86 



Export of Butter from Russia. 



arriving at Riga on Thursday at 5 p.m., i.e., fourteen days 

 from Ob. 



The demand for room in these special trains has already 

 exceeded the capacity arranged for, consequently application 

 has been made for a second train, which will probably com- 

 mence running in June, and there is every reason to expect 

 that a third train will be required before long. Owing 

 to this arrangement it will be possible to run Siberian butter 

 from Kourgan, which is one of the most important stations, 

 to London within sixteen days. - 



In order to tap the Vologda butter district, which is an 

 important one, arrangements have been made for the running 

 of special trains with refrigerator waggons from Rybinsk to 

 Riga, which trains will cover the distance of 600 miles in 64 

 hours. 



For the storing of the goods on arrival at Riga, a large 

 refrigerator or cold store, calculated to provide room for a 

 great quantity of perishable articles, is about to be built on 

 the quay, and it is expected to be ready for work during the 

 autumn of the present year. The town has made a free grant 

 of land for this store, to which a branch line of railway will 

 be laid ; and, when all arrangements are completed, goods 

 arriving by rail will be discharged direct from the refrigerator 

 waggons into the cold store and afterwards shipped direct 

 from the store into the refrigerated holds of the steamers 

 without exposure to change of temperature. 



Mr. Woodhouse says that there is no doubt that this pro- 

 ject, when once in working order, will materially assist in 

 the development of a large trade with England in Siberian 

 produce. The idea has started with butter, of which there is 

 an unlimited supply ; but poultry, game, and even meat will 

 probably be included before long. The quick transport will 

 have a great deal to do with the delivery of the goods in sound 

 condition, but the main thing will lie in the measures taken 

 to keep eve^thing cool during transit. 



Statistics give the value of the exports of Siberian butter 

 to the United Kingdom in 1900 at something like £1,400,000, 

 and the estimates for the present year, reckoning upon the new 

 transport service, place the figure at £2,500,000 ; and this will 



