TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 247 



Government, and about two-thirds to Polish and 

 Russian nobles, and that almost the whole of said supply 

 conies off Russian territory, scarcely any off Prussian. 

 There is scarcely any possibility of arriving at the cost of 

 bringing it to market, the business being altogether in the 

 hands of the Jews, who hitherto had an understanding 

 with the proprietors that the serfs on the estates should 

 be employed in making and bringing it forward, and, 

 consequently, the exporters at these ports neither know 

 or care about the cost of production, not being interested 

 in the same. What effect the emancipation of the serfs 

 will have on the trade remains yet to be developed. The 

 great timber-producing districts are comprised within an 

 area of about 27,000 English square miles a great 

 portion of which has been cut over and over again, besides, 

 there is a population within this circuit of from 1,600,000 

 to 2,000,000, and it is considered one of the best agricul- 

 tural provinces in the Russian empire. From these facts 

 I infer that there is a limit to the timber even in this 

 province. The standing timber is gradually becoming 

 scarce and dear. The distance to haul is increasing, and 

 it is thought that the emancipation of the serfs will have 

 the effect of changing the nature of the trade altogether. 

 In the first place, it is to be expected that much more of 

 the land will be brought under cultivation, and, in the 

 next, the men will not continue to work for the same 

 small pittance they have hitherto been in the habit of 

 receiving. In fact, they seem not to be inclined to work 

 at all. In proof of this assertion I can state that large 

 numbers of Germans, from the province of Pomerania, at 

 the time I was there, were moving to Russia to supply 

 the labour heretofore performed by that class. This 

 change in the condition of the serfs must raise the price 

 of labour, and a corresponding rise in the price of timber, 

 or a diminution in the quantity, must necessarily be the 

 result. Mr Hertsel further informed me that the country 

 is now undergoing such changes that it is hard to say 

 what ultimate effect such changes may produce. One 



