RUSSIAN POSSIBILITIES 73 



of this area in Russia and Finland and Western Siberia 

 produces the very materials which will be required in 

 such enormous quantities at the close of the war. Had 

 we been far-sighted enough, had we shown a tithe of 

 the resource and organising powers of the Germans, 

 we should have long ago arranged for tapping these 

 Russian resources in the event of war on a previously 

 formed plan. But this is in the past. 



These enormous areas of Russian forests contain 

 large amounts of unexploited timber. If we take 

 Russia in Europe to commence with. A few years 

 ago it was officially recorded by the Russian forestry 

 authorities that they were cutting far below the 

 possibility, in other words, that the annual incre- 

 ment put on was greater than the volume of timber 

 taken out of the forests. Also that large areas of old 

 woods had almost ceased putting on increment and 

 were going back, i.e. losing their sale value. At that 

 time the Government estimated that the fellings made 

 were something under 50 per cent, of the possibility. 

 Matters have altered somewhat since then. But 

 Russia, with its immense forests, scanty population 

 (in the afforested areas), and want of communications, 

 cannot move quickly in such matters, and there can be 

 little doubt that there is a great margin to work upon. 

 For instance, the larger portion of the State forests 

 are in the north in the Governments of Archangel and 

 Vologda, areas we are most interested in, since much 

 of our imports came from this region. These forests 

 are difficult to work owing to the deficient communi- 

 cations. Consequently only 7 cubic feet of timber 

 per acre were felled out of a prescribed 7 cubic feet 



