FLORA. 181 



these forests, may have these defects attributed generally 

 to one or other of two causes 1, External injury from fire, 

 wind, frost, &c. ; 2, Imperfect growth from the hard, stony 

 soil, preventing the fall and regular development of roots. 

 ' The following are defects which I have frequently 

 observed : trees broken by the weight of snow, or killed 

 partially or completely by frost; trees with stag-horned 

 crowns, often the consequence of fires ; trees split through- 

 out their entire length, the effect of their having been 

 bent by the wind ; trees with knots of different kinds, 

 each of which has its local name; trees rotten or decayed 

 in the heart. The last-mentioned defect is often mani- 

 festly traceable to injury sustained by the tap root. The 

 defect, however, is not such as will make the forester or 

 the trader reject the tree ; very often it does not penetrate 

 far up into the tree, and with the lower portion of the 

 trunk sawn off, the remainder is faultless. 



' From what has been stated, it may be seen that these 

 woods do not present us with exhaustless treasures, as 

 many rashly think. We are not merely consuming the 

 annual produce, or a justifiable percentage on our 

 capital ; but, on the contrary, we are destroying and using 

 up capital which nature has, with immense labour, accumu- 

 lated in the course of many centuries. 



' In regard to official work, I may state that this con- 

 sists in selecting and designating districts for all forest 

 operations. Under the name of Vuig forests are now 

 included all the forests lying on the river Vuig and its 

 affluents. The principal terms of sale are the following : 



' 1. They include pine wood from the forest estates of the 

 Government of Archangel, in the district of Kem, and also 

 from the forest estates of the Government of Olonetz, in 

 the district of Polonetz, on the declivity towards the White 

 Sea. 



' 2. The contractor is bound to prepare, in the course of 

 fifteen years, not less than 450,000 or more than 750,000 

 logs, from 10 to 16 arschins, 23J to 37J feet long, and of 

 the thickness of six or more vershocks. 



