RUSSIA 



39 



while the other has to import hoth. More than 

 one-half of European Russia thus produces less 

 wheat and rye than is needed for home con- 

 sumption. If all the wheat and lye produced by 

 Russia in an average year were consumed within 

 the country itself, the annual consumption of wheat, 

 which is now very low (85 Ib. per inhabitant), 

 would only be increased by 40 Ib. per inhabitant ; 

 and that of rye, which is now 330 Ib. per inhabitant, 

 would be increased by 36 Ib. only. The total 

 annual consumption of wheat and rye per inhabit- 

 ant would then be 491 Ib. instead of 415 Ib., which 

 it is now i. e. if no corn at all were exported from 

 Russia the consumption of bread throughout the 

 country altogether would be about the same as 

 what is habitual in France (505 Ib.). These facts, 

 the result of recent and careful investigation, dis- 

 pose at once of the theory that Russia may be 

 regarded as the granary of Europe. Moreover, the 

 crops of Russia are subject to great fluctuations, 

 ana bad years recur, as in India, at intervals of 

 from ten to twelve years. The year 1891 was a 

 time of extreme famine in many provinces. 



During the average years 1883-87, 161,930,000 

 acres were under the various corn crops in 

 European Russia (excluding Poland and Finland), 

 and 3,712,000 acres under potatoes. The total 

 yield reached on an average 81,100,000 quar- 

 ters of rye, 27,014,400 of wheat, 64,255,000 of 

 oate, 16,269,000 of barley, 12,150,000 of various 

 other cereals, and 33,935,000 of potatoes ; in 1889, 

 however, all the crops were fully 25 per cent, 

 below these figures. Flax and hemp are exten- 

 sively cultivated in the west, the sugar-beet is 

 grown in the south and south-west, and tobacco is 

 produced in the south. The vine is widely culti- 

 vated on the Black Sea littoral and in Caucasia, 

 but less than 360,000 acres are under proper cul- 

 ture, and the wine-production is still in its infancy. 

 Cotton is beginning to be widely planted in Turke- 

 stan. 



Mining. The empire is very rich in all kinds of 

 minerals ; and its mining industry, which gives 

 employment to nearly 400,000 hands, has of late 

 years begun to advance with rapid strides. Gold 

 is obtained in Siberia and the L ral Mountains, in 

 quantities varying between 871,000 and 1,702,800 

 ounces every year. Silver (264,000 to 396,000 oz. ) 

 and lead are obtained in Siberia, the Kirghiz 

 Steppes, the Caucasus, and Finland ; platinum 

 (4840 to 9460 Ib. ) in the Urals. Iron ores are found 

 in profusion both in the Asiatic dominions and in 

 European Russia (Olonetz, central Russia, south 

 Russia), and the raising of iron has increased 

 from 448,000 tons in 1880 to 1,022,000 tons in 1895 

 (steel, 565.000 tons). Zinc is mined in Poland, 

 tin in Finland, and cobalt and manganese ore in 

 Caucasia. Salt is obtained from the salt-lakes of 

 Asia and south Russia. Russia has excellent coal- 

 basins, especially in the Don region, but, owing to 

 the immense forests and the facilities for shipping 

 firewood on the rivers, the raising of coal, not- 

 withstanding high protective tariffs, develops 

 rather slowly ; the total output in both Poland 

 (which has good coal-mines in Kielce) and Russia 

 reaches only 3J to 4J million tons. The exceed- 

 ingly rich oil-wells of Baku supply Russia with 

 both petroleum and fuel ; the latter is largely used 

 on the steamers of the Volga, on some railways, 

 and in various manufactures. The total output of 

 crude petroleum averages about 3,300,000 tons. 



Manufactures and Petty Trades. The manufac- 

 turing industry of Russia has grown up since the 

 abolition of serfdom. Although handicapped by 

 the protective duties upon foreign imports (e.g. 

 machinery) it nevertheless has attained an average 

 yearly production of 142 for each workman em- 

 ployed ; in 1887 the aggregate production of the 



23,500 manufacturing establishments of the empire, 

 which gave employment to 1,450,000 workers, was 

 valued at 125,000,000. The mining industry and 

 the industries which pay excise duties (tobacco, 

 sugar, spirits, beer, petroleum, and matches) are 

 not included in the above. The chief industrial 

 centres are Moscow and the surrounding govern- 

 ments, St Petersburg and Poland. The woollen 

 trade is taking firm root in the south, chiefly 

 through English capital and enterprise. The pro- 

 duction of alcohol (chiefly vodka, the national 

 spirit) averages 80 to 95 million gallons of pure 

 alcohol every year. There are over 200 sugar- 

 mills and nearly 400 tallow-factories in Russia. 



The domestic industries, which are carried on by 

 the peasants of central Russia contemporaneously 

 with agriculture, are of much greater import- 

 ance in Russia comparatively than they are in 

 western Europe. It is estimated that no less than 

 7,500,000 peasants are engaged in these domestic 

 trades, and that their yearly produce (180,000,000) 

 exceeds in value that of the aggregate produce 

 of the manufactures. The greatest conceivable 

 variety of products are thus manufactured in the 

 villages, from the roughest article used by the 

 millions of peasants to the finest articles of 

 luxury. Co-operation , which enters into the essence 

 of Russian peasant life the artel, or co-operative 

 productive or consuming association being consti- 

 tuted by Russian peasants and factory-workers for 

 every possible purpose finds a wide field for 

 application among the domestic trades, and would 

 spread much more rapidly were it not for the 

 extreme poverty of the producers, who are entirely 

 in the hands of the ' sweaters. ' 



Commerce. The exports of Russia to foreign 

 countries consist principally of corn and flour 

 (55 per cent, of the total exports), various 

 articles of food (butter, eggs, .&c.), flax, timber, 

 oleaginous grain (chiefly linseed), raw wool, naphtha, 

 andilluminatingoils. These commodities and others 

 not named reach an annual value of 54,000,000 

 to 79,000,000; but the total depends entirely 

 upon the yield of the crops. The imports (about 

 40,000,000 every year) consist chiefly of raw 

 cotton (7,000,000 to 10,000,000), tea, raw metals, 

 machinery, raw wool, colours, iron and steel goods, 

 and coal. Tea and coffee, wines, and fruits are 

 also considerable items ; but the aggregate value 

 of the imported manufactured goods hardly reaches 

 4,500,000. The character of the imports into 

 Russia has totally changed during recent years, 

 partly in consequence o? the nearly prohibitive 

 tariffs, but especially on account of the development 

 of industries in Russia. The cotton, sugar, and 

 iron goods all formerly imported from abroad, but 

 now made and prepared! at home are not dearer in 

 Russia than they are in western Europe. The 

 inland trade of Russia is characterised by many 

 interesting peculiarities, chiefly connected with its 

 great fairs (at Nijni-Novgorod, Kharkoff, Irbit, 

 &c. ), which are still of immense importance. 



Navigation. The ports of Russia are entered 

 every year by about 12,500 vessels of 7J million 

 tons, of which only 1100 to 1200 (chiefly belonging 

 to Finns or Greeks) sail under the Russian flag. 

 Many vessels come in ballast to take cargoes of 

 grain. In the coasting trade the ports were entered 

 by 37,500 vessels of 8,500,000 tons in 1895. 



Communications. The importance of the Russian 

 rivers for traffic has already been mentioned. It 

 may be added that over 1500 steamers ply on the 

 rivers of European Russia, and that every year 

 some 67,000 boats and barges and 90,000 rafts are 

 unloaded at the river ports, the total amount of 

 goods shipped exceeding 9 million tons, as against 

 55 million tons carried by rail. About 1860 Russia 

 had less than 1000 miles of railways ; but in 1891 



