EXPORT TIMBER TRADE. 121 
21 feet length, but the friend who had led them into the 
business had so manipulated the people who drew up the 
contract that he paid so much per root. This made the 
superiors of the Department grumble; and they became 
suspicious, and put all possible difficulties in the way, and 
then circumstances arose which led the principal partners 
of the company to retire from the copartnery, and to leave 
the business in the hands of the manager, with what 
results I have not learned. 
‘On the River Mazeen one Rysanov has a contract for 
cutting the timber. He began five or six years back. 
At first there was a difficulty in getting ships to go there, 
but now they go readily. This is considered to be a won- 
derfully good business for Rysanov, as the wood is of an 
uncommon kind for that part.’ 
By another of my informants, not less conversant with 
the work, I was told that in some cases the whole of 
the wood belonging to several wood-cutters or dealers is 
brought to one place on the banks of a stream, some as 
logs, some in billets for furnace fires, 2}-arschens in length, 
some in billets for household use, or not marked as belong- 
ing to different proprietors, but all carefully measured, and 
the measurements of wood belonging to each carefully 
noted, and all is floated away together to be re-collected 
by a weir and proper appliances at a lower level, where it 
is again divided in the proportions noted, and any defi- 
ciency is borne by the whole in the same proportions. 
But the large timber is generally floated on the lower 
rivers in rafts. Much of the wood is floated, and in some 
parts, but not everywhere, a charge is made by Government 
for license to float the timber. 
By another gentleman, an engineer, I was informed that 
he had not seen the cutting of trees for timber, but he had 
seen a good deal of various saw-mills at the mouths of 
rivers flowing into the Lake Ladoga. The timber, roughly 
hewn, is floated down these rivers towards the lake. At 
