tariff walls, have acquired a monopoly and can undersell foreign goods. Thus the provision trade, the cotton piece-goods trade, the iron hardware and earthenware trade and the manufactured leather trade are all in the hands of small Siberian firms, which act as agents for the big manufacturers in European Russia. The manufacture of these articles in Russia is highly protected against foreign competition, and thus Siberia is kept as a closed preserve for the agents of these manufacturing Russian firms. The field for foreign imports in Siberia is therefore restricted to the products of those industries which are as yet poorly developed in European Russia. Here the possibilities are by no means inconsiderable. The fundamental industry of the country is agriculture, and although the organization of this industry is still primitive, nevertheless, as the country develops, agriculture will be better organized, and the demand for machinery, binders, separators, etc., will steadily grow. At present the trade in reapers and binders is largely held by the American Trust, which is firmly established and which employs Russian, German and Danish agents. Ploughs are chiefly supplied by certain Russian firms, which are favoured by protective duties and consequently succeed in extorting high prices for comparatively inferior articles from the Siberian peasants. The best field for British enterprise can be found in the importation of dairy and thrashing machines. Already a considerable trade in these articles has been developed between England and the steppes of Southern European Russia, whence they are now beginning to penetrate into Western Siberia. There is an enormous field for the disposal
