev), the
beet sugar zone should shift its economic orientation to emphasize
the development of vegetable and. fruit-berry crops, wcef as the
cultivation of potatoes for human consumption and. of fodder crops
for dairy farming.
The vast area of the northern and eastern semi-arid che.r-.
nozem steppes of the Ukraine and the adjacent sections of the
Tsentral' no Chernozemnaya Oblast (the former Rossoshan and Ostorog
Okrugs) and the North Caucasus (the former Don Okrug and the
southwestern part of S~.'sk Okrug) includes;
dESTRJCIEO
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
d1D1ons wa
The recent frequent losses of winter wheat occasioned
~ ' rht snoW~'2till (especially a.n the eas-
by stern riters with ~1-~~ ^
the
part of the zon ) could. be consi cl.erably curtailed by
d varieties (~ostia,rlum ~~7~
r~a,ss distrit~ution of ~-nte~^_har y of
oether with early sowings and the y, use
that is now poss~.~al.e, ~~7
? 71-ura.l technology, In this connection,
proper methods of agra.cL._.t
take the leading place among the
winter wheat could gracluall.y
~ s lI1CrEa5ES}, With
grains (a.s the number of wintez -na r varieties
~ecially. in the
t xIeme~ nine as a stand-by crop, esp
uld a,11ow.
~
coziszst o s~ ----c
to develop
the national economy+.s a whole.
the point of ~ra.ew of
together
g_breeding and poultry farming, g
a specialization in hog evision of
ion, This will demand a radical r
Tnwith grain ~~roduGt
~ices in the zone, which natural con?~
current agricultural pxac
an-_ ~.----
barley, but it is desirable, from
r wheat and
and winter ~'he.~ corn, low, r.
A trans--Mona.]. spring ~,...~---.._..~-
~-,.-~ _.~ ~p reclor:~inantly
one. At the present time, sowin,s p
1P z
sprln whoa
eastern part of the zone, and especiallY hard wheat, which gives
a better yield here.
ves only mediocre yields in cornpari.
Even though corn g` ~
ions its cultivon should ne-
son -
with other more humid ? -d red ,
where possible so as to further the in?-
vertheless be e~r ~tenaed ~
husbandry and poultry farming and to increase
~Lerests of animal
? Sunflower, which now occupies a, very
the yield of grain crops,.
ading cu].tivated crop next to corn.
considerable ..area, is the le
bilized and further extension of broom
Its sowing could.. be sta ' '
. under. bailey forage , f,?;
area
of estatiomi avoided; the present
rape ryIM
culd, ' in view ~f present highcrop ,~7
a~.vation should be maintairie
is~1/~l~ to
^~lh ~u~'~~Cj4ii,1
+t1 !'~
y y+j [~qI ~5 w~yt~7. .h G4r~Yre +G.j wscale commercial value, and its use UV ,~,i 4' 41. ,
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
?91C~E~
menu corn for livestock fattening. Cultivation of forage crops
cucurbits should be expanded. The indicated sharp increases
and
in sowings of winter wheat, corn and fodder crops may be car-
r7.ecl o ut tiby way of more efficient organization of crop
rotation and partly by elimination of oats and rye (except on
sandy soils).
The Dneprostroy region, with its great manufacturing cen-
d potential irrigation, and the metallurgical region of
ters an. -
the Don Basin, both of which are situated in this zone, should
give to agriculture a, character sharply differing from that of
the rest of the one 0 Along with.fruit_rowing, the cultivation
of vegetables, forage grasses, tubers, silage and new potatoes
a
assumes the position of primary importance, with cereal culture
relegated to a secondary place,
lf;. The zone of glossy winter wheat, of taw cotton regions
AI'JD the southern industrial crops, is located in two separate
sections o in the and southern steppes of the Ukraine, Crimea
and Taman' Peninsula, and in the Kuma region of North Caucasus,
th very sin lar soil and climatic conditions. Emphatically
reflecting the arid character of this zone, the long frost-free
period and. the hot summer favor the cultivation of the early
varieties of cotton, castor bean, sesame and other industrial
crops . The relatively warm winters, though not infrequently
snowless, favor the cultivation of winter wheat. This crop,
owing to the hot arid summer and the chestnut soil, is of first-
class quality, both in gloss and in other characteristics. To
supplement these principal crops, namely winter wheat, cotton
ESIRICTED
/ w
-3/
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
'EST RlcTEo
(incertain definite areas only) and the industrial crops, barley
(including winter b
rley in the Crimea and the Kura region) is
grown and gives a good yield here. Its cultivation should be
continued. This region is unfavorable for sunflower, corn and
soybeans, because of scant reinfall during July and. August and
of the frequent losses during the blooming and. ripening periods.
In spite of this, however, the extensive cultivation of corn in
this zone is desirable to provide a stand-by crop for spring ce-
reals as well as the best predecessor, together with cucurbits for
cereals. The following crops are of secondary importance, but
should still be expanded by all possible measures: cucurbits,
castor beans, sesame, saffron and oil flax; grain sorghum and
chick peas.
Among the forage crops the most drought-resistant
should be selected, namely, yellow alfalfa, zhitnyak, Sudan
grass and sorghum; corn, silage sorghum; fodder squash and wa-
termelons.
lb. The zone of winter wheat and corn growing, with its sub-
zones, one of which is located in the Ukraine on the right bank
of the Dnepr River, and the other in the North Caucasus,
The winter wheat, sugar beet, soybean subzone occupies
the southwest portion of the wooded steppe right bank part of
the Ukraine nearest the frontier. Its mild and rather hum?d.
climate favors high arid reliable crops of winter wheat and good
yi.elds of corn. The areas under winter wheat should be maintained
as a reserve source of wheat production for the entire USSR, but
sowings of corn should be expanded as much as possible, with si-
multaneous development of hogbreeding and poultry farming. This
is the best region in the Ukraine for soybean cultivation. Al-
though there are a considerable number of beet sugar mills, the
Ai tsr1flcTED
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 yield of sugar beet crops here is much lower than in the main
sugar beet zone (probably in consequence of the fact that the
soils, consisting of forest and degraded chernozems, are some-
what poorer), For this reason, as well as on account of gene-
ral considerations, the sugar beet should here be relegated to
a position subordinate to that of the above-mentioned crops.
. Abundant precipitation favors the cultivation of forage
plants, which should be considerably expanded, because, among
other things, there is no harvest of natural hay. Alfalfa and
vetch mixtures are recommended, together with early red clover
in the northern section. In addition, rye, winter vetches and
soybeans should be grown for green fodder, while corn, horse
beans, Jerusalem artichokes and soybeans should be used for si-
lage. Root crops for fodder comprise the mangel-wurzu and the
carrot,
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a%i
Malt barley is a supplementary crop whose cultivation is
subject to expansion, Potatoes OCCUpy a similar position in
the northern section of the subzon.e, where corn does poorly.
Amon; the secondary crops, expansion of areas sown to mustard,
lentils, kidney beans and especially spring and winter seed
vetches, should be encouraged.
The cultivation of rye should be sharply restricted, while
that of oats should. also be curtailed.
The winter wheat, corn and sunflower subzone (in which
soybeans and castor beans are also major crops) is similar to
the preceding subzone in the mildness of its climate and the
abundance of its rainfall. It occupies the region of so-called
unstable hwr.dity in North Caucasus, on the chernozem belt
rfl,IC??TEO
55
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
iEgt Mc E9
alone the border of Asia. A high yield of winter wheat is
likewise assured by the mild winters, while good. corn crops
result from the sufficient precipitation and the length of the
growing season, which is even longer than in the preceding sub-
zone.
In this region of hogbreeding and poultry farming, since
acreage in winter wheat unquestionably must be maintained and
tarn sowings greatly expanded during he next period of the Five-
Year Plan, sowings of sunflowers should remain at a suitable le-
vel9 until the cultivation of this plant is widely disseminated
through the east.
The following crops should occupy r supplementary posi-
tion: Industrial crops: castor bean, soybean, Bombay hemp, ab~
,tilon (Chinese jute) and sugar beets; Grains: forage barley
and kidney beans as grain crops 4
The cultivation of spring wheat could be considerably
curtailed, hut in the eastern section of this subzdne, it could
be left at present levels, with a predominance of hard wheat.
In general, oats and rye could also be eliminated from the planned
sowings.
It is essential to encourage in every way the cultiva-
tion of forage crops, such as alfalfa, Sudan grass, sugar sorts
ghum, semi-sugar beets, and forage cucurbits, together with corn,
sorghum and soybeans for silage.
The subzone of winter wheats corn, soybeans and southern
industrial crops stretches further to the south. Owing to the
proximity of the Caucasus mountains, humidity is even higher than
that in the rest of the zone. It occupies a belt of cherrtozem
i tST tWT ED
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
AICTE~
steppe along the northern slope of the mountains, and offers
exceptional onal advantages by reason of its mild climate, its high
precipitation, its warmth and the length of its growing season.,
l
The abundance of crops made possible by natural conditions re-
'res special emphasis to be placed on the especially desirable
qua.
and valuable crops , (the southern industrial technical crops),
and on those grains (wheat) which give invariably high and re-
liable yields in this region, as an insurance for the Soviet
Union as 'a whole against the consequences of unfavorable cycli.-
cal conditions9 droughts and severe winters in other regions of
the countrYy, or9 in the case of corn, to provLde the basis for
the development of dairy farming, hobreeding and industrial uti-
lization of corn.
Accordingly the leading crops to be cultivated in this
subzone are corn, winter wheat and soybeans. The best region
for the latter in the entire Iuropean part of the Soviet Union
i-s in the foothill areas of this zone. Of the other industrial
crops, such as castor beans, Bombay hemp, iendyr, peanuts, sugar
beets and, to a lesser extent, abutilon (C1'xinese jute), may be
cultivated as supplementary crops on smaller areas, but still
with a marked expansion from present levels. The large area
now ;rowing sunflower could be reduced, though the existence
of processing mills would require such reduction to be gradual.
In this way acreage could be released for the above-mentioned
crops. The sunflower cultivated acreage here over a wide area
could. be reduced (gradually because of the pressure of process-
ing plants) to relieve the area of contamination by broom rape.
The areas sown to barley and especially to spring wheat could
LSTRICTED
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
$Eg1RICiED
also be reduced.
Cultivation of the same fodder crops noted in. the dis-
cussion of the preceding subzo.ne should be sharply expanded,
because of identical considerations.
The suhzone of winter wheat, corn and tobacco cultivation
is situated. in the wooded highland belt of North Caucasus, and
also enjoys adequate moisture and a mild climate. However, the
summers are shorter and not so hot, which makes it impossible
to increase the cultivation of a number of industrial crops, The
wes Bern portion of this suhzone is one of the principal tobacco
growing regions, the cultivation of which it might be possible to
expand further, Because of its relatively small over-all acreage
a
available for cultivation, the suhzone is overloaded by a dis-
proportionate and extremely large percentage of corn sowings, The
production of corn should he further
exnancled by improving soil
productivity through the use of better methods of agricultural
technology, but without any increase in its acreage This should
be accompanied by increased cultivation of tobacco and winter
wheat, and of potatoes and oats as supplementary crops. These
resorts, while oats are also used for draft horses in the moun-
tains. The sowing of clover and silage crops is necessary to sup-
p:Lement natural pastures Land hay harvests, as well as the use of
potatoes for the same purposes, to aid in the development of dai-ry farming and cheese production in the mountains,
l7. "2 he zone of the southern. a~ndustrTial~crops is located along
the frontier of the RSFSR and occupies the shore of the Black Sea
;row well here and are required for the needs of the local health
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
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from Tuapse to bkhaz?a, as well as the southern shore of the
Crimea. It has an abundance of warmth and moisture, and a. long
growing season. Owing to the i rriportnce of its horticulture
and of its valuable subtropical crops, there is no acreage avail-
able for the ordinary field crops,
18. The zone of soybeans and rice,, wheat, and industrial crops
represents an exception to the above-mentioned zones. This
zone occupies the lowlands along the Amur' and Iissuri rivers,
Cultivation of a typical combination of Jar Eastern crops is
permitted by the rich alluvial soil and by the not, humid, non
soon cli 1Tlate, However, the sections of this zone differ among
themselves in this respect by reason of the varying length of the
growing season, While race, soybeans and a whole series of sup-
plerentary and secondary crops may be successfully cultivated in
the Suifen-Ussuri region, the possibility of cultivating the
later-maturing varieties of these is sharply limited in Khabor-
ov,skiy Rayon. The use here of ea.rly~maturing varieties of rice,
and especially of soybeans, hemp and similar plants, opens up
broad perspectives. The existence of rich marshy and lowland
meadows also affords great possibilities for the development of
animal husbandry.
The swampy character of the soils in this region ninkes it
essential to proceed with intensive draining operations.
The agriculture of this zone includes a large number of
crops which demand considerable labor, while the harvest season
- simultaneous for field crops and hay - is exceedingly wet.
These factors demand the broad mechanjzatac~n of field opc,rations
and also require the organization of crop drying. The po,ssibi-
lity of exploiting a climate favorable for many valuable crops
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
tss1 %O1~D
also demands the extensive undertaking of meliorative and ir-
rigation projects, the improvement of the soil background by
the application of chemical fertilizers, and. the proper employ-
meat of agricultural technology and of methods of selecting
plant varieties adapted to the specific characteristics of the
monsoon climate,
TfE /ONES O COTTON AND OThLR Ii' DUSTRIAL ANp
. I~'LATLf CROPS IN THE CENTRAL ASIATIC REPUBLICS
H
SOUTHERN KAZAKSTAN AND KIRGIZIA.
The zone of unirrigated grain cultivation and fruit
growing found. along the foothills and the lower portions of
the slopes of all the rrlountain range systems of Central Asian
Irrigation is possible in some of the valleys.
divided into two parts;
T'l"1is zone is
(a) The foothills of the Central Tian Shan and Dzhun- '
garian A.la,tau. It is possible to cu.lti.vate the opium .poppy, sunflower, corn, sugar beet and potato in rotation with grains.
(b) The foothills of the western Tian Shan, Parnirow
Alay and Dzhungarian Alata.u. It is possible to cultivate corn,
winter peas, oil flax, saffron, sesame, and, in some places,
early-maturing and medium-early-maturing varieties of cotton,
in rotation with grains.
The zone of irrigated agriculture along; the northern
foothills of the Tian Shan and around. the Uzhungarian A.la.tau,
Unirrigated. agriculture is impossible. 'J.'i~is znne is divided
into two parts;
(a) The northern section, north of the Ili river. This
8g A
r
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
cereals errcl the southern ind.ustr1al crops
section produces
Bombay hemp, sugar beets, opi1n poppies, etc,
section, from Dzharkent to the crest
('o} The southern
,, , s sF;c~tion produces cereal-s, the southern
of the I'tiaratau. .ln.~..
i ,, On a small eper~.inental scale
nclL~.sbria.l crops, and ,.lf a,lf a.
l r duceci ear1Y_r~laturing varieties of cotton.
ib has aL~~o pro
cereals and the neU' bast fiber plants
'1,'r~e Lone of rice, _.-..._.M._._ _....._,...._._...-_------~.....,..~_._....M...~_....,.~..~.....~
i.s locatocl on the lowlands along the river and lake shores of
South Kazakhstan.
on cultivati on in brie hot deserts and.
The zone of co tt
__._.....-__._....._._
the torrid deserts of the central section of Central J~sia. This
zone is divided into three sections;
( a,) rt,he clownst-rcarti areas of the {.mu~liar 1 ya river, which
n
nd medium late-maturing varieties of
produce early-ma-tur and
co tton seed alfalfa., and, in places, cereals
,
('o) 'ya i;iver, ~'er~;ar1a and Cen-
tral valley of the Syr-Dar
tral Geravsra~n, which produce medium earlY_zn~3.tt2rir.~.~~, nd medium
t
1 ate--ra
for one branch of ,production
ex p
Very often j t appears exp.
T .? others. This may not only cause no damage
to link up
b a. benefit a In this way very complex
but may even represeer
In recisely he carne way, in the a~~i'-_
cornbir~lcs nay be evalvedb p
^. regions, it is hard to imagine how it
culture of most nc.z them
would ~ on the culta.va,tion of any single spewould be passible to carry
,~ ^~;-;rence to others. Consider the h~pa_
cial.ized crap without ~
without the gra.sses, of the grasses with-
theticI case of flax t~ra.
. , .,-i .H?r~~ nf' f'P.reals, or
accumulU?ted fertility of the
b other crops o Inreparing an envLronmen
stared up far them y
r? oductivity of this crop or that crop, by vir-
for t~~e , r~~lrnum pr
and economic conditions, which shall also f a-
ttic of the natural
var this or thy. ~t basic crop, or at any rate not harm it, it is
? for the most expedient; components and to put
necessary to l.ao..t
together a rational combination of crops @ This objecti~re by no
t ained by genera .lined undifferentiated service
rn.e a.ns can be at t ~
the economy as a whole, but only by a rational
of each unit to
'n of its aspects to its princip?).1 branch,
relatz0nshn.,,
r ter Pro
rhe ''ra,rlsf ormattioYr afM~t~~c,i .~~..riculture of ----? the North in
should he aa.ccamI)lished on the basis of its
due uive Agriculture
---
specialized crops but tth possibility of--d reducing the deficit
in other crops which exped~.ent~acc accompany its
of the North ,,,_....._...~.._....
should. serve to a.ccel~er the tempo
----------------------------
formation~ 'pec:~ of' this trans-
formation. 'alizatian and the general raising of the level
~
of cultivation in the agriculture of the 4orth, if crops are
properly selected and located, not only will not put these
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ot crops, Without the
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
'incidental" crops in a worse posi tiorl than the basic crops, but
t
on the cont.c~. will often afford them better conditions not
-
aY ^y,
encountered. Take for example the cultivabed crops,
preva.ously
the le gurf1111aL1S crops and the winter crops grown with the aid'
the abundant manures in the live stock raising regions, or the
grains Brawn regions devoted to raising potatoes and root
in re~,.~
plantso-
Thus the agriculture of a "consuming" area c~.n be made
pro dueI,ive not only in respect to the absolute volume of pro-
duction, but parts of the territory it can be freed of
in many ttpr ~~
oduci ng" south for long list of products
dependence an the .
which the North was previously a deficit area. Under some
in
~ ~ nnces of course, many regions of the 1`?orth will still
cla.rc,um,~ta ,
remain consurlers on balance, for some time yet, for a large num-
but at the same time the general increase in pro-
ber of crops;
due tjv~ty will make it possible to increase the procuction of
.
this or tha;b secondary crop to levels higher than those of the
past era ~ of local consumer production. In so doing, by making
a rekr.ian really independent in this respect, it gill contribute
to the more profound. specialization of other sections of the
North. In this way, by under. going transfarf1ati0n into a pro-
c.d-u cing region based on specialized. crops, our North can be made
into a producing region for many places with respect to indiw
vidual unspecialized crops.
The "coarse grains'' which were of extreme importance,
especially for the expanding animal husbandry of the North,
were outstanding as deficit crops throughout the whole of the
Far North and of the Jestern area of the European part of the So-
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
they ConstltLlT,ed by far the largest compo~
vet Union, althau~;h J
-r - tirp to @0 percen and t nd higher. In
pri-
nent of the crop turnovc a Arians there is one task which deserves top
the consurN-nxe~
ority or forrnulatlon in the frameworx~ of the general assign-
rerulat~..n the quanti~~a.t~-ve camposa.-
ments of national economy
the bra~~.denln.~ of the scale af' grain
.t-~ an of the craps , It is t
he transfarmation of these regions into pro-
praclL~ctian and ti
or later, by i_ncrea.sing their L~roducti-
ducing regions, sooner
nvi.ro.rlment of a more intensive agi^icul -
vi.ty in the favorable e
tureAll o f this, 's, in assurf rlg the possibi 1itY of a rapid and
?-aver from consin~ areas to ;ProcIuci_n areas,
complete change
connected with the i-n.c3ivi.dud.l craps, vary
should sod-ire problem
in accordance with the overall
~.nb -
-
e n~~~ta.orl3,l economy, taking full account
planned directs-ves of th
,. onment and. the character of a~;ricul~rura.l
of the na,.tux ~~1 env~.r
an~~Inunder the influence of the
culti.vrytion, now rapidly chr.., ~.
rising achievements of science and technalor~T, of power instal-
lations and equipment, and of mecrlanizatiorl and che111i stry, based
t forrris of economic organization and on the
on the new Sac~..1.~s
~~ li 2a,tiort of lobar.. 11'he i nstitu~~ian of
new principle s of or. ~,wr
alis t competition, th.e "siX condi bons" of
shoc:k~~ror' ~ers, soc' ~.
' articularly the transition to the systefl of
Comrade atal~-n, n
can and must rapidly liquidate the consuming
cost acco>r.nt~-ng,
character of the agriculture of the l\Iorth, cspeci.ally in Its
f the agriculture
basic branch, the cultivation of plants ?
~ f f erent regions,
'or d
lhus in essence, the problem of transf orrnirl ; the con-
~ ,
rouucirl area resolves itself, for each in--
sulning area, into a p
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/16 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000100210003-5
~~a.rts : (1) the de~ez?mina~a.on off' the
dividual sectl.on, into two ,~ of
d part o
ken b the agricultural econofY as a
i.rection to be to ~ the roducti
comic nian; and (2) an increase in p
the ~,ener. al ecor. ,.
ty ., 5 of ~~~roduction. ~.ny solution of
of labor ~,nc.~ of the mean r.
the first of these problems cculd be reflected to ~ large degree
~.on of t't~e secon.cl, jus~~ as possible
in the success of the solut.
r. ., ution of the second c~.nno-t be left Out
perspectives for the sal
vine the first. This interdepencl.ence, condiW
of.' s,ccount in 5U1 ~.~
o~rrled(re of the North, is responsible
~tioned by ~ n , ns.de~us.te kn a
.
? ; nvoltirPd in solvir~t, the problem as a,
for the great difficulty
,., the (Ii5'tribution of crops, being de-
whole and i n part . ! h~ s,
of other problems which have not yet been
pendent upon ~. number o~ o
s it nc;cessr to consider the first
make
clearly for1nu:Lated, rns.l~e
steps s ~~ ~s only preliminary e)eri intents
G nditions of t'~ricultur~3l Development
The F 1~rid~ ntal ~ ?~.~...__._..._._......,.-------
cts which the national econonr should de
The basi c produ
e of the North. would thus ~ pear to be
m