316 
Modern Business Geography 
Fra. 185. Calcutta, on the Hooghly River, is the leading port of India. It is a city of almost as 
many people as Philadelphia, but the average purchasing power of its inhabitants is much lower. 
What details in this illustration indicate a state of community development that means low pur- 
rhasing power ? 
Why the Siberian wheat region plays so small a part in commerce. 
On the map made in Exercise 9, the center of the northern unshaded 
area is the Siberian wheat and cattle region. This extends about five 
hundred miles from north to south and two thousand miles from east 
to west, and is a third as large as the United States. It is less produc- 
tive than would be expected from its extent. 
12. What handicap to the Siberian wheat region is shown by the map of 
average temperatures in January (Fig. 17)? 
13. What is the effect of the direction in which the rivers flow ? 
14. Discuss the position of the Siberian wheat region in relation to the pro- 
gressive countries of Europe and America that furnish the chief markets 
for food and raw materials. 
15. Why is it advisable for the Siberian farmers to specialize in butter and 
cheese, which have a small bulk compared with their value? 
16. What can you find out about railroad development in this region ? 
17. Find two American cities that resemble Irkutsk and Omsk, the two largest 
cities of Siberia, in population and in the kind of business that they 
Iransact.