ssia is usually divided into four zones or belts, from the
character of the soil and the nature of its productions; their general
direction is from southwest to northeast. In the north, as a screen
against the Arctic blast, is the _poliessa_ or forest region, densely
covered with lindens, birches, larches, and sycamores, with oaks on
the southern fringe. These forests are invaluable to Russia where, in
the absence of mountains, stone is scarce. The houses are built of
wood, and fires are of common occurrence. Both lumber and fuel are
supplied by these forests which originally extended to Novgorod,
Moscow, and Jaroslaf. The increase in population together with the
growing demand for lumber, have caused extensive clearings; but the
area covered by the forests is so large, that the supply is well-nigh
inexhaustible.

South of this zone are the black earth lands, extending down to the
Caucasus and across the Urals, and covering in Europe an area of one
hundred and fifty million acres,--equal to that of Texas. This zone
derives its name from an apparently inexhaustible bed of black (p. 021)
mold, so rich that no manure is required to produce abundant crops.
Until late in the last century, and before the United States began to
export its surplus harvests, this region was considered the granary of
Europe. It was known in very old times since we read of it in the
Heroic Age of Ancient Greece, when Jason sailed in the Argo to bring
home the Golden Fleece.

Almost equal in extent is the zone of arable steppes, or prairies,
once the home of the Cossack, the nomad who led here the life of a
shepherd king, moving about as the condition of pasture and flock
required. Most of this land is now under cultivation, and with careful
farming produces good crops. These arable steppes cover an area equal
to that of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.

The fourth and last zone is that of the barren steppes. There is ample
evidence that at some remote time these plains were covered with salt
water. The Caspian Sea has a level eighty feet below that of the Black
Sea, and it is therefore probable that here was a large inland sea of
which the Caspian and Aral Seas are the remains. These steppes are
unfit for farming. Here dwell the Kalmucks and Kirghizes, descendants
of the Tartars whose yoke once pressed heavily upon Russia.

[Illustration: Russian Peasants] (p. 022)

II--EARLY RECORDS OF RUSSIA.