24 MANUFACTURES OF RUSSIA. 



The formation of the fleet was the means of establishing sailcloth factories 

 in llie province of Kalouga. and f?reatly tended to the development of the rope-making- 

 industry. Both of these latter branches of trade were under the special control of the 

 Admiralty. Besides this, measures were taken to regulate the hemp trade and it was 

 directed to foster it in the same way as that of flax. The same practice was adhered 

 to in the subsequent reigns, and in addition to this, as -in the time of Peter the 

 (Treat, the Grovernment preferred handing over the working of the Government fac- 

 tories to private tirnis. 



Although the number of mills increased from 54 to 70 between 1761 and 1776, and 

 although the Government showed continual solicitude, still the quality of the linen goods 

 manufactured during the last century was not by any means all that could be desired, 

 and even during the latter half of the last century the linen was sent abroad to be 

 bleached. The export of textile fabrics, however, increased gradually, and in propor- 

 tion to the export of flax fibre and tow, thus in 1758 to 1760, 66,000 pieces of 

 sailcloth, flemish linen and raven's duck were exported, and other kinds to the value 

 of 395,000 roubles; in 1790 to 1792 the export rose to 179,000 pieces of sailcloth, 

 flemish linen and raven's duck, and 596,000 roubles worth of other kinds. The number 

 of ropewalks was for a long time very limited and only began to increase rapidlj^ 

 during the reign of Catherine II, when there were 60 in all, the oiiginal number 

 being 25, and the export between the periods of 1758 to 1760, and 1790 to 1792 

 rose from 24.000 to 104,000 pouds. 



At the beginning of tlie present century there was a greatly increased demand 

 for linen for the army, and this had a favourable influence upon the development of 

 the linen trade. From 1804 to 1809 the output of the mills increased from 12,369,600 

 arshines with 23,711 hands, to 22,375,800 arshines with 36,500 hands. Besides satis- 

 fying the increased demands for home consumption a considerable quantity was exported. 



Putting aside the first small ventures in flax spinning by machinery, the oldest, 

 and at the same time one of the best Bussian mllls^ is the Girardovsk factory, which 

 was established in 1830, built according to the plans of the inventor of flax-spinning 

 machinery, Philip de Girard, at the expense of the Charles Scholtz Joint Stock Co., 

 in Marimont near Warsaw, whence it was removed during the Polish insurrection 

 to its present place at Girardo. Although this mill was under the management of 

 Philip de Girard it did not work satisfactorily when first started, owing to a series of 

 unfavourable circumstances; the machines, for instance, which were all constructed in 

 this country, as it was at that time forbidden to import English flax-spinning ma- 

 chinery, did not quite answer the purpose; there was also not much demand for 

 finespun yarn and the cost of spinning it was high. About this time also the linen 

 industry in England had reached a very high degree of efficiency, and Avas holding 

 the monopoly of making flax-spinning machinery, and having liad recourse to 

 protective tariff', was arduousl}^ engaged in perfecting the industry. Besides the 

 fine textile fabrics the manufacture of the coarser kinds also greatly increased 

 there, and little by little the English goods, followed by the German, began to 

 supplant Bussian manufactures on the foreign market. The brilliant success achieved 

 by the cotton trade was added to this, and cotton goods rapidly found favour with 

 the Eussian people, completely replacing the linen fabrics w'hich had been up to that 



