The July mean at Arkangelsk is 62 degrees, at Leningrad 64, at Moscow, Tomsk and Yakutsk 66, at Astrakhan 68, and at Odessa 73. The growing season is short in Russia. The Russian farmer has to work hard to beat the autumn frost. There is little work outside in low temperatures because of the icy winds, and the few hours of daylight. Unsheltered animals cannot survive the first blizzard.
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.