Chapter V: Book I: Physical Geography (4)

The Ukrainian winter is far less variable than the Central European or even the Russian. Only in the northwestern borderlands of the Ukraine does a thaw, brought by the Atlantic winds, frequently appear. The duration of the frost on the Pontian shore is at most two months, in the Pontian steppe-plain and the southern spurs of the plateau groups three months, in all the rest of the Ukraine three and a half. Only in the northeastern borderlands of the Ukraine, located on the spurs of the Central Russian elevation and the Donetz, does the frost period extend over four months.

In Southern Ukraine the winter is followed directly by a sunny spring, with dry east winds, which partly degenerate into sand-storms (sukhovi). Everywhere else in the Ukraine wet, sloppy weather follows the steps of the receding winter. Toward the northwest it continues longer and longer. The sloppy weather of spring consists of a constantly varying succession of frost, thaw, snowstorm, rain and sunshine, ending in the southern part of the Ukraine usually in the middle of April, in the northern and northwestern part at the end of April or even at the beginning of May. The actual spring following thereon is very short thruout the Ukraine and usually lasts three weeks, except in the northwest, where it continues thru the entire month of May. The mean April temperature is everywhere higher than the annual mean (Lemberg +7.8°, Tarnopol and Kiev +6.9°, Czernowitz and Odessa +8.6°, Luhan -8.1°). But the month of May is quite as warm as July in England. On the other hand, we find May frosts in the entire Ukraine as far as the shores of the Black Sea, altho they do not appear so destructive here as in Russia proper.

The Ukrainian summer is everywhere marked by considerable heat. Only in the northwest corner of the Ukraine (Rostoche, Pidlassye, Polissye, Volhynia) is the summer moderately warm (Lemberg +19.1°, Ternopil +18.7°, Pinsk +18°).

The July temperature of all the rest of the Ukraine is much higher than this. The July isotherm of +20°, like all the July isotherms of the Ukraine, runs in a northeast direction past the source of the Sbruch and the mouth of the Pripet, and the further we advance from this line towards the southeast, the hotter the summers we find. On the lower Dniester and Dnieper the mean July temperature exceeds +23°. Following are a number of July means: Czernowitz +20.1°, Kiev +19.2°, Vovchansk +20.3°, Odessa +22.6°, Katerinoslav and Mikolaiv +23°, Luhan +22.4°, Tahanroh +22.8°. The strongest degrees of heat are +37° to +43°, and the mean annual maxima are +30.3° for Ternopil, +31.1° for Lemberg, +32.7° for Czernowitz, +32.1° for Kiev, +35.2° for Mikolaiv, +35.5° for Luhan. The duration of the heat period with temperatures of +20° and over is two months southeast of a line which runs near Kishiniv, Poltava and Kharkiv, one month southeast of the line of Mohiliv, Kaniv and Kursk. The total duration of the summer is only in the northwest of the Ukraine as short as three months; otherwise it is four, and on the Black Sea even four and a half.

The autumn of the Ukraine is regularly very beautiful and comparatively warm. The month of October has a mean of temperature higher than the annual (Lemberg +8.5°, Ternopil +7.7°, Czernowitz +9°, Kiev +7.5°, Vovchansk +7°, Katerinoslav +9.7°, Luhan +8.4°, Odessa +11°, Mikolaiv +9.7°, Tahanroh +9.1°). But even in October the warm sunny days are followed by night frosts. The moist autumnal weather which begins the transition to winter lasts as much as two months in the northwest; beyond that, one to one and a half months. The mean date of the earliest frost is October 19th for Kiev, October 11th for Luhan, October 28th for Micolaiv, and November 10th for Odessa.

A different position, climatically, is that of Crimea, the sub-Caucasian country, as well as the mountain islands of the Carpathians, the Yaila and the Caucasus. In the temperature conditions of Crimea and the sub-Caucasus country, the influence of their southerly location and the proximity of the sea is everywhere apparent. The mean temperature is everywhere higher than +10° (Simferopol +10.1°, Sevastopol +12.2°, Katerinodar +12.1°). The winter is short and comparatively mild (January mean of Simferopol +0.8°, Sevastopol +1.8°, Katerinodar +2.1°, Stavropol -4.7°), but very variable. The degrees of frost are sometimes quite high (Sevastopol -16.9°, Stavropol -25.6° as absolute minima), but the frost period is short (one to two months). The spring begins in March with full force; in May follows the five-months’ summer. The July means are very high, especially in the sub-Caucasus country, the heat period lasting everywhere more than two months. (July mean of Simferopol +28°, Sevastopol 33.1°, Stavropol +20°, Katerinodar +25.3°). The long autumn also is very mild.

South of the Yaila and Caucasus Mountains, on the shore of the Black Sea, lies a narrow strip of land which actually shows Mediterranean climatic characteristics. The winter lasts less than a month and is very mild (January mean of Yalta +3.5°, altho the absolute minimum is -13°), and, as in Novorossiysk, cold, bora-like gusts of wind are common in times of heavy cold. After a long spring follows a six-months’ summer, which passes imperceptibly into a mild autumn.

The climate of the mountains of the Ukraine has been but little investigated. In the entire Ukrainian territory there is not a single meteorological observatory. The general characteristics of mountain climate, its greater uniformity, the smaller difference between the warmest and coldest months, the belated beginning of all the seasons, etc., may be found in all the mountains of the Ukraine.

Only the climate of the Ukrainian Carpathians is somewhat better known. The dreariest climate is that of the Beskyds and the Gorgani. The five-months’ winter and long periods of sloppy weather in the spring and in the fall encroach upon the short summer. The Chornohora chain, despite the greater height of its peaks, upon which the snow in sheltered places remains lying thru the entire summer, has a much milder and pleasanter climate. The influence of the warm summer of the adjacent plain regions limits the duration of the sloppy weather in spring and autumn. For this reason, the mountain valleys have a short but very beautiful spring, a warm summer, and a wonderful mild autumn. The mountain pastures have in place of the summer only a three months’ spring.

In the Yaila Mountains, as a result of their small size and height, the characteristics of typical mountain climate are lacking, but in the Caucasus we find them in their highest development. The analogy to the Alps is perfect, but the influence of the continental steppe climate of the surrounding country is unmistakable, expressing itself in the position of the various climatic regions, in the height of the snow limit, in the development of the glacial covering, etc., very distinctly and very differently than in the Alps, which are surrounded by countries with a climate of a different kind.

We now come to the second group of climatic phenomena, pressure and wind conditions. The Ukraine may, in this respect, be divided into two great regions. The line of high pressure which separates these parts, called by Voiekoff the great axis of Europe, extends from the bend of the Volga, near Tsaritsin, over the porohi section of the Dnieper at Katerinoslav to Kishinev. North of this line, west winds prevail, bringing Atlantic air into Northern Ukraine. In the south, east winds prevail, bearing the influences of the Asiatic steppe climate. This wind divide is most distinct in winter. In the northern part of the Ukraine we find chiefly west and southwest winds, which mitigate the frosts and cause precipitations of rainfall; in the southern part dry, cold east winds prevail, increasing the cold. Sometimes the east wind increases to a snowstorm (metelitzia, fuga) which whirls up terrible masses of snow, filling the air with snowflakes until absolutely nothing can be seen, and causes terrific destruction. Herds of a thousand head fall victim to its icy breath, even in the steppes of Crimea, and woe to the traveler who is caught in a snowstorm in the steppe.

In November and December, in Southern Ukraine, moist, warm south winds frequently come up from the Pontus. But the absolute balance is on the side of the freezing east winds, to which is to be ascribed the severe winter climate of Southern Ukraine. The northern half of the Ukraine as a rule, is seldom reached by the east winds, the northwestern corner very seldom. Their occasional appearance is accompanied by heavy frosts with fair weather.

In the spring, east and south winds blow, especially over Southern Ukraine. They often change to heavy sand-storms (sukhovi) very harmful to the crops, which carry clouds of sand, with which they form miniature dunes as high as 30 cm. The east and south winds, at such times, penetrate even into Northern Ukraine, altho with the exception of the northwest corner.

In the summer, on the other hand, the west, northwest, and southwest winds hold a decided balance over the east winds, even in Southern Ukraine. They bring moist Atlantic air and rain into the entire land and mitigate the heat. The occasional east winds increase the heat and bring periods of drought, but usually not until August, when they are rather frequent. In September all the winds are weak thruout the Ukraine, with high pressure. That is why the fall is so beautiful too. Then, in October and November, follows the gradual transition to the winter wind conditions.

The third group of atmospheric phenomena, humidity and precipitation, possesses the same great uniformity in Ukrainian territory as the other two elements of the climate. The humidity of the air in the Ukraine is in general slight. It is greatest in the forest-covered partly swampy West and Northwest. Toward the southeast the humidity in the Ukraine constantly decreases. Fogs appear seldom and are only light, so that the antithesis to Western and Central Europe, as well as Russia, is striking. The light night and morning fogs which appear, especially in the latter part of summer and in the fall, only contribute to the beautification of the landscape, by flooding the depressions of land like a sea. Cloud-formation is much slighter in the Ukraine than in Western or Central Europe, or in Russia proper, the dreary Muscovite country. The greatest number of clouded days occurs in the western and northwestern part of the Ukraine; toward the southeast and east the number of such days dwindles continuously. The least amount of cloudy weather occurs in the month of August. In September and October the increase is very slight. November and December are much cloudier and January is most cloudy all over the Ukraine. After that the cloudy weather lessens considerably at first, then slowly, until August.

The atmospheric precipitations in the Ukraine are in general insignificant, except in the Carpathian and Caucasus regions. The Ukraine has less rainfall than Central or Western Europe. The Atlantic Ocean, the most important source of the precipitations in Europe, lies far distant, and the cyclonal systems on their way east drop their collected moisture upon Western and Central Europe. For the Ukraine, and particularly for the eastern part of it, there is, therefore, very little left. In this connection the Black Sea has only a local significance, and the evaporation of water from the rivers, lakes and swamps, from the plants and the ground, is hardly worth considering, except as it happens in the summer.

The great amounts of precipitation are to be found in the mountains of the Ukraine, where rising currents of air help along the condensation of the water vapor. Even in the Low Beskid the precipitation exceeds 1000 mm. (Yasliska 1170 mm.), in the Gorgani and Chornohora we find in large areas, especially on the southern slope, a precipitation of over 1200 mm., in a few places 1400 mm. (Kobiletzka Polana 1377 mm., Bradula 1419 mm.). The amount of precipitation is still large in the entire Pidhirye, but at only a short distance it decreases considerably. Lemberg has only 735 mm. of rainfall, the southern part of the Rostoche as much as 900 mm. in places, since the western edges act like chains of mountains to the west winds. But Czernowitz, near as it is, has only 619 mm. and the Podolia on the Dniester still less. The Khotin lying in the yar of this river has only 300 mm., which best illustrates the significance of local conditions. At a greater distance from the curve of the Carpathians the amount of precipitation shows a slow but regular decrease toward the southeast. Only in the northern part of the Rostoche and the northwestern part of Podolia does the amount of precipitation attain 600 mm., while further toward the south and east a wide zone stretches out with only 500–600 mm. (Pinsk 581 mm., Kiev 534 mm., Uman 546 mm., Poltava 532 mm.). Another wide zone, which extends from the mouth of the Dniester to the bend of the Don, has a precipitation of between 400 and 500 mm. (Kharkiv 465 mm., Katerinoslav 475 mm., Kishinev 471 mm., Yelisavet 444 mm., Odessa 408 mm.). The next narrow zone of the Pontian and Crimean steppe has a precipitation of less than 400 mm. (Mikolaiv 360 mm., Sevastopol 386 mm., Luhan 379 mm.), a corner of Crimea on the peninsula of Tarkhankut has even barely more than 200 mm.

The Yaila Mountain Range is too small to have any marked influence on the increase in the amount of precipitation. Yalta has only 508 mm. precipitation. On the other hand, the influence of the Caucasus is very great. The sub-Caucasus Kuban region, to be sure, has only 400–500 mm. precipitation, Stavropol 720 mm., Novorossysk 691 mm. However, the amount of precipitation on the southwestern side of the Caucasus Mountains increases uncommonly. At the borders of Ukrainian territory, Sochi has not less than 2071 mm.

From this account we see clearly enough that, in comparison with Central and Western Europe, the Ukraine is rather poor in rainfall, especially in the southeast. But the distribution of the precipitations among the seasons is so favorable that most of them fall at the time they are most needed, namely, in the early part of summer. The entire Ukraine lies within the area of the summer rains, only the narrow strip of the south coast of Crimea and the Caucasus are within the area of the winter rains.

The reason of the preponderance of the summer rains lies in the western and northwestern Atlantic winds, which, in that season, have easy access far into the southeastern part of the Ukraine. These winds bring so much moisture into the Ukraine that almost two-thirds of the annual rainfall belongs to May, June and July. The month with the greatest amount of precipitation for the entire Ukraine is June. Only the Polissye, Northwestern Volhynia and the western part of the Kiev territory show the heaviest precipitation in July, since, in these regions of forests and swamps, evaporation is heaviest at this time of greatest heat.

The summer rains of the Ukraine differ from those of Central or Western Europe in their heaviness. Only in the Western Ukraine are the summer rains of the type of gentle rains that are uniform for an entire country; in the south and east they appear as cloudbursts in heavy showers. In Samashcani, in Bessarabia, there have been times when 200 mm. of rain fell in a single day, in Korovintzi in the Poltava region, 5 mm. in one minute. In the Pontian steppes all rain falls in the form of heavy showers. The water flows off quickly and evaporates rapidly, before it is able to thoroughly saturate the ground.

Electric discharges and hailstorms occur in close connection with the summer rains, most frequently in June, less so in July and in May. They usually come from the southwest in the afternoon hours. Most of these storms originate in the Carpathian Mountains and reach Volhynia and Kiev, but do not cross the Dnieper. The Caucasus, too, has very many storms. Hailstorms are most frequent in Galicia and Volhynia and the western part of the Kiev regions; very rare in the southeast.

In August the amount of rainfall slowly decreases; in September and October still more, and so it continues until December. January is the month of least rainfall for the entire Ukraine (only one-fourth of the June figure), and this circumstance is of particularly great significance for the southern and eastern parts of the Ukraine. For this reason the cover of snow in the Ukraine is much less than in Central Europe or Muscovy, besides which, it is often disturbed by snowstorms. The slight snow-cover melts down quickly in the spring, without saturating the soil well, and without requiring much warmth. This explains the rapid rise of heat in the Ukrainian spring.

From January until the end of April the amount of rainfall again grows slowly but steadily, reaching its maximum in June.

The southern part of Crimea and the Caucasian shore have just the opposite annual distribution of the precipitations. Under the influence of the moist Pontian winds, the greatest amount of rain falls in December and January, while the spring and summer have very little rain. These characteristics of the Mediterranean climate, the rainy winter after the dry summer, are all the more striking, since the opposite condition prevails on the other side of the Yaila and Caucasus Mountains.

From this account of the Ukrainian climate we see that this climate retains an entirely independent position as against that of Central Europe or Russia. The Ukrainian climate is characterized by an annual amplitude of 20° to 30°, a mean annual temperature of from +6° to +12°, a July mean of from +19° to +24°, and a January mean of from 0° to 8°, with predominant summer rains and a generally insignificant cover of snow. The difference from the Russian climate is, consequently, quite considerable. The Russian climate forms the transition to the polar, that of the Ukraine to the Mediterranean climate.

Nature has provided the Ukraine with a pleasant, very wholesome climate. On the whole temperate, it does not lack heavy frosts and considerable degrees of heat, which harden the Ukrainian to any inclemencies of the weather. The differences of the seasons cause a pleasant variety, strong winds clear the atmosphere and bring motion into nature, the rains are everywhere sufficient for the growth of vegetation and the carrying on of the most important occupation of the Ukraine—agriculture. The great uniformity of this Ukrainian climate has recently caused the French geographer, de Martonne, to set it up as one of the types of climate of the globe.

FLORA AND FAUNA OF UKRAINE

Eastern European bigness characterizes also the organic life of the Ukraine. But it follows, from the location of the country, that the Ukraine has a much more varied plant and animal geography than the proper Russian territory, despite the latter’s much greater extent.

In the Ukraine, the borders of three main divisions of plant-geography of Europe meet—the Mediterranean division, the steppe region, and the forest region, with their transition regions. Besides, we meet in the Ukraine three mountain regions—the Carpathian, the Crimean, and the Caucasian. In respect to flora, the Ukraine possesses only a few endemic species. To be sure the great ice period covered only comparatively small areas of the Ukraine with its glacier, but the polar flora undoubtedly prevailed in the entire country at that time. After the withdrawal of the glacier, steppes first appeared in its place, which then, especially in the Northwest, were forced to make room for a forest flora that had immigrated from Central Europe and Siberia. Hence, despite the considerable area of the Ukraine, so few endemic species.

Since those primeval days, only a very few natural changes have occurred in the vegetation of the Ukraine. However, man, thru his cultural activity, has wrought many changes in the plant-world of the country.

The forest region occupies barely one-fifth of the Ukrainian territory, only the northwestern and northern borderlands. The southeastern border of the forest region extends from the Prut and Dniester on the western boundary of Pokutye and Podolia in a curve to the source of the Buh, then near the northern boundary of the Dnieper Plateau east as far as Kiev, and thence toward the northeast as far as the source of the Aka. This boundary, however, is not sharp. In numerous peninsulas the compact forest penetrates the adjacent transition region toward the southeast. On the other hand, this forest boundary coincides almost exactly with the northern boundary of the black soil. The soil of the forest region is in general poor. Only in higher places we find fertile turf; beyond that sandy soil and the podsol, rich in quartz, predominate.

The prevailing plant formation in this region is the forest. It once covered the entire region and was thinned to any great extent only within the last two centuries. What these primeval forests were like we can now tell in only a few districts of the Polissye and in the famous virgin forest of Biloveza, which lies in the extreme northwest corner of the Ukrainian territory. Here we see the primeval forest in its mighty size and beauty. In wind-fallen woods, several meters high, rotten, decaying stumps cover the ground. Their roots stand up high into the air above swampy holes and vast masses of rotting remains of plants. Above this swampy fen rise, like a vast mass of pillars, the knotty trunks of century-old oaks and lindens, ash and aspen, and the slender pine and fir. High above the ground their branches intertwine. All strive up toward the sun, for a continuous semi-darkness reigns below. Shrub and herb vegetation thrives only in clearings; beyond that only last year’s leaves, needles, and a mysteriously glowing decay cover the ground. Dead silence, only occasionally broken by the hammering of a woodpecker or by the timid voice of a bird, reigns everywhere, making all the more impressive the mighty roaring of the lofty crowns in the storm.

As to their composition, the woods of the Ukrainian forest region are mixed, altho local conditions cause one or the other species of tree to predominate. The Ukrainian forest region may be divided into two regions by a line running thru Lublin southeast toward Lutzk. Southwest of this line extends the Central European forest zone, northeast of it the Northern European forest zone.

The Central European forest zone embraces the entire Pidhirye in the Ukraine, the southern part of the Rostoche, and the western spurs of Volhynia and Podolia. It is distinguished by a greater variety of tree species. Here, upon damp, loamy hills, entire forests of beech are found, on the Carpathian foothills the pine, and singly or in small groups, the larch, the yew, the maple, etc. In the Northern European zone all these trees disappear, due to the increasing continentality of the climate. The predominating species of tree here is the pine, which forms large woods everywhere on sandy soil, then the birch, which always accompanies the pine, the fir on sandy soil, the oak and white beech on loamy soil. There is an admixture of a considerable number of alders on swampy ground, aspens, lindens, elms, maples, ash and wild apple, pear and cherry trees. Hazel bushes, willow (salix caprea), mountain ash, raspberry and blackberry bushes comprise the thick underbrush in these mixed forests, and contribute a great deal to the beauty of the woods, together with grass and herb vegetation, especially in numerous clearings. In truer evergreen forests the underbrush usually is very poor.

There are a great many swamp forests in the Ukrainian forest region. In the Carpathian foothills they are called lasi, and are quite common there, but in the Polissye they are most widely developed. There they are usually composed of pines, with which, however, the swampy ground does not agree very well. The alders and willows, however, grow all the better.

The second important formation of the forest region are the luhi. They usually stretch thru the wide, flat river valleys of the region. These are luxurious meadows with a beautiful growth of grass and herbs set with single trees and clusters of trees. In dry places the oak usually grows, in damp places the alder.

The third typical plant formation is that of the swamps. They are widely developed in the forest region of the Ukraine, especially in the flat river valleys of the Rostoche and Volhynia. Polissye is the greatest swamp country in Europe. Regular moors, made up of peat mosses, alternate even in the Polissye region with meadow moors, in which swamp grass and herb vegetation predominates.

The forest region has played a significant part in the history of the Ukraine. When the Turkish nomad tribes, using the steppe district of the Ukraine as a convenient military road, destroyed the work of Ukrainian civilization in the steppe region, the Ukrainian people retreated into the forests and swamps of the north and west, advancing toward the southeast again, at the proper moment, to reinhabit the ravaged and desolated lands. This circle of events repeated itself frequently in the history of the Ukraine.

Today the woods of the Ukraine forest region are greatly thinned, so that they take up more than one-third of the total surface only in the Polissye. Cutting down and rooting up of the woods some centuries ago was, without a doubt, an important part of the work of civilization. But now things are different. Now the forest is considered a very important part of a well organized cultural section, and is, therefore, carefully preserved in the truly civilized lands of Europe. In the beautiful forests of the Ukraine, however, a reckless exploitation is going on, and the evil results are already apparent, especially in the sparsely wooded borders of the forest region, as well as in the entire country surrounding the steppe. The rivers have become small in volume of water, the sources dried up, and the ravines annually transform thousands of hectares into desert land. And this is happening in the granary of Europe, which some 300 years ago made foreign travelers marvel at its incredible fertility.

All the rest of the Ukraine, as far as the foothills of the Yaila and the Caucasus, is occupied by the steppe region. The limits of this region, as we have said, are not distinct. In peninsula and island formations the forest penetrates toward the southeast. In this direction the forest islands become constantly rarer and smaller, so that the Russian plant-geographers have felt called upon to insert two transition zones between the real forest and the real steppe—the zone of the exterior steppe and the zone of the transitional steppe. The actual steppe region is supposed to begin at the line which extends thru Kishinev and Katerinoslav to the bend of the Don. This division may be criticized, however, since it at most, fits present conditions brought about in the last 200 years by the destruction of forests on the part of men. The historical sources of the Ukraine tell of large woodlands, which, in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries, still extended along the sources of the Inhul and Inhuletz, along the Tasmin, on the river divides between the left-hand tributaries of the Dnieper, etc. They were not forest terraces, not mere strips of woods confined to river valleys; they covered the divides far and wide, as well as the broad tableau sheds lying between rivers. For this reason care must be taken in sketching the boundaries of the steppe. We therefore comprehend both the above mentioned transition zones into one, for which we would suggest the name luhi zone, because the luh, a meadow studded with scattered groups of trees and little groves, must have been the predominating plant formation of this transition country.

The typical soil of the transition country, as well as of the steppe region, is the black earth (Ukr. chornozem, Russ. chernozyom). Every Ukrainian is familiar with this blackish, ever fertile soil, which cannot be duplicated the world over and which makes the Ukraine the granary of Russia. The black earth is a product of the transformation of loess, with a strong admixture of the products of decomposition of plants. In places it attains a depth of 2 m. and over.

The black-earth region extends longitudinally thru the Ukraine, embracing over three-fourths of its territory. The northern boundary of the black-earth region passes from Lemberg along the north border of the Podolian and Dnieper Plateau as far as Kiev, and then northeast to the bend of the Aka, south of Kaluga. The southern boundary describes a line drawn thru the Boh and Dnieper deltas to their limans and the city of Mariupol. The entire Kuban plain and the plateau of Stavropol also belong to the region of black earth. Along the northern border of the black-earth region extends a transition zone of about 100 kilometers width, whose black earth contains 4 to 6% decaying plant matter. South of this lies the wide main area of the black earth with 6 to 10% decaying matter. On the sea and along the lower Dnieper the region ends with another transition zone, whose brownish black earth contains 4 to 6% of decaying matter. On the Sea of Azof and in Southern Crimea the brown dry steppe soil, with numerous islands of saline soil (solonchaki) and a peculiar vegetation, inclined to absorb salt, prevails. These are present also in the remaining black earth region, and there are also islands and strips of saline earth along the rivers and the seashore.

In the steppe region, the steppe is not the only plant formation. Above all we must differentiate between the meadow-steppe of the transition zone and the real steppe of the south, as well as the desert steppe in some districts of Crimea and the Caucasus. Besides this shrub formation, meadow-woods (luhi) and real forests are found in the steppe region.

In the vegetation of the meadow-steppe, grasses and herbs take the first place. Of the grasses the stippa species are the most characteristic (tirsa, kovil); of the herbs, the lily-like growths. The growth of grass in the northern part of the steppe region is very luxuriant and thick, and attains great heights, altho the times in which a rider and his horse might disappear in the grass belong to the past. High weeds and thistles (buriani, bodiaki) form thickets of great luxuriance. In the spring, when the fresh young grass begins to sprout up and the blossoming herbs convert the steppe into a carpet of flowers, when everything is resplendent with the fulness of life and beauty, then the Ukrainian steppe presents a wonderful picture. But this picture is not lasting. The heat and the drought transform the fresh, green, primitive color into yellow and brown. Grasses and herbs wither and die away, and only the roots and seeds preserve the living power of the plant, surviving the autumnal drought and the severe cold of winter, once more to wrap the steppe in its bridal gown in the spring.

In the southern part of the steppe region the plant covering is not so luxurious as in the north, and the grasses and herbs grow in isolated little bushes, between which the bare ground of the steppe remains visible. The saline earth appears much oftener, with its gray-green vegetation of salt plants, and we often find sand areas, which begin to suggest the desert steppes of the Caspian steppe country.

A characteristic plant formation in the entire steppe region is comprised by the bushes (bairaki, chahari), which generally consist of heavily tangled thickets of wild cherry (prunus chamaecerasus, vishennik), spiral (tavolha), snowball (calina), almond shrub (amygdalus nana, bobovnik), etc. They generally grow in the steppe balkas, or near them, and cover extended areas.

The Ukrainian steppe, despite contrary current opinion, does not lack tree growth. In the region of the real steppe, to be sure, we meet only forest terraces, which extend along the river courses, but in the transition zone we still find woods and groves, which not only appear in river valleys, but also cover the plateaus between these. The oak, the white beech, the maple, the poplar, the wild apple and pear trees, are the chief representatives of the tree species of the woods of this section. Even the pine ventures as far as the district of Kharkiv.

Besides the forest terraces, the rivers of the steppe region are accompanied by the formation of the so-called plavni. They are thickets of sedge and reeds, with luxuriant willow and alder growth; in drier places, which are flooded only during high-water time, real oak forests are added. With pleasure the eye of the traveler, wearied by the uniformity of the steppe, rests upon them.

As to the origin of the steppes of the Ukraine, scholars differ. Every one of them thinks he has found the only correct explanation. In reality, the origin and preservation of the Ukrainian steppes can be traced to the combined action of various causes. In the first place there is the continental dry climate. The amount of rainfall is too slight for the development of forest-flora; the drought of the summer and fall too long.

A minor cause is the salt content of the steppe-soil, which, however, is apparent only in places. On the other hand, the shape of the ground is very important. Where the land is level, where the dry steppe winds have free play and the rainwater cannot easily dissolve and wash away the salt of the soil, the steppe prevails. Where the land is cut by river valleys and balkas, however, there is more shelter from wind, more moisture, and no salt in the soil, so that conditions are given which are favorable for the development of tree vegetation. For this reason not only the valleys of the rivers, but also the balkas, which but seldom carry water, have always had tree growth, and even woods and groves. The trees which are planted there thrive very well, while attempts at cultivation in the real level steppe almost regularly fail. The most important foundation for the existence of steppes, however, is their character as remains of the old post-glacial steppe formation. Since the beginnings of the alluvial epoch, its territory is being won by the forest, which is constantly pushing forward toward the south and southeast, using the river valleys as the main lines of advance. In this advance toward the south, the forest has now been stopped by man before it was able to reach the shore of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof.

Man has wrought many changes in the steppe region. In the first place he has entered into the struggle between the woods and the steppe in opposition to the woods. The ancient Ukrainians of the Kiev state rooted out great areas of forest and reclaimed them for civilization. On the other hand, the nomad tribes, roaming the steppes ever since man can remember, repeatedly destroyed forests with fire, in order to obtain good pasture for their herds and to break down the best defense of the agricultural Ukrainian population. In the 16th Century began the deforestation of the transition zone thru the progressing colonization movement of the Ukrainians, under the protection of the Cossack organization. But even in the 18th Century there were still great forests in the transition zone, which have since entirely disappeared. The intensive colonization movement of the 19th Century put an end to them. At the same time the hand of man attacked the steppe formation. Today only very small parcels of steppe are in their original condition. The steppe grasses have yielded place to an increasingly intensive cultivation of grain grasses; the place of the natural steppe has been usurped by the cultivated steppe, with its waving fields of grain and inevitable dreary stubble fields. With the progressive destruction of forests this cultivated steppe of man’s fields constantly moves toward the north and west of the Ukraine, favoring the accompanying migration of the steppe-plants and steppe animals into Central Europe.

Entirely independent is the position of the Ukrainian flora in the southern slope of the Yaila and the Caucasus. They belong really to the Mediterranean Sea region. The mild climate here has matured a flora of an entirely southern type, with many evergreen trees and shrubs peculiar to the Mediterranean region. Yet the vegetation of this district can only be considered as the advance guard of the real Mediterranean vegetation, for the representatives of the northern flora by far predominate over the southern species of plants, particularly in the forests which develop in higher altitudes.

Besides the just discussed plant-geographical regions and zones of the plain, the Ukraine has three mountain regions—the Carpathian, the Crimean and the Caucasian.

The foot of the Carpathians is covered by mixed and leafy forests. White beech, birch, linden, aspen and pine comprise these forests. At one time the oak predominated here, as it still does on the southern slope of the mountain range. On higher ridges of the Low and High Beskid, mixed forests of beech and fir are found. At the upper tree limit of the High Beskid the beech appears almost exclusively in forest formation. The trees become constantly smaller and more gnarled, and at a height of 1000 m. we meet only beech brush. On the southern side of the mountain range pure beech woods prevail.

In the Gorgani we soon distinguish two forest zones. The lower one has principally beech woods, with an admixture of firs and maples; the upper one consists almost entirely of fir woods. Their upper limit usually lies at a height of from 1500 to 1600 m., but the zekoti (seas of sandstone boulders), which cover all the higher peaks and ridges, reduce the upper tree limit a great deal in some places.

In the Chornohory, a similar division of the forest zone prevails. Oak forests, with thick underbrush, cover the foot of the range on both slopes. Above the oak woods lies the zone of mixed forests, in which white and red beech, birch, ash, maple and firs predominate. Above the height of 1300 m. lies the upper tree zone, which is made up of stocks of fir entirely. The upper tree limit lies at a height of 1700 m. The milder climate of the Chornohory matures a much more luxurious and a richer vegetation than in other parts of the Ukrainian Carpathians.

In the forest zones of the Carpathians, great complex primeval forests have survived to a great extent. They lie in inaccessible places, which the bandit axe of the professional forest destroyer has not yet penetrated. The Carpathian virgin forest is, perhaps, the most beautiful plant formation of the Ukraine. Giant firs, as much as 60 m. in height and six feet thick, raise their dark green slender pyramids above rocky slopes and immense wind-fallen woods, in which the modern firs lie in piles. Thick shrubbery covers the clearings, while in the eternal semi-darkness of the thickets, on rocky ground covered with needles, just an occasional pillow of moss may be found.

A second plant-formation of the Carpathians is that of the dwarf-shrubs. They develop above the forest limit and cover wide areas in the Gorgani and Chornohori. Mountain fir (zerep), accompanied by juniper (in the Beskyds and Gorgani) and by dwarf-alder bushes (lelich, in the Chornohory), in thickets which are impassible in places. The formerly widely distributed stone pine has become rare, since its fragrant wood is preferred by the mountain-dwellers for all sorts of woodwork.

The third plant formation of the Carpathians are their mountain meadows (polonini). They lie above the forest limit and begin to appear at the source of the San. Toward the southeast they become constantly more luxuriant and more frequent. The grass and herb growth of the polonini is very varied and rich, especially in the so-called zarinki, that is, parts of the mountain meadows where hay is made. The polonini are of great importance to the inhabitants of the mountains. Great herds of horses, cattle and sheep remain here all summer. The polonini are peopled, and a life of great privation—a hard life but free—develops in primitive dairy huts, with never dying camp-fires.

In the mountains of Crimea we find, in the main, the same arrangement of plant zones. At some height above sea-level the forest zone begins. White and red beech, oak, and two species of pine appear here in forests. Only on the broad peak surfaces we find poor mountain meadows with thick but short grasses. The name of these mountain pastures (yaila) has been transferred to the entire mountain chain.

In the Caucasus we find, within Ukrainian territory, only the forest zone of this mountain system. The forests often attain a height of 2500 m., and consist of various kinds of oak, beech, elms, linden, maple and ash. Above the forest limit we meet with a low shrub formation and the beautiful, wonderfully rich grass and herb growth which cover the mountain meadows of the Caucasus, rising, at a height of 2900–3500 m., to the snow border.

The animal-geographical conditions of the Ukraine are much simpler than the plant-geographical. The Ukraine, like the rest of Europe, belongs to the holarctic region, and despite the extent of the land, only slight differences in the fauna are found, these being due to the floral and morphological differences of the mountains, forests and steppes of the Ukraine.

Since the ice age, the animal world of the Ukraine has experienced no lesser changes than the plant world. In the ice period many mighty beasts of prey (cave bear, cave lion, cave hyena, etc.) lived here, besides thick-skinned animals (mammoth, rhinoceros), together with the ancestors of the present animal world and various polar forms. All these animals are either altogether extinct, or they followed the receding glacier to the north. On the other hand, together with the post glacial steppe, a steppe-fauna spread out from south and east, which then gradually had to make way for the forest fauna advancing southward with the forests.

From this time on, the Ukrainian fauna suffered only very slight natural changes. On the other hand, the artificial changes produced by the hand of man have been all the greater. Many species which were dangerous as beasts of prey or useful for food or skins, have either been entirely exterminated by man or greatly limited in their spread. In destroying the forests and putting cultivated steppes and fields in their place, he has, to a great extent, beaten the way to the heart of Central Europe for the animals of the steppe. But his activity has been rather to exterminate than to change, and he has destroyed the once wonderful animal life of the Ukraine.

Of the higher animal life of the Ukraine on the middle and lower Dnieper, we are told, in a historical source, almost incredible facts prevailing about the middle of the 16th Century. “The Ukraine is so rich in game that bisons, wild horses and deer are hunted merely for the sake of their skins. Of their meat only the choicest cuts of chine and loin are used, all other parts thrown away. Hinds and young boars are not hunted at all. Roes and wild boars wander in great herds from the steppes into the woods in winter, returning to the steppes in summer. During this season they are killed by the thousands. On all the rivers, streamlets, brooks, live innumerable beaver colonies. The bird world is so remarkably rich that enormous quantities of wild goose, wild duck, crane and swan eggs and young ones are gathered. In the rivers, such great shoals of fish swarm in the spring that the fishing spear thrown in stands upright.” Another chronicler, of the 17th Century, tells that he was present when a single throw of the net at the mouth of the Orel brought 2000 fish to light, of which the smallest was one foot long.

Of the cat family, the lynx and the wildcat have become very rare and are met with only in the Carpathians and the Caucasus; the lynx also in the Polissye country. The bear, formerly very frequent thruout the Ukraine, is now also confined to these three regions. On the other hand, wolves, foxes, badgers, martens, polecats and all sorts of small animals of prey have survived, altho in very much smaller numbers. Of the large plant-eating animals the bison (thanks only to the unusual care on the part of the government) has survived in the primeval forest of Biloveza, the moose-deer only in the Polissye, the stag only in the Carpathians and the Caucasus. On the other hand, there are still a great many roes and wild boars in the woods. Of the rodents the hare is still common everywhere, while the beaver, which at one time inhabited all the rivers of the Ukraine, is now confined to the most inaccessible swamps of the Polissye and the Caucasian tributaries of the Kuban. The bird kingdom, too, has become much poorer in species. Large birds of prey, like eagles and hawks, nest only in the Carpathians and in the Caucasus—very seldom in the woods of the plain. The heath fowl and grouse seek the most inaccessible thickets, and even the number of small insect and grain-feeders has been greatly reduced. Of the waterfowl, wild ducks, wild geese, coot, diving birds, etc., are still very numerous. Cranes and herons are rare. The former wealth of fish is ruined and no one takes care of the artificial raising of fish. To be sure, much fish is still caught, especially in the Dnieper and Don systems, mainly pike, tench, carp, crucian, shad, etc., and trout in the mountain streams; but of the abundance of even the comparatively recent past, there is no trace. Sturgeon, sterlet and other sea fish, which formerly came in great swarms up the Dniester, Boh and Dnieper, are only seldom found today.

The steppe region has lost even more of its animal wealth. Above all, the rich higher animal life of the transition zones, which as late as the 18th Century provided food for the populous Zaporog Sich, has quite disappeared. The tarpani (wild horses), which still inhabited the steppe in great herds in the 17th Century, are now completely exterminated. Saiga antelopes (saihaki), once generally distributed thruout the steppe region of the Ukraine, have retreated to the Caspian steppe. The smaller game and the bird world have suffered far less, but the activity of man, who has changed the steppes into fields and pastures, has been fatal to them too. The bustard, sandpiper, partridge and grouse, which formerly inhabited the steppe brush in great numbers have become rare. The same may be said of the bird-world of the watercourses and swamps which once inhabited the river districts of the steppe in immense swarms. The insectivorous birds, too, have decreased, and the harmful insects are increasing at a terrible rate. Only the locust pest, which formerly caused great damage in agriculture, is now almost gone.

But, in spite of the war of extermination which man is waging against the animal world of the steppe, animal species are found which were well able to adapt themselves to the new circumstances, have become accustomed to man and have found plenty of food in the fields of the cultivated steppe (field-mice, marmot, ground squirrels, etc.). They have increased greatly and have migrated toward the west and north, causing great damage to farming.

As we must dispense with a scientific discussion of the flora and fauna of the Ukraine, we shall only report a few essential facts about the useful plants and domestic animals.

The Ukraine, according to its soil and its climate, is the richest grain country of Europe. For wheat the conditions in the Ukraine are the most favorable, especially in the southern half of the black-earth region. Rye is raised more widely in the north and northwest; barley everywhere, but on a large scale only in the south; oats in the north and in the Carpathians, where it is often used to make bread. Buckwheat is distributed chiefly on the northern edge of the black-earth region; millet thrives well in the entire Chornozyom region. Corn is raised on a large scale only in the southwest and in the sub-Caucasus country.

Of pod plants, peas and beans are especially imported; they are raised not only in vegetable gardens but also in fields. Of the tuberous plants, the potato is generally distributed only in the western part of the Ukraine and increases in importance but slowly in the rest of the country. Sugar beets are cultivated on great areas of the Volhynian, Podolian and Dnieper Plateaus. Vegetable culture embraces all the vegetables of Central Europe, but is not especially developed. On the other hand, water melons, cantaloupe, cucumbers (particularly in the Southern Ukraine) are raised in special plantations (bashtani). Hemp, flax, rape-seed, sunflower, are generally distributed, and poppy is cultivated not only in gardens but also in fields. Tobacco culture is very important in the Ukraine, particularly in the Dnieper Plain.

Thanks to the warm summer and fall, the Ukrainian climate is well fitted for fruit culture. The orchard is a necessity to the Ukrainian farmer and is planted and cared for even under difficult conditions. Fruit culture flourishes particularly in Pokutye, Podolia (where the more tender species of apple and pear, as well as apricots, thrive in the Dniester valley), in Bessarabia, in Crimea and the sub-Caucasus country, where even peaches and grapes are added. The northern limit of the vine extends along the Dniester, then thru Kamenetz and Katerinoslav to the bend of the Don. Wine-culture has its main regions in Bessarabia, in Crimea and in the sub-Caucasus country, altho South Podolia and the Dnieper valley in the old Zaporog country do not lack vineyards.

The domestic animals are the same in the Ukraine as in Central Europe. Only in the extreme south camels and buffaloes are added. The horned cattle belong chiefly to the so-called Ukrainian breed, which is distinguished by its gray color and its size, and is bony and strong-limbed. It is very well fitted for work and is rich in milk. On the southwest borders of the Ukraine the Hungarian great-horned breed is widely distributed. In recent times the pure Holland, Tirol and Swiss breeds are continually spreading. The horses of the Ukraine belong to various mixed breeds. The most beautiful breed of horses, the Ukrainian, has been raised by the Zaporog Cossacks. It is of medium size, very strong and fleet, very enduring and useful for any sort of work. The Chornomoric variety is now being raised by the Kuban Cossacks and is rightfully famed thruout Eastern Europe for its high qualities. Very efficient, too, is the Hutzulian breed of mountain horses, small of stature but very strong, unsurpassed for mountain roads and foot-ways. The peasant horses of Galicia, Volhynia, etc., are, despite their unseemly outward appearance, really created for the rough roads of their land.

Donkeys and mules are rarities in the Ukraine, also very few goats are kept. In sheep, however, the Ukraine is the richest country in Europe. Not only native breeds (among them the justly famous reshetilivka, as it is called), but also foreign merino sheep are raised, especially in the steppes of the Ukraine. Hog raising is very highly developed. Usually Polish hogs are raised in Western Ukraine, Russian short-eared hogs in the eastern part, and in Southern Ukraine, southern crinkled hogs. In barnyard fowl the Ukraine is the richest land in Eastern Europe. Also bee culture is very important, especially in the Dnieper Plain. Silkworm culture, however, is not very important, altho the mulberry trees find favorable climatic conditions thruout the Ukraine.