208 
Variation in the Price and Siippli/ of Wheat. 
of Saratoff, remained comparatively unproductive'. Grain liarvcst, on llic 
whole, an average, of fair quality, and secured in good condition. 
Vast tracts of untillcd laud now lying waste in these regions. A thin, 
scattered population cannot advance rapidly in cultivation ; for although the 
immigration of labourers from the northern Governments is annually con- 
siderable, they fnul employment mcrclj' during the summer mouths, and 
return home for the winter. Steam thrashing-machines and improved imple- 
ments have become a powerful auxiliary to manual labour ; but these, again, 
are costly, and worked at too heavy a charge for any but the larger proprietors. 
Fuel can only be obtained with difficulty in the rural districts ; mechanicians 
must be engaged to keep the machinery in order. In Southern liussia, where 
skilled labour is highly paid, a considerable permanent charge has to be pro- 
vided for, in addition to the first heavy outlay, by those who have recourse to 
the more advanced system of agricultural ai)])liances. Pioads, railways, and 
improved fluvial communications, are the main desiderata. The former are 
altogether neglected. Of raihvaj's, there is endless discussion, numerous projects, 
and nothing determined, the Government being far more intent on strategical 
combinations for military purposes than on the advancement of commerce. In 
regard to improvement of the river communications, the remedies for existing 
evils have been very partially acted on. The works in progress for removing 
the shoals at the mouths of the Don are conducted with some assiduity by a, 
committee of merchants. 
Although little effort is apparent on the part of the Crown in this quarter 
to facilitate intercourse and promote commercial relations, railwa3 s from the 
northward are gradually working their way in this direction. A line connect- 
ing Moscow with Riazan was opened a couple of years since, and completed as 
far as Kozlolf, in the governmental district of Tamboo. The landed interest 
of those vicinities, being alive to the advantages that would accrue by con- 
tinuing the same line to Voroncgc, have themselves undertaken (with the 
Imperial sanction) to raise the necessary fluids for that object, and operations 
have already commenced. Both the above-named provinces, more especially 
the latter, have heretofore furnished liberally Kostoff and Taganrog with 
sujiplies of wheat and linseed. Arrangements are now, however, being made 
to have such produce conveyed northward by rail, and there is little doubt but 
a considerable portion of the growth of those localities will henceforward find 
its way to St. Petersburg. The cost of steam transport .so great a distance must 
necessarily be very heavy; if, however, the expenses thence to the United 
Kingdom be compared with those incurred from this port, say a diminution 
of two-thirds freight, \vith a corresponding ceimomy for insurance, besides the 
sea voyage usually accomplished from Cronstadt in three weeks, instead of 
three months, as Ifom laganrog, the more expensive but speedier route, may, 
in the result, prove the most suitable for mercantile combinations. Such an 
encroachment on the existing resources of this trade will doubtless be counter- 
balanced to some extent hy tlie increase of production that may be annually 
reckoned on from the fertile plains of the Caucasian line, the Tchernamore and 
the Cuban, w here colonisation is being urged forward by the liussian Govern- 
inent, and whence very considerable quantities of grain, lead, and wool, are 
already furnished. 
Eeport by Mr. Consul H. Caerctiiees on the Trade and Commeece or 
Taganrog for the Year 1867. — The exportation of wheat at this port last 
year exceeded that of any previous season on record, and that of rye was more 
than threefold in excess of the largest perennial shipments. This article has 
now assumed a prominent position among items of the export trade ; but with 
the sole exception of cereals, exports here have languished, and exhibit little 
variation on the average of preceding years. 
An article, the cultivation of which has liitVierto been neglected in tliis 
