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CHAPTER VI. 



FOREST INDUSTRIES. * 



SECTION A. FOREST EXPLOITATION AND CLEARING OF 

 FOREST LANDS. 



MR JUDR^E, in the accounts of his journey of inspection in 

 the Government of Olonetz, has made mention of com- 

 plaints of the timber trade being unremunerative. He 

 writes: ' Speaking generally, the first acquaintance of one 

 with the country leads to the conclusion that the Govern- 

 ment of Olonetz is as poor in works employing human 

 industrial labour as it is rich in natural productions, 

 amongst which the first place must be assigned to those of 

 the forests. In Petrozavodsk I was enabled to collect 

 from records by officials who had formerly the manage- 

 ment of the forests, and of all matters relating to the 

 country, information of which the following is a summary. 

 * The Government of Olonetz lies between 60 21' and 

 65 16' N. Lai, and 47 21' and 59 36' E. from the meri- 

 dian of Faro, corresponding to about 30 and 40 E. of 

 Greenwich. It has an area of 2,785 square geographical 

 miles, or 14,026,320 desatins. Of this area forests cover 

 approximately ten millions of desatins, or five-sevenths of 

 the whole. After deducting 257,000 desatins of arable 

 land, and 88 desatins of pasture land, the rest is composed 

 of rivers, lakes, swamps, and other unproductive places. 

 The whole population, including both sexes, amounts to 

 301,290 ; consequently there is for each man 47 desatins 

 of surface, consisting of 



1 '14 desatins of arable and pasture land ; 

 35-19 of forests ; and 

 10*67 of lake and river. 



