504 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1899. 
The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway has naturally given a great 
impetus to the development of industrial activity in that region. The Imperial 
Ministry of Agriculture and Domains, fully aware of the immense importance of 
preserving and duly working the Siberian forests, out of regard for the future 
supply of the newly formed manufactories, has taken a series of measures in 
that direction. As the necessary material was not available for elaborating 
a general scheme for the cultivation of these forests, the Ministry charged 
several leading and competent officials with the task of studying on the spot the 
forests of the province of Tobolsk, Tomsk, Yenisseisk, and Irkutsk, as well as 
of the districts of Akmolinsk and Temipalatinsk. These officials have just 
issued their report under the title of ‘The Condition and Needs of the Forest 
Domains in Siberia.’ The Siberian forests still occupy an immense surface, 
but their value is lessened by the fact that they are scattered very irregularly 
about the country. In those districts in which the population is densest, the 
forests are lacking ; on the other hand, in the sparsely peopled regions, there are 
immense forests, which are not only turned to little use, but are also frequently 
destroyed by fires. Again, the cultivation of the forests has hitherto been 
absolutely barbarian ; in the populated districts the coniferous trees have been 
almost entirely destroyed, and only trees of very little value are to be met with, 
Neyvertheléss, if attention could be paid to the proper cultivation of the forests, 
they will become, in course of time, a source of great wealth for the country, 
and will furnish supplies of wood for exportation by way of the Obi and 
Yenissel. 
When once the arbitrary clearing away of the Siberian forests has been 
rendered impossible, the timber trade, which is at present in the hands of small 
merchants, will be developed on more rational lines, and will then become an 
important factor in the economic activity of the country. * 
Hitherto, the leading Siberian merchants have disdained to devote them- 
selves to this branch of commerce, since they found it to be insufficiently 
lucrative. Thus there still remains much to be done in order to give an 
impetus to the Siberian timber trade, and in this respect attention must first be 
paid to opening new routes of transport, and: the great waterways of this 
immense region, now in many districts inaccessible to navigation, must be put 
in proper working order. Those reforms can be brought about only at 
considerable sacrifice, both of money and of time. Meanwhile the forests admini- 
stration has decided to take upon itself the cultivation of the forests domains 
exclusively for the needs of the local population. During the present year 
these authorities have received orders to supply wood to the Siberian Railway, 
and also to the Ural Railway. This is only a beginning, and the forests admini- 
stration will be called upon to supply timber for shipbuilding and for 
consumption by the local population. 
At this moment the chief depdt for timber is the town of Omsk, which, 
being surrounded by barren steppes, plays an important part for the neighbour- 
hood from this point of view. The inquiries made by the officials appointed by 
the Ministry of Agriculture and Domains have shown that the work of 
colonising the Siberian forest domains is capable of being greatly modified.— 
Engineer. 
TREES AS HISTORIANS. 
Tian trees record their own history may to some seem strange, yet it is true, 
whether or not we are able to read it. A Vermont correspondent in AMeehan’s 
Monthly for July says: Most anyone can tell the age of a tree by.its rings, 
and here let me say there are three ways to tell—two by the inside and one by 
the outside. . 
The methods of counting the years of a tree from the inside are, first by 
cutting a tree down, and sawing-off a section or block and counting the rings or 
circles, which anyone can do. Another way is to split the block open and 
count the sections on a medullary ray; it will be found that each section 
