i^2 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA. 



Remarks on the Wood Trade of the Government of 

 Ekatherinoslav. 



The government of Ekatherinoslav is divided into two 

 principal parts 1st, the Don basin, and 2d, the Dnieper 

 basin. The local wood markets in the Don basin receive 

 wood from the banks of the Volga and Don ; and those 

 in the Dnieper basin, principally from the ports of the 

 Dnieper. In the Don part are situated much more 

 important wood marts than in the Dnieper, as much 

 judged by the higher price as by the variety of forest 

 materials required in the markets. 



' The wood trade in the Dnieper part is centred princi- 

 pally at the ports on the Dnieper above the rapids, parti- 

 cularly at Ekatherinoslav. The reason is 1st, because 

 the port of Ekatherinoslav is the nearest to the great 

 eastern part of the government ; 2d, because the purchase 

 of forest materials before the rapids is much more profit- 

 able, as high prices have to be paid to traders for the risk 

 of floating over the rapids. Therefore from Ekatherinos- 

 lav, as from ports lying before the rapids, forest materials 

 are taken in every direction to the government of 

 Poltava as far as Constantingrad, to the Taurid govern- 

 ment as far as Bezodiansk, and the Kherson government as 

 far as the river Ingul. All this transportation is done by 

 land, and principally during summer. In winter the 

 )le. 



roads are not reliable. Although there are are snowy 

 winters, more frequently the snow appears and disappears 

 several times during winter, and on sledge roads one 

 cannot count even on January. One strong wind from 

 the south or south-east produces a thaw sufficient for 

 melting away the snow. Exposed places and strong 

 winds cause the snow to be distributed unequally. In 

 the steppe, in exposed places, snow barely covers the 

 ground, but in ravines and thickets it forms a layer of 

 considerable thickness. Therefore one cannot rely on 

 winter roads for the transport of forest materials, so the 

 winter is here considered the most unfavourable for 



