Show RUSSIA RUSSI A TO RECLAIM DESERT good pasture landa landaal Lan daA are re destroyed at the rate rai of one hundred thousand acres a year tile the shifting sands of astrakhan and the measures taken by the russian Russi all government to deal with this problem form the subject of a memoir by J G F irston published in petrograd Petro grad observes the scientific scientific american ten million acres acre dof of the province in question are covered with shifting sands gands formed during the nineteenth century and subsequently these sands sanda have been spread spreading at the tha rate of acres a year the result being the transformation for mallon of good pasture land into a barren waste the principal cause Is over grazing flocks and herds are kept so long loone lo in one place as to result in the complete destruction of the turf poor agricultural methods are also responsible about the beginning of the present century the government took measures of control and reclamation and between 10 and IM 1909 an area of about acres was waa brought under cultivation in 1018 a special service was ordered to deal with the question the province wis was put under the charge of a I 1 chief forestry officer and divided nto into six districts in each of which a subordinate official was appointed to superintend the work at the time of writing good progress has been made in planting soil eoll binders and growing herbaceous crops betit was still problematical lema whether the province was adapted to the establishment of forests |