FORESTRY COMMISSIONER 107 



area of 634, 143,918 acres, the merchantable timber on 

 which is sold under sealed bids. The expense of ad- 

 ministration averages about $5,570,773 annually. The 

 revenue in 1904 amounted to 124,650,278. Selection 

 cutting is mostly practiced. In 1905, 21,241 acres were 

 artificially planted and 126,052 acres started for replant- 

 ing. The forests at present are under the charge of 1237 

 scientifically trained foresters. 



The following are the questions I submitted and the 

 answers that were furnished : 



Question i. Area of the productive state forests of 

 Russia, character of surface and soil and prevailing kind 

 of trees? Area: 



Siberia 102,600,000 acres. 



Caucasus I 9,353,9 I & " 



Russia in Europe 461,700,000 " 



Finland 50, 490, ooo c ' 



Soil: Generally sandy-clay. 

 Species: Pine, fir, oak and birch. 



Question 2. Average number of feet of timber an- 

 nually cut therefrom; average age of pine when cut and 

 diameter breast high at such age ? 



No accurate reply can be made to the first part of this 

 question, as the acreage of all the forest land in the em- 

 pire (especially in Russia in Asia) is unknown; there is 

 likewise no information relative to the mass of trees cut 

 each year on private forest estates, the acreage of which 

 in Russia in Europe amounts to 108,000,000 acres. In 

 view of this only the amount of timber obtained from 

 state forests can be given. The Report for 1905 shows 

 that out of 286,427,665 acres of state forests in Russia 

 in Europe 4,802,412 cubic fathoms (7 feet) of timber were 

 cutfrom 229, 532,232 acres; about 22 percent, of thisamount 

 was received from the forests of Northern Russia, namely, 



