122 MANUFACTUEES OF KUSSlA. 



15 trees per day. while a second removes the bark to the steeping place. The trans- 

 port takes place in summer through unfrequented, roadless places often encumbered 

 with wind-felled trees and other timber, and cannot therefore be effected on wheels, 

 but by means of trucks composed of two small fir trees inserted into a block of 

 wood with their ends raised iuid joined in the middle by a cross piece. The horse 

 is attached to them as if to shafts and the bast is loaded crosswise. The steeping 

 l)laces are the woodland rivulets, lakes, gulfs and even deep ditches in the marshes. 

 For transport the smaller tubular layers of bark are placed inside the larger ones, 

 making rolls of 3 to 6 pieces. These rolls are plunged in water and the bark is 

 allowed to steep for one and one-half to three months, according to the temperature 

 of the air, and the thickness and size of the bundles. The steeping separates the 

 outer layer of bark and softens the bast, which parts with its viscous matter and 

 resolves itself into threads or wisps. This process is very important and care must 

 be taken to select a suitable spot, that is, a warm and abundantly watered place; 

 dams have even sometimes to be made to preserve the water in the heat of 

 summer. When removed from the water the bast is laid on the bank with the 

 bark downwards, cleaned with a swab and washed. The bast may be then sepa- 

 rated without difficulty by hand, although some skill is required; it is then put to 

 dry on stakes in the woods and taken home before the commencement of winter. 

 One medium sized lime tree, about 4 vershocks thick and 4 sagenes high, will yield 

 about 15 pounds of bast wisp; working 2 months in felling and steeping, one month 

 in removing the bast from the steeping places and one month in transport, two men 

 with one horse will make about 280 pouds of bast wisp. 



This material is principally used for weaving matting and sacks, in special 

 looms which the peasants erect in their back premises; these looms are provided 

 with reeds consisting of rows of flat wooden teeth inserted between straight wooden 

 boards. Two men are occupied in weaving whilst a third separates the wisp into 

 narrow ribbons and sorts it into the weft and the warp which latter is made of the 

 best kind, that is, the long, thin and tough ribbons ; three men are able to weave 20 

 mats or 15 sacks sewn together in a day. The mats are of various kinds, depending 

 upon the place where they are made; one poud of bast wisp will produce from 5 to 

 12 mats according to size. The sacks are made in three sizes, heavy sacks holding 

 9 pouds of rye flour, light sacks, holding 5 pouds, and medium sacks ; one poud of 

 raw material will yield from 5 to 7 sacks. 



The bast wisp industry in Eussia is very large; in the government of Viatka 

 alone about 500 thousand trees are felled for this purpose and 900 thousand sacks 

 and 600 thousand mats are produced with a total expenditure of 340 thousand working 

 days. The Vetloujsk and Varna vinsk districts in the government of Kostroma pro- 

 duce 100 thousand pouds of bast wisp occupying 700 men during a period of 4 

 months; besides this, 650 men are employed in making mats and sacks. The shangsk 

 mats, of the Louginin make, are the most celebrated and are even known in Eng- 

 land. About 200 thousand pouds of bast fibre is made in the Ufimsk and Birsk dis- 

 tricts of the government of Ufa. No less than 200 thousand mats and double mats are 

 manufactured in the government of Penza; in the Kochkourovsk and Giropinsk baili- 

 wicks in the Loukoyanovsk district, 500 sacks are manufactured for Morshansk. Tht^ 

 chief trade of the inhabitants of that part of the Makarievsk district which lies 



