ially reduces the cost of
transportation.

Besides the great quantities of beef and mutton which could be
raised and marketed in the Orient, America or Europe, thousands of
pounds of wool and camel hair could be exported. Of course both of
these articles are produced at the present time, but only in limited
quantities. In the region where we spent the summer, the Mongols
sometimes do not shear their sheep or camels but gather the wool
from the ground when it has dropped off in the natural process of
shedding. Probably half of it is lost, and the remainder is full of
dirt and grass which detracts greatly from its value. Moreover, when
it is shipped the impurities add at least twenty per cent to its
weight, and the high cost of transportation makes this an important
factor. Indeed, under proper development the pastoral resources of
Mongolia are almost unlimited.

The Turin-Urga region has another commercial asset in the enormous
colonies of marmots which inhabit the country for hundreds of miles
to the north, east and west. The marmots are prolific breeders--each
pair annually producing six or eight young--and, although their fur
is not especially fine, it has always been valuable for coats.
Several million marmot pelts are shipped every year from Mongolia,
the finest coming from Uliassutai in the west, and were American
steel traps introduced the number could be doubled.

Urga is just being discovered as a fur market. Many skins which have
been taken well across the Russian frontier are sold in Urga, and as
the trade increases it will command a still wider area. Wolves,
foxes, lynx, bear, wildcats, sables, martens, squirrels and marmots
are brought in by thousands; and great quantities of sheep, goat,
cow and antelope hides are sent annually to Kalgan. Several foreign
fur houses of considerable importance already have their
representatives in Urga and more are coming every year. The
possibilities for development in this direction are almost
boundless, and I believe that within a very few years Urga will
become one of the greatest fur markets of the Orient.

As in the south the Chinese farmer cultivates the grasslands of the
Mongols, so in the north the Chinese merchant has assumed the trade.
Many firms in Peking and Tientsin have branches in Urga and make
huge profits in the sale of food, cloth and other essentials to the
Mongols and foreigners and in the export of furs, skins and wool. It
is well-nigh impossible t