WOOD INDUSTRY 111 



of the countiy, Eussia is found to be a comparatively poorly wooded country and 

 many parts of it contain even less forest land than France. 



Another circumstance of considerable importance is that the area of the Crown 

 forests amounts to 67 per cent of the total extent of woodland, and this has a very 

 favoui-able influence in preventing the destruction of forests which greatly assist in 

 developing the resomxes of the country. There is a marked disproportion in the 

 distribution of the forests with reference to their proprietorship ; thus it appears that 

 by far the greatest quantity of forests in abundantly wooded districts are owned by the 

 State, whilst in the more poorly wooded regions this ratio is far smaller. Taking the 

 mean ratio as 67 per cent. Crown forests in the northern region amount to 96 per 

 cent of the whole woodland area ; in the eastern region the Crown owns 56 per cent, 

 in the Baltic-St.-Petersburg 27, in the Moscow and Central Chernoziom 24, in the 

 north-western 26, in the south-western 23, in the Little Eussian 19, and in the 

 Southern 17 per cent. Finland is one of the most densely wooded regions of Eussia; 

 in 1888 the crown woods alone covered an area of 44,285 hectares or about 

 13,075,000 dessiatines, which is 45 per cent of the total area of Finland. 



For want of requisite statistics it is impossible to determine with any accuracy 

 the yearly consumption of wood in Eussia. According to Professor Arnold each inhab- 

 itant uses about one-half a cubic fathom per annum, and as the amount used for 

 building is about one-sixth to oue-iifth of the quantity consumed, it follows that each 

 inhabitant requires about one-tenth of a cubic fathom per annum for building pui'poses, 

 and the total consumption calculated on this basis may be estimated from 8 to 

 10 million cubic fathoms a year for building alone. It is necessary to add, that in 

 Eussia nearly all the villages are composed of wooden houses and that the people, 

 who originally settled only in the woods, have up to the present time but little no- 

 tion of the preservation of forests, and consequently the consumption of wood in Eussia 

 is abnormally large. 



The most common and by far the most useful tree of the abietic or fir tree 

 species, which grows in Eussia is the ordinary pine, or pinits silvestris. It is found in 

 more or less dense forests in at least two-thirds of the Avhole extent of Eui'opean 

 Eussia. The next most familiar tree of the same variety is the fir, ahles or picca 

 cxcelsa which is found in the northern parts of Eussia. Besides these the Siberian fir, 

 dbies sibirica, the larch, larix sibirica, are much prized in the north-eastern govern- 

 ments, and in Siberia, the Siberian cedar, piniis cembra, is one of the best trees. 



Of the foliate trees the following need only be mentioned. The birch is the 

 most widely spread and is found in several varieties, such as betula alba, and betula 

 puhescens, in most parts of Eussia. The aspen tree, populus tremula, is almost as widely 

 diffused as the birch. The lime, tilia parvifolia, is likewise very common in Eussia in 

 Europe, and the oak, quercus pedunculata, grows in many parts of central and southern 

 Eussia. 



The wood- working industry. 



Notwithstanding the great extent to which wood working is carried on in Eus- 

 sia, the industry is principally of a simple and manual nature, only adequate to 

 the local requirements. Most of the timber is bought in logs or sawn into planks and 



