RUSSIA. 



725 



ern frontier at that time numbered 123,275 

 men. with 24,198 horses and 274 tield-eannon. 

 In March re-enforcements of about 100,000 

 men arrived. "Works were begun at Libau 

 which will transform it by 1890 into a mili- 

 tary port, with a harbor formed by two break- 

 waters. There were 96 barracks erected along 

 the frontier of Austria and Germany, and about 

 100,000 cavalry were held in readiness to cross 

 the frontier at a moment's notice Two branch 

 lines of the Ivaugorod-Dabrova Railroad run- 

 ning to the Austrian and Prussian frontiers 

 were opened in the spring. At Rovno. Ivan- 

 gorod, and other places in the western districts 

 new fortifications were constructed. 



The Navy. Russia in 1888 had 32 iron-dads, 

 39 armed steamers, 59 other steamers, 8 sailing- 

 vessels, and 95 torpedo-boats in the Baltic Sea ; 

 7 iron-clads, 27 armed steamers, 59 unarmed 

 steamers, and 16 torpedo-boats in the Black 

 Sea; 12 armed and 4 unarmed steamers in the 

 Caspian Sea ; 6 steamers in the Lake of Aral : 

 and 8 armed steamers, 13 unarmed steamers. 

 and 6 torpedo-boats on the Pacific coast. The 

 most powerful vessels are the "Tchesma" and 

 u Catherine II," which were launched in the 

 Black Sea in 1886, and the " Sinope," which 

 was launched in June, 1887, each of which has 

 a displacement of 10,180 tons, and carries six 

 12-inch and seven 6-inch guns. The armor 

 at the water-line is 16 inches thick. The guns 

 are mounted in a casemated, pear-shaped re- 

 doubt. The "Alexander II " and the " Nicho- 

 las I," 2 barbette cruisers of 8,440 tons, 

 have 14 inches of armor above the belt, and 

 are armed with two 12-inch, four 9-inch, and 

 eight 6-inch guns. These vessels the latter of 

 which was launched on the Neva in October, 

 1888 are of the same type as the English 

 " Imperieuse," but heavier and more power- 

 fully armed. The "Pamiat Azoff," which was 

 launched in the Baltic on June 1, 1888, is an 

 iron-clad frigate of 6,000 tons displacement, 

 carrying 14 heavy long-range guns, 15 machine- 

 guns, and 3 torpedo-guns. 



Commerce. The values in rubles of the im- 

 ports and exports of merchandise in 1886 and 

 the shares of the different countries in the for- 

 eign commerce of Russia are exhibited in the 

 following table : 



The imports by way of the Baltic ports in 

 1886 were of the value of 152,400,000 rubles; 

 the exports, 144,500,000 rubles. The value of 

 the imports from European countries brought 

 by railroad was 150,400,000 rubles, and that <.f 

 the exports by way of the land frontiers was 

 114,100.000 rubles. The imports at the ports 

 of the Black Sea were valued at 78.800,000 

 rubles, and the exports at 172.300.000 rubles. 

 The imports passing by way of the White Sea 

 were 1,300,000 rubles in value, and the exports 

 5,600,000 rubles. The imports from Finland 

 amounted to 9,900,000 rubles, and the exports 

 to Finland to 16,600,000 rubles. The imports 

 across the Asiatic frontiers amounted to 45.- 

 400,000 rubles, and the exports to 35,400,000 

 rubles. 



The imports of alimentary products in 1SS7 

 across the European frontiers were valued at 

 50,397,000 rubles; exports, 350,640,000 rubles : 

 imports of materials, raw or partly manufact- 

 ured. 2-24,404.000 rubles; exports, *1 93,262,000 

 rubles; imports of live animals, 498,000 rubles: 

 exports, 11,991,000 rubles; imports of manu- 

 factured articles, 57,940,000 rubles; exports, 

 12.0-27,000 rubles; total merchandise imports 

 in 1887, 333,239,000 rubles ; total exports, 568.- 

 520,000 rubles. 



The overland exports to China in 1887 con- 

 sisted of 2,353,502 rubles worth of Russian mer- 

 chandise, 251,914 rubles worth of other Euro- 

 pean products, 2.924.085 rubles of the precious 

 metals, and 309,860 rubles of paper currency. 

 The principal articles of Russian produce were 

 grain, hogs, sugar, cotton goods, Russia leath- 

 er, sheepskins, and furs. During the same year 

 China exported to Russia 26,456,557 rubles 

 worth of merchandise, in which total the sin- 

 gle article tea stands for 24.097,679 rubles. 



Agriculture. The grain belt in European Rus- 

 sia stretches from the government of Tcher- 

 nitroff, on the middle Dnieper, to the Ural 

 mountains. North of it is the zone containing 

 the industrial cities, between which and the 

 tundras of the Arctic Circle the great forests 

 extend from Poland and the western govern- 

 ments northeastward to the Ural. In the south- 

 ern part of the wheat belt is the "black-earth '' 

 country, a vast plain extending from Kre- 

 mentchug on the Dnieper to the other side of 

 the Volga. Herds of horses and sheep cover 

 the steppes farther south. The productive 

 land in Russia amounts to 70'4 per cent, of the 

 entire surface, 20'4 per cent, being occupied by 

 farms and gardens, 11 '9 per cent, by pastures, 

 and 38'1 per cent, by forests. The number of 

 persons employed in agriculture in Russia, ex- 

 clusive of Poland, is about 4S.OOO.COO. The 

 economical condition of this population has in 

 some respects become worse since the emanci- 

 pation of the peasants from serfdom. The in- 

 sufficiency of the land transferred to the peas- 

 ants, their drunkenness, which has been actual- 

 ly fostered by the Government in order to swell 

 the revenue from excise duties, and their indo- 

 lence, which is a consequence of the commu- 



