KUSSIA. 



717 



long. The receipts in 1884 amounted to 226,- 

 572,545 rubles ; the number of persons carried 

 was 36,962,811, including 2,287,958 soldiers. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The number of letters 

 carried in 1883 was 133,883,693, besides 10,- 

 31 0,429 registered letters, 15,138,840 inclosures 

 under bands, 10,169,770 inclosures of money 

 and valuables, and 2,035,785 postal-cards; the 

 number of newspapers and periodicals forward- 

 ed was 99,439,595 ; the amount of remittances 

 declared, 2,813,918,031 rubles. 



The total length of telegraph lines in 1884 

 was 109,778 kilometres, with 248,470 kilome- 

 tres of wires. The length of the state lines 

 was 101,697 kilometres, with 189,316 kilome- 

 tres of wires. The number of internal dis- 

 patches in 1884 was 8,599,295, of international 

 dispatches received, 563,421; sent, 576,038; 

 of transit dispatches, 136,556 ; official dis- 

 patches, 595,774. The receipts in 1884 were 

 35,371,696 francs ; expenses, 17,482,812 francs 

 for salaries ; 12,848,720 francs for working and 

 repairs ; and 2,400,000 francs for the construc- 

 tion of new lines. 



Agriculture. European Russia is divided in 

 respect to its agricultural resources into the 

 black-earth zone of the south and east, and the 

 zone without black earth. In the former, the 

 main part of the wheat-product is grown and 

 the greater portion of the rye and other cereals, 

 also the principal part of the tobacco and su- 

 gar-beet products. In the latter potatoes are 

 more extensively cultivated, and the whole of 

 the flax-crop is produced. The two divisions are 

 nearly equal in the number of horses, cattle, and 

 swine raised, but almost two and a half times 

 as many sheep are raised in the black-earth dis- 

 tricts as in the other parts of Russia. Of the 

 total area of Russia in Europe, about one quar- 

 ter is arable, one quarter grazing waste land, 

 three eighths forest, and one eighth meadow. 

 Of the cultivated land, the main portion is de- 

 voted to grain, 62,921,280 out of 94,577,000 de- 

 siatines (1 desiatine = 2'7 acres). There are 

 under rye 23,623,000 desiatines, producing 589,- 

 942,000 bushels, and under wheat 11,460,000 

 desiatines, producing 188,950,000 bushels. The 

 total annual value of the products of the soil 

 is about $2,250,000,000, the value of the crops 

 being 2,138,262,500 rubles and that of the do- 

 mestic animals raised annually 861,515,700 ru- 

 bles. Russia raises more horses than any 

 other country, though, since the emancipation 

 of the serfs and the spread of the Siberian 

 plague, horse-breeding has decreased. 



The Russian forests, except those on the 

 imperial estates, are being rapidly destroyed, 

 and at the present rate of consumption will 

 not last fifty years. The annual value of the 

 wood and timber consumed is 260,250,000 ru- 

 bles, besides the export of 30,000,000 rubles. 



A drought in the early part of the summer 

 damaged the spring-wheat crop of 1885 ; but 

 the crop of winter wheat was above the aver- 

 age, and the rye-crop was a little better than 

 the average. The yield of winter wheat ex- 



ceeded the crop of 1884 by about 8,000,000 

 bushels, or 8 per cent., while there was a de- 

 crease of 56,000,000 bushels, or 24 per cent., 

 in spring wheat. The total harvest of wheat 

 was about 288,000,000 bushels, which is 48,- 

 000,000 bushels below the average. The rye 

 harvest gave an increase of 80,000,000 bushels 

 above the average, while the oat-crop fell short 

 200,000,000, or about 25 per cent. 



Industry. In 1880 there were 27,927 manu- 

 facturing establishments, employing 689,452 

 laborers, with an annual production valued at 

 $454,500,000. In 1879, owing to the impetus 

 received from the war, the total value of manu- 

 factures was $535,942,050, the cotton manu- 

 factures being valued at $134,360,000; woolen 

 manufactures, $63,236,000 ; silk manufact- 

 ures, $4,963,000; flax and hemp manufactures, 

 $16,840,000; minerals, $6,550,000; glass and 

 pottery, $5,250,000 ; chemicals, paper, leather, 

 etc., $70,702,000; metal products", $62,118,500; 

 alimentary articles, $162,689,000. The prod- 

 ucts of house industry, which plays an impor- 

 tant part in Russian national economy, are not 

 included in these estimates. More than $25,- 

 000,000 worth of linens, $39,000,000 worth of 

 cottons, $30,000,000 worth of hempen fabrics, 

 besides leather, saddlery, furniture, cutlery, 

 nails, and many other products, are made by 

 the peasants in their villages. 



Commerce. The exports in 1884 were of the 

 total value of 550,505,000 rubles, as against 

 607,787,000 in 1883. The exports of aliment- 

 ary products amounted to 332,970,000 rubles, 

 showing a decrease of 40,892,000 rubles; the 

 exports of raw and prepared materials, 196,- 

 936,000 rubles a falling off of 14,088,000 ru- 

 bles; those of animal products, 13,751,000 ru- 

 blesa falling off of 2,148,000 rubles; those 

 of manufactured articles, 6,848,000 rubles a 

 falling off of 154,000 rubles. The decrease in 

 the exports of alimentary products was mainly 

 due to the lessened export of wheat, which 

 was 129,932,000, against 170,194,000 rubles. 

 The decrease in quantity was 15,569,400 bush- 

 els. The export of spirits fell off nearly one 

 half, and that of linseed was 8,000,000 rubles 

 less in value ; while eggs, meat, and tobacco 

 showed a large increase. 



The imports in 1884 amounted in total value 

 to 486,249,000 rubles, against 513,700,008 ru- 

 bles in 1883. The imports of alimentary prod- 

 ucts were 129,291,000 rubles 6,145,000 rubles 

 more than in 1883; the imports of raw and 

 prepared materials, 262,659,000 rubles 25,- 

 972,000 rubles less ; the imports of animal prod- 

 ucts, 324,000 rubles 77,000 rubles less; the 

 imports of manufactures, 93,975,000 rubles 

 7,556,000 rubles less. The imports of raw ma- 

 terials were 8 per cent., of manufactures 24 

 per cent., of alimentary products 11 per cent., 

 of animal products 68 per cent, less than the 

 average imports for the period 1879-'83. The 

 imports of raw cotton fell off from 93,864,000 

 rubles in 1883 to 76,176,000 in 1884; those of 

 wool, from 22,431,000 to 18,607,000 rubles; 



