234 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



because the freight is considerably higher than from Cracow or the 

 Tatra. Eegnlar direct purchases in Upper Silesia are not possible, for 

 the reason that there are no large compact stocks of trees, and the 

 various individual forests only produce a few carloads each, which are 

 too dear when account is taken of the personal attendance requisite to 

 purchase. The cubic meter (35.316 cubic feet) of aspen wood, delivered 

 iree at railway station, costs from 17 to 26 marks ($4.05 to $6.19), 

 according to quality aspen of 25 to 50 centimeters diameter, 26 marks 

 ($6.19) ; of smaller diameter, 20, 21, and 24 marks ($4.76, $5, and $5.71). 

 The wood from Poland, Galicia, and Hungary is not essentially dearer 

 than the wood from Upper Silesia. Where grown it costs 10 to 14 

 marks ($2.38 to $3.33), and, although the customs duty has to be 

 added to this, the higher price is compensated for by the superior 

 quality of the wood. The freight rates are various. Ten thousand 

 kilograms (22,146 pounds) contain about 12 to 14 cubic meters (424 to 

 615 cubic feet), the freight for which from Upper Silesia would be about 

 50 to 60 marks ($11.90 to $14. l .'8), and from Poland and Galicia, about 

 120 marks ($28.56). 



For the factories in Pomerania the principal sources of supply are 

 Eiga, Kovno, Libau, Windau, and St. Petersburg, where dealers do a 

 lively trade. The wood is felled in the forests, brought down to the 

 sea, and shipped when water communication is open. It is sold in the 

 form of logs from 3 to 7 meters (16.4 to 23 feet) in length, with both 

 ends cut smooth. The ports through which aspen wood is imported 

 are Konigsberg, Danzig, Kolberg, Eiigenwalde, Flensburg, Liibeck, 

 Amsterdam, Antwerp, Stettin, and Bremen. The prices for Eussian 

 wood vary according as the wood comes rafted or unrafted to the 

 market. Unrafted wood costs delivered in Bremen, including the 

 customs duty of 1.20 marks, 25 marks ($5.95) ; rafted wood, 21 marks 

 ($5). Such prices, however, are only good for contracts for the whole 

 year; in other cases they are about 10 per cent higher. The freight 

 rates by direct steamer from Eiga are 16 to 18 pfennigs (3.8 to 4.3 cents) 

 per cubic foot, and from Kovno, via Lappieneu-Konigsberg, by lighter, 

 about 10 pfennigs (2.4 cents) per cubic foot delivered in Danzig. The 

 prices are advancing from year to year. 



The factories in Anhalt use native wood partly, from the neighboring 

 forests, and partly Eussian wood, via Stettin. The price is 28 to 30 

 marks ($6.66 to $7.14). 



For Westphalia the wood is shipped in steamers from Eiga to 

 Amsterdam and thence by rail. The cubic foot delivered in Amster- 

 dam costs from 71 to 86 pfennigs (17 to 20 cents), according to quality. 



In Alsace Lorraine the wood is taken from native forests, but it is 

 no longer very thick and can not be flaked, but must be planed. The 

 stocks have been freely felled in the last ten or fifteen years, and no 

 care has been taken to replace them. In consequence of the enormous 

 expense the wood of East Prussia is out of the question for the Alsa- 



