221 
WHAT FORESTRY HAS DONE. 
(Continued.) 
The following is reprinted from Circular 140, Forest Service, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
RUSSIA AND FINLAND. 
Russia. 
Russia's forests are of vast extent. More than 575,000,000 
acres, or 39 per cent., of European Russia is forest, and the 
Siberian forests of Asiatic Russia contain about 350,000,000 
acres. In the more wooded provinces of European Russia the 
government owns about 89 per cent, of the forest land. It 
owns 65.7 per cent, of the total forest area. In general, the 
untouched forest resources of Russia comprise two-thirds of 
the whole forest area of Europe. Over $30,000,000 worth of 
wood is exported. The principal countries drawing upon Rus- 
sia are, in order, England, Germany, Holland and France. 
From the 660,000,000 acres of state forests which are now 
being worked the net income is now nearly $21,500,000, or 
3 1-5 cents per acre. 
Russia began to apply forestry before the time of want had 
arrived, though forest havoc had been wrought. She was not 
forced into it for self-protection, as were, for instance, Ger- 
many and France. The lessons mastered by such other coun- 
tries were regarded by the Russian government as convincing 
enough without being actually experienced. The United 
States stands in a much less fortunate position with regard 
to forestry. With us the verge of a timber famine has already 
been crossed, and we are to know what it means to pay for 
forest waste. We have mortgaged the future of our forests. 
Yet it is still possible for us to regain our forest independence. 
Attention was first turned to the protection of Russian 
forests about two hundred and fifty years ago, when Czars 
Michael and Alexis undertook to settle property rights and 
make provision against fire and theft. By the beginning of 
the eighteenth century more careful use of the forests, espe- 
cially of those yielding ship timbers, was insisted upon by 
Peter the Great. The more immediate cause which led to the 
present administration was the forest devastation which fol- 
lowed the abolition of serfdom (1861) and the partition among 
the liberated serfs of much forest property. Complaints were 
rife in 1864, and several laws were presently promulgated, the 
last of which (1888) provides a comprehensive plan for the 
