ABSTRACT
The territories we are considering, with the exception of the northern half of Kazakhstan, have the characteristic of being in large part semi-tropical. Much of the land, it is true, is not suitable for cultivation. Thus much of what is now Kazakhstan was used for rough sheep grazing by nomadic tribesmen, and in Transcaucasia there are considerable tracts of mountains, with little rain, which support cattle which to this day show the lowest yield of any in the USSR. Yet, where cultivation is possible, either through irrigation or a favourable conjunction of soil and climate, the land can produce crops which would not grow in other parts of the Russian Empire or the USSR. It was therefore in the interests of all concerned that these areas specialize in the crops of high scarcity value. The Tsarist and Communist authorities did their best to encourage cotton-growing in Central Asia, to save foreign currency and also to make the country independent of overseas supplies in the event of emergencies. In the Soviet period, imports of citrus fruits, tobacco, tea, rice, wine, were severely restricted, or eliminated altogether, and this compelled an even greater reliance on the areas where these things could be grown or made.
