RUSSIA.
"Your nose! your nose, sir!" This is a cry often heard in the streets of Russia.
Russia is a very large country. Part of it is in Europe. A great part of it is very cold. When a person in the cold part of Russia goes out riding in winter, he has to cover his face, all except the nose and eyes. Sometimes his nose gets very cold, and would freeze if some one did not cry out, "Your nose, sir!" Why? When one's nose gets so cold, it becomes numb. It has no feeling. One would not know that it was freezing if some person did not cry out. The cold nose must then be rubbed with snow. You would think this a strange way to keep it from freezing, but it is the best way to take out the frost.
There are many kinds of houses in Russia. The houses have to be made very warm. So they are built with double walls. In rich people's houses they have stoves like ours. But in the poor people's houses the stoves are built of brick. They always burn wood, for coal costs too much in Russia. The stoves are sometimes built very high. Often they are as high as the ceiling. Sometimes people lie on top of the great stove to keep themselves warm.
[Illustration: A Russian Carriage.]
In most of the houses in the country, they have no beds. There are benches along the wall, which they use both for chairs and beds. In some houses the children sleep on the floor on pieces of felt.
Most of the people in Russia are farmers. They raise a great deal of wheat. The people in many other countries get wheat from Russia.
