Travel is dangerous. The Russian bear in short is forced to hibernate. Spring cones with a rush in mid-April in most of European Russia. Flowers and grass flourish even in the desolate tundra. Iris, crocus, tulip and hyacinth abound in the south.
Autumn brings brilliant color since much of Russia is blanketed with deciduous forests.
For reasons of topography, climate and soil, only about one acre in eight is arable. Most of this land lies in European Russia south of Leningrad, but some of it stretches to the Ob river beyond the southern Urals. Much land cannot be cultivated due to lack of rainfall. Annual precipitation is less than 20 inches in much of European Russia, the minimum for profitable forming. Around the Caspian it is less than ten inches.