94 THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE 



7 cubic feet per acre, the amounts actually felled were 

 only 7 cubic feet per acre or about 10 per cent. Out- 

 side these two Governments the fellings to be made 

 in the State forests were fixed at 22 cubic feet per acre. 

 Only 13 cubic feet per acre were actually felled, or about 

 60 per cent, of the prevision. The Vistula basin, where 

 the highest prices were obtained, and the less wooded 

 areas of Central Russia showed better returns, only 

 6 per cent, of the prescribed cuts remaining unfelled. 

 The Governments of Poltava, Veronega, Lublin, and 

 Radom gave returns of 81 cubic feet per acre of the 

 afforested area. The prices obtained for the various 

 forestry produce naturally vary greatly in different 

 parts of the country. It would not serve any useful 

 purpose to consider this here. Nor need we pause 

 to deal with the fellings made in the private and 

 communal forests of which the returns available are 

 doubtful, since the exact amounts of the fellings and 

 prices obtained are difficult to ascertain. 



The trees in the State forests are usually sold 

 standing on sealed tender, or by auction, the buyer 

 felling and transporting the produce. State fellings 

 and conversion of the material is only undertaken in 

 rare instances. One of these was during the construc- 

 tion of the Siberian Railway and the installation of 

 the Settlements. 



Fellings take place between the middle of October 

 and the middle of March. In the north labour is 

 plentiful, the forestry industry being the chief source 

 of livelihood of the population. In Central Russia and 

 in the west there is also no labour difficulty, since the 

 winter puts an end to agricultural activities and the 



