UC-NRLF

135

FORESTS AND FORESTRY

IN

POLAND, LITHUANIA,

THE UKRAINE,

AND

THE BALTIC PROVINCES OF RUSSIA,

NOTICES OF THE EXPORT OF TIMBER FROM
MEM EL, DANTZIG, AND RIGA.

COMPILED BY

JOHN CROUMBIE BROWN, LL.D.,

EDINBURGH:

OLIVER AND BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT

LONDON: SIMPKIX, MARSHALL, & CO.,

AND WILLIAM RIDER & SON.

MONTREAL: DAWSOX BROTHERS.

1 S 8 5.

irestry. Main Librarr

ADVERTISEMENT.

IN the Spring of 1877 I published a Brochure entitled
The Schools of Forestry in Europe : a Plea for the Creation of a
School of Forestry in connection with the Arboretum in Edinburgh,
in which, with details of the arrangements made for
instruction in Forest Science in Schools of Forestry in
Prussia, Saxony, Hanover, Hesse, Darmstadt, Wurtemburg,
Bavaria, Austria, Poland, Russia, Finland, Sweden, France,
Italy, and Spain, and details of arrangements existing
in Edinburgh for instruction in most of the subjects
included amongst preliminary studies, I submitted for
consideration the opinion 'that with the acquisition of
this Arboretum, and with the existing arrangements for
study in the University of Edinburgh, and in the Watt
Institution and School of Arts, there are required only
facilities for the study of what is known on the Continent
as Forest Science to enable these Institutions conjointly,
or any one of them, with the help of the others, to take a
place amongst the most completely equipped Schools of
Forestry in Europe, and to undertake the training of
foresters for the discharge of such duties as are now
required of them in India, in our Colonies, and at
home.'

696648

iv ADVERTISEMENT.

At a meeting held on the 28th March 1883, presided
over by the Marquis of Lothian, it was resolved ' that it
is expedient in the interests of Forestry, and to promote a
movement for the establishment of a National School ol
Forestry in Scotland, as well as with the view of furthering
and stimulating a greater improvement in the scientific
management of woods in Scotland and the sister countries,
which had manifested itself during recent years, that
there should be held in Edinburgh, during 1884, and at
such season of the year as may be arranged, an
International Exhibition of Forest Products and other
objects of interest connected with Forestry.'

At a large and influential meeting held within the
Forestry Exhibition on the 8th of October 1884, it was
resolved to establish in Edinburgh a National School of
Forestry and a Museum connected therewith, and a
Committee was appointed to carry out the resolution.

In a note appended to a circular issued by this
Committee it was stated : — ' The Committee feel a
difficulty in suggesting a definite scheme for the proposed
School of Forestry, until they have some knowledge of
the amount of funds which may be placed at their
disposal ; but, in the meantime, it may be sufficient to
state that they contemplate the establishment of a
Professorship of Forest Science, for the instruction of
students in all that pertains both to Practical and Scientific

ADVERTISEMENT. v

Forestry — including the physiology and pathology of trees,
the climatic and other effects produced by forests, the
different methods of forest management, the economic
uses to which forest products have been or may be
applied, forest engineering, and forest administration
generally. Instruction to be communicated by lectures,
examinations, excursions, &c.

* A large collection of forest implements, produce, and
specimens, was, at the close of the Forestry Exhibition,
placed at the disposal of the Committee for use in
connection with the proposed Forest School ; and it is
the intention of the Committee, should their funds
permit, that that this collection should, with such
additions as may from time to time be available, be
placed in a permanent Museum in connection with the
School of Forestry.'

In furtherance of the same object the following volume
has been compiled for publication.

JOHN C. BROWN.

HADDINGTON, loth Mai/, 1885.

CONTENTS.

PART I.— POLAND.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION, 1

CHAPTER I.— St. Petersburg to Poland, . . . 12

CHAPTER II. — Forest Exploitation, . . . . 17

Ancient Laws (p. 17) ; Introduction of Modern Methods by
Baron von Berg in 1858 (p. 18) ; Exposition of Method
adopted, here known as the Scientific Method, in
Germany as Die Fachworke Method, in France as La
Methode des Compartiments (p. 19) ; Illustrations
of this by Col. Campbell- Walker (p. 29.)

CHAPTER III. — Area, Distribution, Management, and

Produce of Forests, 35

Area and Distribution (p. 35) ; Management (p. 38) ;
Produce (p. 57.)

CHAPTER IV. — Schools of Forestry and Forest Literature, 60
CHAPTER V.— Polish History, 66

PART II.— LITHUANIA.

CHAPTER I. — Lithuania and its People, ... 93

CHAPTER II. — Aspect of the Country, . . . 114

Governments of Grodno (p. 115) ; Wilna (p. 115) ; Kovno
(p. 117) ; Vitepsk (p. 119) ; Moghilev (p. 120) ; Minsk
(p. 122); Volhinia (p. 123) ; Pogdolia (p. 123.)

CONTENTS. vii

PAGK

CHAPTER III. — Forests of the Dnieper, .* . .126

Preliminary Statement (p. 126) ; Account by M. Polytaief
(p. 129) ; Summary (p. 129) ; Government of Smolensk
(p. 130) ;— Government of Orel (p. 136) ; Transport of
Timber (p. 142) ; Wood Trade (p. 150) ; Sales from
Crown Estates (p. 156) ;— Wood Trade in the Govern-
ment of Kursk (p. 165) ;— Wood Trade in the
Government of Ekatherinoslav (p. 171) ; — Wood Trade
in the Government of Kherson (p. 176) ; General
Remarks on the Forests in the Governments of
Kherson and Ekatherinoslav (p. 180) ;— Wood Trade in
the Government of Volhinia (p. 184) ;— Forests in the
Government of Kiev, and their bearing on the Wood
Trade (p. 187.)

CHAPTER IV. — Forest Exploitation, . . . . 191

Forest Districts in Russia and Exploitation (p. 191) ;
Transports on the Dnieper and Berezina (p. 194) ; Land
Reclamation (p. 199) ; Lithuanian Woodcraft (p. 200.)

CHAPTER V. — The Jewish Population, . . 201

CHAPTER VI. — Game, 215

PART III.— THE UKRAINE OR LITTLE RUSSIA, . . 227

Import of Name (p. 227) ; Forests (p. 229) ; Baturin
(p. 229) ; Kiev (p. 230) ; Appearance of the Country
(p. 233.)

PART IV. — TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC, . . 235

Dantzig (p. 235) ; Report by Mr Quinn (p. 241) ; Transport
of Dantzig Wheat (p. 242) ;— Konigsberg (p. 246) ;
Memel (p. 248) ;— Riga (p. 251); Russian Report
(p. 253) ; French Report (p. 255) ; Freight Charges
(p. 257.)

CONTENTS.

PART V. — BALTIC PKOVINCES OP RUSSIA.

CHAPTER 1.— Forest Lands, 259

General Statement (p. 259) ; Courland (p. 259) ; Livonia
(p. 261) ; Estonia (p. 261.)

CHAPTER II. — Forest Administration , . . . 262

CHAPTER III. — General Appearance of the Country

at Lifer ent Seasons, 269

AUTHORITIES CITED.

ANDERSON, pp. 99, 200, 215 ; BOERLING, p. 201 ; VON BERG, p. 18 ;
BEKTIFF AND KHVOSTOFF, p. 207 ; BITNEY, pp. 37, 53; BONIFACY, p.
64 ; CAMPBELL- WALKER, pp. 29, 33 ; DIXON, p. 227, 230 ; DUGLOSSIUS,
p. 68 ; Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, p. 80 ; DES FONTAINES, pp. 66, 80 ;
Gazetteer, pp. 93, 243 ; HOVE, p. 53 ; JOZEF, p. 65 ; KAUFFMANN, p.
253 ; KRAUSSE, p. 17 ; KRYSZTOFF, p. 64 ; Le Marchand du Bois, p.
255 ; LEROY-BEAULIEU, p. 206 ; Letters from the Shores of the
Baltic, p. 269 ; MARNY, pp. 35, 227 ; MACKENZIE WALLACE,
pp. 3, 94, 97 ; MICHIE, p. 90 ; NAUMAN, p. 14 ; NOVIKOFF,
p. 206; OSTENSTACKEN, p. 60; Pall Mall Gazette, pp. 212, 213;

PlNKERTON, p. 115, 233; POLENJANSKY, p. 40; POTUJANSKI, p. 64;

POLYTAIEF, pp. 129-190; QUINN, pp. 235, 241, 246, 248, 257; Russian
Government Reports, pp. 36, 60, 115, 116, 119, 120, 123, 191, 229,
261, 262, 264, 266 ; 'Timber Trades Journal, p. 194 ; VIDOMOSTI, p. 199 ;
WAGA, p. 64.

FORESTRY IN POLAND, LITHUANIA,

AND THE

BALTIC PROVINCES OF RUSSIA.

INTRODUCTION.

IN the Empire of Russia may be studied many of the
phases of forest economy.

In a volume entitled Introduction to the Study of Modern
Forest Economy, and in a companion volume entitled
Finland: its Forests and Forest Management, is embodied
information in regard to what is there called Svedjande,
known in French forest science as Sartage, and in some
parts of India as Koomaree.

In another companion volume, entitled Forest Lands
and Forestry of Northern Russia, is embodied information
in regard to exploitation according to what is known in
France as Jardinage,

In a third volume, entitled Forestry in the Mining Districts
of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Russia, information
is supplied in regard to what is known as Furetage, and
in regard to what is known as exploitation according to
La Methode a Tire et Aire, carried on with malversations
and abuses, such as in the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury called forth a famous and oft-cited warning from
Colbert, ' La France perira en faute des bois ! '

And in a volume entitled French Forest Ordinance of 1669;
with Historical Sketch of Previous Treatment of Forests in
France, is supplied information in regard to stringent
measures adopted in France to suppress such malversa-
tions and abuses.

,r; .FORESTRY IN POLAND.

In Poland we find an endeavour made to introduce the
most advanced forest exploitation of the day — that known
in Germany, where it originated, as Die Fachwerke Method,
known in France as La Methode des Compartiments, and
known in Poland and in some other countries as the Scientific
Method of Exploitation. In Lithuania we find forest
management similar to what prevails throughout Central
Russia. And in Courland, Estonia, and Livonia, we meet
with some special regulations issued for the management
of forests in the Baltic Provinces of Russia.

Through all of these last-mentioned countries — Poland,
Lithuania, Courland, Estonia, and Livonia — I have tra-
velled once and again in proceeding to or from St. Peters-
burg, where I once resided as pastor of the British, and
American Church, and where I have frequently passed
the summer ministering to the same church, while one and
another of those who have succeeded me in the pastorate
sought a few months' relaxation at home. In all of them
I have had correspondents — in some districts, numerous
correspondents ; and though my correspondence with most
related chiefly, if not exclusively, to the publication of
religious tracts, and to the sale and distribution of the
New Testament Scriptures, there has thus been sustained
for more than half a century an interest in them which
has procured for me information which otherwise it might
have been difficult to obtain.

My first journey through this portion of Western Russia
was made in 1836 ; a second in 1873, coming from
Vienna through Poland to St. Petersburg ; my last in 1878,
proceeding from St. Petersburg through Berlin and Dres-
den to Paris. In the lengthened interval how changed
the mode of travelling ! At the time of my first journey
there were not even diligences by which the journey from
the capital might be made, and railways were unknown
and un thought of, while in winter a voyage by sea was
impossible.

By enquiry I learned that there was a British courier

INTRODUCTION. 3

likely to leave St. Petersburg shortly for London, going by
Berlin, who was quite agreeable to allow me to travel #ibh
him for a reasonable consideration ; but the time of his
departure did not depend upon himself; nor did the route
he should follow ; and time was of importance to me. I
then heard of a merchant going to Riga, desirous of some
one to share with him the expense of travelling post ; and
our arrangements were soon made.

A sledge made of plane deal, with wooden runners,
and a canvas curtain in front, was purchased, a padorozli-
naya, or order for post horses was procured, and off we
set. Mr Mackenzie Wallace gives the following account
of the posting arrangements of Russia : —

' However enduring and long-winded horses may be,
they must be allowed sometimes, during a long journey,
to rest and feed. Travelling with one's own horses is
therefore necessarily a slow operation, and is already
antiquated. People who value their time prefer to make
use of the Imperial Post-organisation. On all the prin-
cipal lines of communication there are regular post-
stations, at from ten to twenty miles apart, where a
certain number of horses and vehicles are kept for the
convenience of travellers. To enjoy the privileges of
this arrangement, one has to apply to the proper autho-
rities for a " Podorozhnaya " — a large sheet of paper
stamped with the Imperial Eagle, and bearing the name
of the recipient, the destination, and the number of
horses to be supplied. In return for this document a
small sum is paid for imaginary road repairs ; the rest of
the sum is paid by instalments at the respective stations.
Armed with this document, you go to the post-station
and demand the requisite number of horses. Three is
the number generally used, but if you travel lightly, and
are indifferent to appearances, you may modestly content
yourself with a pair. The vehicle is a kind of Tarantass,
but not such as I have elsewhere described. The essentials
in both are the same, but those which the Imperial
Government provides resemble an enormous cradle on

4 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

wheels, rather than a phaeton. An armful of hay spread
over the bottom of the wooden box is supposed to play
the part of cushions. You are expected to sit under the
arched covering, and extend your legs so that the feet
lie beneath the driver's seat ; but you will do well, unless
the rain happens to be coming down in torrents, to get
this covering unshipped, and travel without it. When
used, it painfully curtails the little freedom of movement
that you enjoy, and when you are shot upwards by some
obstruction on the road, it is apt to arrest your ascent by
giving you a violent blow on the top of the head.

1 It is to be hoped that you are in no hurry to start,
otherwise your patience may be sorely tried. The horses,
when at last produced, may seem to you the most
miserable screws that it was ever your misfortune to
behold ; but you had better refrain from expressing your
feelings, for if you use violent, uncomplimentary language,
it may turn out that you have been guilty of gross
calumny, I have seen many a team composed of animals
which a third-class London costermonger would have
spurned, and in which it was barely possible to recognise
the equine form, do their duty in highly creditable style,
and go along at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles an
hour, under no stronger incentive than the voice of the
Yemstchik. Indeed, the capabilities of these lean,
slouching, ungainly quadrupeds are often astounding
when they are under the guidance of a man who knows
how to drive them. Though such a man commonly
carries a little harmless whip, he rarely uses it except by
waving it horizontally in the air. His incitements are
all oral. He talks to his cattle as he would to animals of
his own species — now encouraging them by tender, cares*
sing epithets, and now launching at them expressions of
indignant scorn. At one moment they are his "little
doves," and at the next they have been transformed into
" cursed hounds." How far they understand and
appreciate this curious mixture of endearing cajolery and
contemptuous abuse it is difficult to say, but there is no

INTRODUCTION. 5

doubt that it somehow has upon them a strange and
powerful influence.

' Any one who undertakes a journey of this kind should
possess a well-knit, muscular frame and good tough
sinews, capable of supporting an unlimited amount of
jolting and shaking ; at the same time, he should be well
inured to all the hardships and discomfort incidental to
what is vaguely termed *' roughing it." When he wishes
to sleep in a post-station he will find nothing softer than
a wooden bench, unless he can induce the keeper to put
for him on the floor a bundle of hay, which is perhaps
softer, but on the whole more disagreeable than the deal
board. Sometimes he will not get even the wooden
bench, for in ordinary post-stations there is but one room
for travellers, and the two benches — there are rarely more
—may be already occupied. When he does obtain a
bench, and succeeds in falling asleep, he must not be
astonished if he is disturbed once or twice during the
night by people who use the apartment as a waiting-room
whilst the post-horses are being changed. These passers-
by may even order a Samovar, and drink tea, chat, laugh,
smoke, and make themselves otherwise disagreeable,
utterly regardless of the sleepers. Then there are the
other intruders, of which I have already spoken when
describing the steamers on the Don. I must apologise to
the reader for again introducing this disagreeable subject.
JEsthetically it is a mistake, but I have no choice. My
object is to describe travelling in Russia as it is, and any
description which did not give due prominence to this
species of discomfort would be untrue — like a description
of Alpine climbing with no mention of glaciers. I shall
refrain, however, from all details, and confine myself to a
single hint for the benefit of future travellers. As you
will have abundant occupation in the work of self-defence,
learn to distinguish between belligerents and neutrals,
and follow the simple principle of international law, that
neutrals should not be molested. They may be very
ugly, but ugliness does not justify assassination. If, for

6 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

instance, you should happen in awaking to notice a few
black or brown beetles running about your pillow, restrain
your murderous hand ! If you kill them you commit an
act of unnecessary bloodshed ; for though they may play-
fully scamper around you, they will do you no bodily
harm.

'The best lodgings to be found in some of the small
provincial towns are much worse than the ordinary post-
stations. To describe the filthiness and discomfort of
some rooms in which I have had to spend the night
would require a much more powerful pen than mine ; and
even a powerful writer in entering on that subject would
involuntarily make a special invocation for assistance to
the Muse of the Naturalistic school.

f In the winter months travelling is in some respects
pleasanter than in summer, for snow and frost are great
macadamisers. If the snow falls evenly there is for some
time the most delightful road that can be imagined. No
jolts, no shaking, but a smooth, gliding motion, like that
of a boat in calm water, and the horses gallop along as if
totally unconscious of the sledge behind them. Unfortu-
nately, this happy state of things does not last long. The
road soon gets cut up, and deep transverse furrows are
formed. How these furrows come into existence I have
never been able clearly to comprehend, though I have
often heard the phenomenon explained by men who
imagined they understood it. Whatever the cause and
mode of formation may be, certain it is that little hills
and valleys do get formed, and the sledge, as it crosses
over them, bobs up and down like a boat in a chopping
sea, with this important difference, that the boat falls into
a yielding liquid, whereas the sledge falls upon a solid
substance, unyielding and unelastic. The shaking and
jolting which result may readily be imagined.

' There are other discomforts, too, in winter travelling.
So long as the air is perfectly still, the cold may be very
intense without being disagreeable ; but if a strong head
wind is blowing, and the thermometer ever so many

INTRODUCTION. 7

degrees below zero, driving in an open sledge is a very
disagreeable operation, and noses may get frostbitten
without their owners perceiving the fact in time to take
preventive measures. Then why not take covered sledges
on such occasions ? For the simple reason that they are
not to be had ; and if they could be procured, it would be
well to avoid using them, for they are apt to produce
something very like sea-sickness. Besides this, when the
sledge gets overturned, it is pleasanter to be shot out on
to the clean, refreshing snow, than to be buried ignomi-
niously under a pile of miscellaneous baggage.

' The chief requisite for winter travelling in these icy
regions is a plentiful supply of warm furs. An English-
man is very apt to be imprudent in this respect, and to
trust too much to his natural power of resisting cold.
To a certain extent this confidence is justifiable, for an
Englishman often feels quite comfortable in an ordinary
great coat, when his Russian friends consider it necessary
to envelope themselves in furs of the warmest kind ; but
it may be carried too far, in which case severe punishment
is sure to follow, as I once learned by experience. I may
relate the incident as a warning to others.

' One day in the winter of 1870-71 I started from
Novgorod, with the intention of visiting some friends at
a cavalry barracks situated about ten miles from the
town. As the sun was shining brightly, and the distance
to be traversed was short, I considered that a light fur
and a hashlyk — a cloth hood which protects the ears —
would be quite sufficient to keep out the cold, and
foolishly disregarded the warnings of a Russian friend
who happened to call as I was about to start. Our route
lay along the river due northward, right in the teeth of a
strong north wind. A wintry north wind is always and
everywhere a disagreeable enemy to face ; let the reader
try to imagine what it is when the Fahrenheit thermometer
is at 30° below zero — or rather let him refrain from such an
attempt, for the sensation produced cannot be imagined
by those who have not experienced it. Of course I ought

8 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

to have turned back — at least, as soon as a sensation of
faintness warned me that the circulation was being
seriously impeded — but I did not wish to confess my
imprudence to the friend who accompanied me. When
we had driven about three-fourths of the way, we met a
peasant woman, who gesticulated violently, and shouted
something to us as we passed. I did not hear what she
said, but my friend turned to me and said in an alarming
tone — we had been speaking German — " Mein Gott ! Ihre
Nase ist abgefrohren 1" Now the word " aJgefrohren," as
the reader will understand, seemed to indicate that my
nose was frozen off, so I put up my hand in some alarm to
discover whether I had inadvertently lost the whole or
part of the member referred to. So far from being lost
or diminished in size, it was very much larger than usual,
and at the same time as hard and insensible as a bit of wood.

' " You may still save it," said my companion, " if you
get out at once and rub it vigorously with snow."

' I got out as directed, but was too faint to do anything
vigorously. My fur cloak flew open, the cold seemed to
grasp me in the region of the heart, and I fell insensible.

' How long I remained unconscious I know not. When
I awoke I found myself in a strange room, surrounded by
dragoon officers in uniform, and the first words I heard
were, " He is out of danger now, but he will have a fever."

' These words were spoken, as I afterwards discovered,
by a very competent surgeon ; but the prophecy was not
fulfilled. The promised fever never came. The only
bad consequences were that for some days my right hand
remained stiff, and during about a fortnight I had to
conceal my nose from public view.

' If this little incident justifies me in drawing a general
conclusion, I should say that exposure to extreme cold is
an almost painless form of death, but that the process of
being resuscitated is very painful indeed — so painful, that
the patient may be excused for momentarily regretting
that officious people prevented the temporary insensibi-
lity from becoming " the sleep that knows no waking."

INTRODUCTION. , 9

' Between the alternate reigns of winter and summer
there is always a short interregnum, during which travel-
ling in Russia by road is almost impossible. Woe to the
ill-fated mortal who has to make a long road journey
immediately after the winter snow has melted ; or, worse
still, at the beginning of winter, when the autumn mud
has been petrified by the frost, and not yet levelled by
the snow ! '

My journey was made in winter, and therefore we had
a sledge — a covered sledge, but covered with bass-matting,
and all the appointments of the most unpretending char-
acter, for it had to be sold at the end of the journey, when
it would not fetch a high price. It cost little; but it
would sell for less : and a reduction of 50 per cent, on
twenty shillings is a good deal less than a like reduction
on twenty pounds ; we would also be more likely to find
a purchaser for our vehicle if it were of little value ; and it
suited the convenience of both of us to travel cheaply,
taking two horses instead of three. On arriving at the
first station-house we had to exercise the patience of
which Mr Wallace speaks. All the horses were out ; and
we had to wait till some had returned and rested. It was
dark. I strolled about the station-house. Feeling hungry,
I looked about for my fellow-traveller to get him to order
supper for me, as I was but a novice in travelling there.
I could find him nowhere ; so I went to lie down in the
sledge for a change. Lifting the curtain, I found him
there busy making his supper on provisions he had
brought with him. I said more to myself than to him,
laughing as I said it : — ' Holloa, my lad ! if you can do
that, I can do that too/ And I got out a basket filled
with provisions with which some of my friends in St.
Petersburg had supplied me. The mention of this recalls
the scene of our starting, and one kind face among others
now no more. The owner of that face, caring for me as a
mother for her son, brought bread, a cake, two tongues,
salt — an article most valuable at an al fresco meal, but

10 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

very likely to be forgotten, and a slab of frozen mince-
collops. I was astounded, but I was assured all would be
needed before I had completed my journey, And so it
was. Morning, noon, and night, when resting for a little
at a station-house, I would ask for a hatchet, and, break-
ing off a lump of frozen collops, give it to the people to
heat; and my fellow-traveller was not loth to partake
with me of the savoury viands. Here this could not be
done ; but getting out a tongue, which, though cooked, had
not been frozen, I made signs to my fellow traveller that
I did not know what to do as I had no knife. Taking the
tongue in one hand, and taking hold of the tip of it with
the other, he screwed this off and held it out to me. I
received it with a laugh ; it was my first lesson in rough
travelling ; I have travelled many thousand miles since,
in America, in Africa, and in Europe, but never again
have I been at a loss what to do to prepare provisions, and
to use them when prepared. I can kindle a fire in the
desert, and prepare a carabonaje with the best of them ;
and eat it with a relish, with no garnishing but salt and
pepper. Only once was I placed in any difficulty — and
that not from any squeamishness on my part, but from
the delicacy of feeling experienced by others. Three of
us, with attendants, were crossing the Karoo in South
Africa; there was a stretch of eighty-four miles which
had to be travelled one day. We had purchased a live fowl
at a farm at which we slept the night before. At mid-day,
having out-spanned the horses, the drivers were sent with
them away some six miles to get water. Neither of my
companions could kill a fowl ; I volunteered to kill, and
strip, and cook, and eat it too, if they would allow me.
But they shrunk from letting a minister kill the fowl, and
from this delicacy of feeling on their part, we were likely
to have to wait for our dinner till the horses returned,
were in-spanned, and ready to take us forward on our
journey, lest we should be benighted in the feldt. We got
out of the difficulty at last by one of the party, not I,
pulling off the head with all his might, and throwing it

INTRODUCTION. 11

away in the air as if it were a thing polluted. Thanks to
my experience at the Russian station-house, I have never
perished of hunger from want of a knife and a silver fork,
though I may equal the most fastidious in the enjoyment
of all the amenities of life.

We stopped an hour or two at Dorpat, that I might
visit some of the professors there with whom I was
acquainted, and just as we were nearing Konigsberg the
English courier overtook us. With him I travelled to
Berlin, rejoicing in the well-made and well-kept roads of'
Prussia, which contrasted greatly with those of Russia,
excepting where these were covered with snow, on which
I found it pleasant to glide along in the sledge, travelling
night and day, sleeping when, and only when, so inclined ;
and though sometimes upset, always falling soft on the
uncrushed snow lining the track — our fur shoobs and
wadded caps helping to make the upset more harmless and
rather pleasurable than otherwise from the excitement.

How different is travelling now ! In less than three
days one may travel /rom St. Petersburg to London.
From St. Petersburg to Berlin one may travel with every
comfort without once leaving the carriage, every conven-
ience being provided. From Vienna to St. Petersburg I
once travelled thus, changing carriages only at Warsaw, and
at Wilna, where we joined the train from Berlin. During a
year which my wife spent in Scotland, while I returned and
remained in St. Petersburg, every interchange of letters
cost 13s 6d, and occupied more than a fortnight, nearly
three weeks in transmission. Now the postage of a letter
is 2Jd, and it is conveyed in four days, while a post card
is transmitted and delivered for a penny !

PART I.

POLAND,

CHAPTER I.
ST. PETERSBURG TO POLAND.

IN journeying from St. Petersburg by railway towards
Poland, for some 200 miles we pass over ground which is
of a dead level, or almost such, being varied, not by rising
grounds, but by marshes and bogs, the dry land being to
some extent covered with trees of apparently no great age :
a stranger would say trees of some twenty or thirty years
growth > and I might say the same, but passing over the
ground at distant periods, I have found them always
apparently of the same age as they were when I first saw
them ; and this may be really the case, these having dis-
appeared, and those now there being trees by which they
have been replaced. They are apparently the scraggy
representatives of extensive forests of a former day.

Nowhere are seen forests such as may be seen in travel-
ling in the Governments of Olonetz and Archangel in
Northern Russia, and of Moscow, Orel, and others in
Central Russia.

Passing on, between Pskoff and Dunsburg, the country
is found to present more of an undulating aspect ; instead
of stagnant waters, brooks and rivulets and other forms of
running waters are seen. In this district great quantities
of flax are grown ; and the water is turned to account in
preparing the produce for the market. There are two
qualities of flax prepared, each in its own way, The one

ST. PETERSBURG TO POLAND. 13

of these, known as Motckenetx, is prepared by being steeped
for some time, and dried, to facilitate the removal of the
skin or bark, technically called silica, and other material
from the long woody fibre of which flax consists ; the other
of these, called Slanetz, is bleached by exposure to rain
and dew, or artificial sprinkling of water, and the sunshine.
The former is white, the latter is dark in colour ; and the
latter frequently gives trouble to the merchant by heating
through fermentation about the season at which the plant
flowers.

At Kovno, about 200 miles beyond Dunsburg, we enter
Poland, and advancing through the eastern portion of that
country, the traveller remarks that agriculture appears to
be carried on with more of a scientific character than in
the lands through which he has been passing, both on the
further and on the hither side of Dunsburg ; the houses
are more regularly built; the villages have more of a
European aspect, but the houses resembling more those of
Austria than those of Northern Germany, and the simi-
larity may be traced also in the laying out of the fields :
but by this one is reminded more of the arable lands of
Bavaria and other countries of Southern Germany than of
what is seen in Austria.

In North Germany the land is level, and there is no
end of ditches or open drains. Here it is more undulat-
ing, and these are less frequent. Agriculture seems also
to be more remunerative than in the lands traversed, the
crops stand thicker in the ground, and surface draining
appears to be uncalled for. The fields are sown with
wheat, whereas to the north of Kovno, there were to be
seen only barley, oats, and flax. All the more valuable
cereals seem to flourish in Poland, and in passing through
this district there is produced an impression that the soil
is more productive than it is further to the north ; that
the climate must be more equable; and the superficial
aspect of the land being more undulating, and at the same
time more thickly wooded, that as an agricultural district

14 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

it must be at least 50 per cent, superior to the Govern-
ments of St. Petersburg and of Pskoff.

In Poland both wheat and wool are raised for exporta-
tion. Large crops of potatoes are raised for the production
of spirits by distillation, and beetroot for the manufacture
of sugar; and wood for building purposes is exported
largely. The Scots fir (Pinus sylvestris), and the oak
( Quercus robur), are of very superior quality.

In this district we also find the trees to be different in
kind from what they were in the region, traversed in
coming hither. While in the first stages of the journey
they were chiefly and almost exclusively firs, and birches,
and willows, here, around Berdicheff, in Poland, we find
the woods composed in a great measure of oaks, and elms,
and chestnuts ; and the forest aspect is completely
different.

In the south-east corner of Poland, and in the adjacent
districts of Russia known as Little Russia, there are con-
siderable stretches of forest land overgrown by a wild pear
tree. The fruit is not edible, either when green or ripe ;
but it is gathered and steeped in the Russian beverage
called quass — the common drink of the peasantry — and
it is sold extensively throughout Russia as steeped pears,
and is greatly in demand by the peasants.

Quass is prepared by pouring hot water upon broken,
dry, black rye bread, a little yeast is added, and in some
cases a little peppermint, and it is allowed to fer-
ment.

Herds of swine are in the summer time turned out into
the woods, where they become little better than wild boars.
In November they are driven home, killed and frozen, and
sent to the northern districts of Russia to be sold as frozen
pork.

By Naumann, in his Geognosie, ii. p. 1173, it is stated:
' Olkuez and Schiewier, in Poland, lie in two sand deserts,
and a boundless plain of sand stretches around Ozeustac-
kaur, on which there grows neither tree nor shrub. In
heavy winds this place resembles a rolling sea, and the

ST. PETERSBURG TO POLAND. 15

sand hills rise and disappear like the waves of the ocean.
The heaps of waste from the Olkuez mines are covered
with sand to the depth of four fathoms/

So far as is known to me, no attempts have yet been
made to fix and utilise these drifting sands : but that they,
as well as those which have been arrested and rendered
productive in other lands — Hungary, France, Spain, Portu-
gal, Holland, Denmark, and Northern Germany, may be
brought under control I cannot doubt.

But in passing through the country one sees more of
forests than of sand drifts.

Of Poland an anonymous writer early in the present
century tells : — ' Poland is an extremely level country,
diversified by few or no eminences, except a ridge of hills
branching off from the Carpathian mountains, which
anciently formed the southern boundary of the country.
The rivers are unadorned with banks, and flow lazily in a
flat monotonous course, insomuch that when, as previously
stated, heavy falls of rain take place, the country for many
miles is completely inundated. The number and extent
of marshes and forests, neither of which the Poles have
seemed very anxious to remove, uniformly strike strangers
as one of the great characteristics of Poland. The soil,
which is chiefly either of a clayey or marshy description,
is, in many places, so extremely fertile, that with the least
cultivation it is calculated to produce the most luxurious
crops of corn ; and it is distinguished for the richest pas-
tures in Europe. Agriculture with the Poles, however, is
completely in its infancy. For many ages they neglected
this useful art, as they neglected every art of peace and
domestic comfort ; they were a warlike people ; and,
besides, the produce of the fields was not the property of
the peasants, but of their masters, and they were themselves
doomed, without hope of advancement, to continue in the
same rank of life, whatever had been their industry or
their skill, But though these disabilities have now been
greatly removed, though the Poles are rapidly emerging
from that state of laziness and inactivity in which they

16 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

remained so long sunk, yet, in the department in question
they have nearly everything to learn. Of the use of
manure they are almost entirely ignorant ; their common
practice is to crop a field till it be exhausted, and then for
a few years to abandon it. Their ploughs are scarcely
sufficient to penetrate the surface of the ground ; and
their fields when reaped, exhibit from this circumstance,
as rich a verdure as if they had remained for years
unbroken. This ignorance, however, is diminishing every
day. Some portions of Poland have been denominated
the garden of Europe ; and a period may not be far dis-
tant when the term may, with much propriety, be applied
to the whole territory. Societies for the encouragement
of agriculture have been established in Poland ; and the
vast tracts of forests and marshes with which it abounds
certainly open up on extensive field for the display of skill
and enterprise/

CHAPTER II.

FOREST EXPLOITATION.

IN 1881 there was published in Warsaw, in the Russian
language, a volume entitled A Critical Examination of the
forest System in the Kingdom of Poland, by A. Krause,
teacher in the College of Agriculture and Forestry in Neu-
Alexandria. In this he gives the history of forests and wood-
craft in Poland from the earliest times to the present day,
with many curious extracts from original documents and
authorities. The first period comprises heathen times,
when forests were surrounded by mystery and superstitious
observances.

The second period extends from the introduction of
Christianity in A.D. 860, to the extinction of Polish inde-
pendence in 1796. In the earlier centuries Poland seems to
have been almost covered with immense masses of pine, oak,
beech, spruce, lime, larch, and yew. These forests swarmed
with wild bison, beavers, wild horses, wild boar, red deer,
elk and roe deer, bears, wolves, and lynxes. In the four-
teenth century, however, man seems to have reclaimed
much of the wilderness. Forest statutes were published
by Casimir the Great in 1347. A few titles from this
ordinance are :

(1.) De his qui in silvis alienis damna faciunt, concern-
ing persons doing damage in the woods of others.

(2.) De incendentibits silvas vel gaues alienas, concerning
persons cutting down the woods or field trees of others.

(3.) Si alienos porcos in tua siiva reperias, if thou
findest another man's swine in thy wood.

(4.) De silvis glandariis et faguriis, concerning woods
for the production of oak-mast and beech-mast.

(5.) De incendiirus, concerning fire raising.

c

18 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

' Between 1796 and 1807 the separation of forests into
blocks was commenced. And in 1808 the French civil
code, with its enactments regarding the working of forests
was introduced.'

In 1858 Baron von Berg, Oberforstrath in Saxony, was
applied to professionally to examine and report on the
state of the forests and of forest management in Finland.
Thereafter he was applied to to do the same in
Poland; and he embodied his views in Denkschrift ilber
das Forst- Wesen in Polen, which was published in Leipsic
in 1864 or 1865. Thereafter there was introduced into
the management of the forests the German methods of
treatment, but, as a forest official remarked to me with a
shrug, the principles are the same ; but the application of
them, controlled by circumstances, soil, situation, climate,
forest products, &c., is one thing in Germany, it is a very
different thing in Poland, and necessarily so. According
to Herr Krause the estimates for all forest operations
must be prepared some years beforehand. Every forest
must be surveyed, and charts of it mapped out to a scale
of 1 = 20,000, in which one English mile would be
represented by about an inch. Smaller plans must also
be prepared to a scale of three miles to an inch. A block
coincides, as a rule, with the district perambulated by one
under-forester. Each block is divided into four divisions,
and each division is subdivided into fifteen compartments.
In each compartment all the trees are intended to be as
nearly as possible of one age or varying by not more than
thirty years. An interval of thirty years is allowed after
maturity for seeding and ensuring natural reproduction.
Each division, if perfect according to plan, should contain
fifteen different classes, or ages, of timber. This implies
for each division, as also for the whole block or forest, that
each tree should be felled between the ages of 120 and
150 years. The rotation of felling, instead of being-
directed, as is most usual, from east to west, proceeds in
regular order in each division, from south-east towards the

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 19

north-west. The avenues and paths bounding the com-
partments, run in parallel straight lines from north-east
to south-west, with the other avenues intersecting them
not quite at right angles. The compartments have been
almost always made equal in area, without taking account
of the difference in the qualities of soil. Each compart-
ment (according as the forest surveyor shall direct in his
estimates) must either be parcelled out into thirty yearly
portions, or, its cubic contents having been measured, and
its rate of increase ascertained, equal solid quantities of
timber is felled in each year of the thirty. In general
the latter method is prescribed as being more favourable
to the ripening of seed, and the ripening of seedlings with
little artificial assistance. Compartments occupied by
coppice or by coppice with reserved trees (compound cop-
pice) are parcelled out into equal yearly portions.

In criticising this Polish system, and awarding it in its
place among scientific systems, Herr Krause, after a mul-
titude of definitions and extracts, comes to the conclusion
that it is a high development of the method of equal yearly
clearings. Its descent he traces from the system which
prevailed in Brunswick at the commencement of this
century. (It is said that the system of equal yearly
portions was first devised by Frederick the Great of
Prussia.) And he states that by a series of special altera-
tions in the direction of completeness, and some improve-
ments which he suggests, the Polish system of estimates
may readily be brought up to the most modern form of
methodical exploitation.

The method of exploitation referred to is known in
France, as has been stated, as La Methode des Comparti-
ments, in Germany as Die Fachwerke Method, here as the
Scientific Method.

The system of Jardinage, felling a tree here and there
as it might be wanted, was in France and other countries
on the Continent of Europe extensively superseded more
than two hundred years ago by exploitation a tire et aire,

20 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

in winch all the trees on a given area were felled with the
exception of some left to bear seed, and to afford shade
and shelter to seedlings. The areas so exploited frequently
succeeded each other side by side in regular progression.
Under the scientific method, the Fachwerke Method, or
Methode des Compartiments, plots or patches of forest like to
each other, but situated apart, are treated as if they
formed a continuous wood, and are treated collectively as
were the different areas in exploitation a tire et aire.

Where Jardinage is followed we have trees of varied
ages growing confusedly mixed together, and injuring one
another, the older and taller overgrowing the younger and
impeding their growth, and the older becoming straggling
and knotty, and of a height inferior to what they attained
when they were more serried, while they are also less able
to withstand the storm ; and many, young and old alike,
often become diseased, rarely appear well conditioned,
and not unfrequently perish prematurely. Though some
trees withstand and surmount all these evils, the product
of a forest so treated is in a given time inferior both in
quantity and in quality to what it might have been ; and
there is a tendency in the method of management to convert
the forest into a scrub, and ultimately to destroy it altogether.

About the middle of the sixteenth century it began to
be realised that the system followed had in it inherent
defects, and these such as could scarcely be eradicated by
any attempted improvement to which it could be subjected.
But it was thought that the conservation of the forests
might be assured by continuous reproduction if the fellings
were confined to one portion of the forest, throughout one
year, or a series of years, more or less prolonged, during
which the trees growing elsewhere should be allowed un-
disturbed growth ; while this should be allowed to recover
itself during the much more lengthened period which
would be required to go over not one but all of the other
divisions of the forest or woodlands with which it was
connected, and if necessary the extension of this to other
forests or other woodlands.

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 21

Such was the Methode a tire et aire, associated by many
with the celebrated Ordinance of 1669 ; but sustained pro-
duction was not thereby secured. Forests continued to
disappear, and though this was attributable to abuses for
which the system was not responsible, it was remarked
that there was a great inequality in the products of suc-
cessive fellings during successive periods ; that there was
a considerable loss of possible produce not only from differ-
ence in the productiveness of different patches in the same
time, but more so from the circumstance that as some
portions were necessarily cut down when the trees were too
young, in other portions many trees, and even entire plots,
were left standing so long waiting for their turn that they
decayed before they came within the regular series of fellings.

The succeeding crops, moreover, were not always found
equal in quantity to the preceding, while they were also
much inferior in quality in consequence of the irregularity
in regard to denseness in which they grew up — in some
places sparse, in others so dense that they could neither
attain to good proportions nor acquire a 'firm texture.
These evils it was sought to remedy by giving to every
patch or plot in the forest the treatment it specially
required, combining those which were in like conditions
and conveniently situated, treating them as if they con-
stituted a continuous wood —modifying the arrangement
of a tire et aire to meet the requirements of this develop-
ment of that system, and adding the products of thinnings
and partial fellings in patches or plots, in which these
were practised, to the products of the successive definitive
fellings in others, or rather adding these to those to com-
plete the supply required without preventing natural
reproduction and sustained production.

In the accomplishment of this there are sundry opera-
tions necessary in any case, but more especially when it is
desired to secure all the advantages of the system. Cir-
cumstances may determine the order in which these may
be attended to, and it appears to me to be a matter of
indifference in what order I now detail them.

22 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

Let it be supposed that it is virgin forest which is to be
exploited — it is ascertained, by survey and inspection, of
what kinds of trees it is composed ; what age, or differ-
ent ages, the different kinds of trees are ; in what condi-
tion they are ; what measure of vigour of growth they
manifest, and what are the promises, in regard to this
measure of vigour being maintained or increased in coming
years, supplied by the nature of the soil and the situation
of the trees. Thus a general idea of the peuplement of the
forest is obtained. By another series of observations which
may have previously been made in connection with, or in
preparation for, the exploitation of other woods, or, which
if not previously made, must be made now, it must be ascer-
tained in regard to the kind or different kinds of trees of
which the peuplement of the forest consists — what increase
of cubic contents these make in the course of a year, or of
any definite number of years— say five or ten — at all
stages of growth, from that of a sapling to that of an old
tree beginning to decay ; and in connection with this, by
deduction from data thus obtained or by separate observa-
tion, it must be ascertained to what age and magnitude
the kind of tree growing there may attain without decay ;
at what age the annual increase becomes so diminished
that a greater production of wood in a given period of
considerable duration may be obtained by felling and
raising a new crop, than by allowing the trees to go on
growing ; at what age of growth the wood is of best quality
for the purpose for which it is required ; and at what age
a maximum of wood of such superior quality would be
secured by then felling the tree.

In illustration of what may thus be learned I may
adduce a hypothetical case. Suppose, what is likely to be
the case, that a tree in its growth makes an increasing
increment of cubic contents year by year, and decade by
decade, up to the age of sixty, making more wood between
10 and 20 than between 1 and 10, more between 20 and
30 than between 10 and 20, and so on continuously, more
between 50 and 60 than between 40 and 50 : it may be

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 23

found that, though continuing to make increase, it does
not make a greater increment between 60 and 70 than it
did between 30 and 40, and that, though still making
increase, this is now in continuously diminishing quantity,
until decay having begun after a lapse of years, it loses
more by decay than it makes by growth. But it may be
found that though the rate of increase of quantity was
reversed after 60 years of growth, the quality continued to
improve for thirty years and more thereafter ; and also
that it was only when the tree had attained the age of 150
years that it had attained the size necessary to yield timber
of the size required for some special purpose for which it
was needed. All of the information thus obtained may be
turned to account in determining the treatment to be
given to the forest in exploitation, though it may, or it may
not, all be required ; but the same may be said of a great
deal of the work of subordinates in any work.

In the hypothetical case supposed, it might be necessary
to secure some timber of the greatest bulk which could be
obtained, and in order to this, that the trees yielding this
should grow to the age of 150 years. But it might be
desired rather to get as much wood from the forest as
possible ; and much more would be obtained in the course
of 300 years by felling at the age of 75, and getting four
crops of trees of that age than by felling all at 150, and
getting two crops of trees at that age. By felling at 60,
and leaving baliveaux for seed, several fellings of trees
aged 90— the age at which the trees yielded timber of the
best quality — and fellings at the ages of 120 years, and
180 years, and 240 years, and 300 years, of timber of
greater magnitude might be obtained, along with the cop-
pice wood of six fellings in the course of 300 years, from
baliveaux left growing at the first, the second, and the
third successive fellings ; which might be reserved exactly
in such numbers as would yield the timber required • and
the rapid growth of none of the others at an earlier age
would be sacrificed. Or, again, it might be desired to get
as large pecuniary returns from the forest as possible ; and

24 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

this might be secured by an improved quality, though in
diminished quantity, and that the maximum quantity of
wood of the requisite quality could be secured in the period
named — 300 years, by felling the trees at the age of 100,
and getting three crops of trees of that age off the ground,
than by letting all grow to the age of 150; while larger
timber required might be obtained by reserved baliveaux;
and arrangements might be made for the felling of such
of these as might be required, not only without detriment,
but if properly managed, with benefit to the crops then
growing. These are but a few of the simplest complica-
tions for which a director of operations prepares.

The director or projector of operations, with the data
referred to before him, together with special requirements
such as those just alluded to, if any such there be, deter-
mines what period of time is to be assigned to the crops
to be produced successively by the forests — in technical
phrase, determines the regime, or if this has been pre-deter-
mined, determines the time to be allotted to a revolution,
or cycle, from sowing through growth and successive thin-
nings to felling and resowing again. The number of years
going to a complete revolution is very different under the
coppice wood regime and under the regime of timber forest ;
and under each of these it may vary within a comparatively
limited range, according to the kind of tree, the situation,
the demand, and the vigour of growth. This, then, has
to be determined next conditionally, at least, if not abso-
lutely.

With this addition to the data an estimate is then made
of what is called la possibility or of the cubic measurement
of the growth made year by year, or definite period of
years throughout the period of the revolution; which
supplies a measurement of the wood, which, without
exceeding the yield, might be removed in the course of
each of these years, or periods of years.

By withdrawing only the quantity thus determined, the
forest may be exploited without imperilling its sustained

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 25

production, provided the exploitation be equably diffused
both as to time and space.

With a view to this there is prepared — and it may have
been in course of preparation in the forest while some of
these data were being prepared in the office — a survey,
trigonometrical or other, of the forest and of all the
plots or patches of which it is composed, varying in any
way from what is adjoining, with a diagram of the whole
representing each of these, accompanied by a report speci-
fying the particulars of each. And with these before him,
together with the other data, the forest official entrusted
with the work proceeds to what is called I'assiette des
coupes, the allotting of the different portions to be felled in
successive periods, which is done with provision for subse-
quent rectification, if, through anticipated contingencies or
unforseen incidents, this should prove desirable.

Let us suppose the forest under consideration is to be
subjected to the regime of timber forest, with a revolution
fixed at 120 years, it may be divided into four approxi-
mately equivalent portions to be exploited successively in
four successive periods of thirty years, but in any or all of
which there may be carried on extraordinary operations
which occasion may call for, the produce of which are
reckoned on as a component part of the annual yield of
the forest.

The portion allotted for exploitation in the first period
of thirty years is then on a like principle subdivided into
approximately equivalent portions for exploitation during
successive periods of say five years. And there is prepared
a provisional scheme of annual operations throughout the
first sub-period of five years, which, when sanctioned, are
followed for a time ; but from time to time the scheme is
reviewed, proceeds are compared with estimates, and if
necessary the scheme of operations is modified.

These operations include not only the fellings of cer-
tain portions, but the thinnings of others repeated from
time to time, and the removal of some of the baliveaux
left for seed, and shelter, and shade, a sufficient number of

26 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

trees being left in each felling to resow the ground and
give shelter to the seedlings. By these reserved trees there is
secured the natural reproduction of the forests in connec-
tion with the sustained production of the same, and by
them shelter required by the seedlings is supplied ; but as
these advance in growth their being overtopped would
prove a hindrance to their growth. All that is desirable
is such shade as might be supplied by the shadow of the
tree passing over them as the sun advances in his course ;
and all the baliveaux excepting such as might sufficient to
yield this are removed. Subsequently these also may be
removed with benefit to the new repeuplement, and they
also are removed. To the new repeuplement it is also
advantageous that from time to time they should be
thinned; and this is done either at the time that
baliveaux are being felled, or at other times. By these suc-
cessive operations there is combined with the natural
reproduction a progressive amelioration of the forest ; and
the products of these operations are taken into account
along with the products of the regular fellings in reckon-
ing the periodic produce.

Besides these extraordinary products of thinnings, &c.,
added to the ordinary products of the regular fellings, it
occasionally happens that a storm or a fire occasions such
devastation that some, or many, or all of the trees must be
cleared away, and an estimated average of the additional
wood thus supplied for the market enters into the estimate
of the periodic produce.

The skill of the forest agent entrusted with the work is
seen in his so apportioning and allotting the fellings in the
division assigned to the period, and the thinnings over the
whole area of the forest, so as best to secure the three objects
aimed at — sustained production, progressive amelioration,
and natural reproduction. While this operation supplies
ample scope for the exercise of skill, instruction is given
in the School of Forestry of the country in regard to the
means of doing what is required. The instructions I cite
not here, but content myself with reporting what is done in

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 27

such a way that a definite idea may be formed of what
the improved system of exploitation is, and of wherein it
differs from Jardinage, felling a tree here and there as
required, and from Exploitation h tire et aire, the progres-
sive felling of adjacent areas.

I have spoken of a virgin forest to be subjected to the
forest regime. But there are other cases, some or all of
which much more frequently exercise the skill of the
forest administrator. It may be required of him to
subject such a forest to the coppice wood regime, or a
coppice wood to the timber forest regime, or a forest which
has been subject to the timber forest regime to the coppice
wood regime, or a mixed coppice and timber forest to either
a simple timber forest or a simple coppice wood regime, or
to convert a timber forest or coppice wood into such a
mixed coppice and timber forest, or a forest which has
been treated by Jardinage into simple coppice, into mixed
forest and coppice, or into simple timber forest, or a timber
forest or coppice, or one which has been subjected to exploi-
tation according to La Meihodea tire et aire, into one or other
of these conditions — all with a view to subsequent exploi-
tation according to the Fachwerke Method, or Methode des
Compartiments.

All such operations afford scope — more ample scope
than does the hypothetical case previously supposed, for
the exercise of the forester's skill, but instructions are
given in many of the Schools of Forestry — for example, in
the school at Nancy, in France— in regard to what should
be done in each and all of the cases mentioned ; and these
instructions are simply appropriate applications to each
case of the general principles an exposition of which has
been given.

In the instructions given, as in instructions given in a
school of surgery, of medicine, or of law, all that is done,
and all that can be done, is to demonstrate and establish
general principles, with illustrations of their applicability,
and of their application to certain definite cases, instruc-

28 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

ting, educating, and training the student, and sending him
forth to exercise his common sense, his judgment, and his
skill, as occasion may demand, and circumstances may
warrant or permit.

Under the antiquated modes of exploitation, Jardinage,
and exploitation according to La Methode a tire et aire, the
former still practised in several British colonies, the latter
in its most imperfect form in some parts of Russia, and in
some parts of Scotland, explicit rules could be laid
down for the guidance of woodmen and foresters.
Under the more advanced Continental forest economy of
the day general principles of procedure are evolved ;
and the teachers of this forest economy, as do the teachers
of law, surgery, and the practice of medicine, say we must
leave the application of our instruction to the skill of the
practitioner. The legal practitioner whose advice is asked
may say, the law is so-and-so; but I must see the docu-
ments before I can give an opinion, for, the case being
altered, that alters this case. The medical or surgical
practitioner whose advice is asked may say, the general
principles applicable to the case are so-and-so ; but so
much depends on circumstances that some medical man
must see the case before a prescription can be given. And
so is it with the expounders and practitioners of the
advanced forest economy of the day. They say, these are
the principles upon which we proceed, but each particular
case requires its own peculiar application or mode of appli-
cation of them. And this, which may seem to be to
its disparagement, is considered by many, and considered
justly, to speak its excellence.

In regard to this method of exploitation, which I con-
sider that required in the primitive forests existing in
some of our colonial possessions to ensure their conserva-
tion, profitable exploitation, and natural reproduction, I
have given additional illustrations in a volume entitled
French Forest Ordinance of 1669; with Historical Sketch of

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 29

Previous Treatment of Forests in France* (pp. 45-47) ; and in
Introduction to the Study of Modem Forest Economy^ (pp. 165-
186).

In the latter I have embodied the following extracts
from a paper read by Captain (now Lieutenant-Colonel)
Campbell- Walker before the Otago Institute in Dunedin,
New Zealand, on December 21, 1876, entitled State
Forestry : its Aim and Object. He says in regard to the
way in which operations are initiated in Germany and
France : —

' When a forest is about to be taken in hand and worked
systematically, a surveyor and valuator from the forest
staff are despatched to the spot — the former working
under the directions of the latter, who places himself in
communication with the local forest officer (if there be
one), the local officials and the inhabitants interested, and
obtains from them all the information in his power. The
surveyor first surveys the whole district or tract, then the
several blocks or subdivisions as pointed out by the
valuator, who defines them according to the description
and age of the timber then standing, the situation, nature
of soil, climate, and any other conditions affecting the
rate of growth and nature of the crops which it may be
advisable to grow in future years. Whilst the surveyor
is engaged in demarcating and surveying these blocks,
the valuator is employed in making valuations of the
standing crop, calculating the annual rate of growth,
inquiring into and forming a register of rights and servi-
tudes with a view to their communication, considering the

* French' Forest Ordinance of 1660 ; with Historical Sketch of Previous Treatment
of Forests in France. — The early history of forests in France is given, with details of
devastations of these going on in the first hair of the seventeenth century ; with a trans-
lation of the Ordinance of 1669, which is the basis of modern forest economy ; and
notices of forest exploitation in Jardinage, in La Methode A Tire et Aire, and in La
Methode des Compartiments.

t Introduction to the Study of Modern Forest Economy.— In this there are brought
under consideration the extensive destruction of forests which has taken place in
Europe and elsewhere, with notices of disastrous consequences which have followed—
diminished supply of timber and firewood, droughts, floods, landslips, and sand-drifts —
and notices of the appliances of modern forest science successfully to counteract these
evils by conservation, planting, and improved exploitation, under scientific administra-
tion and management.

30 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

best plan of working the forest for the future, the roads
which it will be necessary to construct for the transport
of timber — in fact, all the conditions of the forest which
will enable him to prepare a detailed plan for future
management, and the subordinate plans and instructions
for a term of years, to be handed over to the executive
officer as his " standing orders/'' A complete code of
rules for the guidance of the valuators has been drawn up
and printed, in which every possible contingency or
difficulty is taken into consideration and provided for.
Having completed their investigations on the spot, the
valuator and surveyor return to head-quarters and pro-
ceed to prepare the working plans, maps, &c., from their
notes and measurements. These are submitted to the
Board or Committee of controlling officers, who examine
the plan or scheme in all its details, and if the calcula-
tions on which it is based be found accurate, and there
are no valid objections on the part of communities or
individuals, pass it, on which it is made out in triplicate,
one being sent to the executive officer for his guidance,
another retained by the controlling officer of the division,
and the original at the head quarter office for reference.
The executive officer has thus in his hands full instruc-
tions for the management of his range down to the
minutest detail, a margin being of course allowed for his
discretion, and accurate maps on a large scale showing
each subdivision of the forest placed under his charge.'

With regard to measures adopted to secure natural re-
production of exploited forests, he says: —

' Natural reproduction is effected by a gradual removal
of the existing older stock. If a forest tract be suddenly
cleared, there will ordinarily spring up a mass of coarse
herbage and undergrowth, through which seedlings of the
forest growth will rarely be able to struggle. In the case
of mountain forests being suddenly laid low, we have also
to fear not only the sudden appearance of an undergrowth
prejudicial to tree reproduction, but the total loss of the

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 31

soil from exposure to the full violence of the rain when it
is no longer bound together by the tree roots. This soil
is then washed away into the valleys below, leaving a
bare or rocky hillside bearing nothing but the scantiest
herbage. We must therefore note how Nature acts in the
reproduction of forest trees, and follow in her footsteps.
As Pope writes —

1 First follow Nature, and your judgment frame
By her just standard, which remains the same,
Unerring.' ....

Acting on this principle, foresters have arrived at a system-
atic method of treatment, under which large tracts of
forest in Germany and France are now managed. The
forests of a division, working circle, or district, are divided
according to the description of the timber and the prevail-
ing age of the trees, and it is the aim of the forester
gradually to equalise the annual yield, and ensure its per-
manency. With this object, he divides the total number
of years which are found necessary to enable a tree to
reach maturity into a certain number of periods, and
divides his forest into blocks corresponding with each
period or state of growth. Thus, the beech having a
rotation of 120 years, beech forests would be divided into
six periods of 20 years each — that is to say, when the
forest has been brought into proper order, there should be
as nearly as possible equal areas under crop in each of the
six periods, viz., from 1 year to 20, from 20 to 40, and
so on. It is not necessary that the total extent in each
period should be together, but it is advisable to group
them as much as possible, and work each tract regularly
in succession, having regard to the direction of the prevail-
ing winds. When a block arrives in the last or oldest
stage, felling is commenced by what is called a preparatory
or seed clearing, which is very slight, and scarcely to be
distinguished from the ordinary thinning carried on in the
former periods. This is followed by a clearing for light in
the first year after seed has fallen (the beech seeds only
every fourth or fifth year) with the objects of — 1st, pre-

32 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

paring the ground to receive the seed ; 2ndr allowing the
seed to germinate as it falls ; 3rd, affording sufficient light
to the young seedlings. The finest trees are, as a rule,
left standing, with the two-fold object of depositing the
seed and sheltering the young trees as they come up. If
there be a good seed year and sufficient rain, the ground
should be thickly covered with seedlings within two or
three years after the first clearing, Nature being assisted
when necessary by hand sowing, transplanting from
patches where the seedlings have come up very quickly,
to the thinner spots, and other measures of forest craft.
When the ground is pretty well covered the old trees are
felled and carefully removed, so as to do as little damage
as possible to the new crop, and the block recommences
life, so to speak, nothing farther being done until the first
thinning. The above is briefly the whole process of
natural reproduction, which is the simplest and most
economical of all systems, and especially applicable to
forests of deciduous trees. The period between the first
or preparatory clearing and the final clearing varies from
ten to thirty years, the more gradual and protracted
method being now most in favour, particularly in the
Black Forest, where the old trees are removed so gradually
that there can scarcely be said to be any clearing at all, the
new crop being well advanced before the last of the parent
trees is removed. This approximates to "felling by selec-
tion," [Jardmage], which is the primitive system of working
forests in all countries, under which, in its rude form, the
forester proceeds without method, selecting such timber as
suits him, irrespective of its relation to the forest incre-
ment. Reduced to system, it has certain advantages,
especially in mountain forests, in which, if the steep slopes
be laid bare area by area, avalanches, landslips, and disas-
trous torrents might result, but the annual output under
this system is never more than two-thirds of that obtained
l>y the rotation system, and there are other objections
which it is unnecessary to detail in this paper, which have
caused it to be rightly condemned, and now-a-days only

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 33

retained in the treatment of European forests under pecu-
liar or special circumstances.'

In a volume entitled Reports on Forest Management in
Germany, Colonel Campbell- Walker has said : — ' The main
object aimed at in any system of scientific forestry is, in
the first instance, the conversion of any tract or tracts of
natural forests, which generally contain trees of all ages
and descriptions, young and old, good and bad, growing
too thickly in one place and too thinly in another, into
what is termed in German, a geschlossener Bestand (close or
compact forest), consisting of trees of the better descrip-
tions, and of the same age or period, divided into blocks,
and capable of being worked, i.e., thinned out, felled, and
reproduced or replanted, in rotation, a block or part of a
block being taken in hand each year. In settling and
carrying out such a system, important considerations and
complications present themselves, such as the relation of
the particular block, district, or division, to the whole
forest system of the province; the requirements of the
people not only as regards timber and firewood, but straw,
litter, and leaves for manure and pasturage ; the geologi-
cal and chemical formation and properties of the soil ; and
the situation as regards the prevailing winds, on which
the felling must always depend, in order to decrease the
chances of damage to a minimum ; measures for precau-
tions against fires, the ravages of destructive insects, tres-
pass, damage, or theft by men and cattle. All these must
be taken into consideration and borne in mind at each
successive stage. Nor must it be supposed that when
once an indigenous forest has been mapped, valued, and
working plans prepared, the necessity for attending to all
such considerations is at an end. On the contrary, it is
found necessary to have a revision of the working plan
every ten or twenty years. It may be found advisable to
change the crop as in agriculture, to convert a hard wood
into a coniferous forest, or vice versa, to replace oak by
beech, or to plant up (unter bau) the former with spruce or

D

34 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

beech to cover the ground arid keep down the growth of
grass. All these, and a hundred other details, are constantly
presenting themselves for consideration and settlement,
and the local forest officer should be ever on the alert to
detect the necessity of any change and bring it into notice,
and no less than the controlling branch should be pre-
pared to suggest what is best to be done, and be conver-
sant with what has been done, and with what results,
under similar circumstances, in other districts and pro-
vinces.'

Such is the method of exploitation which was introduced
into Poland in 1858 by Baron von Berg ; and though there
may have been such a degeneration by reversion to older and
inferior methods of exploitation, as is intimated by Herr
Krause in his Critical Examination of the Forest System of the
Kingdom of Poland } the method in its characteristic details
is still followed.

CHAPTER III.

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, AND
PRODUCE OF FORESTS.

M. MARNY writes of the forests in Poland : — ' In Poland
we meet with only a few forests capable of giving any
idea of what was the ancient forest condition of the
country. A sample of this may be seen in the forest of
Wodwosco, which lies upon the domain of that name,
between those of Uraniezko and of Sublowiez. Whilst
one part cleared early in this century offers only a con-
tinuation of bushes and thickets, in the midst of which
spring up here and there a few alders, maples, or hollies :
in that which the hand of man has respected to this day,
the forest offers admirably tall trees of oak and beech,
mingled with majestic firs. Where the bushes disappear
a carpet of moss and heath re-cover the soil. Beyond this
the land loses this uniformity, and becomes more broken ;
a torrent dashes with fracas over the debris of rocks.
The trees are crowded together, and their branches are
drawn nearer and nearer, forming a dome which the rays
of the sun seek in vain to penetrate/

The annual tabulated reports of the area of forests in
Poland, and in the different divisions of Poland, vary
considerably. This may be attributable in part to one or
other, or one or more, or all of the following causes : —
Extensive clearings, extensive plantings, and rectifications
of estimates by new surveys and accurate measurements.

From a series of these in my possession I give the
following, which gives in a tabulated form for 1870 infor-
mation which may be generally interesting : —

FORESTRY IN POLAND.

|£J

.

2s!
lie

X O S

CO •-< «? fO <? 05 . CO "* 00

C^fNOH

8° o
o

o o

oo
oo

1 §l

w.-s P 3
^ 03 c

»*is

eo ^

-

- ^ 2

r3
jj <-»-*

a

Will

"

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c.

37

In the Polish Journal of Rural Economy and Forest Science,
Selskoy Ghosyaistvo u Laesovolstvo, there is given the following
information by Mr A. Bitney in regard to the present
state of the conservation and exploitation of the Crown
forests in Poland : — ' The accumulation of a great part of
the Crown forests in a few well-known centres leads to
the conclusion that they must be very unequally distri-
buted, and, in point of fact, we find the distribution in
the ten Governments into which the kingdom is divided
to be as follows : —

Governments.

Warsaw,

Kalish,

Petrokoff,

Radom,

Keletz,

Lublin,

Siedtetz,

Plotsk,

Lonija,

Souvalki,

Forests solely
belonging to
Government.

37,491 dec.

18,870

80,179

- 116,738

80,638
31,024
24,927
30,445
97,685

- 192,041

Total, 710,038 dec.

Proportion to Government

Forests.

Of Private Of Communal
Forests.

1/36
1/54
1/14
1/10
1/11
1/50
1/52

Forests.
1/6-4
1/9-3
1/2-4
1/2-10
1/2-0
l/13'O
1/11-4
1/5-2
1/1-5
2/1-0

1/33
1/11

1/5

' From this it appears that there are five Governments
absolutely poor in private forests — Kalish, Siedletz, Lublin,
Warsaw, and Plotsk, in which the private forests are in
proportion to Government forests as one-ninth, and the
communal forests as one forty-third ; and there are four
Governments— Petrokoff, Keletz, Lonija, and Ladom,
in which the private forests are in proportion to the Govern-
ment forests as one-half, and the communal forests as one-
eleventh ; and lastly there is the Government of Souvalki,
which presents the extreme case of the private forests
being to the Crown forests in the proportion of two to one,
and the communal forests as one-fifth.

' Such an unequal distribution of Crown forests, with the
great dispersion and small extent of a great many of
them, places the local forest administration under the

36 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

disadvantageous necessity of combining several small
forest estates in one forest administration, and thus it
comes to pass that the different forest administrations in
the first mentioned five Governments do not exceed upon
an average 7000 desatins, while in the four following they
average 13,000 desatins, and in the Souvalki Government
16,000 desatins.

' The whole of the Crown forests of the kingdom are at
present classified under three heads : —

'I. — Crown forests in absolute possession, 572,454 desatins
in extent, the whole annual produce of which, subject to
a small deduction for Government and local requirements
may be disposed of by sale.

'II. — Forests under concession to well-known mining
works, which are 116,705 desatins in extent, and are
assigned to these for the supply of timber, firewood,
and charcoal, for which the proprietors or lessees of these
works pay into the Treasury a contract price according to
the quantity used, while the Forest Administration has a
right to dispose according to their judgment of any surplus
produce after all the requirements of these works have
been met.

' III. — Leased forests, covering an area of 8,383 desatins,
in which the wood may be felled by the lessees, but the
Government administration is retained.

' From information embodied in a report made by the
Central Forest Administration it appears that there is a
fourth category — confiscated forests on church lands —
covering an area of 12,496 desatins, formerly belonging to
clergy of the Romish Church, but which have latterly
come under the administration of Government, and which
might have been included under the first head, but the
arrangement for the administration of them was not then
completed, nor were any sales then made.

'Besides these Crown forests, which are under admin is-
tration, the administrative authorities of the Crown forests
are understood to have a surveillance of all those private
forests given as security for money loans obtained from the

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 39

Government or from banks, and of such as are held by
private persons under deed of entail. The forest estates so
given in security for loans in all the Governments of the
kingdom in 1868 were 417 in number, covering a total
area of 162,633, desatins. The entailed forest estates
were in number 90, covering an area of 56,854 desatins.
In all, 507 forest estates, covering an area of 219,487
desatins.

' The smallest number of forests placed under Government
surveillance as forests mortgaged for loans are situated
in the Governments of Souvalki, Keletz, and Radorn ; the
greatest number in the Governments of Petrokoff, Kalish,
Olotsk, and Warsaw. The number of entailed estates
brought under this surveillance are few in the Govern-
ments of Keletz and Radom, with very few indeed in the
Governments of Plotsk and Lublin. They are mostly
situated in the Governments of Petrokoff, Kalish, Lonija,
and Souvalki.

'All the private forests under the surveillance of the
Forest Administration are placed under the supervision of
their officers, according to their situation and proximity to
different forest administrations of Crown forests in the
same district ; and as there are a great many such forests,
and they are widely dispersed over the kingdom, of the 64
administrations amongst which the Crown forests are
divided, there are only seven of these which have not
private forests under their supervision.

' This supervision extends only to seeing that they be not
destroyed. With this in view, and to reduce as much as
possible the trouble of the administration in the discharge
of the duty, the lenders — be it the Government or the
banks — make it a condition of loan that they shall bring
if necessary the forests into proper condition, and carry
out such plans of management as after examination shall
be sanctioned by the Forest Administration. Entailed
estates are not handed over to the inheritors until they
have been, if necessary, put into a proper condition in
accordance with the regulations laid down for Crown

40 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

forests, and they bind themselves to carry out the manage-
ment and exploitation of them in accordance with the pre-
scriptions of these regulations.

1 In all that relates to details of conservation — the period
of felling, the mode of sale, and the cutting up of the
wood — the holder is left to do as he thinks proper, pro-
vided only a systematic approved exploitation be carried
out, with satisfactory provision for the reproduction of the
forests as they are felled ; in regard to these points alone
is surveillance exercised.

' A little consideration will show that the Government
foresters have enough and more than enough on their
hands in the administration of the forests belonging to
the Crown. And it is not always the case that they have
either the opportunity or the time to carry this out in
accordance with the usually prescribed order of procedure
— and this, exclusive of what has to be done in connection
with partial fellings, and cutting openings through the
extent of the forest, &c., all which makes the control they
have to exercise more complicated, and the result may be
an exhaustion of the forests subjected to their surveillance.
And this is the more likely, seeing that they have no power
in many cases to compel the proprietors to keep a forester
to carry out the prescribed plans of management and ex-
ploitation.

1 From the consideration of all this it will be seen that
the supervision of private forests is not so easy a matter as
at first sight it may appear to be. And such supervision
as is exercised cannot prevent exhaustion, or even up-
rooting, or destruction of private forests, if the proprietors
wish this done.

' In regard to the failure of this nominal surveillance, Mr
Polonjansky, in statistics prepared by him some fifteen
years ago, pointed out to the Forest Administration that
up to that time nothing effectual had been done.

' All the Crown forests have been under the supreme
control of the Administration of Finance from the initia-

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 41

tion of regular forest administration up to the present
time. Under the Minister of Finance there has been a
distinct Department for the management of the Crown
property, included in which are the Crown forests. Some
few changes have taken place in this department, but
they have consisted mainly in reducing the number of
officials employed in it. At present the forest section of
the Administration of Finance consists of thirteen officials
in all, under a chief, but even he has very little to do with
the actual management of the forests, and he in turn is
under the immediate direction of the department of
Imperial domains, with the director in which lies the
initiation of the management of the forests; and the
forest section in the Ministry of Finance presents more
the appearance of a chancery than of a department.

' The forests are arranged in eight districts, over each of
which is a commissioner ; but these districts are not all of
equal size and importance. Each commissioner has an
adjunct, who may be likened to the taxator, or valuer, in
the Russian forest service. They have the superinten-
dence of all buildings, &c., as assistants to the commis-
sioners, and they very rarely have anything entrusted to
them entirely.

' The pay of the officials is very moderate. The chief
of the section receives 1350 roubles a year. The Stolon-
chalnicks, or heads of tables, clerks presiding over the
writers or copyists, are in three sections. Two receive 900,
two 824, and four 750 roubles. The adjuncts or assistants
do not all receive the same amount of pay, but salaries
ranging to from 300 to 674 roubles a year. The commis-
sioner has, in addition to his salary, an allowance of 400
roubles a year for travelling expenses, and the assistants
have one of 300 roubles.

'Notwithstanding the small number of the officials in
the Forest Administration, and the small salaries paid to
them, and the salary of the director not being included in
the account, the expenses have amounted to the following
sums : —

42 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

In 1868, subsequent to the reduction in the number of

officials, 27,210 roubles.

1867, previous to that reduction, .... 31,245 ,,

1866, 31,875 „

1865, 31,857 „

Giving as the average of the four years, - 30,557 roubles.

' Each forest administration is divided into four sub-
divisions, with officials bearing corresponding titles ; one
of these is the under forester, on whom is devolved the
charge of sales and fellings. Of these there are in all
192.

' When the forest is not large, and is unimportant, they
employ as under foresters warders, who receive the desig-
nation of controul guards, and a somewhat higher pay than
the other warders, discharging as they do all the functions
of under foresters. Of these there are 22 in all. In
accordance with this, the whole of the Crown forests are
divided into 214 sub-divisions, to each of which an under
forester is appointed, with an average of 2*1 desatins
for each.

' Of forest warders there are 92 mounted guards ; but
the principal ward and responsibility rests on the foot
guards, of whom there are 1072, giving to each a district
of 660 desatins, which, considering the populousness of
many places, is a ward of very considerable extent. In
view of this, in the more dangerous wards there are also
under guards, of whom at present there are 345.

' The local forest administrations in the different Govern-
ments are classified as those of forests, and those of sub-
forests. The number of the whole is 63, in which are
included those of the latter category, the distinction
depending on the size of the forests. The forest adminis-
trations are committed to chief foresters, or Oberforst-
Meisters, each of whom has an assistant supposed to act as
his clerk, with the small salary of from 90 to 100 roubles.
Generally young men, who have newly entered the forest
service on leaving the school of forestry, hold such appoint-
ments. The sub-forests are under the charge of Forst-

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 43

Meisters, sometimes called Sub-foresters, [a designation not
to be confounded with that of under forester, another class
of officials of whom mention will be made. They, like
the ecclesiastical officials designated bishops and arch-
bishops in Kussia, are equal in power in their own sphere
without any subordination to authority of the Oberforst-
Meisters, and take their inferior rank from the compara-
tively lesser importance and magnitude of their charge
alone.]

' If we divide the whole area of 710,000 desatins equally
amongst the whole of the warders employed, it gives us
not less than 500 desatins, which is no small area for a
man to guard in those forest estates, which are surrounded
by villages in close proximity to them. And notwith-
standing thefts of all kinds being carried on by the popu-
lation of the locality, and the difficulty of keeping watch
and ward, the warders are badly paid. The head warders,
for instance, receive an annual salary of from 22 to 45
roubles, and there are some in the service who are only
allowed a rouble and a half — [at the present rate of
exchange, three shillings per annum !]
* ' The assistant warders receive from 1 to 18 roubles,
but with 7J desatins of land and a free house. With the
great scarcity of provisions in Poland, and the poor soil in
these small allottments, the condition of such men was very
bad, so bad that it is difficult not to believe that many of
them do abuse their official power to make up their
insufficient salary.

'Unhappily the continued abnormal condition of the
country since 1865 and 1866 prevents us from estimating
at their true worth the services of these warders. And
although when astounded by the great loss occasioned by
theft we cannot attribute this entirely, directly or indirectly,
to the warders, it is a fact that on the guarding of the
forests being entrusted to the troops the thefts were at
once diminished nine-tenths.

44 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

In 1865 the estimated value of the wood

stolen was 99,840 roubles.

And in 1866 it was .... 142,850 ,,

But in 1867 it fell to 15,902 „

The total loss in these three years was - 258,592 „

And M, Bitney remarks : — 'Considering the very small
remuneration given to all of the warders for their work, it
would be useless to go into minute estimates of the worth
of warders receiving salaries of one and one and a-half
roubles per annum.

' For these warders, both foot and horse, they choose
generally men who can read and write, who are living in
the locality, and soldiers who have left the service with
medals for good conduct and attention to duty. These
warders may be promoted to be controul warders ; but for
controul warders to rise higher it is difficult, as for higher
duties a special training and an acquaintance with forest
science is required.

' Under every forest administration there are many
employes called Sajeennicka ; but at present they have no
regular employment. The foresters use them as messen-
gers, and they help the warders in watching the forests.
Formerly, when firewood was cut up and sold in the
Government forests, it was the work of these men to pile
the billets in square sajeens or fathoms, and thence came
the designation. At present this duty has to be performed
only in the forests conceded to mines, in which the wood
is felled and prepared by Government for use in these.
The SajeennicTcs received no salary, but were allowed so much
for each fathom of wood which they piled, and since this
practice was discontinued, even this they have lost. This
would have no effect on their relations with Government
if the forest administration had not placed them in the
Crown forests as persons included in the staff of officials
employed in the management of the forests. Of course
they have no pay, they are of very little use, aod it is sus-
pected that in an underhand way they encourage thieving.
The number of them in the forests is about 3

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 45

' To all persons employed officially in the management of
the forests, from the director-in-chief to the assistant war-
ders and Sajeennicks, there are allotted indiscriminately 7^-
desatins of land, as supplying a means of ekeing out their
pay. There are thus allotted in ail 17,000 desatins. But
as these allottments are in the interiors of the forests, and
a great many of them are unproductive sands, requiring
much labour to make them productive, it follows, to the
disadvantage of the service, that the forest warder, receiv-
ing but little pay, must necessarily lose or waste, in the cul-
ture of these fields, much time which might be spent more
profitably in the forest or service. Taking into account
the topographical position, one would think that it would
be better to give them higher pay, and otherwise provide
for their comfort, than to make them engage in agriculture
for which the old soldier is very unfit, and cannot get
together the implements and other requisites. As it is
desired that these people should live within the precincts
of the forest, houses have been built for them within the
forest itself, but the condition of these houses in many
places is very unsatisfactory. In visiting different forest
administrations I have frequently seen half-ruined huts
which had been assigned to warders, and even to sub-
foresters. The houses of the foresters were seemingly in
better condition ; but many of them also were in need of
important repairs.

' All these houses and huts are insured against fire, which
entails an expenditure of 19,000 roubles a year. In con-
templation of the possibility of all the Crown forests of
the kingdom being disposed of by sale, financial considera-
tions make the supreme administrations less careful than
would otherwise be the case about keeping all the houses
in thorough repair and good condition,

' In the mining districts the forest service is more
laborious than it is on the other Crown forests, and on
this account the pay of foresters and sub-foresters in these
is somewhat higher. The difference is as follows : —

46 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

In forests In

at large. mine forests.

Foresters' annual salary, 525 roubles. 600 roubles.
Assistant or clerk, - 90 ,, 100 ,,

Sub-Forester, - - 180-225 „ 250 „

c The total expense of the forest management was —

In 1865, - - - 11 9, 143 roubles.
1861, - - - 122,755 „
1867, - • - 120,022

Or on an average, 120,640 roubles a year.

1 The activity and work of the Polish forester is, in
general, much below that of the Russian corresponding
official. The reason is two-fold : (1) The excessive cen-
tralisation of the forest administration ; and (2) connected
therewith the bureaucratic character of the administration.

' Through this the foresters are almost deprived of respon-
sibility. They must obtain authority for the most trifling
act, and even in cases in which the forester is allowed to
act on his own responsibility, the writings or documents
extend to ridiculous dimensions. Count Berg, on be-
coming acquainted with the administration and actual
management of forests in Poland, remarked that he had
never even dreamed of meeting with such voluminous and
innumerable documents as were the communications of
Polish foresters. From this arise great complications and
confusion. For example, there occurs a case of theft for
which a fine is imposed — in this case all the particulars
must be detailed in writing twelve times ; and should the
accused resist payment, so that extreme measures must be
adopted, the correspondence is endless.

' All of the Crown forests, with the exception of those
taken over from the clergy of the Church of Rome, are
managed systematically, and exploited in accordance with
the advanced forest science of the day. This arrangement
was effected within the period included in the years 1824

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 47

and 1830, so that the greater number have, or will in a
few years have passed through their first prescribed course
of treatment. [By this, I presume, may be meant a com-
plete revolution, but it does not appear whether that or
the ordinary course of felling be what is meant ; and this
is referred to as supplying the means of forming an
opinion in regard to the practicability and expediency of
perpetuating the system initiated.]

' The management adopted is substantially the same as
that followed in many forests in Russia — a preparation of
the forest for regular treatment in accordance with the
advanced forest science of the day, by the preparation of
accurate diagrams, dividing the forests into compartments,
determining the area of fellings for specified periods, and
portioning the whole area of the forest so as to secure the
requisite products in accordance with an economical use of
the capabilities of the forest ; and by projecting the exploi-
tation and other operations to be followed out in the
course of the decade, including the opening up of the
forest by felled strips to give access to all of the compart-
ments required, and making these approximately of equal
areas ; and by prescribing the operations to be undertaken
according as the trees may be young, or middle-aged, or
mature, or consisting of a mixture of trees belonging to
any two of these categories in any variety of proportions.

' Assuming the operations to embrace a period of thirty
years, if the mature section allotted for exploitation in
any decade do equal one-third of the whole area, the
clearing is confined to the section, and the deficient pro-
duce is obtained from other parts ; if it exceed the third
of the whole area, it is cleared so far as a sale can be
assured for the produce.

1 It lies with the taxator to prescribe the time and place
of all the fellings, and so to combine these as to prepare
for the whole forest being brought into such uniformity in
its several parts as is most favourable for the carrying out
of the most approved forest management of the day, but
doing this with the least possible sacrifice of advantages,

48 FOKESTEY IN POLAND.

— though unhesitatingly risking this if necessary for the
execution of the general plan, and to secure plots present-
ing a regular gradation in age.

' Two copies of his scheme, with charts and specifications,
must be prepared, one for the Minister of Finance and the
other for the forester ; and with the former must be pre-
sented a report of the forester's reasons for adopting any
measure, or for not adopting any other which may seem
naturally to suggest itself for adoption. And the forester
can only proceed to carry out the measures proposed
when they have received the sanction of the Minister of
Finance.

1 In subordination to what general scheme of operations it
may be deemed desirable, provision must be made for the
supply of local requirements. As every section of the
forest, of which there are many, is distinct, and surrounded
by villages, an opportunity must be supplied to them of
purchasing such wood as they require, that they may
not be left without this, or be placed under temptation to
steal.

' Where the fellings are well conducted, and the soil is
adapted for the natural germination of the seed, as, for
example, is the case in the Kshepitsk forest, in the
Government of Petrokoff, the forest district readily takes
the appearance and condition of a regulated forest. But
unhappily the fellings throughout the Government forests
do not all fulfil these conditions, and the reproduction of the
forests felled proceeds very slowly, and in some cases does
not take place at all, of which a striking illustration is
supplied by the Raigrod forest, in the Government of
Lonija, where there are twelve cleared fellings, where
there are no signs of reproduction, though a long time has
elapsed since they were cleared— in the case of the first
felled, fourteen years- -and they have still growing on
them baliveaux, or seed-bearing trees, left in the first fell-
ing for the production of seed.

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 49

' The soil in these clearings, originally poor, becomes
further impoverished by the long continued action of the
light promoting the decomposition of the humus ; and from
the continuance of this influence a natural reproduction
of the forest there can scarcely be expected.

' This system of making a complete clearance, leaving
only baliveaux for seed, is very much followed throughout
the kingdom, and notwithstanding the discouraging results
which have been witnessed, occasioning in many cases
considerable loss, they are still continued even in the most
valuable forests, where, in view of the effects on the
revenue, and of the natural hindrances to reproduction,
it might have been advantageous to have sacrificed a portion
of the proceeds to effect without loss of time an artificial
reproduction/

M. Bitney mentions that in the Government of Plotsk,
in a forest growing on very poor sandy soil, the natural
sowing of fellings so cleared is proved by many cases to
proceed very slowly, requiring from ten to thirteen years,
and even then it is very irregularly done. Yet while this is
one of the most pecuniarily productive of the forests, yielding
annually 1*75 roubles of nett returns for each desatin, the
fellings are conducted in the manner, and with the result
stated, that of a tardy and poor reproduction of the forest
through the false economy of leaving the space to the
chances incidental here to natural sowings.

' With regard to the sections of the forest which are in
the second and third stages of reproduction and growth,
their condition is in general most satisfactory, especially
when we take into account that these forests were in the
locality where, for about two years, the fighting chiefly
took place, and for some time after that they were left
open to depredations, which were only repressed by the
forests being placed under the guardianship of the soldiers ;
but we have seen elsewhere that forests have suffered in
this way chiefly on their outer verge, and that to such an
extent that there were left there only bare poles, while the

E

50 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

centres of the forests remained in a great measure free from
depredation. And if one meets with a few mature or
middle-aged woods, as in Petrokoff, Vlotslaff, and Katn-
pinoss forests, in which are indications of the destruction
of trees, and in which are but a few trees of mature or
middle age, this is more attributable to former long con-
tinued mismanagement than to depredations.

1 The satisfactory state of the forests, with this exception,
which is surpassing expectation, may be attributable in a
great measure to the system of management adopted,
bringing all as soon as practicable into a regular succession
of growth, and after that subjecting them to a regular
system of exploitation. Through this judicious course,
and the carrying out strictly of the taxator or surveyor's
specific directions, from the first introduction of the new
regimt, the good results have been obtained.

' The number of woods in which the fellings are some-
what objectionable has been greatly diminished ; and they
are only to be met with in forests from which it is not
easy to effect sales, and in which the course of manage-
ment could not, without pecuniary sacrifice, be carried out
within the prescribed time. The whole might be pro-
nounced satisfactory if the restoration or renewal of the
woods had not been so imperfect in some cases in conse-
quence of the character of the soil in the locality of the
forest.

' The sales in the regulated forests are made in accor-
dance with the annual estimates sanctioned by the
Minister of Finance. The wood sold was formerly
delivered to the purchasers — some of it cut, as for example
firewood, and some of it as standing timber, to be felled by
himself; this was done chiefly with wood for buildings,
and under an obligation to have it felled and removed
within a specified time. Latterly, all is sold standing, so
that the Forest Administration does not need to occupy
itself with the felling of the trees, excepting in the mining
districts; and this is done, although io some of the forests,

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 51

such as those of Plotsk, Lajnoss, Kshepitsk, and others, it
would have been commercially advantageous to have sold
the wood cut.

' The sale of wood from Crown forests was formerly made
at a fixed price. Sales by auction were only made in
exceptional cases, but within the last two or three years
this has become the principal mode of sale. And thus the
income from some forests has been increased 20 per cent. ;
but there are not a few forests the income from which has
been diminished.

' This may be attributed to the circumstance that the
general order issued to the local Forest Administration
by the Central Administration was not given in detailed
directions ; and the administrators of forest estates, which
could only command a local sale to the rural population
around, had to sell much of the produce by auction to
greater buyers, as they had more produce than supplied
the local requirements, and it was of considerable value.
The Central Administration having approved of the sub-
division of sales, this was tried, but the sales were held in
but a few places, and were made solely as an experiment,
and the small consumers were not accustomed to buy
standing trees direct from the Crown, but to get their
wood from middlemen, who were Jews with capital at
command. The good effects of auction sales have not yet
developed themselves.

' The accessory preparations from forest products have only
been manufactured to a limited extent in Poland. The
fabrieks met with are principally of tar, and are on the
model of those used a hundred years ago — small and incon-
venient, and when there are any of a larger and more
comprehensive character, as for example, about Brok and
Yishkoff, they are pointed out as something remarkable.
The making of birch tar and lampblack is carried on to a
limited extent. Bark for use in tanning is collected more
in private forests than in those of the Government ; but
from the long time required for its production, and the

52

FORESTRYfilN POLAND.

supervision of J:he shrubs which is necessary, the quality
is poor, and the price low.

' The depasturing of cattle in the forests, which is very
injurious to these, though prohibited, is practised almost
everywhere without permission. It was kept in check
before the insurrection by raising the charge for grazing
in the woods. It is to be hoped that this abuse will be
rectified, so far as is compatible with rights lawfully
acquired, so soon as the forests shall pass out of the
transition condition in which they have been for the last
five years.

' The collection of moss, fallen leaves, and twigs, is car-
ried on chiefly through such acquired right ; but the right
is very limited, so the regulation of this presents fewer
difficulties than the limitation or prevention of the feeding
of cattle.

' The leased woods are confined to a very few forests ;
the revenue derived from them is trifling, although it
might easily be increased. The sales by auction are only
of fellings for one year.'

* The following is a statement of the cubic forest income
and expenditure for the last three years : —

EXPENDITURE.

a. For local forest management, insurance,

houses, and office expenses of the 1865. 1866. 1867.

Forest Administration, - - . 125,284 129,157 127,464

b. Forest improvement and culture, - - 4,621 8,488 5,103

c. Forest section in offices of the several

Governments, ..... 15,390 15,390 18,390

d. Salaries of officials in the Central Forest

Administration, .... 31,875 31,875 31,245

Total, 179,170 184,910 182,372
INCOME.
a, Received from sale of wood, payments

due but not paid, fines, andbaliveaux, 465,499 498,255 423,306

6. Accessory produce sales and arrears, - 18,268 18,975 15,345

Total, 483,767 517,230 483,651

AEEA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 53

Giving an average annual income for these

years of 497,883 roubles.

And an average annual expenditure of • 182,150 ,,

Nett proceeds, 297,733 „

' This is equal to 42 kopecs of clear revenue from every
desatin of forest land, marshes, and lands, assigned to the
employes, all included. Comparing this result with the
results reported in the annual report of the Forest Admin-
istration in Russia for 1866, it appears that from the
forests of Poland there is obtained a nett revenue equal
to that derived from the forests in the Governments of
Moscow and Bessarabia. It is below what is obtained
from the forests in the Governments of Kaluga, of Tula,
of Voronetz, and Poltava ; but all of the other 43 Govern-
ments of Russia yield a less revenue than does the king-
dom of Poland/

The statements made are a free translation, with omis-
sions, from the report by M. Bitney ; and to protect him
from responsibility for errors in translation the narrative
form has in some places been made use of.

Of trees indigenous to Poland it was stated in a letter
addressed by Mr Hove, a native of Poland, to Sir John
Sinclair, when he was compiling his Report on the Agri-
cultural State and Political Condition of Scotland : —

' In Poland there are three sorts of oaks, the quercus
robur, or the common oak ; the cerris ; and another sort,
with which I have not met anywhere else on my travels in
Europe, except on the river Bug ; this is the sort which
supplies the English navy with their crown planks. This
tree has hardly any lateral branches in its infant state,
which are so common to all the other known sorts. After
having raised itself from the acorn to the height of seven
feet, it assumes a diagonal form, or position, and the tops
of such trees in the plantations are quite entangled with
each other ; but, on arriving at the age of fifteen or six-
teen years, they acquire a height of from twenty-four to
thirty feet, begin to form a crown, gradually erect them-

54 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

selves, and become majestic and stately trees. The leaves
of this tree are much narrower, longer, and more deeply
cut than in the robur ; the bark is perfectly smooth, and
the acorn long and pointed. On my leaving the district
of Belsk, where they grew, five years ago, but few of these
trees remained, as the Jews, who are the renters and
fellers of timber, had cut them down indiscriminately,
with a view to immediate profit. These rich and immense
forests, which skirted the river Bug, where I
botanised sixteen years ago, are now no more, there
remaining only a few trees very thinly scattered, which
owe their existence only to the circumstance of their
being in situations far distant from the river. I procured
a considerable quantity of the acorns on my leaving
Poland, with the view of enriching this country ; but,
having sent my collections via Dantzig, where the French
arrived shortly after, I am at this moment ignorant of the
manner in which they have been disposed of. Two
hundred bushels of acorns of this valuable species would
certainly be a great acquisition, if not a real source of
riches, to this country; they would answer for hedge-
planting perfectly well.

' The Swirk is another tree that would be of great value
to this country ; it is a species of fir that is peculiar to
the mountains of Pokutia, or mountains of Penitence, to
which Ovid was exiled. The height and bulk of this tree
is incredible ; and it is not very nice in regard to soil, as
it grows in the most rocky and inclement situations on
the mountains. The white ash of the Palatinate of Belsk,
and a sort of maple, are trees that would also be of great
value in England ; they both grow to an immense height.
The Polish king, John Sobiesky, was so struck with the
size and beauty of these trees, that he built himself a
residence in the neighbourhood of the forests where they
grew, and formed a large town, which is still in existence,
to which he gave the name of Jaworow ; Jawor denoting,
in the Polish language, this species of acer. The black

A REA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 55

birch, in the same Palatinate, in the circle of Mosciska,*
is a new and unknown species. The wood of this tree is
more solid than in any other of this genus, on which
account the wheelwrights and millwrights give it the
preference. The quality of this wood is in such repute
that it is sent to Warsaw, and all over Prussia, for their
use.'

One of the forest products of Poland, which at one time
was in great demand, is honey. Of Polish honey there
are three varieties. In regard to these the following
information was supplied by Mr Hove to Sir John Sin-
clair : —

' Honey, another rural production, respecting which you
are anxious to procure information, is in Poland divided
into three classes, namely Lipiec, Leszny, and Stepowey
prasznymird.

'Lipiec is gathered by the bees from the lime-tree
alone, and is considered on the Continent most valuable,
not only for the superiority of its flavour, but also for the
estimation in which it is held as an arcanum, in pul-
monary complaints, containing very little wax, and being
consequently less heating in its nature ; it is as white as
milk, and is only to be met with in the lime forests in
the neighbourhood of the town of Kovno, in Lithuana.
The great demand for this honey occasions it to bear a
high price, in so much that I have known a small barrel,
containing hardly one pound weight, sell for two ducats
on the spot This species of the lime-tree is peculiar to
the province of Lithuania ; it is quite different from all
the rest of the genus Tila that I met with in my re-
searches in Poland, and is called Kamienna Lipa, or stone-
lime. It is a stately tree, and grows in the shape of a
pyramid; the leaves are very small, and the twigs
uncommonly slender ; it flowers in the months of June
and July ; the flowers are very minute, but more abun-

* An estate belonging to Count Palatine de Cetner.

56 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

dant than in any other species. In the Polish language,
the month of June, which is also called Lipiec, derives its
name from the flowering of this tree, as the month of
July derives its name from the Cocus polonicus, called by
the Poles Czerwiee, in which month the ova are gathered.
The inhabitants have no regular bee-hives about Kovno ;
every peasant who is desirous of rearing bees goes into
a forest in a district belonging to his master, without
even his leave, makes a longitudinal hollow aperture or
apertures in the trunk of a tree, or in the collateral
branches, about three feet in length, one foot broad, and
about a foot deep, where he deposits his bees, leaves them
some food, but pays very little further attention to them
until late in the autumn ; when, after cutting out some of
their honey, and leaving some for their maintenance,
he secures the aperture properly with clay and straw
against the frost and inclemency of the approaching
season ; these tenements (if they may be so called), with
their inhabitants, and the produce of their labour, have
then become his indisputable property ; he may sell them,
transfer them ; in short, he may do whatever he pleases
with them ; and never is it heard that any depredation is
committed on them (that by the bear excepted.) In Poland
the laws are particularly severe against robbers or destroyers
of this property, punishing the offender, when detected,
by cutting out the navel, and drawing out his intestines
round and round the very tree which he has robbed.
Such thefts have happened, but not in my memory.

' The following spring the proprietor goes again to the
forest, examines the bees, and ascertains whether there is
sufficient food left till they are able to maintain them-
selves ; should there not be a sufficient quantity he
deposits with them as much as he judges necessary till
the spring-blossom appears. If he observes that his
stock has not decreased by mortality he makes more of
these apertures in the lateral branches, or in the trunk
of the tree, that in case the bees should swarm in his
absence they may have a ready asylum. In the autumn

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 57

he visits them again, carries the June and July work
away with him, which is the Lipiec, and leaves only that
part for their food which was gathered by them before,
and after the flowering of the lime-tree. I have not the
least doubt, that if this species of the lime-tree were
introduced, and attention paid to them, honey
equally excellent and valuable might be produced in this
country. The mead made from this honey is excellent, it
is sold at Kovno, Grodno, and Vilna, at the rate of £8
the dozen.

' The next class of honey, which is inferior in a great
degree to the Lipiec, being only used for the common mead,
is that of the pine forests, the inhabitants of which make
apertures in the pine-trees similar to those near Kovno,
and pay the same attention in regard to the security of
the bees, and their maintenance. The wax also is much
inferior in quality ; it requires more trouble in the
bleaching, and is only made use of in the churches.

' The third class of honey is the Stepowey, or the honey
from the plains, where there is an abundance of perennial
plants, and hardly any wood. The province of Ukraine
produces the very best, and also the very best wax. In
that province the peasants pay particular attention to this
branch of economy, as it is the only resource they have to
enable them to defray the taxes levied in Russia ; and
they consider the produce of bees equal to ready money :
wheat, and other species of corn, being so very fluctuating
in price, some years it being of so little value that it is
not worth the peasant's trouble to gather it in. This has
happened in the Ukraine four times in twelve years. But
for honey and wax there is always a great demand all over
Europe, and even in Turkey. Some of the peasants have
from four to five hundred Ule, or logs of wood, in their bee
gardens, which are called Pasieka, or bee-hives; these
logs are about six feet high, commonly of birch wood (the
bees prefer the birch to any other wood), hollowed out in
the middle for about five feet, several lamina of thin
boards are nailed before the aperture, and but a small

58 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

hole left in the middle of one of these for the entrance of
the bees. As the bees are often capricious at the begin-
ning of their work, frequently commencing it at the front
rather than the back, the peasants cover the aperture
with a number of these thin boards, instead of one entire
board, for fear of disturbing them, should they have begun
their work at the front. It may appear extraordinary,
but it is nevertheless true, that in some favourable seasons
this aperture of five feet in length, and a foot wide, is full
before August, and the peasants are obliged to take the
produce long before the usual time, with the view of
giving room to the bees to continue their work, so favour-
able is the harvest some years.

' The bee-gardens are chosen in the plains where the
perennial plants are most abundant, that the bees may
have but little way to carry home the produce of their
labour; they are of a circular form, about 150 yards in
diameter, enclosed with a fence of reeds or brush- wood,
and a thatching over them of about five feet for protec-
tion, and to keep out the rain and snow ; this is sup-
ported by poles from the inside, and a bank of earth is
also thrown up to keep the snow from penetrating there in
the winter, In the middle a few fruit trees are planted
to break the wind, as also hawthorns, and other under-
wood, round the enclosure, with the same view. The
hives are planted under cover, in the inside, round the
fence, and in the winter they are well secured with straw from
the frost. The plants for which the bees have a prefer-
ence are the Thymus serpyllum, Hyssopus cfficinalis,
Cerinthe maculata, and the Polly gonum fagopyrnm.

1 The process of brewing mead in Poland is very simple :
the proportion is three parts of water to one of honey,
and 50 Ib. of mild hops to 160 gallons, which is called a
Waar, or a brewing. When the water is boiling, both the
honey and hops are thrown into it, and it is kept stirring
until it becomes milk warm ; it is then put into a large
cask, and allowed to ferment for a few days ; it is then

AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 59

drawn off into another cask, wherein there has been aqua-
vita or whisky, bunged quite close, and afterwards taken
to the cellars, which in this country are excellent and cool.
This mead becomes good in three years time, and by
keeping, it improves, like many sorts of wine. The
mead for immediate drink is made from malt, hops, and
honey, in the same proportion, and undergoes a similar
process. In Hungary it is usual to put ginger in mead.
There are other sorts of mead in Poland, as Wisniak.
Dereniak, Malinaik ; they are made of honey, wild
cherries, berries of the Cornus mascula, and raspberries ;
they all undergo the same process, and are most excellent
and wholesome after a few years keeping. I never saw a
gouty man in those provinces where mead is in common
use. The Lipiec is made in the same way, but it contains
the honey and pure water only. The honey gathered by
the bees from the Azalea pontica, at Oczakoff, and in
Potesia in Poland, is of an intoxicating nature ; it pro-
duces nausea, and is used only for medical purposes,
chiefly in rheumatism, scrophula, and eruptions of the
skin, in which complaints it has been attended with great
success. In a disease among the hogs called wengry (a
sort of plague among these animals), a decoction of the
leaves and buds of this plant is given, with the greatest
effect, and produces almost instantaneous relief. This
disease attacks the hogs with a swelling of their throat,
and terminates in large hard knots, not unlike the plague,
on which the decoction acts as a digestive, abates the
fever directly in the first stage, and suppurates the knots.
It is used in Turkey, I understand, with the same view
in the plague. Tournefort makes mention, in his travels,
of this honey/

CHAPTER IV.

SCHOOLS OF FORESTRY.

A METHOD of exploitation so complicate as that which has
been described can only be administered by educated men,
specially instructed and trained for the work.

The administration of the Crown forests in Poland is
subject to the Imperial Minister of Finance. In a com-
munication I had from Count Ostenstacken, personal
attache to Field-Marshal Berg, Viceroy of Poland, I was
informed that the private proprietors of forests within the
kingdom act very recklessly in disposing of these and in
deforesting the country.

Their doing so renders it the more desirable that the
Crown forests should be conserved and properly managed,
if not also extended. And, in view of this, provision has
been made for the education, instruction, and training of
candidates for employment on the forest service.

Besides the Imperial Schools of Forestry in the vicinity
of St. Petersburg, and in the vicinity of Moscow, and
others in Eastern and Central Russia, in Western Russia
a Chair of Forestry has been established in the Institutes
of Kalazin, Vologda, Lipetsk, in Marymont in Poland, and
at Mittau. But the most important arrangements for
the study of forest science and forest economy by forest
officials in Poland are at Novoi Alexandria, or New
Alexandria.

Of these arrangements the following details are given
from the Ustaff, or Code of Regulations for the Institute of
Agriculture and Forestry at that place, approved by the
Emperor 8th June, O.S., 1869, and still in force,

' The institute is ranked as a college of the first class,
with two sections — one devoted to the study of rural

SCHOOLS OF FORESTRY. 61

economy and agriculture, the other to the study of forest
science and forestry, with a farm, a forest, and an exten-
sive domain attached to it, the whole being placed under
the Minister of Public Instruction at Warsaw.

' The staff of officials includes a director, an inspector,
five professors, eight tutors, and three teachers, a labora-
tory superintendent, a mechanic, a foreman of the work-
shop, a land steward or manager of the estate, a gardener
and assistant, a surgeon, a secretary, a book-keeper, and a
superintendent of buildings.

4 The director, nominated by the Minister of Instruction,
is at the head of the Institute, having the direction of
everything connected with it. The inspector, similarly
appointed, has corresponding duties. They, together with
the professors, constitute the council of management.
No professor can hold two chairs, and any of them after
twenty-five years may be again and again re-appointed for
successive terms of five years each. The laboratory superin-
tendent has charge of all the laboratories of the Institute.
The mechanic has charge of all the implements.

' At meetings of council, under the presidency of the
director, all questions are decided by vote, and in certain
cases the vote may be taken by ballot.

'A board of management, consisting of the director,
inspector, and two professors, has the charge of expendi-
tures to the amount of 300 roubles, say £37 10s, to be
sanctioned by the director ; the expenditure of sums between
1000 and 5000 roubles, say £125 to £625, require the
sanction of the council, and the expenditure of sums
above this amount that of the Ministry. These meetings
are held weekly.

' The general instruction embraces geometry and prac-
tical mechanics, geodesy, plan drawing and land survey-
ing, physics, meteorology and climatology, chemistry,
zoology, botany, mineralogy, agricultural technology, soil,
cubic increase of trees by growth, architecture, political
economy, and statistics of Russia ; laws of land tenure and
more particularly of the tenure of land in Poland ; book-

62 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

keeping, drawing and preparation of diagrams and
plans.

'The special subjects of study in the agricultural section
are analytical and agricultural chemistry, agricultural
mechanics, breeding and rearing of cattle, sheep, poultry,
and bees ; sericulture and pisciculture, and veterinary
science and practice.

'In the department of forestry the special subjects of
study are forest botany and entomology ; forest manage-
ment and taxation, or calculations of the cubic contents,
prospective growth, pecuniary value, &c., of the trees ;
and forest statistics of Russia and of Poland.

' The instruction is communicated in the Russian
language. Each professor and tutor is required to give
six lectures a week, and teachers to spend twelve hours a
week in class duties. The professors may be required to
lecture in both departments.

' The session extends from the 20th of August to the
18th June, O.S.

' All books requisite for study are in the library.

'Students are required to be seventeen years of age, to
have attended a high school, and satisfactorily passed the
prescribed examination. They wear a uniform, are re-
quired to maintain a becoming behaviour, and to be
obedient and respectful to their teachers. If any be
retained for two years in any class, and be still unable to
pass, they are dismissed. Medals, &c., are given to
students in recognition of merit.

' The rights of the institution as a first-class college, and
the rights of the professors as officers of the Imperial civil
service, are formally secured.

' The salary of the director is 3,500 roubles, say £450,
with noble rank of the fifth class and civil service pension,
The salaries of the inspector and professors are 2000 roubles,
say £250,* with noble rank of the sixth class, and cor-
responding pension/

* The rate of exchange varies. These calculations were correct at the time I
received the information. At this time (1885), according to the toreseut rate of
exchange, thej would be respectively £350 and £250.

SCHOOLS OF FORESTRY 63

I spent in St. Peterburg the summer of 1878, and I
was invited to attend a congress of Russian foresters, to
be held in Warsaw about the time of my return to
England ; but a similar congress of German foresters
was held about the same time in Dresden, and 1 found it
more expedient to return by Saxony.

The correspondent of the St. Petersburg Exchange Gazette,
writing from Warsaw under date of 22nd August, 1878,
O.S., gave the following account of the foresters'
conference held there : —

' The details and minutes of the conference are known
to you from the reports issued. I wish to communicate
the outside or public influence of the conference on the
press and on the Polish nation. It is a question whether
any other Russian congress, or conferee ce of similar char-
acter and aim, has ever produced so great an effect on the
public mind. The intelligent classes of the community
and the public press exhibited a lively interest in this, the
fourth Russian conference of foresters and landlords. The
specialists and the owners of forests who had arrived in
Warsaw were the heroes of the day, and the questions
discussed attracted the liveliest notice of the public. The
reports of the conference appeared in print daily; even
the illustrated papers contained views of the " Salon "
during the sitting of the congress. The vital question of
forestry was worthily discussed by the Polish press, and
the economical importance of forestry was energetically
advocated. The ground was preliminarily prepared by
free invitations to attend the congress, and by timely
issues of pamphlets and papers on the subject, the object
of which was to acquaint the public with the objects of
the congress. The intelligence of society in general was
adequate to the occasion. Thanks to this " coaching," the
public were prepared to give the guests a hearty welcome ;
aud many specialists and owners of land arrived from all
parts of Poland. Three hundred members attended the
first sitting. But the great attraction was the permission

64 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

to discuss in Polish as well as in Russian. Many of the
Polish landowners could not have spoken on scientific
subjects in Russian, and therefore it was a very wise step
on the part of the committee of the congress to permit
the use of the two languages. To the honour of the
committee be it said that it withheld itself from bureau-
cratic views, and having set aside out-of-place principles,
permitted discussion in Polish, and they thereby enlisted
the active sympathy of many who would otherwise have
been but dumb spectators. Measures of this kind ren-
dered the conference very popular. Russian members
became the " very dear guests " of Polish members, an
enthusiasm such as is seldom witnessed was engendered,
and the weighty subjects were most warmly discussed.
According to accounts of old residents of Warsaw, such
heartiness in a " public important topic " has seldom been
shown. The whole finished up with a " final supper in the
Swiss valley." This entertainment was characterised by
great warmth, and expressions of warm sympathy on the
part of all assembled.'

In reply to an enquiry which I addressed to a friend,
a Pole, in regard to works on forestry and botany in
Polish, he supplied me with the following list : —

Alexander Potujanski. — Opisanie lasow Krdlestwa Pol-
skiego i Gubernij Zachodnich Cesarstwa Rossyjskiego pod
wzgledem historycznym, statystycznyrn i gospodarczym. —
Warszawa, 1846. 4 tomy. (Description of the forests of
the kingdom of Poland and Western Governments of the
Empire of Russia. Warsaw. 4 volumes.)

J. Waga. — Flora Polonica — Varsoviae, 1848 an., and
Stirpes rariores Bucovinae — Stanislawow 1853 an.
(Bucovina at present belongs to Austria.)

Flora Cracoviensis, 1859.

Kluk Krzysztof. — Dykcysnarz roslinny. (Dictionary of
plants.)

Jundzitt Stanislaw Bonifacy.-^Qpis&mQ roslin litew-
skich podlug ukladu Linneusza. 1811. (Description of

SCHOOLS OF FORESTRY.

the plants of Lithuania according to the system of Linnseus.
1811.)

Jundzitt J6zef, — Opisanie r6slin w Litwie, na Wolyniu,
Podolu, i Ukrainie, drika rosnacych jako i oswojonych.
Wiluo, 1830. (Description of the plants in Lithuania,
Volynia, Podolia, and the Ukraine.)

CHAPTER V.
POLISH HISTORY.

WHILE it is forestry to which my attention has been
chiefly given in my studies of Poland, with such a
history as that country has, it is natural that this should
receive some attention from the student of forest science.

According to the Abbd des Fontaines, in his History of
the Revolutions of Poland from the foundation oj that Mon-
archy to the death of Augustus II— a work published early
in the last century, in which the author followed Duglos-
sius, a canon of Cracow, who composed a history of
Poland in Latin, which, though valuable, has defects which
the Abbe' des Fontaines in his work endeavoured to remedy,
while he also adduced additional details from the works
of Thuanus, which are of considerable celebrity : —

' If we may credit their own historians, their first prince
was a descendent from Japhet, the son of Noah. They
give him the name of Lecht, and declare that he came
from Dalmatia. This prince left his throne to his son
Wissimir, who founded the city of Dantzig. We dis-
cover no traces in history of any actions that were per-
formed by the posterity of these two first kings of Poland ;
and it is a void which fiction itself has never attempted to
fill up. It only supposes that the nation, after the extinc-
tion of the royal family, assembled for the election of new
masters. The nobility were on the point of proceeding to
this choice, when the people, who had long been harassed
with the tyranny of their last kings, demanded an aboli-
tion of the regal government, that they might no longer
depend on the caprice of one man.

' The great lords, who were allured with the hopes of
sharing all the honours of dominion, were easily induced

POLISH HISTORY. 67

to comply with the solicititations of the people; in conse-
quence of which they established a republic, the adminis-
tration whereof was intrusted to twelve palatines; but
the unsteady people were soon dissatisfied with this new
mode of government ; an anarchy full of disorder and
confusion inspired them with an aversion to their state of
independence, and a set of enemies, who were always
ready to derive advantages from the troubles of the State,
and the conjunctures of those times, ravaged the provinces
with impunity, and made this nation pay dear for the
liberty they had acquired.

1 The eyes of the people were at last opened to their
real interest, and they judged it would be most advan-
tageous to them to have but one master. This considera-
tion induced them to turn their thoughts to the election
of a king ; but a choice of this kind was attended with
great difficulties. The state of their affairs required
some martial spirit to repel the invasions of the neigh-
bouring people, as well as to re-conquer the territories
which had been wrested from them by usurpations, and to
re-establish the honour of the nation. It was likewise
necessary for this hero to temper an intrepidity of mind,
with the softness of a prudent charity, in order to gain
upon those dispositions, which had been rendered intract-
able by a long state of independence ; and it was also
thought requisite, that the virtue of the future prince
should afford them a sufficient security for the proper use
of the supreme power with which they were disposed
to entrust him.

' Such qualities are seldom united in one man ; the
Poles, however, found one of their countrymen who
possessed them in an eminent degree. Grack was the name
of this virtuous person who brought the calamities of
Poland to a happy period. As he was always victorious
in the wars he undertook, and as he likewise guided the
reins of Government with a consummate prudence, he
continuoustly rendered himself dear to his people, and
formidable to his enemies. He built the city of Cracow

68 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

on the Weissel ; and Bohemia submitted to the laws of so
accomplished a prince.*

' Lecht the Second became his successor, the consequence
of a crime, for he secretly destroyed Grack, his elder
brother, and ascended his father's throne, as well by the
choice of the nobility, as by virtue of the right he claimed
to the succession. All his subjects submitted to his
authority while his crime was undiscovered ; but as soon
as it happened to be detected, the lords would no longer
suffer the assassin of his own brother to sit upon the
throne he had usurped, and to hold the reins of govern-
ment with the hands which were defiled with the blood
of their lawful prince. He was chased from the kingdom
in a degrading manner, and, according to some authors,
he died without leaving any children, detested by his
subjects, and troubled by the remorse of his own
conscience.

' After the death of the two sons of Grack the First, the
Poles were desirous of submitting to the government of
his daughter Vanda, a very amiable princess, who was
graced with the accomplishments of eloquence, wisdom,
and courage to a degree that was altogether uncommon in
her sex. She reigned with glory, and in the tran-
quillity of a profound peace, when a neighbouring prince
sent ambassadors to her to treat of a marriage between
himself and her, and to denounce war against her domin-
ions if she should happen to reject his offers. Vanda,
according to some historians, had rendered herself incap-
able of the nuptial state by a vow of virginity which she
had made to the gods of her country. She therefore
prepared for war, assembled her troops, animated them by
her presence and discourse, broke the measures of her
enemy, opposed his incursions, and constrained him at
last to come to a conference. What can be impracticable

* His reign is thought to have been coincident with the beginning of the seventh centnry .
Duglossius declares, Lib. i., Habet nonnullorum asscrtio Graecum principem ante
incarnationem Christi annis circiter quadringentis regnare apud Polonorum qen-
tem ccepisse. But if he reigned 400 years before the incarnation, what a void will be
opened between his reign and that of Miecflaus the First !

POLISH HISTORY. 69

to beauty in conjunction with eloquence? Vanda was
soon rendered victorious by the sole aid of her charms ;
she enchanted the hostile troops in a moment, the com-
manders refused to combat against so amiable a princess,
the soldiers quitted their ranks, the most savage among
them were disarmed of all their rage, their chief himself
was forsaken by all his troops, he yielded to the impres-
sions of confusion and despair, and plunged his sword into
his own breast as a punishment for his temerity.

' The princess was easily induced to pardon the foes she
had vanquished in this manner; and as she was satisfied
with securing the repose of her subjects, she repaired to
Cracow, to receive their applause in that city, where they
decreed her the honour of a triumph, for a victory she
had acquired by her charms and wit, one in which her
soldiers could not pretend to any participation. It is a pity
that this princess should have become an enthusiast after
this great event ; but she considered it as an evidence of the
favour of her tutelar gods ; and she imagined it was incum-
bent on her to testify her gratitude by a strange sacrifice, in
which she herself was the victim. In view of this, she
threw herself into the Weissel.

. ' A death so tragical as this left the Poles a second time
without a master, and they had then an inclination to
enjoy the sweets of independency. Though liberty had
already proved so fatal to them, they were allured by the
pleasures they expected to enjoy by changing their state,
and they resumed the republican form of government.
Poland was then divided into twelve palatinates, the
administration of which was committed to the same num-
ber of lords, who were chosen to dispense justice to the
people, and to defend them against the enemies of their
State. This ancient order still subsists among them, and
the Palatines have to this day a power, under their kings,
almost equal to that which they enjoyed at the time of
their first institution.'

From that time onward their history appears a record

70 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

of unceasingly recurrent wars and revolutions, reminding
one of what Beshlam, Methridah, and Tabeel wrote to
Artaxerxes in regard to the Jews* ; but unhappily for
the credit of the Poles, details are given which cannot be
gainsaid.

In regard to the introduction of Christianity into
Poland, the Abbe7 writes : —

' The northern nations had already begun to embrace
Christianity ; Sclavonia and Bohemia had, for some time,
renounced the errors of paganism, and Poland was con-
verted by a pious princess. Dabrowka, the daughter of
Boleflaus, Duke of Bohemia, was the person by whose
ministration God accomplished this work. This lady was
determined not to espouse Miecflaus, unless he would
consent to be baptised. The prince caused himself to be
instructed in the truths of her religion ; and when he had
declared himself a Christian he was desirous that his people
should follow his example. With this view he became
their apostle ; all the idols were destroyed, and on the
ruins of their altars temples were erected to the true
God.

'Miecflaus, some time after his conversion, sent the
Archbishop of Cracow to Rome, to assure the Pope of
his obedience, and to demand from him a donation of the
regal Crown ; but Benedick VII. gave the preference to
Stephen, Duke of Hungary, by whom he had been also
solicited for the same gift. This conduct of the Pope
either sprung from some prejudice he had entertained
against Miecfluas, or perhaps he may have already heard
of the death of that prince.

' He was succeeded by his son, Boleflaus, who was
advanced to years of maturity when he ascended the
throne. His courage was never abated by any difficulties,
and the severest toils of war constituted his pleasures.
He had the abilities of a chief and a soldier, and knew

* Ezra iv. 7-16.

POLISH HISTORY. 71

how to command and execute at the same time. He
appeared magnificently in public, and whenever it was
requisite of him to assume the air of a great prince ; his
more private conduct was softened with an air of affability ;
and he saw himself respected and beloved by his
people, whom he treated more as a father than as a
Sovereign. His renown was so great that Otho the Third
came into Poland, as well to offer him his alliance, as to
accomplish a vow he had made to the martyr, St. Alder-
bert, or Albert, Archbishop of Gnesna. The Emperor
was so well satisfied with his reception, and likewise with
the magnificence of Boleflaus, that he thought it incum-
bent on him to testify his acknowledgments to him by
some honourable return that might correspond with the
treatment he had received in the territories of this
prince. He accordingly crowned him King of Poland,
and gave him the imperial eagle, in a field gules, for his
arms. The two princes afterwards confirmed their new
alliance by the marriage of Rixa, or Riche, daughter of
Godfrey, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and niece of the
Emperor, with Miecflaus, the son of Boleflaus.'

In subsequent times, under the provision for an elective
monarchy, Russia, and France, and England, all of them,
as well as other lands, furnished statesmen nominated as
candidates for the throne — England in the person of Sir
Philip Sydney, France in that of Henry of Vallois.

Of the political constitution of Poland in the early part
of the last century, the Abbe writes : —

' The kingdom of Poland is composed of Poland properly
so called, which is divided into the Upper and Lower
Poland, Royal Prussia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and
the provinces of Mazovia, Polachia, Black Russia, Volhinia,
Podolia, the Ukraine, and some other small provinces.
The Baltic Sea, Samogitia, Livonia, and Muscovy consti-
tute its northern bounds. The dominions of the Russian
monarch and Little Tartary form its frontiers to the east.

72 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

It is bounded on the south by Moldavia and the moun-
tains of Krapacj and its western limits are Moravia,
Silesia, and the territories of the Elector of Brandenburg.
It extends 260 leagues in length from west to east, and
comprehends 200 leagues in breadth from south to north.

' Gnesna, which is a city in Great Poland, was formerly
the capital of the kingdom, and is still the metropolitan
city. Its archbishop is the head of the republic during
the continuance of any interregnum, and his power is so
great that he has frequently caused kings themselves to
be dethroned.

1 Cracow, which is situated on the Weissel, is now con-
sidered as the capital of the kingdom, since the sovereigns
have fixed their residence in that city. The royal orna-
ments are deposited there, and it is now the place where
the kings are crowned.

' The Weissel, the Boristhenes, and the Dneister, are its
principal rivers. Commerce might easily flourish in that
country, since nature has supplied the inhabitants
with every provision capable of facilitating navigation and
traffic with Europe and Asia ; but these advantages are
disregarded by them. The gentry are devoted to arms
alone, and the peasants are a race of miserable and unin-
dustrious people, who are crushed under the yoke of their
lords, and have no property which they can call their own.

' Poland is not strengthened by any fortified cities, and
every place is entirely open and free. The Poles consider
castles and fortresses as so many rocks on which their
independency would be wrecked, and as the tyrannical
instruments of some ambitious person, who would be
desirous to load them with chains. Kaminieck, on the fron-
tiers of Moldavia, is not considerable either for its extent
or fortifications ; and Dantzig, which is the strongest
city in Poland, is but moderately fortified.

' The king, who is considered as the first magistrate in
the Republic, derives all his authority from that of the
nation, and if he should happen to abuse the power con-
fided to him, and should refuse to conform to the compact

POLISH HISTORY. 73

made between the people and himself at his coronation,
he would soon behold a potent confederacy formed against
him for his deposition. He is incapable of making new
laws, raising taxes, contracting alliances, or declaring war
without the ratification of a diet ; nor can he even marry
without the permission of the States. Moreover, the
prince is not authorised to coin money, since this preroga-
tive is peculiar to the Republic. His revenues amount to
no more than a million of livres, but he only defrays the
expense of his table ; all other charges are paid by the
republic.

' The senate is composed of the clergy and the nobility,
for the third state is not so much as known in Poland.
The grand marshal, the marshal of the court, the
chancellor, the vice-chancellor, and the treasurer, are the
first senators. The kingdom of Poland and the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania have alike all these officers.

'The grand marshal is the supreme judge of all dis-
orders which at any time happen in the diets and the
king's household. He imposes silence, and authorises
freedom of speech in the National Assemblies. He
introduces ambassadors, examines their dispatches, and
assigns to them their apartments. He likewise deter-
mines the price of all merchandise whatsoever it may be.

' The marshal of the court, or the deputy-marshal, is his
substitute, and discharges all his functions in his absence.

' The chancellor is intrusted with the seals of the king-
dom, and even the sovereign cannot compel him to affix
them to any decrees without the privity and approbation
of the States. All civil affairs, and those which relate to
the king's domaiu, are brought to his tribunal. He is
charged with the preservation of the laws and the preser-
vation of liberty. He in the diets returns answers to the
ministers of foreign powers ; and if he happens to be an
ecclesiastic, he extends his inspection to the secretaries,
the priests, and preachers at court.

'The jurisdiction of the vice-chancellor is exerted only
in the absence of the grand chancellor, but he is in pos-

74 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

session of seals as well as the other. These two great
posts are held alternately by a spiritual and by a temporal
lord.

' The money which belongs to the republic is deposited
with the treasurer, who regulates the revenues ; and he
ought to assist in all contracts made by the king,
which have no validity till they have been signed by this
officer.

' Those who compose the senate, next in station to these
ten prime officers of the kingdom and the Grand Duchy,
are the bishops, the palatines, the castellans, and some
starosts, who preserve there the rank annexed to the dignity
of their bishoprics, palatinates, castellanies, and starosties.

'A palatine commands the troops of the particular
province which is consigned to his Government ; he is the
president of the nobility of his palatinate, and his juris-
diction extends to civil and criminal affairs.

* The castellans are the lieutenants of the palatines ; and
the starosts, or captains, have much the same rank. But
though the palatines generally precede the castellans and
the starosts, yet the castellan of Cracow is, by a peculiar
privilege, superior to the palatine of that city ; and the
starost, or captain general, of Samogitia, which is a vassal
province of the Republic of Poland, takes place of several
Polish and Lithuanian palatines.

' The clergy, who constitute the first order of men in
the kingdom, are rich and powerful; they possess more
than 200,000 towns, and several considerable cities. The
power of the secular clergy, is, however, balanced by that
of the monks, who invade the privileges of the common
pastors in a thousand instances with impunity, and cause
themselves to be dreaded and respected, in consequence
of the empire they have assumed over the minds of a
credulous people.

' The gentry compose the second order, and they possess
dignities and employments, as well in the kingdom as in
the Grand Duchy, and in which they never permit
strangers or the commonalty to have the least par-

POLISH HISTORY. 75

ticipation. They are privileged to elect their kings, and
the senators have involved themselves in the greatest
dangers whenever they have discovered an inclination to
render themselves the masters of the election.

' When the kingdom is threatened with any irruption
the pospolite, or the whole body of the nobility, are armed
and mount their horses. Besides the palatines of each
province, who appear at the head of their respective
nobility, this body is commanded by a general, even when
the king himself is present. The nobility who compose
these troops are very magnificent and courageous ; they
are covered in their march with the skins of tigers, leo-
pards, and panthers ; their horses are full of mettle, and
their furniture is very splendid ; but the gentlemen pay
no extraordinary obedience to the orders of their chiefs.
They neglect with impunity to assemble at the place
appointed by the letters of convocation, and when they
happen not to be paid, which is generally the case, they
disband themselves without any previous discharge.
Their march is altogether as irregular, they commit a
thousand disorders in the kingdom, and as there are never
any settlers in the Polish army, and as no care is taken to
erect magazines, they make no scruple to pillage where-
ever they come.

' The peasants are in a slavish subjection to the gentry,
They have no property of their own, and all their acquisi-
tions are made for their masters. They are indispensably
employed in the culture of the earth, and they live in an
absolute state of servitude. They are incapable of engag-
ing in any state of life which would procure them their
freedom, without the permission of their lords, and they
are exposed to all the effects of the ill-disposition of
their tyrants who oppress them with impunity.

' The general diets are usually held either at Warsaw
or at Grodno, in the Lithuanian palatinate of Troki.
These are always preceded by dietines, or particular
assemblies of palatinates, in which they choose their nun-
cios, or deputies for the general assembly; and their

76 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

several instructions, with the demands they are to form, in
the name of the province, are regulated in these dietines.

' The king convokes the diet by dispatching letters,
which are called Universalia, to all the palatinates ; and
yet the nobility assembled iti the reign of John Casimir
the second, without the orders of that prince, and the
Polish pospolite, marched into the Ukraine, in order to
subdue the Cossacks, contrary to his desire.

' The nuncios, who are elected in the dietines, meet at
the place specified by letters of convocation, and take
their seats in the assembly, according to the order and
dignity of the palatines which they represent. They
afterwards proceed to the election of a marshal of the
nuncios, who is alternatively chosen out of the lords of
Great and Little Poland and Lithuania.

' This officer has a very extraordinary power in the
diet. No member whatever can speak without his per-
mission, and he is empowered to impose silence on whom
he pleases. He is the organ of the nobility, and transmits
to the senate and the sovereign all complaints against
exorbitant proceedings, abuses in Government, and
injurious treatment of particular persons ; he is attentive
to the protection and safety of the deputies, whose chief
he is constituted by his office, and he punishes all offences
that are committed in the assembly.

' The general diet for the election of a king is that
wherein strangers are interested the most. When an
interregnum has been declared, either in consequence of
the death, abdication, or deposition of the king, the
primate, who is then the chief of the republic, dispatches
his universalia to the several provinces, for a general
assembly. A deputation of senators is likewise sent to
the army to assist the generals with their counsels, and
an exact inventory is taken of the treasure of the Crown.
All the tribunals are then discontinued, and every juris-
diction, except those of the marshals, entirely ceases.

' The assembly is at last held near Warsaw, in the
open field, which is surrounded with ditches, and covered

POLISH HISTORY. 77

over with boards. The Poles call it the Szopa or the
Colo. On the day fixed for opening the diet, the senators
and the nuncios are present at the celebration of a mass
of the Holy Ghost in the church of St John in Warsaw,
after which they repair to the Colo, and when they have
elected a marshal of the nuncios they form a confederation
or a treaty, by which the members of the diet take an
oath not to separate till they have elected a king, and not
to acknowledge any candidate, if he has not been elected
by their unanimous approval, nor render to him any act
of obedience, till he has sworn to observe the Pacta Con-
venta, and the other laws of the kingdom .

' When this union has been formed the members en-
quire into the exorbitances that have been committed in
the course of the last reign. Though the authority of the
prince be limited to very narrow restrictions, and though
the jealousy which the nation entertains of all attempts
against its independency prompts it to a scrupulous exami-
nation of their prince's conduct, yet there are always
some points to be complained of, and reformed at the
close of every reign, and the interregnum proves a favour-
able opportunity for the correction of those abuses. The
laws are re-established in their original force, and new ones
are likewise added; all customs, that are inconsistent
with the immunities of the nobility, are rectified. They
likewise regulate the administration of the State, and pre-
scribe to their future king the observance of those rules
and duties from which he is never permitted to deviate.
' All ambassadors are introduced by the senators, and
they address the assembly in Latin. The president
answers them in the name of the senate, and the marshal
of the nuncios on the part of the nobility.

' It is incumbent on the ministers of the candidates to
let their gold glitter as much as possible ; they ought to
give splendid entertainments, which, besides their pomp,
must be carried into debauch ; and nothing is more agree-
able to the Poles, who are naturally magnificent, than are
feasts of this kind. The nobility are captivated in a

78 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

peculiar manner with the attractions of Hungarian wine,
and infallibly declare in favour of the candidate who
causes it to flow in the greatest profusion.

' The confederates usually take an oath not to attach
themselves to any particular faction, and the ministers
are prohibited from continuing at Warsaw, or forming any
cabals, but these injunctions are always ill observed.
The ambassadors enter upon intrigues even in public, the
nobility receive their presents, sell their suffrages
with impunity, and render the throne venal, after their own
infraction of the first article of the confederation. These
mercenary gentlemen usually conduct themselves with
very little fidelity to the candidate in whose interest they
pretend to be engaged, and if they have nothing more to
receive, they immediately forget the presents they have
already taken, and, without the least hesitation, espouse
the cause of a more wealthy competitor.

1 This pretended liberty, therefore, from which the Poles
would be thought to derive so much glory, is no more
than a slave to avidity. They sacrifice their privileges to
repasts, or the purses of the candidates. They have been
seen to crouch under the inglorious yoke of foreigners
without making any effort to support the king they had
elected, and they have abandoned their country as a prey
to the Germans, whom they constantly hated, and like-
wise to the Russians, who were always a contemptible
and conquered enemy in the reigns of Stephen Battori
and John Sobieski.

' When any candidate has gained the suffrages of all
the palatinates he is declared to be the elected king by
the Archbishop of Gnesna, and is accordingly proclaimed
as such by the marshals of the Crown and Grand Duchy,
in conjunction with the nuncios. An oath is then exacted
from the new monarch in favour of the Pacta Conventa,
and when he has sworn to conform to the regulations of
the diet with reference to the exorbitances, and to
observe all the other laws of the kingdom, they proceed
to the ceremonials of his coronation.

POLISH HISTORY. 79

1 Popery is the established religion, and the prince him-
self is obliged to profess it. The zeal of the Poles has
always prevailed with relation to this article, and all the
efforts made by the advocates for the Augsburg Confession
for the introduction of a Protestant prince on the throne
of Poland have hitherto proved ineffectual. There are,
however, great numbers of Christians of the Greek
Church, as well as Lutherans, Anabaptists, and Socinians,
in this kingdom, and there are even Pagans to be found
in the recesses of Lithuana. The people in general are
more superstitious than devout, and they receive what-
ever is transmitted to them from Rome with a blind sub-
mission, and without bestowing the least examination on
the particulars.

' The monks improve this stupid credulity to their
own advantage ; they frequently interfere in affairs of
State, and enrich themselves by those means. The
Jesuits of Leopold in Russia have a cope entirely covered
with gold and precious stones in their treasury, but it is
likewise so exceeding weighty that the priest is incapable
of using it at mass. This ornament alone is valued at
50,000 crowns.

'With respect to the manners and disposition of this
nation, the Poles, though they are naturally haughty and
imperious, are yet sufficiently qualified to return any
polite treatment they receive, and if a stranger only
tenders them the first civilities, and is sedulous to culti-
vate their friendship, their behavour will always corre-
spond with his advances, and they will be industrious to
render him all the good offices imaginable.

' Magnificence is the foible of the nobility, and they
sacrifice all things to scenes of luxury. As they seldom
behold any person superior to themselves in their own
country, and as they treat their inferiors with an air of
absolute authority, they live in all the splendour of
princes, while fortune proves favourable to their inclina-
tions. Prodigality and debauch are considered as virtues
by a martial nobility, who are frequently precipitated into

80 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

extremes by independence and impunity, Arms are
their only occupation, they discover but little curiosity to
cultivate the polite arts, and commerce is transacted
among them by none but strangers. In a word, the Poles
are only solicitous to distinguish themselves in war, to
defend their frontiers, and to be vigilant over the conduct
of their kings, since they think it degrading to indulge
themselves in any other occupations. As an air of sincerity
is diffused through all their conduct their friendships are
constant, but they are easily rendered the dupes of their
enemies. As they are very disinterested in their desires
they seldom amass great riches, and frequently dissipate
their patrimony. If they are at any time reduced to a
melancholy state of indigence they borrow without any
intention of making a proper restitution, and they think
themselves privileged to dispose of the property of others
with the same prodigality in which they waste their own.
They appear serene and undisturbed amidst the greatest
calamities, and behold the miseries of their friends and
countrymen, and nearest relations, with an aspect of
indifference equal to the insensibility with which
they support their own misfortunes. They are naturally
couragous and intrepid, and habituate themselves to all
sorts of fatigue, and would indeed be invincible if they
paid a due respect to their chiefs. This is the general
character of the Poles, whose history I have undertaken
to write,'

The history by the Abbe* des Fontaines, brings us down
to 1733, and tells of endless revolutions ; later history tells
of partitions of the kingdom.

In an article in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia it is
stated : —

' The Crown of Poland, with the exception of five
centuries previous to the year 1370, was purely elective.
Its sovereigns, whose authority before the era just men-
tioned was unlimited and absolute, were originally termed

POLISH HISTORY. 81

duces, dukes, or generals, in reference to the almost
invariable practice of their conducting the armies of the
state to the field in person. In the fourteenth century the
nobles availed themselves of the weakness of a female
reign to diminish the power of their sovereign, and to
extend that of their own order. They enacted that no
taxes should be levied, that no new laws should be
passed, — in short, that no measure of any importance
should, as formerly, be effected by the king, but by
representatives chosen from among themselves. Hence
the origin of the diets of Poland, of which there were two
kinds, Ordinary and Extraordinary, the former statedly
assembled once in two years, while the latter was sum-
moned by the king only on great emergencies. The
diets consisted of the king, the senators, and deputies
from provinces and towns, amounting altogether to about
four hundred members. These assemblies could sit only
for a limited time, and any individal, however humble,
had the power of calling for a division of the meeting on
any question, and one dissentient voice had the effect of
rendering the whole deliberations ineffectual. This latter
right, which was termed liber um veto, and which was
repeatedly exercised, was the cause of the greatest calami-
ties, and often of much bloodshed. Without the unani-
mous consent of the diet the king could determine no
question of importance, could not declare war, make
peace, raise levies, employ auxiliaries, or admit foreign
troops into his dominions, with other restrictions, which
almost extinguished the regal authority. Nor did the
nobility stop here. Having thus undermined the power
of the king there was but one step more to gain to them -
selves the uncontrolled government of the nation, namely,
to render the throne elective. This was accordingly
accomplished, and the king of Poland enjoyed now the
title, but little of the power or dignity of a free sovereign.
Liberty, so much boasted of by the Poles, seems from this
period to have been confined to the nobles alone. They
arrogated an unlimited sway over their respective terri-

G

82 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

tories ; some of them were hereditary sovereigns of cities
and villages, with which the king had no concern ; they
exercised a power of life and death over their tenants
and vassals ; they were exempted from taxes ; and could
not be arrested and imprisoned but for a few crimes of the
basest kind. But the most dangerous of all their rights,
and one which made their situation analogous to that of
the German princes, was the power of constructing fort-
resses for their private defence, and of maintaining a mili-
tary force, which, in imitation of real dignity, they caused
to keep guard round their palaces. The election of the
king was vested in them alone ; and none but they, and
the citizens of a few particular towns, possessed the pri-
vilege of purchasing or inheriting property in land. The
nobility, amounting to about 500,000 individuals, Malte-
Brun emphatically terms the sovereign body of Poland.

' The senate, however, which owed its origin (in the
eleventh century) to Boseslaus J. formed an intermediate
authority between the king and the nobles. This body,
composed of the ministers of state, of the representatives
of the clergy, of palatines, and castellans, consisted of 149
members, until 1767, when four new members were added
to the number, as representatives of the province of
Lithuania. The senators, except the representatives of
the clergy, were nominated by the king, but continued in
office for life, and after their appointment were totally
independent of royal authority, to which, indeed, they were
regarded as a valuable counterpoise. The duty of the
senate was to preside over the laws, to be the guardians
of liberty, and the protectors of justice and equity, and,
conjunctly with the king, to ratify laws made by the
nobility. A diet could not, as previously hinted, be
constituted without the junction of the senate to the
national representatives ; a portion of the senators,
indeed, acted as a committee for facilitating and con-
ducting the public business of that assembly. The presi-
dent of the senate was the archbishop of Gnesna, who,
during an interregnum, discharged the functions of king,

POLISH HISTORY. 83

and enjoyed all the royal prerogatives but that of dispen-
sing justice. His duty also was to summon the extra-
ordinary diet when the throne became vacant, and to
preside at that assembly.

' The diet which thus assembled on the death of a king
of Poland to elect a sovereign to occupy the vacant throne
was not unfrequently characterised by the most sangui-
nary proceedings. This assembly, which consisted of the
senate, of the representatives of districts, of the clergy,
and the nobles — the latter a most numerous body — met
on horseback in a plain adjoining the village of Wohla in
the neighbourhood of Warsaw. Though the electors were
prohibited from appearing at the meeting attended by
any body guard, they yet uniformly came armed with
pistols and sabres, prepared to perpetrate the greatest
excesses. Every member of the diet, as previously men-
tioned, was entitled to call for a division of the assembly
on any question, or to put an end to the deliberations, or
even the existence of the assembly, merely by protesting
against its proceedings. This singular and absurd
privilege, which was frequently exercised in those meet-
ings of unenlightened and violent men, was productive of
the most fatal consequences. It often led the stronger
party to attack, on the spot, their antagonists, sword in
hand ; and it not unfrequently formed the origin of civil
wars, by which the resources and the stability of the nation
were undermined, patriotism extinguished, and the pro-
gress of liberal knowledge retarded. Before the successful
candidate was proclaimed king, he had to sign the Pacta
conventa, or the conditions on which he obtained the crown,
which, on his knees, he had to swear never to violate.

'Such was the ancient constitution of Poland, —
monarchy blended with aristocracy, in which, for several
centuries previously to its dissolution, the latter prevailed.
The Poles, indeed, denominated their government a
republic, because the king, so extremely limited in his
prerogative, resembled more the chief of a commonwealth
than the sovereign of a monarchy. But it wanted one of

84 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

the necessary characteristics of a republic: The people
were kept in a state of slavery and vassalage, and enjoyed
not even the semblance of any civil privilege : the whole
power was engrossed by the nobles ; and thus the Polish
constitution possessed not that community of interests,
that general diffusion of political privileges which are the
very life and stamina of a republic, as well as of a mixed
monarchy, and with which, in spite of much internal mis-
rule, and of the egressions of foreign enemies, Poland
might have flourished to this day.

' The administration of justice, and the execution of the
law in Poland, was characterised by the grossest abuses.
The judges, nominated by the king, were chosen without
the most remote regard to their talents or integrity ; the
decision of the courts of law were openly and unblushingly
sold to the highest bidder; and no cause, whatever its
merits, could be successful, unless supported by the all-
prevailing power of money. Nor was this corruption, for
which no redress could be obtained, confined to cases in
which the litigants were wealthy, or in which, as resulting
from some base and unprincipled transaction, the most
ample arid liberal payment ought to have been demanded.
Actions for which a man deserved the thanks of the state,
were, when brought before a legal tribunal, the source of
much unjust expense to the person performing them.
" If a man apprehended a murderer," says a writer quoted
by Malte-Brun, " and brought him before the proper
officer, he was charged ten ducats for his trouble, which,
if he were unable or unwilling to pay, the murderer was
immediately set at liberty." Had he submitted to this
payment, the sums that would, on some pretence or other,
have been exacted of him, ere the offender was brought to
justice, no man unacquainted with the history of Poland
could conjecture. " It has cost," says the same writer, "a
merchant of Warsaw 14,000 ducats for apprehending two
thieves." Nor was the expense of a plea more to be
execrated than the duration of it. No litigation, even the
simplest— one, for example, between a debtor and credi-

POLISH HISTORY. 85

tor — could be brought to a termination in less than four
years. In so short a time, however, was almost no case
decided. Vautrin mentions that he knew cases which had
been pending for sixty years, and which, so far as he could
foresee, might continue undetermined "till the last
generation." The nobles, disgusted with this fatiguing
tediousness, not unfrequently withdrew their pleas from
the decision of the courts of law, and settled them by
force of arms, — of which some instances occurred even so
recently as the middle of the last century.1

Such seems to have been the history of Poland. In
the fabulous period of Polish history the land appears to
have been colonised or conquered, and ruled by the
followers and descendants of a Scandinavian or a Caucasian
hero called Lekh, led thither by a white eagle, which
became the national symbol, and from whom the old
English name for the people — Polack, and the Russian
name Polekh, or Polach, was given to them.

The nobles were always peers, and equals in political
rank, and by some it is alleged that the whole population
were such for a long time, but the yeomen became serfs,
if they were not so originally. The monarchy was limited
in power, and became elective. At first successive con-
cessions were made by each one ascending the throne, and
ultimately absolute freedom of election was proclaimed, an
annuity alone been required to render it valid, and a charter
was prepared, by which all privileges granted by previous
sovereigns were renewed and confirmed. It was established
that the king was to be chosen by the whole body of the
nobility and freeholders of the nation, and that in case of
the king infringing the laws and privileges, his subjects
should be absolved from their oaths of allegiance.

By union with Lithuania, and consequent on the various
changes, civil and ecclesiastical, which followed, curtailing
both civil and religious liberty, and ultimately in 1772
the first partition of the kingdom occurred.

There are in the list of the kings of Poland names which
have been held in high honour by the loveis of freedom.

86 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

The partition may be traced to measures adopted by the
dominant party to curtail the religious liberty of dissenters
from the Church of the State and the Church of Rome.
'The reformed religion, though early introduced into Poland,
was not for two centuries very generally adopted. The
Protestants, called Dissidents (a term which also comprise^
those of the Greek church), were tolerated, though they
were obliged to labour under many civil disabilities.
During the interregnum that preceded the election of
Poniatowsky, a decree had buen made by the diet, by
which the dissidents were, in a great measure, forbidden
the free exercise of their worship, and totally excluded
from all civil and political privileges.

' The dissidents could not submit without a struggle to the
deprivation of their most valuable privileges. They com-
bined unanimously to endeavour to accomplish the repeal
of this decree, and, for this purpose, applied for advice and
assistance to some of the most eminent powers of Europe.
And accordingly Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, and
Denmark, made remonstrances to the Government of
Poland on this subject. These remonstrances, however,
were without effect ; for the decree was confirmed by the
coronation diet held after the king's election. The dis-
sidents in the meantime presented to the government
petitions and memorials, and the decision of the question
was at last referred by the diet to the bishops and
senators. And upon a report from them, the diet made
some concessions, which, however, were far from satisfying
the dissidents, who thought it absurd that the redress of
their grievances should be entrusted to those very persons
who were the authors of them. The dissidents, whose
cause was now openly espoused by Russia, Prussia, and
Austria, were not to be flattered by the concessions of
these persecutors, nor overawed by their power. They
formed confederacies for their defence in every province,
and were determined to resist unto blood in support of
their rights and privileges. Nor were the Popish clergy

POLISH HISTORY. 87

and their adherents slow in making preparations. The
Confederation of the Barr, the hope and bulwark of their
party, took up arms. The cries of liberty and religion
became every where the signal of a war, the true object
of which, with the Catholics, was, not only to disperse or
destroy their opponents, but to dethrone Stanislaus, whom
they regarded as friendly to the dissidents, and to rescue
Poland from the influence of Russia. The confed. rates,
as the Catholics were now termed, feebly support d by
Saxony and France, were vanquished in almost every
battle ; and the dissidents would have been secured in the
open and unshackled profession of their faith, had the
sovereigns to whom, in no mean degree, they owed their
success, been actuated by any regard to their cause, or had
not trampled under foot every principle, which the law of
nations, — which the law of nature, should have taught
them to cherish and reverence.

' These sovereigns, however, instead of being animated
in the cause of civil and religious liberty, were, under the
false pretences, labouring solely to extend the boundaries of
their respective dominions, and to promote the aggrandise-
ment of their power. Nothing less than the dismember-
ment of Poland, and the partition of it among themselves,
was their object in the assistance they afforded the
dissidents, — an object which could only be attained, or at
least more easily attained, by fomenting internal divisions,
and thus undermining the resources and unanimity of the
kingdom. This plan, it is thought, was first contemplated
by Prussia ; but Russia and Austria readily enough em-
braced it, though all these kingdoms at different periods
owed much of their glory, and even their very existence,
to the country which they thus resolved to destroy. A

freat proportion of Poland was thus seized upon by these
ingdoms, and a treaty to this effect was signed by their
plenipotentiaries at St, Petersburg in February 1772. The
partitioning powers having forced the Poles to call a
meeting of the diet, threatened, if the treaty of dismem-
berment was not unanimously sanctioned, that the whole

88 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

kingdom should immediately be laid under military execu-
tion, and be treated as a conquered state. The glory of
Poland was past; and though some of the nobles, rather
than be the instruments of bringing their country to
ruin, chose to spend their days in exile and poverty, the
measure was at length agreed to ; and Stanislaus himself,
threatened with deposition and imprisonment, was pre-
vailed upon to sanction it. Europe, though astonished at
what was taking place in Poland, remained inactive. The
courts of London, Paris, Stockholm, and Copenhagen,
indeed, sent remonstrances against this usurpation ; but
remonstrances without a military force will, as in the case
before us, be ofttimes unavailing.

"Oh bloodiest picture in the book of time,
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime ! "

A, large portion of the eastern provinces were seized by
Russia; Austria appropriated a fertile tract on the south-
west ; while Prussia acquired a commercial district in the
north-west, including the lower part of the Vistula.
Poland was thus robbed of 70,000 square miles, or about
a fourth of her whole territory.'

Wars followed. Russia and Prussia triumphed, Warsaw
still remained unconquered. At length Warsaw also fell
before an invading host.

'Poland being thus overthrown, the two ursurping
powers were about to form a partition of it betwixt them,
when Austria unexpectedly stept forward, and declared
that she could not permit the entire destruction of Poland,
unless she were allowed to share in the division. The
consequences of a refusal they were not willing to encoun-
ter ; and Austria had thus her ambitious views realised,
without having incurred the smallest danger or expense.
Stanislaus, who had all this while remained in his capital,
was at length removed to Grodno a second time, where he
was compelled to resign his crown, and was thence carried
to St. Petersburg, where he resided as a state prisoner in

POLISH HISTORY. 89

solitude and exile till his death, which took place in
February 1798.

' The result of this partition was as follows : —

Square Miles. Population.

To Austria 64,000 4,800,000

To Prussia, .... 52,000 3,500,000

To Russia, .... 168,000 6,700,000

284,000 15,000,000

' Of this territory, the partitioning powers appropriated
to themselves those districts that lay most convenient to
their dominions, the acquisitions of Russia being larger
than those of the other two taken collectively.'

On this occasion, as was remarked at the time, the
largest share went to Russia, the most populous to Austria,
and the most commercial to Prussia. The portion which
fell to Russia contained numbers of inhabitants who were
already connected with that country by religious ties ;
and I may take occasion to state that while I have heard very
severe things said by Polish noblemen against Russia, I
have been told by a Pole that there exists in Poland a still
more bitter ieeling against Prussia.

The conquests of Napoleon made great changes in
Poland ; and at the great settlement of 1815 the Emperor
Alexander I. proposed to form the whole of ancient
Poland into a constitutional state under the Russian crown ;
but it was ultimately arranged that Galicia should be
given back to Austria, Posena to Prussia, and that the
rest of the Napoleonic Duchy should be formed into a
constitutional state, with the Emperor of Russia as king
— provinces acquired by Catherine II. at the portion of
1772 remaining incorporated with the Russian empire ;
and it was governed accordingly. It had its diet, its
national administration, and its national army. In 1830
an insurrection broke out. When this was suppressed all
that was changed, and measures were taken to Russianise

90 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

the country if possible. A second insurrection broke out
in 1863, and this also was suppressed.

Tha population is reported as about five millions of
souls. I presume of inhabitants, though in Russia that
term is applied to males alone. According to one esti-
mate reported to me, about two-fifths of the inhabitants
are Jews, and something less than that proportion are
Poles. According to a Russian estimate, the Russians
are under 10,000 males, and the Jews number upwards
of 600,000 males.

The serfdom of the peasantry was comparatively
restricted, but it could be made very oppressive. In the
insurrection of 1830 the leaders sought to secure their co-
operation by promising them emancipation and a freehold
possession of lands in their occupation ; and a similar
arrangement was adopted by the Russian Government.

I have not the information necessary to enable me
to form an opinion in regard to the propriety, expediency,
or the justice of subsequent proceedings, which brought
ruin and exile upon many noble-minded natives of Poland,
males and females, nobles and peasants, alike. In the
minds of many, Poles and Siberia are closely associated.
I have not the means of either verifying or disproving
any of the allegations which are current in regard to the
number of Poles who have been expatriated by exile
thither. But to this I cau testify : for about seven years —
from 1833 to 1840 inclusive — every male going to Siberia
was supplied with a copy of the New Testament scriptures.
All of these passed through my hands j and in no one year
did the number of New Testaments in Polish appear to
be disproportionate to the numbers required in other
languages spoken in the provinces — Finnish, Lettish,
Estonian, Swedish, German, and French.

Of the Polish exiles on their journey to Siberia,
Michie, in his volume entitled The Siberian Overland
Route from Pekin to St. Petersburg, mentions that the
number of Polish prisoners met with on the road

POLISH HISTORY. 91

at some places threatened seriously to impede his
journey. Between Kazan and Perm he encountered
companies of them on their way, and this at almost
every station. This was in 1863 or 1864, and he writes : —
' The resources of the posting establishments were
severely taxed to provide horses for so many travellers at
once, and we had frequently to wait till the Poles were
gone, and then take the tired horses they had brought
from the last station. The Poles travelled in the same
manner as we did, in large sledges, containing three or
four people, sometimes more. Those who could not be
accommodated with sledges had carts or telegas, which
were more or less crowded. None of them travelled a-fooU
All were well clothed in furs. On the whole, I was sur-
prised to find such a number of people travelling with so
much comfort. The prisoners were invariably treated
with kindness and consideration by the officer in charge
and by the gensdarmes. They are under close surveillance,
but I did not see any of the prisoners in irons, though I
was informed that some of them were so. ... They
ate well, and talked loudly ; the din of their voices at a
post-station was intolerable. Many joked and laughed a
great deal, by way of keeping up their spirits, I suppose ;
but no indication whatever was given that they were exiles
undergoing the process of banishment. If one might
judge from appearances, I should say they rather liked it.'
Of the passage of the Volga, he writes : — 'The ferry-
boats were engaged the whole day in conveying Polish
exiles across the river bound for Siberia. It is a sad sight
to see so many people in captivity, and still more so to see
a number of women accompanying the exiles. It is quite
common for the wives, daughters, and mothers of the poli-
tician convicts to follow their relatives into Siberia. This
is not discouraged by the Russian Government ; on the
contrary, every facility is granted to enable their families
to emigrate, and they have always the means of travelling
in company. The object of the Government is to colonise
Siberia, so that the more people who go there the better.

92 FORESTRY IN POLAND.

Besides, the residence of families in exile offers some
guarantee against any attempt at a return to their native
country.' Describing then two old ladies, well dressed
in black silk and warm fur cloaks, he says : — ' They were
treated with great kindness by the soldiers, who lifted
them carefully out of the boat, carried them to their
sledges which were in waiting, and put them in as tenderly
as if they had been their own mothers. After carefully
wrapping them up with their furs a Cossack got in beside
each of the ladies, and they drove off to Kazan. A girl
who was with them was equally well attended to by the
officer in command of the part}7, who seemed to consider
the Polish maiden to be his especial charge.'

Some additional information relative to the opinions
entertained by Polish exiles in Siberia and others
in regard to advantages which they enjoy in Siberia
is supplied by Mr Michie (pp. 337-342). I believe
it to be a fair representation of the case ; and it is in
accordance with everything stated by Dr Lansdell in
his volume entitled Through Siberia, published in
1882, in which he gives details of arrangements of almost
every prison in Siberia, to visit which, with a view to
supplying the prisoners with copies of the New Testament
was the design of his journey. A review of what he says
I embodied in a companion volume to this, entitled
Forestry in the Ural Mountains in Eastern Russia*

* Forestry in the Mining Districts of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Russia. In
which are given details of a journey from St Petersburg thither, and of forest exploita-
tion in the government of Ufa ; an account of the Ural Mountains and the population
of metallurgy works creating a demand for forest products ; an account of the forests
of the district ; of the exploitation of these ; and of abuses connected with this, with
a parting glimpse at the life of the people ; and the conquest of Siberia by Russia.

PART II.

LITHUANIA.

C.TAPTER I.

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE.

ACCORDING to a Gazeteer published in the last century
(1798), Lithuania is ' a large country between Poland and
Russia. It is about 300 miles long, and 250 in breadth.
It is watered by several rivers, the principal of which are
the Dneiper, the Dwina, the Nieraan, the Pripeez, and the
Bog. It is a flat country like Poland, and the lands are well
adapted for tillage. The soil is not only fertile in corn, but
it produces heavy wood, pitch, and vast quantities of wool.
They have also excellent little horses which they never
shoe, because their hoofs are very hard. There are vast
forests, in which are bears, wolves, elks, wild oxen, lynxes,
beavers, gluttons, wild cats, &c., and eagles and vultures
are very common. In these forests large pieces of yellow
amber are dug up frequently. The country abounds with
Jews, who, though numerous in every other part of Poland,
seem to have fixed their head quarters in this duchy, and
this is perhaps the only country in Europe where Jews
cultivate the ground. The peasants are in a state of
the most abject vassalage. The religion was formerly
Romish, but now there are Lutherans, Calvinists, Socinians,
Greeks, and even Turks, as well as Jews/

As it was then, so is it still. In a later Gazeteer
published by Fullarton, it is stated : — ' Lithuania, called
in German Littauen, is a very ancient division of Europe,

94 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

lying between Courland, Russia, Poland, and Prussia. In
the eleventh century the country was tributary to Russia ;
in the thirteenth it became a grand duchy under Ringold.
The Grand Duke Jagellan, having married the Polish
princess Hedwig, united his duchy to the crown of Poland
about the year 1386. At the first partition of Poland in
1773, a considerable portion of Lithuania was assigned to
Russia, and the governments of Mohilev and Polozk, or
Vitebsk, were formed out of the newly acquired territory ;
while the remainder of Lithuania, forming the territories
of Yilna, Troki, Polozk, Novogrodek, Brzesc, and Minsk,
remained attached to the Polish monarchy. By the
partition of 1793 and 1795, Russia further acquired those
portions of Lithuania which now form her governments
of Vilna, Grodno, and Minsk, while Prussia acquired that
portion which constituted her regency of Gurnbinnan.' It
is the Russian portion, exclusive of this, upon which I now
report.

Lithuania, like Poland, has played an important part in
the development of Russia, in so far at least as modifica-
tion of political government is concerned. In Russia at
the present time, we have, in combination with absolute
monarchal power in all that relates to national matters,
what looks like absolute democratic power in all that
relates to communal matters, and in a former day there
was in Russia in one district a democratic republic side by
side with an absolute monarchy. According to one legend
the real founders of the Russian monarchy were Normans
who found their way to the district in which is situated
the city of Novgorod, either coming thither by invita-
tion or in the prosecution of their personal pursuits.

Of what followed Mr Mackenzie Wallace writes : —
' For six centuries after the so-called invitation of Rurik
the city on the Volkhof had a strange chequered history.
Rapidly it conquered the neighbouring Finnish tribes,
and grew into a powerful independent state, with a
territory extending to the Gulf of Finland, and north-
wards to the White Sea. At the same time its com-

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 95

mercial importance increased, and it became an outpost
of the Hanseatic League. In this work the descendants
of Rurik played an important part, but they were always
kept in strict subordination to the popular will. Political
freedom kept pace with commercial prosperity. What
means Rurik employed for establishing and preserving
order we know not, but we know that his successors in
Novgorod possessed merely such authority as was freely
granted them by the people. The supreme power
resided, not in the prince, but in the assembly of the
citizens called together in the market-place by the sound
of the great bell. This assembly made laws for the
prince as well as for the people, entered into alliances
with foreign powers, declared war and concluded peace,
imposed taxes, raised troops, and not only elected the
magistrates, but also judged and deposed them when it
thought fit. The prince was little more than the hired
commander of the troops and the president of the judicial
administration. When entering on his functions he had
to take a solemn oath that he would faithfully observe
the ancient laws and usages, and if he failed to fulfil his
promise he was sure to be summarily deposed and
expelled. The people had an old rhymed proverb, " Koli
khud knayaz, tak v grayaz !" (" If the prince is bad, into
the mud with him !"), and they habitually acted according
to it. So unpleasant, indeed, was the task of ruling those
sturdy, stiff-necked burghers, that some princes refused to
undertake it, and others, having tried it for a time,
voluntarily laid down their authority and departed. But
these frequent depositions and abdications — as many as
thirty took place in the course of a single century — did
not permanently disturb the existing order of things.
The descendants of Rurik were numerous, and there were
always plenty of candidates for the vacant place. The
municipal republic continued to grow in strength and in
riches, and during the thirteenth and fourteenth century
it proudly styled itself " Lord Novgorod the Great "
(Gospodin Veliki Novgorod].

96 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

* " Then came a change, as all things human change."
To the East arose the principality of Moscow — not an
old, rich municipal republic, but a young, vigorous State,
ruled by a line of crafty, energetic, ambitious, and un-
scrupulous princes, who were freeing the country from
the Tartar yoke and gradually annexing by fair means
and foul the neighbouring principalities to their own
dominions. At the same time, and in a similar manner,
the Lithuanian princes to the Westward united various
imall principalities, and formed a powerful independent
State. Thus Novgorod found itself between two powerful
aggressive neighbours. Under a strong government it
might have held its own against these rivals, and success-
fully maintained its independence, but its strength was
already undermined by internal dissensions. Political
liberty had led to anarchy. Again and again on that
great open space where the national monument now
stands, and in the market-place on the other side of the
river, scenes of disorder and bloodshed took place, and
more than once on the bridge battles were fought by con-
tending factions. Sometimes it was a contest between
rival families, and sometimes a struggle between the
municipal aristocracy, who sought to monopolise the
political power, and the common people, who wished to
have a large share in the administration. A State thus
divided against itself could not long resist the aggressive
tendencies of powerful neighbours. Artful diplomacy
could but postpone the evil day, and it required no great
political foresight to predict that sooner or later Novgorod
must become Lithuanian or Muscovite. The great families
inclined to Lithuania, but the popular party and the
clergy looked to Moscow for assistance, and the Grand
Princes of Muscovy ultimately gained the prize.'

There are indications in early legends and history that
the most absolute liberty was enjoyed, or let me rather
say, possessed by the Russian peasantry. Not only was
every man's house his castle, but every man was king in

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 97

his own family, and was the subject of no one. At a later
period the so-called noblemen were nominally and to some
extent under the authority of the prince, but it was a
subjection which left the man free to do as he liked. By
degrees the prince gained power, and the nobles lost it.
And in reference to the changes going on in the times
just alluded to, Mackenzie Wallace writes : — ' When the
Grand Princes of Moscow brought the other principalities
under their power, and formed them into the Tsardom of
Muscovy, the nobles descended another step in the political
scale. So long as there were many principalities they
could quit the service of a prince, as soon as he gave them
reason to be discontented, knowing that they would be
well received by one of his rivals ; but now they had no
longer any choice. The only rival of Moscow was Lithu-
ania, and precautions were taken to prevent the discon-
tented from crossing the Lithuanian frontier. The nobles
were no longer voluntary adherents of a prince, but had
become subjects of a Tsar ; and the Tsars were not as the
old princes had been. By a violent legal fiction they
conceived themselves to be the successors of the Byzantine
Emperors, and created a new court ceremonial, borrowed
partly from Constantinople and partly from the Tartar
Horde. They no longer associated familiarly with the
Boyars, and no longer asked their advice, but treated them
rather as menials. When the nobles entered their august
master's presence they prostrated themselves in Oriental
fashion — occasionally as many as thirty times — and when
they incurred his displeasure they were summarily flogged
or executed, according to the Tsar's good pleasure. In
succeeding to the power of the Khans, the Tsars had
adopted, we see, a good deal of the Tartar system of
government.'

To this has to be added the impoverishment of the
nobles through extravagant expenditure, and the priva-
tions of the poor through lack of remunerative employ-
ment, and, it may be, want of energy and past wrongs
done to them by petty local officials. The last mentioned evil

H

98 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

is one not limited to this province, but an illustration
taken from it may be more satisfactory than mere illusions
to the general forms which it assumes throughout the
empire.

By one of my personal friends I was informed that on
the occasion of wide spread famine in this region some
years ago, provision was made by the Government for the
supply of the destitute with corn. He happened to be
present when the Government official, appointed to en-
quire into the state of the poor in the locality where he
was, came to the house of a poor man whom he knew to be
in want. To his surprise, in answer to the enquiry of the
official whether he needed help, he said, ' No/ The official
seemed equally surprised, and varied the form of the
question, but still got the same reply. He began to
reason with the man in regard to the folly of not availing
himself of the provision which the Government had made
for supplying corn to them free of all charge ; but still the
man maintained that he did not need it. And the
apparent philanthrophy of the official was completely
baffled by the apparent independent spirit of the peasant.
When the official had gone my friend astonished asked of
him, ' How is this ? You and your family are in danger
of starvation, and yet you say you are not in want. I
cannot understand it/ ' Yes,' said the peasant, ' we are
in want. But of whatever grant may be made by the
Government a great deal will be retained by those
through whose hands it first passes ; the same will be done
again and again by all those through whose hands it must
pass in succession before it could reach us ; and reach us it
never will. So if we must starve any way I would
rather starve just as I am than give to these fellows an
opportunity of making money under the pretext of saving
us from starvation/

But among the courtiers there was to be found, in
the times spoken of by Mackenzie Wallace, or shortly
thereafter, ' Lithuanian nobles, who found it more profit-
able to serve the Tsar than their own sovereign/

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 99

Of the treatment to which men of their order were
subject twenty years ago, a picture is given by the Rev.
Fortescue L. M. Anderson in a little volume entitled
Seven Months Residence in Russian Poland in 1863.

In 1863 the Rev. Fortescue L. M. Anderson accepted
an invitation from Count Alexander von Bisping-Galen to
accompany him to his estate of Wereiki in Lithuania, he
having made his acquaintance at the University of Bonn,
where his father held the appointment of English
chaplain. The Count was in his political views what was
known as a Conservative Pole, that is one who was
opposed to insurrection ; and as indicative of the desire of
the Count to avoid even the appearance of sympathy
with the disaffected it is mentioned by Mr Anderson, in
giving a narrative of their journey, in prosecuting which
they had reached Konigsberg, ' he (the Count) had bought
some time before a pair of guns and pistols of superior
workmanship, which he naturally wished to carry home
with him. But to have tried to introduce these with his
own luggage at the Russian frontier would have been to
expose them to certain seizure, and himself probably to
heavy penalties. To have sent them (as he might have
done) by boat up the river, along with a reaping machine
which he had bought in England, and which was now
awaiting his arrival in Konigsberg, would have been
simply an evasion of the law, and have subjected him to
the charge of secretly supplying arms for the insurgents.
He resolved, therefore, at once to abstain from any and
every attempt, directly or indirectly, to make use of the
guns and pistols which he prized so highly; and begged
me to ask my father, in the letter I was then writing, to
take charge of them. They were accordingly sent off to
Bonn, before our departure from Konigsberg ; and my
father has them still in his possession, with the cases
unopened.'

They found everywhere an abundance of military, but
the first offensive conduct which they saw was at Grodno.
' From Wilna our next journey was to Grodno ; the

100 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA

country is for the most part flat, and only diversified here
and there by small lakes, and patches of fir and birch
plantations. The intermediate stations were all crowded
with soldiers ; but no authentic particulars of information
could be learned anywhere respecting the insurrection
which had thus drawn them out from their various
winter quarters. We had learned much more about its
progress, whilst we were yet at a distance, from English
and French and German newspapers, than we seemed
likely to learn in the country disturbed by it.

' A run of about four hours by railway brought us to
Grodno, where we were received by a cousin of the
Count ; and, having dressed hastily at the hotel, went to
dine with Prince and Princess Lubecki, who received us
with the utmost kindness. I was agreeably surprised
to find that the Princess, who is an aunt of the Count,
spoke English ; and this circumstance, joined with the
hearty friendliness of all the party, tended not a little to
secure for me a most agreeable evening in this land of
strangers,

' Our breakfast next morning presented the novelty of
tea served up in tumblers, accompanied with cigarettes,
and, from that time until midday, there was an uninter-
rupted succession of visitors coming in to see the Count.
We went out for luncheon to a neighbouring restaurant,
and met a number of Russian officers who had been
playing billiards there. The demeanour of the Russian
officers, especially those of the Imperial Guard, is gene-
rally marked by great courtesy ; but, upon the present
occasion, I must confess, they exhibited it only in scant
measure. In fact, one of them did not scruple to stretch
his hand rudely over the table and help himself to a
portion of bread which had been placed for our party.
Whether he did it intentionally, or from inadvertence, I
cannot say ; but a significant smile which passed, at the
same moment, over the face of one of his brother officers
who observed him, forced me to believe that they were
trying how far they might venture to show their contempt

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. l'ol

for those whom they regarded as merely- Poiisll intruders.
But their plan to pick a quarrel with us — if such had
been their purpose — was frustrated by our taking not the
slightest notice of their conduct.

' On Friday morning, the 6th of March, we started by
post-waggon for Wereiki, one of the Count's country
houses, south of the Niemen, about thirty English miles
from Grodno. The two waggons, which drew up to the
door an hour after the appointed time, resembled Scotch
hay-carts. One of them was drawn by four rough-looking
horses abreast, and the other by three. The rapid
pace at which they galloped along the wretched roads
was perfectly surprising, and the violent jolting which the
passengers thereby suffered, for the waggons had no
springs, may be better imagined than described. Our
progress at first was slow enough ; the rough pavement
of the streets making it necessary to traverse them
nearly at a walking pace, and the obstruction at the
bridge over the Niemen being not easy to overcome.
There are two bridges across this part of the Niemen;
the one, a tubular bridge, for the railway to Warsaw j
the other, a flying bridge, as it is called, but of a
very different construction from those bearing the
same name, with which the traveller on the Rhine is
familiar at Bonn, Konigswinter, and Neuwied. The
movement of the Rhine bridges, as the reader probably
knows, is carried on by the action of the stream, and
controlled by a chain, which is attached to the stern of
the two barges which support the platform of the
bridge, and thence passing through a high wooden frame-
work, is drawn over a series of boats stationed at inter-
vals up the stream, and is fastened over the s£ern of the
hindmost boat, to the bottom of the river. The Niemen
bridge is likewise set in motion by the stream ; but,
instead of being attached to boats, its course, from one
bank to the other, is controlled by a stout cable, which
passes upon rollers, through two upright posts fixed on
each side of the bridge, and is fastened at each end to a

102 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

windlass oti 'eltKer' side of the river. The Niemen is not
half so broad at this point as the Rhine, or this mode of
making the bridge swing to and fro would not be prac-
ticable. The platform, which composes the floor of the
bridge, is laid over two strong barges, like those upon
the Rhine, and large enough to carry, at each trip, carts
and horses and foot passengers. Upon the present
occasion there could not havo been less than a hundred
passengers and fourteen or fifteen carts and waggons,
besides our own. This motley assemblage, packed of
course very closely together, presented a scene of hope-
less confusion. Not much inconvenience, indeed, was
suffered by our own party, for precedence was given to
the post-waggon in which we were carried. But those
who followed could only gain the bridge by a general
scramble; men, women, and children, soldiers and pea-
sants, pushing and quarrelling, swearing, screaming —
each striving to reach it first. Two of the party
especially attracted my attention, a peasant boy, and a
Jew woman about fifty years old, each leading a horse
and a four-wheeled market cart down towards the bridge.
The woman was rather in advance at first, but the boy,
whilst she was wrangling with the manager of the bridge,
contrived to get his horse and cart in front of hers.
Whereupon the woman, as soon as she perceived it,
beat his horse savagely about the head, and then turned
with equal fury upon the boy himself, scratching his
face and kicking him. The boy was not slow to pay
her in her own coin, and a regular pounding-match
followed, to the amusement, apparently, of the lookers-
on. But, in the midst of the scuffle, the boy was still
mindful of his main purpose, and, watching his oppor-
tunity, succeeded in making good his stand upon the
bridge. The woman, too, followed, and would fain
have renewed the contest ; but, finding this impracti-
cable, contented herself with pouring out an incessant
torrent of abuse upon the object of her rage. The
so-called management of the bridge, as indeed is the

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 103

management-, of everything else in this country, is in the
hands of Jews. But, if the preservation of order be
part of the contract, it was certainly set at nought this
day. There may have been officers present, whose
duty it was to preserve order, but I could not see any.
Indeed, it would have required a regiment of police-
men to have withstood the pressure of the eager
multitude.

'Once across the bridge, our pace was a continual
gallop. Even a steep hill, which we had to ascend
soon after leaving the river, and heavy roads, made still
heavier by muddy heaps of half-melted snow, had no
effect in slackening the speed of the poor horses. The
driver was unceasingly employed in shouting to them,
or in lashing their jaded sides with a rope whip. The
first stage, about fifteen English miles, through a hilly
country, was completed in less than an hour and a half ;
the second, about the same distance, was traversed in
about the same time, over a somewhat better road, and
the country was more flat. Our luncheon, at the end of
the first stage, consisted of brown bread and cheese with
caviar and claret. There was a long building by the
road-side, which served as a stable for the post-horses,
four of which aie required always to be kept in readiness
for any emergency. Boards were laid in a sloping form
for the horses to lie upon, but covered with a very scanty
littering of straw ; and little or no pains appeared to be
taken to keep either stables or horses clean.

'We passed some good-looking farm-houses, in the
second stage of our journey, and also some rich-looking
fen land, which reminded me of the best parts of the
border country of Norfolk and Lincolnshire.'

They made a round of visits to the relatives of the
Count. All is described, with notices of the domestic
habits of the families visited, with a naivete which shows
that nothing political, much less anything treasonable, was
in their thoughts.

104 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

While thus spending their time, and devoting much of
their leisure to fishing and the chase, the insurrection
which was being expected, broke out ; and Mr Anderson
records some of the cases of what he considered oppression
which came under his notice, when he went with his
friend, Count Bisping, to spend the summer months with
him on his family estates in Lithuania, little imagining
that like treatment was to be given to themselves. But such
was the case. He was about to return to Bonn, where he
was expected before the end of September, when, most
unexpectedly, he and his host together were thrown into
prison. Of his arrest and imprisonment he tells : —
1 On Friday, the fourth of September, we came to Grodno
from Wereiki, intending to proceed the following week
to Wiercieliszki, and attend the harvest home which was
to be there celebrated. We remained in Grodno the
whole of Saturday and Sunday ; and, on Monday after-
noon, set out for the farm. The weather was beautiful ;
the Jew post-master had sent us his best team of four
horses to convey us ; and the Count, his German
servant, and I left the hotel, about three o'clock, in
high spirits; little dreaming of the events that were
soon to befall us.

1 Upon reaching the town barrier, where the passports
are always examined, I saw two sentries of the Imperial
Guard standing in their dress uniform, in honour of
some grand festival. The Count hurried upstairs as
usual, with the papers, whilst I remained in the carriage.
Hardly had he left me, when a gensdarme came up,
and asked whether the carriage in which I was sitting be-
longed to Count Bisping. On my replying in the affirma-
tive, he told me to go upstairs with the luggage, which
consisted of two portmanteaus and a carpet-bag. I was
somewhat startled at receiving such an order ; but,
without making any remark, at once obeyed it. Count
Bisping was even more astonished at seeing me enter
the passport office, and asked what was the matter ? I
referred him for information to the gensdarme, who

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 105

forthwith showed, that, in his opinion, something very
serious was the matter ; and that it was his duty to
call us strictly to account for it. In a loud, dictatorial
tone, he ordered the servant to open the boxes, and
demanded from us our papers. Both these orders were
instantly complied with ; but, in surrendering my papers
I took the liberty of retaining my English passport as
long as I could.

' After the boxes had been examined, and every article
of their contents most minutely scrutinised, the officer
turned to Count Bisping, and ordered him to undress.
The Count immediately pulled off his coat and other
garments. The contents also of his pockets were
searched ; his watch and purse seized, and all his money
counted ; even his boots were taken off and carefully
examined by a soldier, to see if any piece of paper were
concealed inside them, or between the soles. The Ger-
man servant next underwent the same operation ;
whilst I quietly looked on. My turn then came. The
gensdarme turned to me, and said, " Now, undress."

'" I decline doing so," I answered, speaking in French,
" I am an Englishman, travelling with a passport given
under the hand and seal of our Foreign Secretary j and
I have also a Russian passport. 1 have not broken any
of your laws ; and, until I am informed of the cause of
my arrest, I shall not submit to be treated like a felon."

' He stared at me with a look of blank amazement ;
apparently unable to believe his ears, that any one, con-
nected with the despised Poles, should dare to disobey
the orders of a Russian official. He paused, but only
for a moment : then ran, and opened the window, and
spoke some words of loud command, the purport of
which, the Count told me, was to summon the Chef
militaire, and the Chef de police, together with a
troop of Cossacks, to our quarters. I could hardly
help smiling at this alarming array of force, ordered
out against one defenceless man; and was curious to
see whether it were really intended by the Russian

106 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

authorities to mark their proceedings by an act of such
egregious folly.

1 During the absence of the messenger, the Count said
to me, " Why do you not yield to their demands ? "

' " I will do so," I replied, " as soon as I am informed
what their demands are. But I will not submit to the
indignity of being treated in this manner, without any
reason assigned."

' The reader may probably think that I was wrong in
making this resistance ; and, if more time for reflection
had been afforded to me, I should probably have ab-
stained from the attempt to interpose any delay. But,
at the moment, I was filled with deep indignation, which
absorbed every other thought.

1 After waiting about half an hour, the Chef militaire
arrived, and was soon followed by the Chef de police
and the Cossacks. The latter were forthwith despatched
at full gallop to the Count's farm, with orders to seize
and bring away everything which they could find belong-
ing to us. The Chef militaire, I must here mention,
was an officer of the Imperial Guard, only acting tem-
porarily in the office which he then filled. He was a
thorough gentleman ; and I could read in his counte-
nance the disgust which he felt at the arrogant offensive
manner of the Chef de police. Having been informed
of all the particulars of our arrest, and of my refusal to
undress, the Chef de police turned round to me, and
said, in broken English, " But you moost, my friend, you
moost deshabiller." 1 repeated what I had before said,
and told him, that, if the cause of my arrest were
explained, I would obey any and every order which it
was his duty to impose : but that, otherwise, I should
do nothing. They had of course the power to do what
they liked. It would be useless for me, I said, to resist
them: and I could only appeal to the Governor for
redress.

' " May the soldiers undress you ? " was the next
question.

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 107

1 "I have told you already that you may do what you
like. I have no means of preventing you ; but I shall
certainly not do anything to assist you in the infliction
of an insult against which I protest. I have here my
English passport, bearing the signature and seal of Lord
Russell ; and, if you look at it, you will see that it requires,
in th", name of the Queen of England, alt those whom it may
concern, to allow me to pass freely without let or hindrance,
and to afford me every assistance and protection of which I
may stand in need. Do you suppose that these words
have no meaning? or that I shall quietly suffer you or
any man to trample under foot the authority which they
assert ? "

' " Let me see your passport," said he. I held it out
to him. He seized it, crumpled it up, and thrust it into
his pocket, adding in a contemptuous tone, " Well, now
you have it no longer." I remonstrated as strongly as
i could, against such cool audacious insolence ; but the
only notice he took of me was to draw the passport out
of his pocket again, straighten it, and place it among my
other papers, which he duly sealed up.

' He then made a sign for two of the soldiers to draw
near and strip me of my coat and waistcoat and boots,
and examine carefully every part of them. Upon seeing
them peep into my boots, I told the Chef de police
that Englishmen were not in the habit of carrying money
or letters in their boots. " Oh, no," he said, " I have
been in England ; and know the ways of Englishmen
well enough."

' " If that be the case, I think you must have learned
that no man in England is treated as a criminal, until
his crime be proved. Why have you not remembered
the lesson ? "

' The work of undressing me being ended, the men
proceeded to repack our portmanteaus, and left. me sit-
ting where I was, occasionally looking at me, and won-
dering apparently what was to happen next. As soon
as everything was ready for removal, the Chef de police
turned round, and said to me, "Come, Sir, dress.''

108 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

1 " No, I shall do nothing. You have brought me into
this condition, by what I regard as most unjust conduct.
I shall leave you to get me out of it as you can."

' Upon this the German servant was directed to do
what was required ; and, had I not helped him from
time to time, I believe his trembling hands would never
have accomplished the task.

' " Why is the pauvre Anglais so cross ? " said the Chef
de police, in a taunting tone, to the Count. "He seems
quite angry."

" I am angry," 1 replied, " at the violation of justice,
which is committed under the name of law/'

To like treatment he was subjected for many days.
Of this full details are given — pp. 142-214 —but the
narrative is too long for citation. His deliverance was
the result of the circumstance of three English tourists
happening to pass through Grodno, who heard there that
one of their countrymen was imprisoned. They were the
Rev. W. G. CJark, Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College,
Cambridge, and public orator ; Mr W. Lloyd Birkbeck,
Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge ; and the third a
member of Balliol College, Oxford. Mr Clark wrote to
Lord Napier, British ambassador at St. Petersburg, and
Mr Birkbeck to Mr White, the Vice-Consul at Warsaw ;
and thus was secured his liberation. But his host was
exiled to the frontier of Siberia. Of his ultimate fate
Mr Anderson writes : —

' Little more remains to be told of what has since
befallen my dear friend, Count Bisping. The first intel-
ligence which reached me respecting him was that he
had been set free. I was not at all surprised at this ; for
I knew that his arrest had produced the greatest excite-
ment, and that there was a wide and deeply felt
sympathy among all classes for him ; and that every
effort was made in Grodno and throughout its neighbour-
hood to effect his release. A day or two before my
departure I heard that a long train of his tenantry and

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 109

neighbours, headed by a Russian priest, were coming to
the Governor of Grodno with a petition on his behalf.
The word of a Russian priest spoken in favour of a
Polish Roman Catholic proprietor was no ordinary inci-
dent ; and I was sanguine in the hope of a successful
result'. He was indeed released, but only for a short
time. He was still forbidden to leave Grodno ; and, in
a few days afterwards, the hand of power was once more
laid npon him, and he was removed to St. Petersburg, on
his way to the distant province of Orenburg, which
adjoins the south-western range of the Ural Mountains.
He was told, indeed, that upon arriving at the place of
his exile, he should be allowed his personal liberty ; that
his valet and man-cook should accompany him ; that he
should have the command of his money for the supply of
what was needful ; and that his estates should all be
preserved. Upon arriving at St. Petersburg he was again
placed in confinement for eight days, until the arrange-
ments were completed lor the subsequent disposal of him-
self and of those who were forwarded, at the same time,
to undergo the like or severer banishment.

'During his stay in St. Petersburg, his servant, who
had thus far continued to wait upon him, with the
intention of going on even to the end, went to the
Prussian Embassy, and their received such formidable
accounts of the risks to which (through ignorance of
the Russian language), he might probably be exposed in
the place of his master's exile, accompanied with such
strong advice that he should retrace his steps home-
ward, that his resolution to share his master's fortunes
was utterly shaken. Ludwig hastened to his master,
and told him of all that he had heard, and of the fears
and perplexities by which he was beset. His master
frankly told Ludwig that he should be sorry to part
with him, but still more sorry if his intention to follow
his master into the interior should entangle him in
serious difficulties. He urged him, therefore, to act
upon the advice which he had received ; to go home to

110 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

his family ; and to believe, that, if circumstances should
at any future time allow him to resume the duties which,
for nearly three years, he had faithfully performed, his
master would gladly receive him. This generous and
considerate conduct of the Count is exactly what I should
have expected from him. Courageous, and stedfast, and
even cheerful, in the endurance of his own trials, he
would yet have been miserable at the thought of bringing
any one else, through his influence, into the same
dangers ; and, therefore, not grudgingly or reluctantly,
but with sincere and hearty goodwill, he dismissed the
servant who, he believed, loved him ; and furnished him
with ample means to return home.

* I have frequently seen the servant since his return,
and heard many a fresh tale of sorrow from his lips.
The good priest at Massalani, of whom I have before
spoken, has been added, among others, to the long list
of recent prisoners ; but I have not yet heard what sen-
tence has been passed upon him.

' The various houses at which I stayed have, each and
all of them, been visited, if not permanently occupied,
by Russian troops. At Wereiki especially, where Ludwig
passed a few hours one day, thirty Cossacks were found
to have taken up their quarters in the room which
had been our usual dining-room ; and it can be readily
understood, that, at their departure, — whensoever that
may be, little or nothing will be left behind. Every-
where the work of pillage and oppression goes forward ;
and, though the formal sentence of confiscation of the
Count's estates have not been proclaimed, yet who can
estimate the amount of damage that has been, and still
is, wilfully and wantonly inflicted upon every species of
his property?

' Of the Count himself, I am thankful to say that I
have heard a better account than I had dared to hope
for. The place of his residence is Ufa, in the province of
Orenburg. The climate has thus far agreed with him ;
and the Governor of the place appears to do everything

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. Ill

he can to relieve the irksomeness of his exile. But the
question which I cannot help asking myself, and to
which I have not yet been able to find a satisfactory
answer is, Why is such a man in exile at all? If he had
been really guilty of doing anything, directly or indi-
rectly, to promote the work of revolution, is it to be
supposed, that, in the present temper of the Russian
Government, his life or property would not have been
immediately forfeited ? The mere fact that his life and
property are spared is proof incontrovertible that the
charges attempted to be brought against him are false ;
and that the Government knows them to be false. But,
if false, why not admit their falsehood ? Why not punish,
as they deserve, the perjured witnesses that dared to
slander him? Why not fully reinstate the Count in the
property of which he is the rightful owner, and to the
improvement of which he is ready to devote his fortune
and the best energies of his noble nature ? There is,
indeed, one answer, and only one, — but who can call it a
satisfactory answer ? — to be returned to these and other
like questions, namely, that the unsparing rigour of
Mouravieff's government forbids the display, — I will not
say, of mercy, — but of any approach to equity or fair
dealing towards any Pole, whose name has been in
the slightest degree associated — it matters not how
wrongly — with the insurgent cause. The fate of
Count Bisping is but the fate of hundreds and
thousands of others who, like him, are, or were, landed
proprietors in Lithuania and the adjoining provinces.
The system pursued has been simply a system of
indiscriminate proscription ; and, even whilst these sheets
are passing through the press, I observe a proclama-
tion, lately issued by Mouravieff — and now making the
circuit of every journal in Europe — in which he regards
with wondrous self-complacency the work done by his
hands within the last few months, and prides himself in
the belief that there is no longer left, throughout the
extensive districts entrusted to his charge, a single

112 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

inhabitant who dares to utter any other word, or to
harbour any other thought than that of entire sub-
mission. It may be so. He may have so closely
gagged the mouth, and so heavily oppressed the heart
of Russian Poland, as to make her powerless any
longer to speak or to breathe. But is this to re-estab-
lish order and tranquility within her borders? As
well may the physician, who ascribes to his patient a
malady to which he is a stranger, and drenches him with
remedies which destroy him, dream that he has dis-
pelled the danger, because he has silenced the moariings
of pain, or made the limbs of the strong man helpless
as the limbs of an infant.

'The narrative in the foregoing pages has been pur-
posely confined to the notice of those persons only
with whom I was brought into personal and friendly
relation. The sympathy awakened within me by their
distresses, I know to be a just and lawful sympathy;
and, howsoever imperfect may have been the expression
of it which I have tried to give, it has been given without
hesitation, because I am convinced of the truth of the
grounds on which it rests. If ever man were animated
with a single-hearted purpose to do his duty as a
steward of God's bounties, amid a people who looked up
hopefully to him for help, it is the friend with whom
I passed six months and more, upon the soil on which
he and his people dwelt. Day by day I witnessed his
honest and consistent efforts for their welfare ; day by
day I knew that he was stedfast and loyal to the
Emperor, to whom he and his people alike owed sub-
jection. Yet I have lived to see him torn from the
home of his fathers; and the people, whom he would
fain have protected and cherished, left once more to the
tender mercies of the roying Cossack, or to the grasping
extortion of the Jewish trafficker. His loftiest aspira-
tions have been crushed in the very prime of his youth-
ful manhood ; and the " sun " of his brightest hope has
suddenly " gone down whilst it is yet day " (Jer. xv. 9).

LITHUANIA AND ITS PEOPLE. 113

This is, indeed, a sore trial ; — fitted, indeed, to lead every
one who bends beneath the weight of it to seek more
earnestly the protection of Him, who in adversity as
well as in prosperity, is our surest stay. They who lean
the most trustfully upon Him, and walk in the closest
obedience to His will, will find that even the pathway
of tribulation leads, in His own good time, to blessing.
But it would be the forfeiture of this blessing, were we
to varnish over, with the gloss of a false name, the
hideous oppression of the country of which we have
been speaking. We dare not, therefore, dignify with the
name of Government (as Mouravieff and his agents would
fain do), the work of plunder, proscription, and massacre,
which they have carried on ; neither dare we apply the
hallowed name of Peace to the desolation which they
have spread over " unhappy Poland." '*

The Lithuanians seem to be of the same race with the
Samogitians, and they resemble both the Poles and the
Russians. Their appearance speaks of extreme poverty.
Their carts are made entirely of wood, sometimes without
a single piece of iron, and even the harness of the horses
is often made of the more flexible branches of trees. And I
have been told that the landed proprietors have become
greatly impoverished, many of them possessing only half a
desatin of land, and estates of insolvent proprietors being
constantly for sale ; while the Government has been
endeavouring to provide for them by encouraging emigra-
tion to Simbirsk and Tobolsk, by offering them settle-
ments on crown lands in these governments.

* ' Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium ; atque, ubi solitudinem
faciunt, paeem appellant.'— Tac. Agric. c. xxx.

CHAPTER II.
ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY.

THERE is little to strike the eye or arrest the attention of
a traveller in passing from Poland into Lithuania, which
is conterminous with it throughout its eastern boundary,
though extending much further both to the north and to
the south. All that is seen of forest lands from the rail-
way in both countries is alike. The forests are not
continuous in either, nor confined to any well defined
localities. Nor is there anything remarkable to be seen
in the one or in the other.

The surface of the country is very flat, generally sandy,
intersected by vast marshes and bogs, and covered with
forests abounding in bears, wolves, wild boars, and other
animals, amongst which is the urus, or wild ox, but this is
now rarely met with, and it seems to be diminishing both
in size and strength. The most common trees are the
pine, the oak, and the elm. A considerable quantity of
potash and pearl ash is prepared in the forests ; honey is
also collected in great abundance. But the people
generally are indolent. The best lands lie fallow, the hay
is allowed to rot on the meadows, and whole forests are at
times destroyed by fire.

My journey took me through the governments of Godno,
Vilna, and Vitebsk. In the government of Grodno is the
celebrated forest of Bialowie'ga, which extends over the
district of Bialistock, and which still serves, or did some
years ago, as a refuge for the last descendants of the urus
of Oriental Europe. This forest is one preeminently
suggestive of the expression primeval forest. 'It looks as
if no provision had been made for its management, and
it had been abandoned to the uncontrolled operations

ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 115

nature. It is among those aged woods which overshadow
the source of the Narova that the urus found safety ; and
there wander also the elk and the buffalo. And amid
those scenes of primitive nature subsists a distinct popula-
tion— the Ruskes, almost as savage as the animals which
surround them/

The area of forests in the government of Grodno is
958,000 desatins, of which 557,440 desatins belong to
the crown, equivalent to 28'1 desatins of forests, or 15*7
desatins of crown forests per square verst, and to 1
desatin of forests, or 0*6 desatins of crown forests per
inhabitant. The annual fellings in the crown forests
yield 12*2 cubic feet, and the revenue is 23*1 kopecs per
desatin.

The area of forests in the government of Vilna is
1,156,000 desatins, of which 387,145 desatins belong to
the crown, equivalent to 33'9 desatins of forests, or 10*4
desatins of crown forests per square verst, and to T3
of forests, or 0'4 desatins of crown forest per inhabitant.
The annual fellings in the crown forests yield 15'4 cubic
feet, and the revenue is 16*4 kopecs per desatin.

Of the town of Vilna, Dr Pinkerton, who travelled
through this district in the early part of the present
century as agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society,
writes : — f The town of Vilna is built among sand hills
at the confluence of the two streams Villia and Vilika.
It was founded in 1305 by Guedemin, Grand Duke of
Lithuania, of which it afterwards became the capital.
Many remains of ancient public buildings, both in and near
the town, bear ample testimony to its former grandeur. In
1748 it was burned down ; and it is recorded that at that
time thirteen churches and synagogues, about one hundred
and forty-six shops, twenty-five palaces, and four hundred
and sixty-nine store houses, &c., &c., were reduced to
ashes. Still there are at the present time many fine

116 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

churches and public and private buildings in Vilna, and
daily improvements are still making. The present number
of inhabitants is about 40,000, of whom one half are Jews.

'The Jewish population seem all engaged in buying and
selling ; the men hawking their goods about the public
places, and the women seated before their shop doors
knitting stockings, and loquaciously inviting the passers
by to purchase of their wares. They all dress in the
fashion of the Polish Jews ; the men with black silk or
stiff long robes, in eastern style, girt upon them, and
round caps turned up with fur, with bushy beards and
long hair, shining with oil and curled ; the females are
somewhat more European in their attire, with rich head
dresses, ornamented with mock or real gems, according to
their ability. The great majority of them look dirty and
ragged.

' Taking leave of my Vilna friends I directed my
course towards Troki, the ancient residence of the Grand
Dukes of Lithuania, which lies about twenty miles to the
north-west of Vilna, We reached this district town, which is
beautifully situated on the lake Bressal, in the evening.
This lake has a communication with the river Villia by
a canal. The ruins of an ancient ducal palace are still
prominent on one of the little islands which spot the
bosom of this extensive lake, whose waters are clear as
crystal. Troki is said to have been founded by the Grand
Duke Gusdemin in 1321. It was burned down in 1390,
and ruined by the Russians in 1655. The present town
is divided into three parishes. In one of the churches is
an image of the Virgin, which occasionally attracts a
number of pilgrims from the surrounding country. The
houses are built of wood. The scenery around the lake
is remarkably fine in a country like this, where the eye
is so seldom relieved from the sameness of prospect — of
extensive plains and woods ; and the evening being fine,
I greatly enjoyed it.'

Conterminous with the government of Vilna on the

ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 117

north-west is the government of Kovno. In the govern-
ment of Kovno the area of forests is 768,000 desatins, of
which 243,765 desatins belong to the crown, equivalent
to 2T9 desatius of forests, or 6'9 desatins of crown
forests per square vcrst, and to 0'7 desatins of forests, or
0'2 desatins of crown forests per inhabitant. The annual
felling in the crown forests yield 147 cubic feet, and the
revenue is 16'9 kopecs per desatin.

Kovno, the capital, is an ancient town, finely situated
for commerce at the confluence of the Villia and the
Niemen, bears numerous marks of depopulation, poverty,
and decay. The pavement of the market place is over-
grown with grass, and many of the public buildings seem
hastening to ruin. The population does not exceed four
thousand, of whom a great proportion are Jews, and the
rest Roman Catholics.

This statement I make on the authority of Dr Pinkerton.
In an account of his journeying in this district, he
writes :— ' From Kovno we continued to travel down the
banks of the Niemen for about twelve versts, when we
changed horses at a village swarming with Jews, with
whom I left a Testament and a few tracts. At Svedrick,
another populous Jewish town, I conversed with the
people for an hour, and gave them two Hebrew Testa-
ments and a Hebrew tract. We prosecuted our journey
all night northward till about four in the morning, when
we arrived at the district town of Rossiena. With some
difficulty I obtained a room at the house of a Jew, where
I attempted to get a few hours rest ; but the place was so
cold and so uncomfortable that I felt not at all refreshed
by it.

' Rossiena is chiefly inhabited by Jews ; and is now but
an insignificant looking place, though formerly the
residence of a Voivod under the Poles. It looks more
like a village than a town ; the houses are mere wooden
huts, and most of the streets not even paved. The
Samogatian population of the district of Rossiena amounts
to about 90,000.

118 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

' The Bishop of Samogatia has his residence here. It
was a great holiday when I was there — St. John's day —
and the peasantry were flocking towards it from all
quarters. The general aspect of the country from Kovni
to Rossiena is level, the soil sandy and clayey by turns.

' Leaving Rossiena about midday, 1 took the road for
the district town of Shawel. At a village called Titifian
there was a fair similiar to what we had left at Rossiena.
In the evening we found the roads filled with country
people returning from it, among whom I was pained to
observe a great number intoxicated ; I even became
doubtful of my safety in travelling by night through
extensive and little frequented roads ; yet we continued
our course in the rain, along very bad roads, for about
fifteen miles, and then halted about midnight at a
Samogatian village, where I purposed resting a few hours,
but the heat and vermin in the hut was so annoying, even
though 1 merely stretched myself on a bare bench by the
side of the wall, that I could not sleep.

' We arrived in the district town of Shawel about eight
the next morning. It consists of 280 dwellings, mostly
wooden huts of different dimensions, the rest of brick. I
found the Jews, who form the majority of the inhabi-
tants, extremely shy, and averse to conversation on
religious subjects. ......

' On leaving Shawel I took the road to Telsh, another
district town of Samogatia, at which I arrived about one
in the morning. On approaching Telsh the level and
uninteresting aspect of the country undergoes a favour-
able change, becoming undulating, and in some parts
even hilly.

' The mayor and others in Telsh assured me of a fact
which will scarcely be credited— that the princes of the
family of Gedroitz are so numerous, and so poor, that
some of them gain their support by cutting firewood, and
carting it to the Vilna market for sale. Many of them
cultivate the ground for their livelihood. So low is the
princely dignity fallen in Lithuania ! And as 'to the state

ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 119

of the nobility of Saraogatia it is also degraded beyond
conception, since in the district of Telsh there are not
fewer than 700 individals of noble descent who cultivate
the ground with their own hands !

' The number of houses in Telsh is 160, of which one
half are inhabitated by Jews, who are mostly very
indigent.'

My route led from Vilna to Vitebsk. Following up-
ward from Dunaburg the course of the D \vina, and
passing New Alexandrosky on the right bank of the
Dwina and Poletka we reach the town of Poletsk, one
of the oldest towns mentioned in Russian history. It
was formerly the provincial town of a district of the same
name, which in 1796 was united to that of Vitebsk.

' It was known to the ancients under the name of
Pletiscum, and in the time of Ruric, the Russian
Egbert,' says Pinkerton, ' it had its own princes, who
reigned there until the time of Vladimir the Great. This
prince, irritated at the refusal of Rogneda, daughter of
the reigning prince Rogvalde, to marry him, laid siege to
the city, took it, killed the prince and his two sons,
married the princess against her will, and added the
principality of Poletsk to his dominions. After this the
son of Rogneda obtained this principality from his father,
Vladimir, and his descendants continued to reign there for
several centuries, until 1305, when Guedemin built
Vilna, which became then the capital of those parts of
Lithuania. But even to the time of Peter the Great the
Russian Tsars continued to take the title of Prince of
Poletsk. In the intervening ages it was repeatedly
taken and retaken by the Russians and Poles, but it
generally remained in the hands of the latter until 1772,
when Catherine II. united it to her empire.'

The area of forests in the government of Vitebsk is
1,738,000, of which 380,615 desatins belong to the crown,
equivalent to 44'5 desatins of forests, or 9'7 desatins of
crown forests per square verst, and to 2*1 desatins of

120 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

forests, or 0'5 desatins of crown forests per inhabitant.
The annual fellings in the crown forests yield 11*3 cubic
feet, and the revenue is 12'6 kopecs per desatin.

The town of Vitebsk stands on the banks of the
Dwina and Vitspa, which flow through it. It is a very
ancient town, and is said to have been known to the
Scandanavians and Greeks as early as the tenth century.
The country around is level, and abounds in extensive
forests, and the land produces abundance of grain and
excellent hemp.

In the government of Moghileff the area of forests is
1,184,000 desatins, of which 180,415 desatins belong to
the crown, equivalent to 28'1 desatins of forests, or 4'2
desatins of crown forests per square verst, and to 1*3
desatins of forests, or 0'2 desatins of crown forests per
inhabitant. The fellings in the crown forests yield 13'4
cubic feet, and the revenue is 18'3 kopecs per desatin.

' The province of Moghileff,' says Pinkerton, ' is about
350 versts long, and 300 broad, with a population of
upwards of 900,000 souls ; all are Russians, except a
few Lithuanians, and a numerous tribe of Jews, who
formed a settlement here during the period of the Russian
civil wars, when White Russia was in the hands of the
Poles. It abounds in extensive forests of fir and hazel-
wood; those in the district of Tchernigov are considered
the finest. Numbers of the peasantry are employed in
felling and floating timber to Riga by the Dwina, and to
the Black Sea by the Dnieper, and to those parts of Little
Russia which are but scantily supplied with this necessary
article.

' The principal commodity of trade in Moghileff is
leather ; there are upwards of twenty tanneries ; but its
merchants carry on a considerable commerce also with
the ports of Danzig, Memel, and Riga, in potash, hemp,
leather, and grain.

' In this district is situated one of the old towns, or
rather cities, of Russia, interesting on account of ancient

ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 121

historical associations. It is the town of Pleshkoff, built
on the banks of the Velikaia and the Plescova, by the
famous Russian Princess Olga, who was born in a village
about eight miles distant from it, named Sibout, whence
the young prince Igor espoused her for his wife. But
her love for her native place was so strong, that after she
had become a Christian, about the year 9G5, she came
from Kief to propagate the Christian religion among its
heathen inhabitants : and at that time, as the legend
goes, founded the city on the spot indicated to her by a
supernatural light from heaven, which descended upon a
certain place on the banks of the two above mentioned
streams. She began by erecting a church to the Holy
Trinity, and the city rose around it, and became distin-
guished for its power and commercial importance through
many succeeding ages. The evidence of this is seen in
the extent of the ruins of the massive buildings required
by the necessities of a crowded city of enterprising
merchants, enriched by the gains of an extensive and
successful trade, now yielding materials which have been
employed extensively in the repairs and erection of
buildings required by the demands of modern times. It
is described as being in a most dilapidated condition. It
is still divided into three parts— the Kremlin, the central
city, and the great city. The towers and fortifications of
the outer walls occupy a circle of about seven versts : these
are all of limestone ; and are so reduced by the effects of
the frosts in winter, and the heat in summer, that
certainly a few ages more will cover the mouldering heaps
with green turf.

' The population is about 10,000 people.
' When the famous Vladimir the First divided his
kingdom among his ten children, whom he had by an
equal number of wives, Pleshkoif fell to the lot of
Sondislav, who became in consequence its first sovereign
about 1030. But the fate, and even the government of
Pleshkoff, was in general intimately connected with that
of its rival, and elder sieter, Novgorod, until its union

122 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

with the Hanseatic towns, about the beginning of the
fifteenth century, at which time they began to coin silver
money at PleshkofT. This coin had the head of an ox,
with a crown below it ; and on the reverse, the value
marked. Republican principles prevailed in Pleshkoff
till it was subdued by the Grand Duke Ivan Vasillivitch,
in 1509. The Russian chronologer, Nestor, says that the
Christian religion was propogated as early in the region
of Pleshkoff as in Novgorod by St. Joachim the
Chersouite/

Conterminous with the government of Moghileff, and
occupying the centre of Lithuania, is the government of
Minsk, conterminous with Vilna and Grodno on the west.
' Minsk is an ancient Lithuanian town, situated on the
river Swistoche ; sometimes subjected to the principality
of Poletsk, and at others to that of Smolensk. So early
as 1066 the two sons of the Grand Duke Jarosloff
beseiged it, took it, massacred all the males, and distribu-
ted the women and children as slaves to those who
accompanied them. In 1104 a Russian prince named
Gleb Vseslavitch reigned here, who afterwards became
Prince of Poletsk. Its fortunes were for many ages
united to those of Poland (of a Palatinate of which
kingdom it formed the capital), but was taken by the
Russians in 1656. It is now the seat of government
for the province of the same name, and of a Russian
archbishop, who takes the title of Archbishop of Minsk
and Lithuania. There is also a Russian Catholic Bishop
of Minsk. The Jews form two-thirds of the population.
At the last census there proved to be 8000 Jews, and
only 4000 Christians of all denominations, in the town of
Minsk. Many of the public buildings are of brick ; but
the houses of the inhabitants are chiefly of wood. There
are a number of manufactories of hats in this place,
which are thence exported to every part of the dominion
of Russia. The country around Minsk is fertile in grain
and pasturage. Extensive forests of pine still cover a great

ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 123

part of the province, the felling and transporting of which,
down the rivers to Chersonin the east, and Konigsberg in
the north, form a principal branch of the industry of its
inhabitants. They are reckoned at two millions of souls ;
and consist of Lithuanians, Poles, Jews, and Russians.'

At Minsk Dr Pinkerton met a number of distinguished
Poles at the table of one of the nobles, and he remarks : —
' The spirit of national rivalry and enmity betwixt the
Poles and the Russians is still strongly cherished in
secret, and manifests itself in a variety of ways ; the
Polish ladies, for instance, I was told, refuse to dance with
Poles who have become officers in the Russian regiments ;
and this deep-rooted national enmity against the Russians
is daily nourished in the family circles and private associa-
tions of the Poles.'

In the government of Minsk the area of forests is
3,676,000 desatins, of which 1,019,522 desatins belong to
the crown, equivalent to 424 desatins of forests, or 11 '7
desatins of crown forests per square verst, and to 3
desatins of forests, or 0'8 desatins of crown forests per
inhabitant. The annual fellings in the crown forests are
7*1 cubic feet, and the revenue is 9'8 kopecs per desatin.

In the government of Volhinia, conterminous on the
north with the governments of Grodno, Minsk, and
Moghileff, the area of forests is 2,733,000 desatins, of
which 674,639 desatins belong to the crown, equivalent to
43'3 desatins of forests, or 10'7 desatins of crown forests
per square verst, and to 1'6 desatins of forest, or 0'4
desatins of crown forests, per inhabitant. The annual
fellings in the crown forests yield 16*9 cubic feet, and the
revenue is 16*9 kopecs per desatin.

Conterminous with the government of Volhinia on the
south is the government of Podolia, in which the area
of forests is 589,000 desatins, of which 113,195 desatius
belong to the crown, equivalent to 16 desatins of forests,
or '3 desatins of crown forests, per .square verst, and to 0'3

124 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

desatins of forests, or 0*05 desatins of crown forests, per
inhabitant. The annual fellings in the crown forests
yield 53'1 cubic feet, and the revenue is 147*8 kopecs per
desatin.

Like the level of the Theiss in Hungary, the soil of
Podolen is composed of the sediment of a recent ocean,
in which a large proportion of vegetable sediment sub-
stance preponderates, and which, being saturated with
salts, needs no artifical manure to enable it to produce a
succession of the richest crops. The forests are extensive,
affording for export timber, pitch, tar, rosin, and potash,
and what is known as Polish cochineal.

A great extent of Lithuania is known as White Russia,
while the remainder of it, along with the government of
Podolia, which is conterminous with the south of the
government of Volhinia, is known as Black Russia, and
to the country comprising both is given the designation
West Russia, while to the Ukraine, comprising the govern-
ments of Tchernigov, Kiev, Poltava, and Kharkov, is
designated Little Russia, and to the Emperor is given
the designation Tsar of all the Russias.

Most of the roads in White Russia run in straight
lines, ditched and planted with rows of birch trees.
The clay cast up from each side forms the road. In dry
weather they are pleasant to travel on, but liable to be
very dusty, and after rains they become almost impassable.
And the light colour of the clay, in a state of dust, may
have confirmed the name of White Russia given to the
district ; but I consider it more probable that the desig-
nations Black and White Russia were given in consequence
of the dark hue given to some districts by abounding pine
trees and oaks, and the white colouring given to other
districts by the bark of abounding birches.

' In most of the towns which I visited in White Russia/
says Dr Pinkerton. writing of journeyings more than fifty
years ago, but there changes take place but slowly, ' a

ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 125

comfortable inn is not to be found. The traveller there,
as in Poland, and ID the interior of Russia, must make up
his mind to encounter every privation in this respect, and
be glad if, on the road between provincial towns, he can
procure anything better than black bread, milk, eggs,
beer, and common brandy. On this account the country
nobility generally carry their provisions with them when
on a journey, together with a cooking apparatus, and even
bedding ; between the government towns they provide a
sufficient quantity of white bread, poultry, wine, &c., to
supply them till they reach the next town.'

CHAPTER III.

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER.

IT is not from anything peculiar to the forest manage-
ment of Lithuania that it has been made the subject of
this treatise, but, as has been stated, solely because it
happens to be an integral part of the Russian empire
adjacent to Poland, which has been treated of in the
preceding part of this volume, and it supplies an oppor-
tunity of bringing under consideration the forest adminis-
tration of the Imperial domains. To show this adminis-
tration and management in action, I find it necessary to
take my readers beyond this limited field ; and this I can
do without breaking violently away from it.

The largest river traversing Lithuania is the Dnieper,
a river extensively utilised for the floatage of wood.
By Professor Shavranoff, of the St. Petersburg School of
Forestry, there was supplied to me a series of papers by
Mr M. 0. Polytaief, On Forests of the Dneiper, which
supplies the illustrations of this of which I was desirous;
and Mr Richard Sevier, of St. Petersburg, a friend whom
I found ready to give me every assistance in my enter-
prise which I could desire, supplied me with a translation
of the whole, which I shall insert entire.

The Dnieper, I may premise, rises in the southern
portion of the government of Tver, passes by Smolensk,
shortly after which it enters Lithuania, passes Moghileff,
and flowing thence towards Kiev, it afterwards passes
Kkaterinoslav and Cherson, falling into the Black Sea a
little beyond. It is navigable from a little above
Smolensk to the mouth. From Smolensk its course is
south-west, till it reaches Orcha, in the government of

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 127

Moghileff, under the parallel of 54° 32', whence it has a
southern course through the government of Moghileff,
which it divides on the south-west from that of Minsk.
In this part of its course it receives numerous tributary
streams ; amongst others, the Dneitz, or Drouts, and the
Berezina, which is united to the Dwina by means of a
canal, and the Verditch, all on the right bank. At the point
where it leaves the government of Moghileff, and turning
to the west and south forms the boundary between parts of
the governments of Minsk and Tchernigov, it receives the
Soj on its left bank. Before it reaches Kiev, past which
it flows; it receives the Pripett, which the Muchavice and
Orginski canals connect with the Vistula and the Niemen
on the right bank. After passing Kiev it receives on the
same bank the Teterev, Zdvij, and Irpen. Further on it
receives the Roso ; and, after receiving others on the right
bank and the left, it is joined by the Bug, which traverses
Podolia. By itself and its tributaries the Dnieper
supplies abundant facilities for the transport of timber
and firewood to the south.

In conjunction with the Bug, i it forms a large liman, or
swampy lagune, called Dnieprovskoi, nearly 50 miles long,
and from 1 to 6 miles broad, by which it discharges itself
into the North Gulf of the Black Sea. This liman extends
from Cherson to Oezakoff, and in summer has hardly six
feet of water. The Dnieper, seen from Cherson, re-
sembles a vast lake studded with islands. The entire
length of the Dnieper, measured by its windings, is
about 1,200 miles ; in a straight line it is about 650
miles from its source to its mouth. Its depth of water at
Smolensk is from 16 to 20 feet ; at Kiev, 20 feet ; at
Krementchug, 20 feet ; at the rapids, 8 feet ; below the
rapids, from 7 to 12 feet ; at its embouchure, from 5 to 6
feet. Its average width is estimated at 700 paces, and
the surface which this river and its tributaries drain is
exceeded only among European streams by that of the
Danube. The Dnieper flows for the most part between
high banks, the greatest elevation of which is along

128 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

the east side. The upper part of its course is through a
marshy country j in the middle and lower course it passes
over numerous rocks, and between banks of the older
calcareous formation. It is broader, deeper, and more
rapid than the Don, and is navigable from Smolensk to
Kiev ; but below the latter town, the river is traversed by
a granitic chain, and the navigation is interrupted for about
40 miles by 13 rapids called poroge, and also by huge
blocks of stone. Here the river presents a most magni-
ficent sight, careering along in a bed at least 1000 feet
wide, which for miles on miles is one continued sheet of
boiling foam. This space is passable for vessels of small
draught during the spring floods only, and even then only
with great difficulty and danger. Works have been
undertaken at various periods to render this part of
the river navigable. All merchandise for Cherson,
on the Black Sea, used to be unladen at Old
Samara, whence it was conveyed by land to Alex-
androfsk, at the mouth of the Moscofska, a distance
of about 46 miles by land. From this spot to the mouth
of the Dnieper, a distance of 260 miles, the navi-
gation is unimpeded. The goods that descend the rapids
of the Dnieper consist almost exclusively of timber,
firewood, and iron from Siberia. Tar is also brought in
immense quantities from the Polish forests. Below the
cataracts, and as far as the liman of this river, upwards of
70 islands occur, amidst which moving sands impede the
navigation during summer. These islands produce a grape
called biroussa, which resembles the currants of Corinth.
They are reported to swarm with serpents, and abound in
a sort of wild cat. Flowing through more than 9 degrees
of latitude, great diversity of climate is experienced along
the course of this river. At Smolensk the waters freeze
in November, and continue ice-bound until April ; at Kiev
they are generally frozen from January to March. The
direction of its course from north to south delays its rise
till late in the spring, as the streams which feed it from
the north do not thaw till the end of April. The

FORESTS OF THE DNIEPER. 129

Dnieper abounds in fish, particularly sturgeon, carp,
pike, and shad. This river is the Borysthenes of the Greeks,
and the Danapris of the middle ages. It is first mentioned
by Herodotus. Except the more southerly parts, its banks
have long been inhabited by races of Slavonian oiigin.
Towards the mouth, from the Ross on the right, and the
Vorska and Soula on the left bank, the country was for a
long time a mere steppe, where nomadic tribes fed their
numerous flocks. By treaty with Turkey, and since
the partition of Poland, both banks of the Dnieper
have become the property of Russia. The lower part of
its course has been the scene of many sanguinary conflicts
between the Turks and Russians ; the upper part, parti-
cularly the neighbourhood of Smolensk, was the scene of
some severe conflicts in Bonaparte's retreat in November
1812.'

Of the forests on the Dnieper, M. Polytaief writes : —
' Under the name of Dnieper forests I understand the
forests that are on the Dnieper, and also those on its affluents,
therefore into the number of Dnieper forests enter those
in the governments of Minsk, MoghilefT, Smolensk, Orel,
Koursk, Tchernigov, Kiev, Volhinia, Cherson, Ekatherin-
oslaff, and Poltava. In inspecting the forests of these
governments I shall principally pay attention to the
crown forests — or more correctly speaking, the forests
under government management.

' The extent of the crown forests in the above-named
governments equals about 3,000,000* desatins, and
although, according to their extent, they form less than
l-30th of the whole extent of the crown forests, neverthe-
less, by their value in the wood trade, they are very
important. Supplying timber and wood materials for
exportation, the Dnieper forests have at the same time
great importance in the inland wood trade, because they
furnish timber to about ten governments poor in wood.

* A desatin is equal to 2*69972 imperial acres ; a rouble, 3s 4d, but according to
present rate of exchange, 2s.

E

130 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Constituting less than l-30th of the whole extent of the
crown forests of European Russia, the forests under con-
sideration realise a revenue of about 500,000 roubles,
that is one- eighth of the whole income derived from
forests. The necessity of more assiduously guarding these
forests is the reason why in the Dnieper forests there is
about one-quarter of the whole number of foresters, and
that the expense of the local management forms about
one-seventh of all the expenses for forest management
in all the governments. By these ciphers is sufficiently
demonstrated the importance of the Dnieper forests, as
well in the wood trade as in the income and expenditure
of the forest management.

' Of the Dnieper forests the Smolensk woods have
least importance in the timber trade, because they are
not conveniently situated as regards sales.

' Though situated at the sources of three basins, they are
for the most part distant more than ten versts from floatable
rivers, so that the expense of land transport to these con-
stitutes the greatest part part of the outlay. Out of 136,000
desatins only 60,000 desatins are at a distance of ten
versts from floatable rivers; the remaining mass of the forests
is much further. Of the above 60,000 desatins, near the
affluents of the river Moskva there are not more than 1500
desatins ; near the tributary streams of the river Ourga
there are about 3000 desatins, about 15,000 desatins are
near the Dnieper and its affluents ; and the remaining
40,000 desatins are on the tributary streams of the
western Dwina and Volga Of these floating ways — the
Volga, Dnieper, and Dwina — to the principal marts is
very far ; and only by the river Moskva to the principal
marts is it about 400 versts. There are inconveniences of
another kind ; of the whole surface of forest estates of the
government of Smolensk about 20,000 desatins compose
about 400 separate forest parts, almost separate estates,
of which there is not one of more than 20 desatins, and
many of only 2 or 3 desatins and less. These estates have
no importance in the timber trade, but in an economical

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 131

sense they may be rather considered inconvenient than
convenient areas, as it is difficult to manage when, with
a preponderance of the coniferous trees, the whole estate
occupies a space of only 2 or 3 desatins. No dealer will buy
on such estates, and the conservation of them entails
expense.

' These surfaces, considered part of the whole forest
area, give an incorrect idea of the amount of income per
desatin of forest surface, — that is surface convenient for
forest management, not only by the productiveness of the
soil, but likewise by the extent of surface. For forest man-
agement an estate of 500 square fathoms, or 2 or 3 desatins,
in such a place as the government of Smolensk, cannot be
convenient. With a preponderance of coniferous trees in
such a surface it is difficult to state the period of recurring
fellings ; and with this kind of economy one cannot expect
sales, nor can one expect any income remunerating the
expense of guarding, when hundreds of such estates are
under one forester, and are strewn over a surface of some
hundreds of square versts. The conversion of these estates
into rent paying estates, or the exclusion of them from the
forest area, is the urgent requirement of the forest
management of the Smolensk government. In conse-
quence of this, 20,000 desatins (which make about one-
sixth of the Smolensk forests), we shall leave out of con-
sideration, and only take into account the remaining
110,000 desatins.

' The government estates are inconveniently placed even
with regard to the future railways, as well of that Vitebsk-
Smolensk as of Orel-Smolensk ; but both the railways
pass through private forests abounding with firewood.
These roads will pass near only three crown estates ; but
even then not nearer than 25 versts.

' But notwithstanding these unfavourable circumstances,
the price of government wood is rising from year to year,
the revenue from the forests is increasing, and in the
course of six years it has more than doubled, from the
sale of wood materials from the crown estates alone.

132 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

There was received in 1861,
1862,
1863,
1864,
1866,

4,605 roubles.
6,895 „
6,567 „
7,032 „
10,182

' In 1866 the average price of a desatin was in the
Porctihie forest circuit, 18 roubles ; in Dorogo-
bouje, 100 roubles; in Donhovchina, 19 roubles; in
Gjatsk, 89 roubles ; in Bielsk, 19 roubles : the average for
the whole governments, 49 roubles. In the statistical
description of the government of Smolensk with regard to
forests by Herne, it is seen that in 1861 the average
price was 32 roubles, consequently the demand and price
of crown woods increase with every year, and as to the quality
of the sold estates, to what kind of forest materials the
increase of the revenue is due. Firewood and building
materials of small dimensions, offered for sale, in the
majority of cases had no buyers; the increase of the
revenue was solely owing to a growing demand for forest
materials of large dimensions, in consequence of fewer
offers of the same from private estates. Firewood,
and forest materials of small dimensions, are bought
on private estates; and by an increased felling of
these, the owners strive to make up the deficiency of
income from their estates which proceeds from the
assortments sold being of lower quality. The offers
of firewood and small building materials on private estates
is so considerable that the crown forests cannot compete
with them, the more so that for 135,000 desatins of
crown forests there are 1,526,000 desatins of private
forests : that is, for 1 desatin of crown forests there are 11
desatins of private forests; or, taking 15 fathoms of firewood
to 1 desatin, we receive 165 fathoms from private estates
to 15 fathoms for crown. The competition is unfavourable.
The constant rising of prices, and the demand for big
timber, show the diminution of these latter in the private
estates ; and as such materials require a recurrence of
fellings every 100 or 150 years, we think that the im-
portance of the crown forest estates in the government of

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 133

Smolensk will increase every year, if in the majority of
these be introduced a forest economy with distant
recurrence of fellings. And no objection can be raised to
distant recurrence of fellings, as in most of the estates the
plantations and soil are quite suitable for such a form
of economy.

' With regard to the value of a desatin of forests, the
following estates are worthy of notice : —

' Klevtzovokholmovs/caia. — This estate forms part of
the Gjatsk forest circuit, and is in the Gjatsk dis-
trict ; it measures 859 desatins, 473 fathoms, of which 776
desatins, 1109 fathoms, are covered with wood ; 8 desatins
by buildings ; and 74 desatins, 1764 fathoms, are waste.
The forest surface on 407 desatins pine predomin-
ates ; on 300 desatins, fir ; the average age of the planta-
tion is about 100 years ; 68 desatins are taken up by
cuttings and glades. Out of this estate, in 1864, were
sold 10 desatins for 1115 roubles, that is 111 roubles the
desatin ; in 1865, 10 desatins for 1273 roubles, or 127
roubles the desatin ; in 1866, 10 desatins for 890 roubles,
or 89 roubles the desatin. This decrease was occasioned
by the dealers ; aad in consequence of it in 1866 they,
by the proposal of the taxator, began to leave seed trees
— 60 pine trees to a desatin, though the pine trees make the
principal value in a clearing. Having grown in a dense
forest, these trees have their summit at a height of 6 or
7 fathoms from the earth, and an even trunk without
branches. Being in a plantation where, to a desatin, there
were about 500 trees, the pine trees left for bearing seed
will be blown down before they bring any profit by sow-
ing the clearing. This estate has a great similarity to the
Zabolotsky estate in the government of Moghileff. In
the Zabolotsky estate it was likewise proposed to leave
seed-bearing trees in a similar plantation, and the
result was only the reduction of its value, and not the
sowing of seed. In such plantations the natural sowing
of the clearing, with indiscrimate sale, can only be aided
by arranging the clearing, so that the felling of one

134 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

stripe shall not follow that of another proximate
to it within five years, or generally not earlier
than the lapse of that number of years, after which seed
years occur.

'With the small breadth of the clearings the
sowing of them will take place from the surrounding
plantations. In planing out the clearings, one by the
side of another, for five, seven, or ten years, as this is
sometimes done in order to diminish the labour, the
leaving of seed trees will not assist reproduction. The
seed trees will be broken by the wind, and the leaving
them, without bringing any assistance to reproduction,
will only bring a loss in the sale.

'Holovin Waste, Gjatsk Forest Circuit. — Surface 371 desa-
tins, 257 fathoms ; of this number 367 desatins, 257 fathoms
are under forest ; 4 desatins, waste land ; and 25 desatins,
3-30 fathoms, under cutting and glades. Of the space
occupied by forests, 312 desatins are under fir, and 3
under birch. The ripe plantations are about 70 per cent. ;
those of middle growth, 30 per cent. Of this estate there
were sold in 1864, 7 desatins for 382 roubles, or 54 roubles
per desatin ; in 1865, 5 desatins for 275 roubles, or 55 roubles
per desatin ; in 1866, 5 desatins for 278 roubles, or 55
roubles per desatin.

' Senskaia Estate in Dorogobuj Forest Circuit. — It is
generally divided into crown forests, with the square con-
tents of each, shown separately, but as in an administra-
tive point of view, it forms one whole, and we show the
items. The general surface is 2,318 desatins, 654 fathoms.
Of this space the forest surface is 1,845 desatins, 1,354
fathoms, of which 170 desatiiis are under pine ; 1,502
desatins under fir ; 70 desatins under birch, alder, and
aspen; under clearings, 103 desatins; under buildings,
17 desatins, 400 fathoms ; waste ground, 455 desatins,
300 fathoms. From this estate there were sold in 1865, 24
desatins for 1,912 roubles, or 79 roubles per desatin ; in
1866, 21 desatins for 2,206 roubles, or 105 roubles per
desatin.

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 135

' To the number of remarkable estates of the Smolensk
government with regard to value of clearings may be
added : —

' Orel Estate, District Eln, Dorogobuj Forest District. — It
occupies about 306 desatins, 2,017 fathoms, of which 286
desatins, 2376 fathoms, are forest surface ; and 19 desatins,
2,041 fathoms, waste ; and 26 desatins, 1260 fathoms, under
cuttings and glades. Of the forest surface 12 desatins are
of pine; 214 desatins of fir; and 15 desatins of mixed.
With regard to age, young plantations are 5 per cent.,
and ripe 95 per cent. In 1864 there were sold 4 desatins for
300 roubles, or 75 roubles per desatin; in 1865, 3 desatins
for 217 roubles, or 72 roubles per desatin ; in 1866, 3
desatins for 218 roubles, or 72 roubles per desatin.

'All these estates supply wood materials of large
dimensions, and the sale of their yearly cuttings goes on
well, whereas cuttings of small building materials and
firewood seldom find buyers ; therefore, we repeat the
gradually rising importance in the wood trade will effect
those forests in the government of Smolensk which have
a store of large dimensions ; and consequently for the
greatest number of estates there is required forest manage-
ment with a remote return of cutting.

'The importance of the Smolensk-Dnieper forests in
local trade is unimportant, and one can calculate only on
the trade beyond the frontier of the government, and on
three markets, the mouth of the Dnieper, Riga, and
Moscow. The Moscow market, from its proximity, we
consider the principal market for the Smolensk-Dnieper
forests. In consequence of this connection of the
Smolensk forests with the Moscow markets, we consider
it not out of place to make some comparison of the taxes
of the Moscow government with the taxes of the govern-
ment of Smolensk. The greatest similarity is between
the districts of Mojaisk and Volokamsk of the govern-
ment of Moscow, and the Gjatsk district of the govern-
ment of Smolensk. The difference between them, in a
commercial point of view, consists in this — that in the

136

FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Gjatsk district the local demand for material is much less than
in that of Mojaisk and Volokamsk ; and with regard to float-
age it must be remarked that, by the course of the rivers
Konsa and Moscow, the district of Gjatsk is 100 versts
further from Moscow. The medium price of birch wood
in the districts of Mojaisk and Volokamsk is 4 roubles for
highest quality, and in the district of Gjatsk, 4 roubles ;
and wood of lowest quality is 2'10 kopecs in all, though the
distances from the principal markets are different.'

Of forests in the government of Orel he writes : —
' The forests of the Orel government, like the forests of
Smolensk, are situated likewise on the basins of the
Dnieper, Oka, and Don, but the crown forests of the Orel
government have a much higher importance in the wood
trade than those of Smolensk ; the Orel crown forests
form a much larger extent of the whole surface under
forests than those of Smolensk, and, with regard to
communication, are under still under more favourable
conditions.

' The whole extent of crown forest estates which are
under government management is distributed in the
districts as follows : —

Of this number the

In the district of Orel,

2,458 des. forest surface 2,297 des.

,, Mtzensk,

502

502

, Karatchev,

25,142

19,813

, Brian sk,

161,640

131,078

Tronbteheosk,

87,890

72,544

Sevsk,

10,710

9,036

Dmitrovsk,

770

722

Kromin,

1,995

1,902

Liven,

7,645

5,600

Jeletz,

15,703

13,000

Bolchov,

132

132

Malo-Archan-

gelsk,

1,945 „ 1,845

344,532 des. 255,533 des

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 137

' According to approximate information, by which the
local forest administration are guided, there are of
private forests : —

In the district of Orel, 14,125 desatins.

»

Mtzensk, 10,747

ii

»

Karatchev, 36,566

ii

II

Briansk, 234,897

>>

II

Tronbteheosk, 214,525

>»

M

Seosk, 51,125

M

II

Dmitrovsk, 37,249

II

II

Kromin, 7,840

II

II

Liven, 10,048

II

»

Jeletz, 34,471

II

II

Bolchov, about 24,000

M

II

Malo-Archangelsk, 24,000

||

699,597 desatins.

' The information anent the crown forests is much more
correct than the information as to private forests,
particularly in the districts of Bolchov and Malo-Archan-
gelsk. If, instead of the general extent of crown forests,
we take into account only the forest surface, which even,
with regard to private estates, is shown after excluding
all the appurtances contained in the limits of the forest
estates, then we will perceive that the crown forests are
almost two and a-half times less than the private forests.
Taking the districts there are important deviations — for
instance, in the Mtzensk district the crown forests are
only one-twentieth part of the private forests, and only in
the districts of Karatchev and Briansk are the crown forests
more than half. With such proportion the Orel crown
forests may have a much higher importance in the forest
trade than those of Smolensk.

' Taking the number of inhabitants of the district as a
foundation census of 1862, we find that—

138

FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

With a

For 1 man

Of which

population

there is

extent

of

general surface.

forest.

In the district of Bolchov,

121,113

1-94 dec.

0-012 dec.

Orel,

162,981

1-10

0-094

,, Mtzensk,

90,051

2-32

0-115

,, Karatchev,

98,822

3-42

0-57

,, Briansk,

110,168

6i23

3-2

,, Tronbteheosk,

95,473

5-63

2-87

,, Seosk,

112,174

2 '82

0*53

,, Dmitrovsk,

82,325

2-54

0-448

,, Kromin,

96,128

1-85

0-099

,, Malo-Archangelsk,

145,797

2-02

0-673

,, Liven,

224,317

2-25

0-06

„ Jeletz,

205,432

2-41

0-22

There is for each man —

Crown forests.

In the district of Bolchov,

0001 dec.

ii

Orel,

0-014

ii

Mtzensk,

6-005

ii

Karatchev,

02

ii

Briansk,

1-1

»>

Tronbteheosk,

0-22

ii

Seosk,

0-08

ii

Dmitrovsk,

0-008

ii

Kromin,

0-019

ii

Malo-Archangelsk,

0-013

»•

Liven,

0-02

»

Jeletz,

0-06

Private forests.
0-11 dec.
0'08
O'll
0-37
2-1
2-5
0-45
0.44
0-08
0-016
0-04
0-16

' Consequently with regard to the abundance of wood,
the government of Orel can be divided into three groups —
the districts of the basins of the Dnieper, the Don, and
the Oka.

' To the first group belong the districts of Briansk,
Tronbteheosk, Seosk, and Karatchev. To it refer likewise
the greatest part of the crown forests, viz. : —

FOKESTS ON THE DNIEPER.

139

Of which are
under forests.

1. Briansk circuit, 61,399 desatins. 2,230 fathoms.

50,457 desatins.

2. 30,602

448

14,092

3. 69,639

1,354 „

66,529

1. Tronbteheosk, 43,246

145

32,315

2. 38,288

35,280

3. 6,356

4,942

Karatchev, 25,142

19,813

Seosk (namely —

Seosk district), 10,710 „

9,036

' In these forest circuits the greatest part of the forests
constitute crown estates, whereas in the remaining forest
circuits they belong to the peasants.

' The second group contains Jeletz, Liven, and Malo-
Archangelsk.

'To the third group belong the districts of Orel,
Bolchov, Mtzensk, Dmitrov, and Kromin,

' It is evident that the two last groups must be referred to
places with little wood. The importation of forest products
into these districts from the south and east is impossible
in consequence of their being no forests in these parts ;
the importation by the river Oka, and generally from the
north — from the governments of Tula and Kaluga —
also cannoi be great, because the government of Tula
has no excess of forest materials, an 1 the forest materials
of the government of Kaluga will always find an increa-
sing demand on the Orel-Moscow railway, and being
floated down the Oka, will find a better market in
Moscow— because those landed at Serpuchov will be
transported by rail only 90 versts, whereas from Serpuc-
hov to Orel by railway is much further, and besides the
floating by the Oka against the stream, and frequently
against a contrary wind, is long, and costs dear. In the
meantime the demand for forest materials in these
districts must increase rapidly. In Orel three branches
of railways meet, in consequence of \vhich the sale of the
manufactures of the government of Orel must increase,

140 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

and this increase must increase the consumption of forest
materials, because in the government of Orel leather
and tallow fabrics, &c., have a great importance, and
consume large quantities of forest materials.

' So the importation of forest materials to the places
destitute of wood in the Orel government is inevi-
table ; it will increase yearly, and the prices, with the
opening of railways, will rise greatly. The most profit-
able supply of forest materials will be from the Dnieper
forests of the Orel government, that is from the first
group to which refer the districts of Briansk, Tronbteheosk,
&c. This part of the Dnieper forests, as the most easterly,
and is near to the woodless stripe, the principal places of
which mast be counted Kursk and Orel. Even now the
lack of wood in this stripe calls for a constant land
transport of forest materials to the neighbourhood of Orel
and Kursk, and further in the direction of Woronetz and
Kharkov.

' The forests of the Dnieper basin have a future.
The Orel-Smolensk railway cuts through the northern
part of this group of forests ; the Kursk-Kiev passes
not far from the southern part; the navigable river
Dwina passes almost through the middle of this group,
and affords a possibility of cheap conveyance of forest
materials from the furthest parts of these forests to one or
other of the railways, each of which leads to the important
wood markets of Orel and Kursk. Besides this the Kursk-
Kiev railway, passing by the left bank of the river Seyina,
enables the transport of forest materials to be made to
the north-west part of the government of Kharkov, and
the south-west part of the government of Kursk, where
the local forests are insufficient for local wants. The
river Dwina, passing through the middle of this group of
forests, permits of the floating to the lower governments of
those sorts for which their might be no demand in the
aforenamed two markets. These circumstances favouring
the sale from the crown estates lying on the Dwina, in
the governments of Orel and Ticherigov, confer on these

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 141

estates the characteristic of one economical unit, for which
even a separate administration would not be unprofitable
'Anincreased demand, and yearly increased revenue, being
fully guaranteed to the forests of this group, their impor-
tance in the wood trade will rise with every year, because
in addition to the demand of other districts of the Orel
government there is a great local demand for forest
materials for different industries, among which not the least
important are saw-mills. With such a future for the
Dnieper forests of this group there should be no hurry to
sell, that is to offer for sale, such a quantity of forest
materials as would exceed the demand. Such offers only
call forth lower prices, and consequently less income, from
a desatin of forest surface. And here it would be advanta-
geous to have a more commercial system of sales. With
that importance of wood in the wood trade which this
group has it would be advantageous to offer for sale only
that quantity of forest materials which had been felled in
the previous year, and not the full quantity which the estate
could produce for sale. Of course in that case when by the
state of the property more can be felled than is annually
sold, and part of which every year remains unsold, it is
the more necessary that there should not be offered for
sale the surplus left unsold from former years. The offer
for sale of any goods in a greater quantity than there is
demand for is unprofitable for any economy, and particu-
larly in cases when an increased demand in a short time,
and increased prices for the goods, is foreseen.

' The commercial system of sales in these cases appear
to offer more advantages to the wood trade than the
present. This commercial system is not to offer for sale
more than the quantity sold in the preceding year ; and if
in any current year a good deal more be in demand than
in the preceding year, then in the next (that is the
third year) to offer for sale a quantity only so much
more that none should be left unsold. With such a
commercial system of sale the offer for sale will corres-
pond with the demand, and this is the principal thing in
every traffic ; as for the prices, they will rise every year in

142 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

conformity with the demand, and therefore the highest
price per desatin will be received.

Means of Conveying Timber from the Forest Districts
in the Government of Orel.

1 The transport of forest materials from the forest belt to
that destitute of wood was carried on before the emanci-
pation of the serfs by the proprietors, by cartage ; grain
was brought to the wood belt, and timber taken back.
The proprietors derived the principal benefit from this ;
and it may be said that this cartage was concentrated in
the hands of large capitalists. With the freedom of the
serfs the character of the transportation changed ; it fell
into the hands of small peasant proprietors, because
extensive areas of private forests were sold to commis-
sion traders for ready money; and the wish to get a
quick return of capital led to sale in retail on the
estates. The peasantry, accustomed to cartage, began
to buy different sorts of wood which they conveyed to the
destitute places, on making a previous agreement as to
price and quality with the persons requiring timber. In
the course of the winter they could return several times
to Orel and bring forest material instead of the grain
which they took The possibility of getting on in these
cases with a small capital then concentrated the wood
trade in the hands of small dealers. Now a third plan
commences with the system of conveying wood materials.

'The railroad, although it affords a means of supplying
Orel with wood material cheaper than was done by
cartage, will require a much larger capital ; and therefore
the transportation, and with it the wood trade, will again
concentrate itself in the hands of extensive wood dealers.
The remark may be made that formerly the conveyance
of forest materials may have been partly met by the pay-
ment for the cartage of grain; but now the grain will
also go by railway, and cartage will only be required to
take wood to the railway, fewer carts will be required,

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 143

and only for a short time. The waggons that take the
grain will be loaded principally with timher on their
return ; and at the railway stations along the line
woodyards will be opened, from which only the cartage
will commence, and with this a small wood trade, so
that the railway having increased the demand for forest
materials, will considerably diminish the expense of its
transport, and this circumstance is particularly favourable
to forest proprietors. But in any case cartage will not
loose its importance in the wood trade in the zone
destitute of wood of the Orel and Kursk governments,
and in making out the estimates this must be taken into
consideration.

' With regard to Orel itself the railway and its tariff
alone will be important, but with regard to places lying
between railways special attention must be paid to cartage,
because it will materially influence the prices of wood
materials.

1 The cost of land transport, although subject to
different changes, has, however, sufficiently defined founda-
tions— the cost of food, ard consequently the degree of fer-
tility of the year, the distance of the forests from the places
of consumption, and the state of the weather, as influen-
cing the duration of the transport ; these are the points on
which generally the prices per pood of the land transport
depend. The principal reasons for differences in the cost
of transport of different kinds of goods are the cost of pack-
ing and the degree of injury goods are liable to in trans-
portation. These same circumstances determine the cost
of transport of forest materials. The quantity of poods of
one or other sorts of forest materials determine the
quantity of horses required for cartage ; therefore the
weight of the beam, spar, or other sort of forest material,
must be taken into consideration in stating the expense
of transport, the quantity of each sort of materials that
can be placed on each one horse cart, and likewise the
cost of a one horse cart for a given number of versts, or
for the time necessary for going the distance. In trans-

144 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

portation of forest materials of more minute workmanship,
such as rakes, a more careful packing is required, and
more care must be taken during transportation. The
products of wood technically prepared particularly require
more costly packing, and therefore their transport is
much more expensive than other forest materials, particu-
larly such as require the least care in transport, and there-
fore the land carriage per pood is cheaper. On these
considerations we think that previous to making an estimate
we must ascertain the weight of each sort of forest materials,
and the number of horse carts required for the trans-
port of this assortment, if it be of large dimensions; and if
of small dimensions, then in the number of pieces of this
assortment that can be placed on one cart. The chief
foundations for such estimates are the following: — The
weight of a cubic foot of wood, the cubic contents of one
or other assortment of materials, and the normal strength
of a peasant's horse. These are of course known, but hitherto
have scarcely been taken into account in estimates. In
making the following table we have had in view to give a
foundation for such calculations requisite in each case. With
regard to the cubic contents (shown lower in the table), in
most cases the medium for the three dimensions should be
increased a little if it can be foreseen that an unequal
number of different dimensions, and principally great, will
be received ; in the contrary case they should be lessened.
' With this calculation the weight of a cubic foot for
coniferous and soft leaved kinds in a half-dry state has been
considered 40 lb., and for the hard leaved sort, in the half-
dry state, at 60 lb ; for soaked timber (floated) on landing
it a quarter more should be added to the weight.

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER.

145

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146

FOEESTflY IN LITHUANIA.

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FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 147

' A cubic fathom of firewood, coniferous kinds,
requires about ten carts, a cubic fathom of birch and
hard leaved kinds will require thirteen carts. Of the
loads brought to market they frequently pile a cubic
fathom out of eight loads. Generally one must distinguish
three kinds of cubic fathoms of wood : — Forest fathom,
that is the fathom received from the labourers in the
forest who are paid by the fathom ; trade fathom, that is
the fathom as piled up in the woodyards for sale by the
dealers themselves ; and contractors' fathom, that is the
fathom piled by the labourers who receive pay for cartage
by the fathom. This fathom is called contractors, because
on delivering wood per contract, the carters, who likewise
pile the wood in the place where it is received,
receive an addition if out of the number of fathoms taken
by them from the yard more come out at the plase of
delivery. In cubic contents the forest fathom is the
largest.

' For each vershock of thickness, and archine of length,
one need not make a calculation, because in practice in
carting such a calculation will not be applicable. There
may be changes in these ciphers — for instance, at the
commencement of the day, when the horse is fresh, more
is put on the load, and with a beam they put several stakes
cr poles, &c., but on an average the quantities stated in
the tables may be accepted.

' The number of horse working days for cartage must
be determined according to the distance of each forest
estate or clearing from the floating river, or the principal
market at which it is expected to make the most
remunerative sale. In carting to the river, if the timber
be prepared at the distance of 5 versts, it is estimated
that the cart will go twice ; with a distance of 1 verst it
will go 10 times; with a distance of 16 versts, once. If
the wood be carted for a long distance, one may calculate
on 50 versts per day by winter roads ; but in rainy, and
generally bad weather, 40 versts. By the price of the
horse working day is determined the price of each article

148 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

of forest material. For instance, if a horse working day
is worth 40 kopecs, and the timber is prepared 4 versts
from the river, the cartage of a beam 9 archines by 7
vershocks, of coniferous kinds, will be 10 kopecs, because a
one horse cart will bring four beams per day ; but in
winter, from the scarcity of work, a horse working day
may be 30, even 25 kopecs, then the cartage will cost
about 7 kopecs ; the cartage over 10 versts will be 20 and
24 kopecs, and over 16 versts 30 and 40 kopecs. The
difference is more noticed in those cases where large
materials are transported, requiring several horses.

' When the distance of the principal mart is determined
then the cost of a one horse cart per day is determined.
In this case the taxation of wood comes into contact with
the general official prices, which can be taken as a
groundwork, or at least is taken into consideration.

' In transporting to great distances the price per pood for
transport to a given mart then must be considered ; in trans-
port by water in ships the freight per pood ; and in transport
by rafts, the number of da) s they were on the way, and the
number of workmen required for each raft. The price of
working day by the general prices may give a means to
determine the cost of transport.

' The distance of the estate by water from a given market
can be determined with great accuracy and ease with the
assistance of the charts of the General Staff and of
Poltoratsky and Ilyin.*

' The third basis for forming estimates, which at present
it is difficult to obtain, but which in future will be easy, are
the market prices for forest materials. These prices are
subject to different changes, and if these changes were
reported each time one could judge pretty accurately of the
value of the forest materials j but generally these prices
are not noted, and in making estimates there are raked
up some data from memory ; and mistakes are of course

* The Government has published a chart of Russia by Schoubert (scale of ten versts
per inch), and on ths same scale a particular atlas of the Russian Empire by
Poltoratsky,

FOUESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 149

unavoidable. If we take into account that the service
in one place of the government or local foresters, is not
long, then one cannot but agree that there may be often
cases in which the making of estimates for a given place
faUs to the duty of one who has had no means of getting
acquainted with the conditions of the demand and sale.
In making estimates on this system where it is not known
in a given government by what they are guided in the
adjoining governments, there arise in consequence un-
avoidable differences in the estimates, which, if not
mutually contradictory, are not justified by the reality.
To avoid this it is desirable that the local foresters, or
forest revisors, in the course of the year, should supply to the
Journal of Forestry three or four times a year information
of the market prices of the forest materials in one or
other of the markets. If such reports on the part of
the foresters (there are 400 of them) be considered
inconvenient, then from the revisors (of whom there are
100) it appears to us it may be practicable and sufficient,
as with the help of the local foresters each forest revisor can
collect information as to the prices in those markets
which he has to visit in making the revision. This infor-
mation should be supplied three to four times a year to the
editor of the journal, and the supply and placing of these
statements in the journal should be arranged in a formal
manner. If there were such a collection of information
as to market prices it would be possible to see the regular
changes, and likewise the occasional changes in prices ;
and in making estimates, for one government to take into
consideration the prices in other governments. The
correctness of these prices could be timely considered and
rectified. Such information would further afford a
possibility to private forest proprietors to keep fixed
prices, so that even between them there would be more
unity in determining prices then exists at present ; the
taxators would find it possible to guide themselves
by the varying prices of each locality for several years,
and persons specially learning forest economy would have

150 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

an opportunity even at school to get acquainted with
present prices of produce of forest economy in different
localities, which might be of use in future to forest pro-
prietors.

* The determination of the cost of preparing each assort-
ment is possible, if a stated number of working days necessary
for preparing such were fixed ; a similar, so to say task
allowance, should be taken as a general groundwork fur all
estimates, and then the cost of a working day can be
determined by the official prices.

' On these foundations estimates are determined easily and
correctly. Difficulties may occur only in such localities in
the governments of Volinia, Minsk, Moghilev, Kostroma,
and similar governments, as the market value of forest
materials is less than the cost of working days required
for felling and cartage. For instance, there are many
places where a fathom of wood in the market is 3 roubles—
whereas in felling it two working days were employed, and
10 horse working days for carting the same, and for 12
days is received 5 roubles or 23 kopecs per day ; and whereas
in the same locality a workman receives 25 to 30 kopecs
per day, and a labourer with a horse 40 to 50 kopecs. In
such cases it is impossible to fix the value of forest materials
by the market prices. But such prices only prove that
the greatest part of forest materials that appear in the
market are acquired in the forest estates without the
consent of the proprietors.

Remarks on the Wood Trade in the Government of Orel.

1 The north-west district of the Orel government, Briansk,
containing a large mass of forest as stated before, has
besides, this important privilege that by the rivers Dwina
and Bolva it is connected with the wooded parts of the
governments of Kaluga and Smolensk. The railway in
the course of construction near Briansk, and the river
Dwina, connects Briansk with places where there is a
scarcity of wood, by easy and cheap ways of communica-

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER.

151

tion for the sale of wood materials. For these reasons
the district of Briansk will be the principal centre of the
wood enterprise. At present there are three steam and one
water power sawmills : two of them are not specially for
sawing, but they can be applied to that purpose — principally
they are for grinding corn. On the principal of these fabrics
the sawing apparatus is for two frames each of 10 saws ;
and for cutting off the edge there is a large saw. At the
other mill there are 40 saws ; here they make the same
sorts of timber as at the first. At the third mill there are
50 saws ; and the sawmill worked by water has 44 saws in
4 frames. The total number of logs sawn in these mills
is about 50,000, for the most part not longer than 3
fathoms, with a thickness of from 6 to 12 vershocks. Boards
are prepared of 1 J to 2 vershocks thick, and 7, 8, and 9
archines long ; and deals of £ vershocks thick. The pro-
duce is floated down the Dwina to the southern govern-
ments, or sent by cartage to the parts destitute of wood in
the governments of Kursk and Orel. With the opening of
the railway the produce will be sent principally by rail to
Orel and Kursk. The existence of sawmills, and the
exhaustion of neighbouring private forests, draws atten-
tion to the crown forests ; and the opening demand for
wood leads to the conclusion that it should not be
offered in greater quantity than the demand. At the
forementioned sawmills the prices for boards are —

9 archines long, and 2 vershocks thick, 60 kopecs.

2

2

U

U

1*

50
45
35
30
25
18
15
12

'The average width of these sorts is 6 vershocks ; when
wider 12 kopecs is added for each vershock, so that up to

152 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

12 vershocks the addition will be 72 kopecs, that is a board
of 9 archines long, 12 vershocks broad, and 2 vershocks thick,
•will be worth 132 kopecs, and if there be a demand, 150
kopecs. The floatage to Kiev for 100 boards is 3 roubles
50 kopecs, or 3J kopecs per board ; the floatage of deals
half that charge. To Krementchug the floatage is per
board, 4J kopecs ; per deal, 2J kopecs. On the rafts to
Kiev the labourer receives 30 roubles ; on ships the
captain gets 50 roubles, and the labourer 20 roubles ; to
Kherson the captain gets 80 roubles, and the labourer 30
roubles. The cost per pood is to Kiev 12 kopecs, to
Krementchug 16 kopecs, to Kherson 20 kopecs. Formerly
the prices were not so high, the demand for labourers for
railways have raised the prices ; and with the completion of
these it is expected the prices will fall 3 to 5 kopecs per
pood. With the transport by land the expenses are 10 to
25 kopecs per board and deal, according to size, which
decides the weight, and consequently the number on each
cart.

* In Briansk there are 20 brickworks, and fuel costs
there about 550 kopecs ; but the general quantity of wood
used in these works will barely amount to a few cubic
fathoms. Glass and crystal fabriques are very common ; and
the quantity of potash brought for them from Nijni-Nov-
gorod amounts to 30,000 poods. If the wood dealers of the
governments of Moghilev, Minsk, and Volhinia, were to
direct their attention to this then the great remnants of
oak would not be removed in the clearings to their
detriment, but would bring in a pretty considerable income.
The total amount of firewood used in these fabriques is
about 75,000 cubic fathoms. In the distiict of Briansk
there is an iron foundry remarkable for this, that the char-
coal required for it is made in stoves, and consequently is
prepared with the greatest economy, which is a rare thing
in our fabriques.

' Besides these fabriques there are sugar, brandy, and
other fabriques requiring fuel. With the completion of the
railway the activity of these fabriques will increase, and

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 153

consequently the consumption of fuel will considerably
increase, and likewise the income from the crown forests
on the Dwina and its confluents.

' In the Karatchev district is a cooper fabrique worthy of
notice, in which they use 1000 heaps of bands for casks,
and about 30,000 hoops. 1000 hoops is worth 13 roubles ;
a heap costs about 3 roubles, and is generally
supplied by land in the districts of Klimovitch of the
Moghileff government, and Roslave of the Smolensk
government. The manufacture of these bands costs on
the spot 175 kopecs for 100 pieces of 3 archines long; of
2J archines long 1 rouble for 100 pieces ; 1 J archines,
80 kopecs ; and 18 vershocks, 50 kopecs per 100, according
to length of band, and the number used for a cask, tub, or
barrel (from 10 to 26 hoops) ; the produce is sold from 6
roubles to 240 kopecs, and from 1J roubles to 2 roubles.
In all there are manufactured about 3000 pieces, princi-
pally tubs are prepared, which are sold on market days in
the district of Orel ; sometimes they get orders from brandy
fabriques.

' In the district of Tronbteheosk, on a confluent of the
Dwina, from the left side in the village Promniss, situated
in a woody place, there is a sawmill worked by water
which draws by the local prices 10,000 roubles.

' Wood materials are much used by leather fabrics of the
government of Orel. These are in all parts of the govern-
ment, but the principal centres are Bolchov and Jeletz,
and after them the districts of Tronbteheosk, Seosk, and
partly Briansk. The total amount of skins manufactured
amounts to 600,000. According to this number the con-
sumption of wood materials is determined as follows.
For manufacture of skins put into one vat are required —

Bark oak, 250 poods.

Tar, 8 „

Pitch, 2 „

Firewood, \ cubic fathoms.

The smallest number of skins put into a vat is 90 ; the

154 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

greatest number, 350 ; the medium about 200 ; therefore
for the manufacture of 600,000 skins 3000 vats are
required, and consequently

Of Bark, 750,000 poods.

Tar, - - 24,000 „

Pitch, 6,000 „

Wood, 60,000 cubic fathoms.

' The greatest influence on the forest and wood trade in
this case is the destruction of the bark ; and as the bark
of young trees is required, or of young branches of trees from
3 to 5 years old, then the preparation of sale bark must
act generally injuriously to forest economy. In this case
woods are partly helped by the circumstance that willow
bark is frequently preferred, although it contains less
tanning acid ; it pounds easily, and being more binding,
it is used for manufacturing the rougher sorts of
leather.

* Willow bark is brought from the neighbouring govern-
ments, and is partly collected in the government of Orel.
The price of it at Bolchov and Jeletz, the centres of con-
sumption, is 30 to 40 kopecs per pood; in winter it falls to 20
kopecs. Willow bark is often 5 kopecs higher than oak
bark. The average in the districts of Seosk and Tronbtch-
eosk are the same. If we take 20 kopecs as the average
price of the whole quantity consumed, the value of the
bark will be 1,500 roubles. But as the price at Jeletz is
more frequently 35 kopecs, then the amount will be about
2,000 roubles : and this is the case, because in Bolchov,
to which place the bark is brought from the government
of Kaluga, in consequence of the unequal supply, the price
sometimes rises to 40 kopecs. Such a consumption of willow
bark obliges us to direct attention to the marshy places of
the crown estates, and to adapt them to forest economy,
in order to receive the requisite material for the leather
fabriques of the Orel government, which form a very impor-
tant produce of this locality. The prices of bark from the
marshy or so-called perspiring places are higher than for

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 155

bark from dry places. The plantation of willow does not
present any difficulties ; and it can with great facility be
produced in many places of little use. On the river
Dwina and its confluents there can be no want of spaces
fit for such an economy. To determine the size of area
requisite in this case for producing a determinate quantity
of bark, we have no data — as there is no data — as to how
much bark is collected per desatin. For crushing the
bark many fabriques have steam crushing machines.

'With regard to the value of other forest materials requisite
for the leather fabrication, we must remark that in the centres
of this fabrication, Bolchov and Jeletz, the prices of birch
and oak wood vary from 8 to 10 roubles ; aspen wood,
from 6 to 7 roubles ; tar, from 1£ to 2 roubles ; pitch,
from 1 to 1£ roubles. The prices for the last two articles
will soon be lower, because the considerable use made of
these for the wheels of carts for transporting goods will
soon be less, as with the building of railways the number
of carts going any great distance will not be so great.

' The substitution of antracite for wood is being introduced
very slowly in Jeletz, as they say it costs 40 kopecs per pood.
At this price it of course cannot replace wood, which even
in the Jeletz district costs about one-fourth of that
less. With the opening of the Jeletz-Briansk railway
antracite will certainly be cheaper, and forest materials
will get dearer, so that the change must take place ; but
there is no danger to the sale of forest materials from
such a substitution, because the demand for them is
increased.

* With regard to the substitution of turf for wood, al-
though this is possible in some districts, they seldom
attempt the working of turf. The greater number of the
peasantry consider it a sin to heat with earth ; and if with
the increase of workmen after the railroads are completed
they should work it in large quantities, meanwhile much of
the turf riches will be washed away by water, and will be
burnt out by the carelessness of the local population.
' By this means the competition of turf and coal,

156 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

however desirable, is almost impossible ; unfortunately
other kinds of fuel : kiziah (dried cow dung), louzga, and
straw, can be much used ; this will lead to the exhaustion
of the fields, which will be more serious than the exhaus-
tion of the woods ; for however fertile the land may be, with
such economy it may be soon converted into unproductive
ground. If the products of the first necessity are getting
every year dearer, the principal reason of this dearuess is
not so much financial difficulties as the wasteful
system of carrying on agricultural economy.

Sales from the Crown Estates of the Orel Government.

' The wood trade in the crown estates, or as they say, sales
from the crown estates of the Orel government, present
facts worthy of attention, and partly confirm our views
of the importance in the wood trade of the wood belt
of the Orel government —

In 1863 were sold 466 desatins for 16,785 roubles, or 36 roubles per des.

1864, no information of the
number of desatins

sold, 23,251

1865, were sold 945 desatins for 34,524 „ 35

1866, „ 692 „ 38,625 „ 55

' That is, the prices in the course of four years were
nearly doubled. The principal mass of the wood sales is
in the wood belt of the Orel government, where there is
rather an excess then a want of forest materials ; and
therefore the whole area of clearings offered for sale
was not bought. For instance, in 1863 940 desatins
were offered for sale, but only 466 desatins were bought ;
in 1865, 2004 desatins were offered, and 945 were bought ;
in 1866, 2094 desatins were offered, and 692 were bought.

'Comparing 1865 with 1863, we see that double the
area was then bought ; but the price per desatin remained
almost the same, consequently the increased demand did
not lead to higher prices, because the quantity offered for
sale exceeded the demand. With a more commercial

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 157

system of sales, of which I have already spoken, the
prices per desatin would have risen much more rapidly.
The increase of the income in 1865 was principally from
the increased demand for forest materials for constructing
railways ; with the termination of the construction this
demand will somewhat diminish ; and therefore for the
next three years one must expect for the government of
Orel a less progressive demand than in the last three
years. In the government of Orel, besides the sales not
accounted for, sales are made with payment for the
manufactured article, and likewise sales are made in
advance per contract, with increased payment after the
expiration of a few years. In view of the rapid increase
of prices, and greater demand for crown woods, to which
we have frequently drawn attention, the sales of wood in
advance for long periods cannot be considered advanta-
geous ; but with regard to sales the material to be paid for
when manufactured, it appears to us that the simple
sales, the advantages of which have been proved by the
experience of the last years, deserve a preference, particu-
larly in such places as the woody parts of the government
of Orel, where the rapid increase of demand and sale is
guaranteed.

'The above ciphers of the income are taken from the
general amount of income in order to show more
accurately the change of price per desatin of forest area
generally, but the total income of 1863, 1864, and 1865
were as follows : —

1863. 1864. 1865.

Roubles. Roubles. Roubles.

Sold, .... 1,9561 25,817 48,373

Sold by lower estimate, - 5,326 6,341 15,955

Without money, - - 245 619 335

Received rents from estates, 5,656 5,602 6.480

„ arrears, - - 578 1,475 682

Duty for billets, - - 139 143 168

Interest, 378 570 944

31,883 41,167 72937

158 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

' With the general extent of forest estates under crown
management of 344,832 desatins, there was received of
income —

In 1863, .... 9 kopecs per desatin.

1864, - 12

1865, - - - - 21

But taking into account only the area covered by forests,
viz., about 255,533 desatins, we find the amount
received —

In 1863, 24,649 roubles from the forest area, or 10 kopecs per desatin.

1864, 33,491 „ „ 13

1865, 65,755 „ „ 21

In this case we take into account the wood sold, and also
that sold at a reduced price, and free duty for billets, and
interest for money exacted in selling the timber.

' Of the estates of the government of Orel deserving
notice from the value of the yearly clearings, the
first one is not far from Orel, the crown estate Poslovs-
kaio, of the extent of 236 desatins 1740 fathoms. In this
estate there are 221 desatins of forest area, and 15 desa-
tins of waste land. Of the forest land 113 desatins are
under pine trees ; the remainder is under oak growth. With
regard to age 40 per cent, are mature, 40 per cent, are young
plantations, and 20 per cent, are of medium growth. There is
one desatin sold yearly from this estate, at the price of
400 to 500 roubles. This valuable estate remains until
now not organised, and it is guarded by foresters. There
is no word yet about artificial renewing of the estate, not-
withstanding its great revenue. The income from this
estate is appropriated to the Alexandrina Female Institu-
tion.

' The greatest number of estates in the government of
Orel, giving an annual income from the sale of yearly
fellings, are concentrated in the first Briansk forest district.
Of the general area of the forest estates of this forest district
of 61,399 desatins 2,230 fathoms, the estates having a full

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 159

sale cover 59,365 desatins 1,012 fathoms. In this area
are included the crown estates : — Souponev, 7,927 desa-
tins 660 fathoms ; Soensk, 7,485 desatins 2,251 fathoms;
Koulnev, 16,819 desatins 2,364 fathoms; Koritchijko-
Krilov 3,576 desatins 2,209 fathoms; Vorpomorsky,
13,513 desatins 1355 fathoms. In these estates there is
of forest 41,249 desatins, of which there are under
pine, 18,414 desatins ; under fir, 7,616 desatins ; mixture
of coniferous and broad-leaved trees, 8,386 desatins ; under
broad leaf, 5,167 desatins. In each of these estates some
parts of them lie at 5 and 10 versts from the most con-
venient roads for sales ; other parts of the same estates lie
still further, so that the division of the mass of wood by
estates, as it exists at present, is not satisfactory either
with regard to forest trade or economy. With regard to
trade in wood, since into one whole are joined parts
differing between themselves as to expense of cartage of
timber, this is inconvenient in making estimates in an
economical point of view, — because being in contact with
each other these estates require their boundaries to be
cleared, whereas if the whole area of these estates were
taken as one economical unit then all the trees of the same
section by one numeration could be divided according to
convenience of cartage ; and then the boundary lines would
be changed for division lines, which would give great
convenience in making the estimates, and in an econo-
mical point of view would require less labour in clearing
the cuttings.

' Above we have remarked that the annual sales are
preferable to the contract sales for cuttings for a series of
years, and we adduce in confirmation of this the follow-
ing : — In the first Briansk forest district is situated the
Polpinsky crown estate, which is on lease ; its total area is
4,652 desatins 760 fathoms ; of this area their are
under wood 4,016 desatins ; annual cuttings, 58 desatins ;
giving a gross revenue of 676 roubles, 46 kopecs, or 11
roubles per desatin; whereas the average value of a
desatin of clearings in the government of Orel, as we saw

160 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

above, was from 30 to 50 roubles ; moreover, this average
price is rapidly increasing, and the lease rent remains for
a number of years the same. In this forest district there
is likewise the estate of Koritchijko-Uralov (in the
management of the Briansk forest officials) of 2,850 desa-
tins 1,835 fathoms. Besides the crown estates there are
peasant estates, the total area of which is 4,474 desatins
396 fathoms.

' The first Briansk forest district is the principal one in
the government of Orel, as well from its present condition, as
from the future which it will have with the opening of the
Smolensk-Orel railway, which runs through it for several
versts. From the value of the cuttings in the above-men-
tioned estates of this forest district Koulkovsky is remark-
able. The average price per desatin on this estate is 87
roubles, but frequently their are parts where the price
per desatin is above 100 roubles. One meets likewise on
the Soensk estate with desatins much above the average
price per desatin in the government. In this estate some
desatins attain sometimes to 140 roubles. The Soensk
and Koulkovsky estates are also known under the names
of first and second parts of Polninsky estate.

' The Karatchev forest district has almost like impor-
tance with the first Briansk, because from most of the
estates of this forest district there is a possibility of tran-
sporting forest materials by railway (not over 80 versts),
with a cartage of 5 to 20 versts. Besides the district town,
Karatchev is a local consumer, and is situated at a
distance from the principal mass of forests of about 20
versts.

'The principal estates of this forestry are : — Recetitzk,
5,020 desatins 1,380 fathoms ; of this there are under forest,
4,645 desatins 2,355 fathoms; on lease, 118 desatins
1,580 fathoms ; in the management of the forest guards,
97 desatins 400 fathoms ; under the remaining appur-
tances, 5 desatins 2,880 fathoms ; waste area, 152 desa-
tins 1,985 fathoms ; under pine, 685 desatins ; under
fir, 45 desatins ; under mixed kinds, 2,657 desatins -3

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 161

under birch and alder, 1,226 desatins. At the annual
cuttings on this estate one meets with fellings, the value
of which often attain 100 roubles.

'The bordering estate, Poldevsky, 16,263 desatins 1,875
fathoms, is under similar conditions of sale. The division
of these estates from each other has no importance
whatever in an economical point ; both the estates are
organised ; the bordering corner lines between them are
quite useless. It would have been much more useful in
a commercial view for making estimates if both had been
grouped together with regard to the distance of their
quarters or sections from the town of Karatchev, and from
the line of railway, &c. Such grouping of quarters of this
mass of forest, in an economical point of view, is much
more practical than the division of the estates according
to the boundaries of the general survey. The whole
extent of the Karatchev forest district is 25,142 desatius
2,194 fathoms, of which there is in the possession of the
peasantry only 1,525 desatins 2,384 fathoms.

' The first Briansk and Karatchev forest districts occupy
in the government of Orel the first place among all the
forest districts of this government with regard to the
facility of sales of forest materials; and likewise the
convenience of living for the foresters : — Land, houses,
nearness to railways, and the three towns Briansk,
Karatchev, aud Orel, are of course not unimportant
privileges. For these two forest districts it is of the
greatest importance to have roads for carting timber or
cuttings, which should by the shortest way connect the
clearings with the railways, and would afford the cheapest
means of conv3ying the timber from the most distant
parts of these forestries.

1 The third Briansk forest district is remarkable from
having the Okonlitsk estate, upon which many look as an
immense reserve of forest riches which may readily rot
in the wood without any profit to the crown, and which
require, therefore, an early and speedy sale. We do not
adopt this view.

M

162 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

'This estate occupies 53,853 desatins, and must bedivided
into two principal parts: a south-western near the river
Iput, and a north-eastern near the railway from Smolensk
to Orel. By this railway the distance to Briansk is not
above 40 versts from the north-eastern part of the
Okonlitz estate. A considerable development of the
wood trade in Briansk, and the constant decrease of private
estates, will in a short time oblige the wood dealers to
have recourse to the Okonlitz estate, the more so, that
with the opening of the railway to the western Dwina,
they can get by it goods for Riga. The products of
forest technical manufacture can be most profitably
obtained from the Okonlitz station, because, being near
a part of the country where there is no wood, there is no
local demand for forest materials, and therefore everything
that is unprofitable to transport by rail may be manu-
factured; and with the abundance of pine plantations, of
which there are 1,600 desatins on this estate, the abun-
dance of pitch to be obtained from fallen trees allows a
possibility for the pitch business to exist for several years
coming, Towards the end of this century there will ensue
a rapid increase of income from the Okonlitz estates, if
until then the sales be made on the general principle of
fellings for immediate payments, without a hasty seeking
of buyers on however exclusive conditions This is the
most desirable system of sale from the Okonlitz estate,
but with the payment of duty, not from the quantity of
materials manufactured, but from the number of fallen
trees, for only in this case will the felled timber be most
economically converted into goods.

' In the first Tronbteheosk forest district is worthy of
remark from its size, the crown estate Ouspenskaia, of
30,548 desatins. This estate is remarkable in that it has
on lease 1,561 desatins, and waste area, 5,422 desatins ;
of forest, 23,319 desatins; of which pine occupies 12,061
desatins, and the remainder is under different broad-
leaved species. The total crown estates in this forestry is
33,199 desatins, and there are 10,046 desatins belonging

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 163

to peasants, so that the whole amounts to 43,246 desatins,
145 fathoms.

'The third Tronbteheosk forest district consists of
estates in the possession of the peasantry, the whole area
of which is 6,356 desatins 677 fathoms.

' In the second Tronbteheosk forest district the principal
forest mass is the Novonikolskaia crown estate, measuring
2,805 desatins 1,400 fathoms. In this estate the forest
area is 25,106 desatins, of which 9,565 desatins are under
pine, and 9,142 desatins are occupied by a mixture of
coniferous with leafy trees ; 3,539 desatins are under
birch, and 2,172 desatins are under alder. An extensive
space in this estate is under waste, 1,495 desatins 1,798
fathoms; and under lease there are 826 desatins 1,470
fathoms.

' Into part of Seosk forest district enter first the forests
of the Seosk district (which we consider to belong to the
Dwina river forest belt) amounting to 10,710 desatins 1,294
fathoms ; and secondly, the forests of the districts
Kromin, in which there are forests under crown adminis-
tration, 1,395 desatins'; and Dmitrovsk, in which are
forests under crown administration, 770 desatins 833
fathoms in extent.

' The remaining three forest districts — Liven, Jeletz,
and Orel, are composed almost exclusively of peasant
estates — Liven, forest district of estates of the Liven ; and
Malo-Archangelsk, districts of 7,645 desatins 696 fathoms ;
Eletz, forest district of peasant estates of the districts of
Orel, Bolchoff, and Mtzensk ; and there is one crown
estate in the Orel district.

' The general distribution by districts of the crown and
private forests is —

Crown. Private.

3 Briansk forest districts in Briansk, 161,400 des. 234,897 dea.

3 Tronbteheosk, „ Tronbteheosk, 87,890 ,, 214,525 ,,

Karatcheff, „ Karatcheff, 25,142 „ 36,566 ,,

Seoak, „ Seosk, 10,710 „ 51,125 „

Kromin, 1,995 „ 7,840 „

164 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Crown. Private.

Seosk forest districts —

Dmitrovsk, 770 des. 37,429 des.

Liven, „ Liven, 7,645 „ 10,048 „

Malo-Archangelsk, 1,945 „ 1,895 „

Jeletz, „ Jeletz, 15,703 „ 34,471 „

* Such a preponderance of private forests over crown in
the government generally, and in some districts in parti-
cular, places rural economy in great dependence on private
forests ; and in the meantime the conservation of private
forests is the weakest point of forest economy. In the
present year, by the direction of the government Land
Administration, a pamphlet was printed for the assembly
of the Land Administration, in which it is stated that the
destruction of forests may lead in one case to the deca-
dence of the leather trade in consequence of the want of
bark and firewood, and on the other hand to the exhaus-
tion of the cultivated lands, in consequence of the con-
stantly increasing consumption of dung and straw as
fuel. In this pamphlet it is stated that the decadence
of the private wood trade proceeds from the general
destruction of private forests, and from the sale in the
crown estates in small parts of annual clearings, in con-
sequence of which the bulk of the purchasers have turned
to crown forests.

' If we take into account the revenue from private forests,
and the number of wood dealers preparing in them forest
materials, we may suppose that the wood trade, and the
income from wood, is falling off; but if of the forest trade
and the income from forests we judge from the amount of
income from the crown forests then we can maintain that
the forest trade is not falling, and that the income from
the forests is constantly increasing — because it is only
under such conditions the forest income in the govern-
ment of Orel could in the course of three years double
itself as it has done. This is sufficient to show the
characteristic difference between private and crown
forests of the Orel government.

'In the above-mentione 1 pamphlet an idea is propounded

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 165

as to the necessity for the peasantry to occupy themselves
with the planting of forests ; one cannot but wish for this
idea a realisation in practice, particularly if with the
trouble taken about the future forests the existing forests
be not forgotten.

Remarks on the Wood Trade of the Government of Kursk.

'The forests of the Kursk government are generally
not taken into account in speaking of the Dnieper basin ;
the reason is that the Kursk forests are situated too far
to the east of the general mass of the Dnieper forests.
The greater part of the Kursk forests are on the confluents
of the river Seyina, which forms a part of the Dnieper
basin ; and cutting in, as it were, in a long and narrow
stripe between the Oka and Don basin, it is situated at the
northern, and at the same time, the most eastern part of
the woodless belt of the Dnieper basin.

' From the banks of the river Seyma commences that
part of the Dnieper basin country where there is little
wood ; likewise from the river Seyma commences in a
southern direction the preponderance of oak, and that of
pine ceases ; finally, from the banks of the Seyma
commences that part of the Dnieper basin in which there
is not sufficient wood for local consumption. Further
east than the government of Kursk forest materials are
not taken from the Dnieper forests ; and only south to the
governments of Kharkov, and partly Starropol and the land
of the Don-Cossacks, are taken forest manufactures of oak ;
and with regard to building materials, boards, and planks,
these are taken from Glonchov and Novgorodseversk,
districts in the government of Tchernigov, through the
government of Kursk (Pontivle district), to the districts
of Soumnic and Lebedian in the goverment of Kharkov.
In this way forest materials very seldom get to the towns
of Achtiska and Bogodouihov, and still more rarely to
Kharkov, so that the boundary of their spreading south-
east may be taken the post road from Kursk to Kharkov

166 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

and further to Constantinograd. la Constantinograd
commences the supply of forest materials by land which
were floated down the Dnieper to the ports of Kremente-
boug and Ekatherinoslav.

'The forests of the government of Kursk have their
principal markets within the boundaries of the govern-
ment ; and in consequence of its having little wood the
sales are very profitable. Generally, for the Kursk
government forest materials are brought from the govern-
ment of Tchernigov for the districts of Pontivle, Ruilsk,
Soudjan j and for the districts of Kursk, Lgov, and Fatej,
from the districts of Tronbteheosk and Seosk of the
government of Orel. The cartage from the government
of Orel is principally done by the peasantry of the
Dmitrov district, whose position at about the half-way
gives them the means of using their own provender, and
of not requiring to be long absent from their homes. For
both of the cartages (from the governments of Orel and
Tchernigov) there is a different future. The cartage of
forest materials from Tchernigov government to the dis-
tricts of Pontivle and Ruilsk in the Kursk government, and
to Soumnia and Lebedran, in the Kharkov government,
must diminish, because the Kursk-Kiev railway, passing
through the Tchernigov government, facilitates the trans-
portation to these districts of a great part of the forest
materials by railway. But the cartage of forest materials
from the districts of Tronbteheosk and Seosk in the Orel
governments to Fatej and other districts of the Kursk
government, will increase, because the Kursk-Orel railway
will not only add to the demand for forest materials in
these districts, but it will give no facilities for transporting
them cheaper, because the cartage is by a much shorter
road than by rail.

' Going to the Tronbteheosk and Seosk districts for
forest materials, the peasantry take some goods from the
Kursk government, principally grain, or for small dealers,
different spices, fruits, and wine, and on their return
bring principally boards, and small binding materials*

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 167

Under favourable circumstances they manage to make six
turns (a turn is considered the sale of the wood.)

' Favourable circumstances consist in fine weather and
the quick purchase of forest materials in the forest belt,
and iu the quick sale of these in the parts requiring wood.

' With regard to the fine weather they are guided by the
traditions of the elders, and as the medium length of each
half way is about a week, therefore for such a short time
the predictions of the local meterologists are generally not
far wrong.

' For expediting the purchase of forest materials in the
forest belt they apply to the some dealers, or joining
together, buy a part of a wood, divide it among themselves,
tree by tree, and then each fells his own and carts it away
with his own horses. As guard and manager on the spot
there remains generally the most respectable member of
this company, and he receives for his trouble a remunera-
tion in forest materials ; remunerations in money are con-
sidered insulting. The principal condition for the success
of this trade are rapid sales in places requiring wood.
For this object they find purchasers beforehand, and make
an agreement as to what materials, and for what price, they
are to bring. Frequently the materials are brought to
market, and if there be no buyer at a remunerative price
(which sometimes happens when there is great supply),
they have to feed their horses several days in the expec-
tation of a buyer. But this is unprofitable, because
buyers appear generally only on market days, of which
there is only one or two a week, and consequently the
provender of horses would cause great expense ; and they
sell their trees to a richer dealer who can wait for a
purchaser. Such a sale does not bring the same profit
as the sale to a consumer would. With such a supply
trade the supply may not be proportionate to the demand,
and in such cases the prices fall to the last extreme. In
such cases one may see the very same kind of materials
sold by different dealers on the same market days asking
prices varying from 1 to 2 or 1 to 3. This proceeds from

168 FORESTRY INT LITHUANIA.

the fact that one has been in the market a long time and
not sold his goods, and lowered the price ; while another
has only just come, and is not convinced of the excess of
supply, and therefore keeps to the normal prices ; but
several days will pass, and he will lower his prices more
than his neighbours.

' The want of capital for buying forest materials in such
cases has created something like commission yards. For
a certain allowance of part of the materials, or of the
realised sum for their sale, they put up the unsold
materials with an acquaintance ; he is empowered to
sell them ; and they call for the proceeds at their leisure.
Many capitalists, wood dealers, have commenced by such
corn mission ship in the wood trade in the governments of
Orel and Kursk.

' With regard to the importance of the crown forests of
Kursk government in the wood trade we remark that
the situation of these forests is very favourable as regards
sales — 1st, Because crown forests are in better condition
than private forests, although i must add that many of
the latter are very satisfactorily preserved ; 2d, because
the crown forests form almost half the forests of the
Kursk government; and 3d, because the greatest part of
the crowo forests are in districts that have less forests,
and are more distant from the woods of the Dwina river
belt governments of Tchernigov and Orel. We therefore
suppose that cases of unsuccessful sales of wood cannot be
explained by the competition of private forests, as many
allege, but that rather the contrary takes place, because
sales to peasants at a reduced price or one much lower
than the market prices made to a considerable extent,
must really tend to reduce prices, or stop for a time the
sale not only from private, but even from crown estates,
because these reductions draw after them a decrease of
demand in the markets, and often consequently limit the
extent of the wood trade.

' All the forest estates under crown management in the
Kursk government form five forest districts : —

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER.

169

BELGOROD.

KARATCHAN.

RUILSK.

Desatins.

Paths.

Desatins.

Paths.

Desatins.

Paths.

Forest area,

27,220

1,492

65

,836

40

15,582

—

Lease sections, -

—

—

1

,282

2,350

—

—

Land belonging to guards,

126

1,070

84

56

37

1,113

Under appurtenances,

584

100

43

1,000

459

205

Waste land,

261

990

178

1,373

138

2,180

LGOV.

KUBSK.

TOTAL.

Desatins.

Paths.

Desatins

. Paths.

Desatins.

Paths.

Forest area,

22,736

699

38

,328

1,983

169,703

1,178

Lease sections, -

364

20

—

—

1,646

2,370

Land belonging to guards, 32

20

40

50

319

2,289

Under appurtenances,

982

667

1

,287

758

3,359

839

Waste land,

454 752

501 718 1,532 13

' The general area of private estates is considered to be
200,000 desatins. In this are pear plantations, but the sys-
tem of using these Hoes not give sufficient reason to include
them in the forest area ; and besides this there are waste
spaces, so that of actual forest area in private estates
there is not more than in the crown estates, that is about
170,000 ; and the sum total of forests in the government
is about 340,000 desatins, which for 1,827,000 inhabitants,
gives a very small quantity. The greatest number of
forest estates in the Kursk government are appropriated
to supplying wood to the peasantry at a low price ; the
sales from the crown estates are only on 11,222 desatins
965 fathoms. From the sales of forest materials from this
space was received—

In 1864, 14,141 roubles.

1865, 19,740 „

1866, 21,066 „

1867, (before the end of the year), 20,236 „

1 Consequently in the latter years the gross income per
desatin, exclusive of waste land and appurtenances, was
about 2 roubles. But if we consider the income from sales
in 1861 realising only 6,936 roubles, we remark that in

i?o FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

six years the income nearly trebled itself. In 1867 there
were fellings for ready money sales on some estates in the
Kursk government — and this deserves the attention of
specialists, because it presents data not void of some
interest in discussing the subject of estimates.

' In the crown estates of the government of Kursk
estimates were made, and in some estates there was not a
full sale, the reason assigned was the high estimate of
fellings; and therefore to the contracts of 1861 the
clearings were offered by a new estimate.

'The estimates and the market prices present the
following figures : —

First Second Market
Valuation. Valuation. Prices.
Desatins. Roubles. Roubles. Roubles.
Belgorod forestry and district —

1st Staritzk estate, - - 36 2,299 2,299 3,400

Graivoron district —

Kovensky, 13 1,147 1,000 1,634

Shiskoffsky, - 2 122 139 260

Korotchan forestry, Novoshelky
district —

Michailov, 15 2,317 2,124 3,801

Dmitrov district —

Kostin estate, ... 14 478 300 526

Ruilsk district and forestry —

Alexayeff estate, 2 140 123 140

Pontivle district —

Botchagan estate, - 1 214 203 351

83 6,717 6,188 10,112

Belgorod forestry and district —

2nd Staritzk estate, 31 6,839 2,634 4,025

Lgoff forestry and district —

Kopesheosk, ... 30 2,485 1,278 1,285

Borisosk, .... 2 540 320 329

Dmitrov district*—

Korobkinsk, ... 22 6,815 2,700 3,010

* Of this district is not shown the Popovinak estate, from which there was sold for
711 roubles, which, with 19,524 roubles, will make 20,255 roubles, shown above in the
income for 1867.

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 171

First Second Market

Valuation. Valuation. Prices.

Desatins. Roubles. Roubles. Roubles.

Dmitrov district —

Menshikov, - 15 340 180 220

Olchov, .... 4 211 110 111

Pogodin, .... 7 389 260 280

Kursk forestry, Oboyan district—

Medvensky, ... 1 155 100 152

Total, 112 17,233 7,582 9,412

Grand total, 24,073 13,770 19,524

' Looking over these ciphers we see that for the 83
desatins the first valuation is not only not higher than
the market prices, but even much lower than this ; the
second valuation is still lower; but with regard to the
112 desatins the fir.it valuation is nearly twice as high as
the market price, and the second valuation is lower than
the market price by 24 per cent. Separating each estate,
the difference presents great fluctuations, but in general
the first valuation approaches nearer to the market price
valuation, the difference between them is 4,500 roubles,
whereas the difference between the market price value
and the second valuation is 5,800 roubles.

' If one were to judge by the per centage addition at the
sales, then the second valuation will of course give other
results than the first. Many think that the per centage
addition at the sales may be considered as a sign of the
great activity of the local management, but we think that
per centage additions may be rather considered a sign of the
incorrectness of the estimates, or that the estimates were
incorrectly applied ; the removal of the unfavourable
results from both the incorrectnesses, we attribute to the
circumstance that the rules confirmed by the Emperor for
ready money sales of forest materials by public sales are
quite practicable, and are more suitable to the present
state of our forest economy,

i^2 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Remarks on the Wood Trade of the Government of
Ekatherinoslav.

The government of Ekatherinoslav is divided into two
principal parts — 1st, the Don basin, and 2d, the Dnieper
basin. The local wood markets in the Don basin receive
wood from the banks of the Volga and Don ; and those
in the Dnieper basin, principally from the ports of the
Dnieper. In the Don part are situated much more
important wood marts than in the Dnieper, as much
judged by the higher price as by the variety of forest
materials required in the markets.

' The wood trade in the Dnieper part is centred princi-
pally at the ports on the Dnieper above the rapids, parti-
cularly at Ekatherinoslav. The reason is — 1st, because
the port of Ekatherinoslav is the nearest to the great
eastern part of the government ; 2d, because the purchase
of forest materials before the rapids is much more profit-
able, as high prices have to be paid to traders for the risk
of floating over the rapids. Therefore from Ekatherinos-
lav, as from ports lying before the rapids, forest materials
are taken in every direction — to the government of
Poltava as far as Constantingrad, to the Taurid govern-
ment as far as Bezodiansk, and the Kherson government as
far as the river Ingul. All this transportation is done by
land, and principally during summer. In winter the
)le.

roads are not reliable. Although there are are snowy
winters, more frequently the snow appears and disappears
several times during winter, and on sledge roads one
cannot count even on January. One strong wind from
the south or south-east produces a thaw sufficient for
melting away the snow. Exposed places and strong
winds cause the snow to be distributed unequally. In
the steppe, in exposed places, snow barely covers the
ground, but in ravines and thickets it forms a layer of
considerable thickness. Therefore one cannot rely on
winter roads for the transport of forest materials, so the
winter is here considered the most unfavourable for

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 173

the transport of forest materials. Successive thaws
in winter, and rains in spring and late autumn, make
the transport of forest materials more difficult on
wheels. The black soil gets wet through for some
eighteen inches, and the cartage of heavy loads is
difficult. Only in summer, the end of spring, and
beginning of autumn, are the roads passable for burdens ;
the dried soil becomes even and hard, and at this time
loads can go with the same ease as on a macadamised
road. Hains during the summer produce nmd about
three inches deep, but this dries soon ; one or two sunny
days, and a strong wind, and the road becomes practicable
— this is the time most suitable for transporting burdens,
and consequently forest materials. But at this time field
labours take place, and the want of means make the
transport of forest materials unprofitable; the end of
summer and the beginning of autumn, set free from field
labours a considerable number of transport means, but at
this time commences the cartage of the products of rural
economy to the ports on the Dnieper, and only after the
sale of these products are the transport means free. In
order not to return home empty from the ports of the
Dnieper forest materials are bought and taken back to
Ekatherinoslav, and the neighbouring governments.

' By such means the forests of the government of
Ekatherinoslav meet with difficulties in transportation, so
that they sometimes remain partially unsold, notwith-
standing the general want of forest materials.

' In the government of Ekatherinoslav the competition
of different substitutes for wood has attained greater
development than in other governments : stone buildings,
huts built of clay and kizik (cow's dung), lougia, reeds, dry
grass (called burian), straw, coal, and anthracite, and
finally with a long and hot summer, and winters not cold,
these are competitors with forest materials in this govern-
ment. But notwithstanding this competition the prices
of forest materials are constantly rising. Although in the
eastern part of the Ekatherinoslav government, and the

174 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

parts joining it of the land of the Don Cossacks, there
are, as is generally known, beds of coal and anthracite,
and the working of the last has received in these places
greater development than in other governments ; still, the
prices of wood materials here attain their highest delelop-
ment. In Taganrok, Rostov, and Nachitchevan, lying not
far from the centre of the coal district of Russia, the
price of firewood varies between 25 and 36 roubles,
and the rise of price in Taganrok to 36 roubles took place
in the last year, notwithstanding that in the neighbourhood
the coal industry was developing itself.

' The crown forests of the government of Ekatherinos-
lav are divided into the following forest districts : —

Forest On Ground of Appurten- Waste

area. lease. foresters ances. land.

Desatins. Desatins. Desatins. Desatins. Desatins.
(Basin of Dnieper.)

Novomoskovsk, - 6,007 278 262 1,472 1,740

Ekatherinoslav, - ' 4,364 3,717 226

Verchnedreoposk, - 4,924 180 432 2,918

Parlograv, - - 5,373 130 108 494

(Basin of Don.)

Slavianoserbsk, - 4,364 288 226

Rostov, - - - 1,064 47

Bachmut, - - - 2,688 110 61

Velikoanadolsky, - 1,746 2000 60 447 39

30,530 6,125 1,055 2,351 5,704

' In the government of Ekatherinoslav there are in all
101,147 desatins of forest, but in this amount the crown
forests are entered entire — that is, with their lease
grounds, lands of foresters, &c. The same must be said
of private estates, in which are included the commons on
which trees grow.

1 Many of the crown estates, by their small size — a few
square fathoms — have no importance in the wood trade,
and are incapable of repaying the expenses of watching.
The same must be said of the forest plantations on which

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER.

175

up to this time trees have been planted. The following is
the revenue from the great estates —

Sold for,

Disposed of at a reduced tax, -
Given gratis, ....
From leases and sun dry, -
Received arrears, ...

,, duty for billets,

,, interest, -

1863.

1864.

1865.

1866.

Roubles.

Roubles.

Roubles.

Roubles.

5,055

5,264

4,384

4,956

10,049

14,519

14,619

15,225

1,724

1,475

2,544

—

3,321

1,971

5,151

4,987

11

111

56

515

50

50

48

47

55

103

86

80

17,854 22,999 25,700 25,136

' The smallness of the revenue from the sale of wood is
principally because the greater part of the wood is
destined to be given to the peasants at a reduced price, in
consequence of which there is not a proper state of affairs
in the wood trade on the local markets. As a character-
istic of the difference between the sales at a reduced price
and free sales, I adduce the following ciphers : —

' From the sales at a reduced price or tax in 1866 was
received 20,181 roubles, which, with the total area of
forests of 48,496 desatins, makes for each desatin 41
kopecs income ; but from sales much more was
received :

' For instance, in the Rostov forest district there is a
crown estate, Leontiev-Boerak, of which the area is ],064
desatins, and the revenue received from it was —

From sales,

2 per cent, money,

Stamp duty,

Fines,

For illegal felling,

3,179 roubles, 52 kopecs.
64 „ 65 „
21 „ -
86 „ 65 „
3 20

3,354 roubles, 43£ kopecs.

That is, more than 3 roubles per desatin, or eight times
more than where the timber is given at a reduced rate.

176 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Remarks on the Wood Trade of Kherson Government.

'The government of Kherson belongs to those few govern-
ments which receive the wood required for local purposes
from beyond the frontier ; but in the government of
Kherson foreign wood is used only in small quantity,
while the Dnieper private forests are not quite exhausted.
Forest materials are brought into the government of
Kherson by three ways —by the Dnieper to the eastern
part of the government, by the Dwina to the west, and
principally to Odessa from the government of Podolia
and from Galicia, by land from the governments of
Yolhinia and Kiev to the ncrth-western part of the
government, to Odessa and Nicolayev by water from
Kherson and from the mouth of the Dwiua.

'The principal demand is for timber of large dimen-
sions fit for sawing and shipbuilding. The development
of our foreign trade, increasing navigation, and ship-
building, increases rapidly the prices paid for the larger
dimensions; and after this, though somewhat slowly, the
prices of other sorts rise, and in the meantime the possi-
bility of satisfying the want of forest materials, particularly
of large dimensions, is diminishing from year to year as the
forests get exhausted. The renovation of the Black Sea
fleet will very likely take place soon, for one cannot
suppose that this fact will belong to the distant future.
With every rumour of this event the prices for large
dimensions rise even now, when these rumours have no
foundation, but when they become real then the rise of
prices will be immense. Some wood dealers, buying
estates with large timber, put off the working of them
waiting for this event as likely to occur at least within the
next ten years.

' The Dnieper forests present the chief source of the most
convenient and profitable supply of forest materials for
our shipbuilding in the Black Sea. If such a calculation
be not considered unprofitable for wood traders, then the
more so in imperial forest economy must one reckon

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 177

on the possibility of a change in the demand for
forest materials, depending on political events which have
taken place, or which may take place in the future. Even
if we do not calculate on this temporary rise in the prices,
in any case the forest economy in the Dnieper forests
being directed principally to the attaining timber of large
dimensions, promises very profitable results, because the
sales from private estates of firewood and small timber is
increasing every year. By increasing the mass of felled
timber private individuals try to cover the deficiency of
income arising from the exhaustion of timber of large
dimensions. The sales of timber of large dimensions from
private estates is visibly diminishing, and with regard to
them crown forests meet every year less and less competi-
tion.

' Forest materials floated down the Dnieper to Kherson
are taken by sea to the ports of the Crimean peninsula,
almost to Theodosia, principally timber for sawing, and fit
for shipbuilding, To Nicolayev wood of all sorts goes, and
from thence higher up the Bug to Vojnesensk, principally
boards and building timber, and Odessa is supplied ,vith
wood of all suits. As a characteristic of the dearness of forest
materials in Odessa may be mentioned the sale of firewood,
which is sold in such small quantities, that in the wood mar-
kets, kiziah (dried dung), reeds, and other fuel, is sold. A
few billets are sold for 5, 10, and 15 kopecs to the poorer
classes, to serve as chips to light the fire. In such a sale
a fathom of wood produces not less than 35 roubles, and
such a price exists in a town where the consumption of
coal is much developed.

1 To Kherson, from the upper parts of the Dnieper, wood
is floated down only by wood dealers, and here it is
purchased wholesale by other dealers for sale in the
Kherson, and in the ports of the Dnieper, or for shipping
by sea to the above-named places.

' The principal demand is for timber for sawing, and as
workmen are dear, two sawmills have been erected at
Kherson. Their importance is not the same here as in the

N

178 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

forest country : there they facilitate the sale of forest
materials, whereas here they only facilitate the cutting of
these, which even without this have a ready sale ; therefore
the sawmills of the government of Kherson do not form a
necessity of the wood trade, but are hired to saw up the
logs, as workmen are hired generally, and this limits the
importance of sawmills in the wood trade. With regard
to the influence of cartage on the wood trade I must say
that in this respect the government of Kherson is very
similar to the government of Ekatherinoslav.

' The railway in the Kherson government passes princi-
pally near those parts where the crown forests are grouped,
and where the foresters reside, viz. :— Tiraspol, Ananiev,
Novomirgorod, and Krilov. In consequence of this the
forests of the above-named forest districts are of great
importance, and the forest districts themselves, from the
convenience of life for the foresters, deserve the particular
consideration of those that wish to become foresters.

' The government of Kherson is divided into the five
following forest districts : —

Forest On To Under

area. lease. foresters, appurts. Waste.

Desatins. Desatins. Desatins. Desatins. Desatins.

Kherson, - - - 1,028 1,533 37 410 158

Odessa-Tiraspol,- - 4,698 15,321 113 3,267 758

Ananiev, - - - 6,914 355 216 501 79

Novomirgorod, - - 12,565 428 1,055 330

Krilov, - - - 9,353 266 415 191

34,768 15,209 1,054 5,648 1,516
With regard to revenue there are the following data : —

1863.

1864.

1865.

1866.

Roubles.

Roubles.

Roubles.

Roubles.

Sold,

4,439

9,130

5,406

44,268*

Sold at a reduced price,

1,196

291

576

252

* The forests of the military colonists were added in 1866. The income from the
forests of the military colonists amounts to about 35,000 roubles.

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 179

Roubles. Roubles. Roubles. Roubles.

Given gratis, - 57 60 61 2,052

Loans, . . . 4,898 6,402 5,730 11,735

Arrears, 1,419 432 291

Duty for billets, 61 53 26

Interest, ... 89 105 69 53

Reeds, hay, &c., sold, 2,174 3,362 3,882 1,262

' In the Novomirgorod forestry, district of Alexandria,
is situated the estate of Tchernoless, or black forest, remark-
able in New Russia for its great size (3,561 desatins 227
fathoms), for the government of Kherson, as well as the
age and denseness of the plantation, and besides this, by the
different archaeological tronvailles and researches near this
estate. The trading importance of this estate is char-
acterised by the sale of 98 desatins for 27,794 roubles. In
this forestry and district is the Neronbaiev estate of
2,827 desatins 220 fathoms, from which were sold 2
desatins for 1,120 roubles. In consequence of the impor-
tance of these two estates we consider it necessary to
relegate some particulars about them to a separate article,
as likewise others relating to the Tchouticausby estate,
Krilov forest district, from which 66 desatins were sold for
18,952 roubles.

' By the value of the cuttings are distinguished like-
wise the following estates : —

< 1. Boboskhov, 173 desatins 2,280 fathoms. Of this
general area there are under forest, 140 desatins 1700
fathoms ; under plantations by forest guards, 5 desatins
400 fathoms; under appurtenances, 26 desatins 1,500
fathoms; waste, 1 desatin 1,080 fathoms. Of the forest
area there are under oak, 80 desatins ; yoke-elm, 20 desa-
tins ; different leaved trees, 32 desatins ; bare places, 8
desatins ; sold 2 desatins for 549 roubles.

' 2. Zaidovsk, 158 desatins 850 fathoms, of which there
are forest area, 143 desatins 700 fathoms ; plantations
by forest guards, 5 desatins 400 fathoms ; appurtenances,
8 desatins 500 fathoms ; waste, 1 desatin 1,650 fathoms.

180 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Oak is the predominant plant ; 5 desatins were sold for
857 roubles.

' 3. Plosko-Samarin, 152 desatins 857 fathoms. Of this
there are forest area, 94 desatins ; to forest guard, 10
desatins 800 fathoms; appurtenances, 44 desatins 400
fathoms; waste, 3 desatins 1,557 fathoms; sold 5 desa-
tins for 717 roubles.

General Remarks on the Forests of the Governments of
Kherson and Ekatherinoslav.

' In the governments of Ekatherinoslav and Kherson the
forests are barely 1 desatin to 100 desatins of the general
area, and this is according to the statistics of the Russian
empire ; although more than the actual proportion it is very
near it. In the survey of each government we have stated
why the cipher of forests is generally higher ; but if we
accept the figures given, and reckon a little larger amount
of forest area, then in that case the Kherson and
Ekatherinoslav governments present a rare exception in
Russia for their having few forests.

' Notwithstanding the proximity of the sea and the great
rivers, as for instance the Dnieper, Dnester, Bug, and
others, water these governments at short distances,
droughts in these governments are very frequent, and
with these there are frequently bad crops.

' The want of forests in these governments it is difficult to
meet by means of plantations. In the governments of
Ekatherinoslav, Kherson, and the northern parts of Taurida,
forest plantations have made more progress than in
other governments. The example given by government was
not lost, many private individuals having occupied them-
selves with planting trees in the suburbs of Odessa and
Nicolaiev. In the districts of Kherson, Bobrinetz,
Ananiev, and Alexandria, plantations have been made on
many tens of desatins, and there are already two estates
with several hundred desatins— in the village Trikratach,
380 desatins, and in Skalevatnack, 260 desatins ; and

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 181

besides, in the crown villages they have been planting with
considerable success. But if we reckon the planting of
trees in this country from the sowing of acorns in the
neighbourhood of Nicolaiev, by the order of Prince
Potemkin, in Taurida, then it will appear that the
planting of forests has since then made little progress ; and
at the present time in the three governments, Kherson,
Ekatherinoslav, and northern parts of Taurida, not
more than 10,000 desatins have been planted. During
the time of serf labour many occupied themselves with
this on private estates, but have given over doing so now,
commercial calculations having put a stop for many years
to the slow process of forest planting.

' In the meantime the planting of forests in this
country has brought to it a practical and very palpable
benefit. In this respect the first place is occupied by the
small forest near Odessa, on the Peresif, planted in 1831 and
1834« on 130 desatins of salt soil, to defend Odessa from the
wind, which brought clouds of sand into the town. This
planting was made on the idea of the former chief of
Odessa, Leoshin,and it is known by the name of the Leoshin
plantation. Since then these plantations have increased,
and one must remark that planting of trees on the
Peresif, composed of sea drifts of sand and closely packed
shells, with a salt soil, and want of water, was difficult,
but it proved to the inhabitants of Odessa the possibility
and utility of plantations, and from that time the suburbs
of Odessa, little by little, have begun to clothe themselves
with green trees ; but they are very sickly, and short lived,
because the heat, dust, hardness of soil, want of water,
and frequent droughts, do not give the trees a possibility
to develop themselves properly, and only those trees which
are protected from all sides, at least from winds, the
drying nature of which forms the greatest danger to
vegetation, grow pretty satisfactory.

' The Leoshin plantations had the same importance as
the great Anadol plantations in the government of
Ekatherinoslav ; in both cases they were designed to prove

182 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA

the possibility of making forest plantations. The difference
between them is, that the Leoshin plantations were called
for by necessities of the town, and have brought to it
a practical benefit by defending Odessa from sand carried
by the wind. Besides this, many capitalists of Odessa
were so carried away by this example that forest planting
was for some time fashionable ; they used to boast of it,
and planted trees on estates without any views as to the
income and economical significance of their planting —
there was only one object in view, the so to say climatic
influence of these plantations on the neighbouring estates :
and of the climatic influence the inhabitants of Odessa are
strongly persuaded, because the summer heats and
neighbouring steppes frequently remind them of this.

' Forests could counteract droughts, because their
influence on the winds in the steppes is very visible; roads
and ploughed fields under the influence of wind soon dry ;
but the drying proceeds much more slowly, not only if the
soil be defended by forests, but even if it be so by burian or
high grass. When we see thousands of desatins of ploughed
land loosened for several vershocks in depth, and very
rapidly drying under the influence of strong winds, then
we have a visible indication of what immense stores of
water the soil must have in order to satisfy on one side
the rapidity of this evaporation, and on the other side the
demands of the future vegetable life. The rapid move-
ment of the layers of atmosphere nearest the surface must
have great influence on the moisture of the soil.

' There is not much wood in the governments of
Ekatherinoslav and Kherson, compared with other govern-
ments ; but for that the demands for forest materials are
very limited, and these are used very economically. Mr
Konoplin, talking of the wood trade in Prussia, held up as
an example the economy in the useof forest materials shown
by Prussians; but this economy in the governments of
Ekatherinoslav and Kherson is perhaps greater than that of
the Prussians : here you will not only not see any log or piece
of timber lying about, but even chips and bark remaining

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 183

from the logs in landing them is carefully collected from
the mud of the Dnieper by the poor inhabitants, amongst
whom there is a lively trade in this material. The
Jewish population employ part of the materials received
in this way for manufacturing different small goods
from wood ; the sawdust goes for fuel ; brushwood is
strictly sorted in Odessa, and it is partly employed in
making baskets, which in many cases replace tubs, which
are veiy dear in this town. With the above retail sales
of firewood, in Odessa firewood is subjected to the most
careful sorting, the size of the billet, thickness, state of
rotteness, dampness, straightness of grain, everything is
taken into account, and expressed in kopecs.

* The very construction of wooden buildings is done
most economically ; in most cases farmers of the middle
class use in building houses of medium size, being in
length 9 to 12 archines, in breath 7 to 8 archines, the
following quantity of forest materials : —

' For posts in the walls, for ties between the posts, and
for the beams of the ceiling, 10 pieces of 9 archine
beams, 5 vershocks thick ; for truss pieces, 20 pieces of 9
archine beams of the thickness of 3 vershocks ; to the
length beams they attach crossings of perches, and to the
truss pieces split perches, 50 pieces of 9 archine beams,
2 vershocks thick.

' Further, for the making of doors and windows, about
5 beams, 9 archines long, by 4 vershocks thick ; boards,
7 archines long, by 4 vershocks broad, 8 pieces ; deals, 15
pieces, and some pieces of slabs, and two loads of brush-
wood. Neither deals or boards are used for the floor,
ceiling, or roof. Beams for walls are likewise not often
used. Such examples of economy will probably not
frequently be met with even in Prussia.

' The variety of forest materials required in the wood
trade, as well with regard to kinds as with regard to
dimensions, makes it difficult to fix prices for these
materials, and considering the number of materials it
would be easy in the wood-yard to mix the prices. The

184 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

necessity to avoid this inconvenience has led to the
system of considerably simplifying the business — most
frequently it is usual to fix the price with timber of the
same length from the vershock of thickness, and that of
the same thickness from the archine in length ; in the
same way is fixed the price for carriage by land by pro-
portioning the prices to the cubic contents ; and the
weight of the materials also supplies a means of satis-
factorily fixing the price for transport.

1 In addition to this the price ia sales by the archine or
vershock differs — one price is fixed for the archine if the
sort is from 9 to 15 archines in length, another if 18
archines, and so on ; and in the same way likewise for
the vershock of thickness. Such a system might be
adopted for estimates of crown forests, because it answers,
as it were, the demand of the wood trade, and likewise
takes account of the cubic contents of different sorts, and
the cost of production of forest materials.

The Present State of the Wood Trade in the
Government of Volhinia.

c In latter years the forests in the government of Volhinia
have been cut down and cleared to a much greater extent
than formerly. For this reason the wood trade of this
government is far from being in a satisfactory state ; sundry
wood dealers receive very different profits from wood —
instances of receiving great profits are intermitted with
cases of great losses. Generally the wood trade in this
government requires great caution.

' The principal occasions of such a state were— the cheap
sale of forests by parties intending to take an active part
in the troubles that arose in the south-western country,
and the great demand for forest materials that ensued
soon after these sales for Prussia, in consequence of known
political events. The co-incidence of these two events
gave many persons considerable profits ; these were in
many cases 75 to 150 per cent. Before this time the

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 185

fellings in the government of Volhinia were much more
limited than in the governments of Kovno, Grodno, and
partly Minsk; and generally the dealers in forest products
were very little known in Volhinia, and did not risk to
make in it great purchases. When the demand for abroad
increased, then in the forests of the governments of
Grodno, Kovno, and partly Minsk, so long worked, they had
to make fellings in places little convenient for meeting this
demand, which had a tendency to raise prices for the tim-
ber destined to be taken out of the country. This rise of
prices in connection with the cheap and great sales of
wood, and there being no increased demand for labour in
the government of Volhinia, afforded a means to a few
wood dealers well acquainted with the forests of the
government of Volhinia to make great profits. But
such a state of affairs did not continue long ; it soon
changed to the detriment of the wood dealers. In the
meantime the rumours of the profits had become
known, and many hastened to take part in the wood trade,
or to increase the business in it. When by this means
the decreasing demand on the one side, and the increased
offers of sale on the other, lowered the prices, some hastened
to sell, others held, and in consequence of this the different
results to the dealers became extreme. Many that
waited for a more propitious time lost ; those that hurried
to sell received less profit than in former years ; and finally
those who bought woods in time, and managed to make
a sale before the advent of this unusual state of
the wood trade, gained considerable profit. Such varia-
tions in the wood trade during the last five years has been
reflected on the income of the crown forests. In 1857 the
revenue from the crown forests was 11,588 roubles, which
increasing gradually, attained in 1861 to 42,215 roubles
for sale of timber only ; and in 18G2 it fell to 36,753
roubles; in 1863 to 28,591 roubles; but in 1864 it com-
menced to rise, and attained to 40,000 roubles ; in 1865,
62,000 roubles ; and in 1866, 79,000 roubles ; so that two
triennial periods (from 1861 to 1863, and from 1864 to

186 FOBESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

1866) present different results : in the first the yearly
decrease of almost 10,000 roubles ; and in the second the
annual increase of almost 20,000 roubles, in consequence of
which the income in three years almost doubled itself.

'The gross revenue from the crown forests of the
government of Volhinia were —

1862. 1863. 1864. 1865. 1866.
Roubles. Roubles. Roubles. Roubles. Roubles.

From sales of timber, - 36,753 28,591 40,624 62,070 79,299
Sold by reduced scale, - 13,203 14,418 15,617 19,565 17,821
Gratis, .... 3,613 11,023 9,813 12,425 5,941
Received for billets and interest, 649 945 1,258 1,816 2,068
Total revenue from leases and

other sources, • - 40,677 31,922 46,641 72,338 102,587

' The government of Volhinia deals principally in pro-
duce for abroad ; it sends this to Riga and Prussia. The
participation of this government in the interior trade with
the Dnieper governments having a scarcity of forests is
very inconsiderable, which is principally owing to the
want of good communication ; the land carriage to the
governments of Podolia and Kherson is hindered by the
dividing ridge belween the basins of the rivers Pripet and
Bug, but the water communication is much more con-
venient to Riga and Prussia for timber, and to Warsaw for
firewood and ordinary building materials. For the Dnieper
the principal wood products of the government of Volhinia is
pitch and tar, but of both of these products comparatively
little goes. The Kiev-Balta railway, with brandies on Berdi-
chov and Volotchisk, will not have any grea-t influence on
the sale of the principal mass of Volhinia forests, in con-
sequence of their distance. The branch to Berdichov
will have a great influence on the most southern estates of
the Gitomir forest district, and the branch to Volotchisk, on
the south-western estates of the government of Volhinia.
The opening of these railroads will in all probability not
take place soon, and until then the sales from the forests
of Volhinia will be principally influenced by the state of
the wood trade in Warsaw, Danzig, and Riga.

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 187

Two Principal Groups of Forests in the Government of
Kiev, and their bearing upon the Wood Trade.

1 The crown forests of the government of Kiev are
divided into two groups in respect to the wood trade, and
even in wood growth, viz., — the northern and the
southern.

'The northern group of forests in the government of
Kiev consists of forest estates of the districts of Kiev,
Radomisl, and Vassilkov, and forms, in respect to the wood
trade, one whole with the forests of three Oster and one
Tchernigov forest districts in the government of Tchernigov,
the Pereiaslav forestry in the government of Poltava, and the
southern part of the Retchiltza district in the government
of Minsk. All this ma s of forests is so disposed round
Kiev that it can be considered as one estate, and not as
separate estates in different governments. Almost in the
middle of this mass of forests the rivers Pripet and Dwina
fall into the Dnieper. The junction of these three impor-
tant floating ways has a great influence in respect to the
wood trade on these forests, because the Pripet, and so like-
wise the Dnieper and Dwina, before their junction cut
through a great extent of forests. Many wood dealers on
a small scale, collecting forest materials in places distant
from one another, have no idea of the whole mass of
wood prepared for floating down the Dnieper. With the
opening of the navigation about Kiev the wood dealers
from the rivers Pripet, Dwina, and the upper part of the
Dnieper, come for the first time into communication
between themselves, and here only learn for themselves the
real state of the wood markets with regard to the quantity
of prepared materials. The fluctuation of prices continues
until the last rafts go. Many small wood dealers take the
wood only to Kiev ; here the forest materials pass into
other hands, and go to Ekatherinoslav, and very rarely to
Kherson, because the great part of the Kherson rafts have
their destination from the starting point, in order not to
lose time in Kiev, and not to let slip through this the

188 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

highest water over the rapids, which facilitate the passage
over them. And when it is necessary for the Kherson
rafts to winter then they winter principally at Kremente-
bug.

c The wholesale purchases for distant floatage have a
great influence on the sale of wood floated down for local
use ; and this in its turn is greatly dependent on the state
of trade generally on the river Dwina. On this river are
many fabriques, and many goods are floated down on rafts.
The principal employment of these rafts is to carry goods,
in consequence of which these rafts can be sold cheaper in
Kiev than those that do not carry goods, as the first
derive considerable profit from carrying these goods. The
number of such rafts, and the character of the forest
materials composing them, depends on the demand for
fabrique goods, and therefore vary from year to year.

' Under the influence of such different circumstances
the prices for forest materials are fixed between the
mouths of the rivers Dwina and Pripet, and principally at
Kiev ; and the state of these prices has an influence on
the sale of forest materials from the crown estates concen-
trated, as stated above, around Kiev.

' Besides the effect of these circumstances on the sale of
forest materials, from the estates of the northern group, a
great influence comes from a number of works going on near
the estates of the northern group, and principally at Kiev.
When there is scarcity of work the rural population
occupy themselves with the sale of materials that cost
them nothing, taken from the private, and perhaps even from
the neighbouring crown estates. The result is sometimes
an increase in the quantity of forest materials left in the
hands of the more considerable dealers, and these remains,
particularly those of firewood and small building materials,
are not without influence on the price of forest materials
of the next season.

' Still greater unity to the forest estates round Kiev is
given by the Kiev-Balta and Kiev-Koursk railways.
These roads give a facility for the disposal of firewood for

FORESTS ON THE DNIEPER. 189

use of the railways themselves, and for the sale of building
materials in the districts possessing little wood in the
governments of Tchernigov, Kiev, and Podolia.

' The southern group of forests of the Kiev government
is at a considerable distance from the northern, and
consists of the forest districts of Svenigorod, Tchiguirin,
and Tcherkazy. This group of forests, in regard to wood
trade, is similar to the estates of Novornigorod and Krilov
forest districts in the government of Kherson, and
Krementchug, government of Poltava. All the estates of
these forest districts are not far from one another, and
make, as it were, one whole area, at a considerable
distance as well from Kherson as from Kiev and Poltava,
where the principal administrations over the forests are
situated.

4 This group of forests being near the parts of the
governments of Kiev, Kherson, Ekatherinoslav, and
Poltava, possessing little wood, competes successfully with
the floated wood, with the exception only of those estates
(principally near Krementchug) which are very near the
Dnieper, almost on the shore.

' In this group of forests the great dealers cannot
concentrate in their own hands the forest materials prepared
by the small dealers, but must compete with them. This
circumstance is influenced principally by the great
demand for forest materials by the local consumers, small
and great, particularly sugar refiners. The Balta-
Krementchug railway will exercise a great influence on
prices, as it will afford a possibility of taking these
materials to the government of Kherson, between
Elizabethgrad, Olvicopol, Bobrinetz, and Voznessensk,
where at present there is great want of forest materials in
consequence of the difficulty of conveyance. Such expec-
tation of forest trade in these places has occasioned already
in 1867 great sales from crown estates : for 25,000 pine
trees 177,000 roubles was paid. Such prices did not exist
before.

' Under these circumstances, the forests of the Kiev

190 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

government, being on the boundary of the forest belt of the
Dnieper basin, promise a considerable increase of revenue
from forests. The following data may give an idea of the
importance of the wood trade on the crown estates of this
government : —

1862. 1863. 1864. 1865. 1866.

Roubles. Roubles. Roubles. Roubles. Roubles.

Sold, .... 39,288 29,727 35,800 59,720 86,662

Sold at a reduced tax, - 918 960 860 1,301 3,156

Given gratis, - - - 4,532 3,544 6,774 8,677 20,116

' The northern group of forests of the Kiev govern-
ment comprise the following —

Forest On Belonging Appurten-

area. Lease, to Foresters, ances. Waste.

Desatins. Des. Des. Des. Des.

Kiev, 1st District, - 35,656 275 66 150 1,629

„ 2nd, - - 21,094 60 84 233 397

Radonisk, 1st, - 18,154 44 214 1,202

2nd, - 27,512 30 324

3rd, - 23,400 2 8,019

The southern group —

Tchigivirin District, 15,632 1 158 656 13,812

Tcherkaszy, - - 28,204 160 68 539

2nd, - 10,425 13 11 114

Svenigorod, - - 16,704 558 30

' Besides these forest districts there is also the
Berdicher, which by its position, and conditions of sales,
forms part of the Jitornir forest district governments of
Volhinia, and is not a separate forest district of the
government of Kiev.'

CHAPTER IV.
FOREST EXPLOITATION.

IN the account given of forests and forest management in
the valley of the Dnieper, allusion is made to certain
forests being organised in contradistinction to others
which are not so ; and I have stated that in bringing
under consideration the forestry of Lithuania I was
influenced by the circumstance that this would supply an
opportunity of bringing under notice the forest manage-
ment of Russia, as seen in the administration of forests
comprised in the Imperial domains.

The state forests of Russia proper, exclusive of appanages,
or forests included in lands set apart for the maintenance
or pleasure of members of the reigning family, are under
the admin isteration of the Minister of Imperial domains.
In each government is an inspector of forests, with num-
erous subordinates, who are intrusted with the management
of the forests. These occupy a good social position ; all
the superior subordinates of the inspector are educated
men who have passed with credit through the professional
instruction and training prescribed, and supplied at the
schools of forestry. The forty-two governments are grouped
according to their geographical position in eight forest
divisions, and there is published annually a report entitled
Otchet po Laesnomu Upravleniou Ministerstva Gocydarstven-
neech Eemustchestva in which, under five chapters, are
supplied : —

1. Statements relative to the extent and contents of the
forests under the administration.

2. Statements relative to the organisation for the man-
agement of these forests.

3. Statistics and economics of these forests and of quit-
rent places connected with them.

192 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA,

4. Statements of means employed for obtaining revenue
from them, &c.

5. Financial accounts.

The laws and regulations relative to the conservation
and exploitation of the state forests have been codified,
and published under the title Ystav Laesnoi ; and at
irregular intervals of one, two, three, or more years there
are issued alterations and additions to the code, or revi-
sions of the code, stating what laws or regulations have
been confirmed, abrogated, or altered. In Lithuania, as
elsewhere throughout Russia — with the exception cf the
northern forest zone, in which the demand for timber for
exportation in the extreme north, and the demand for
wood in large quantities for mining operations, and per-
haps the government of Tula, where there is a like
demand for manufactories of metal wares, has given special
characters to forest exploitation — the principal demand
for forest produce is to supply what is required within
the district, and in accessible districts within the empire,
for building purposes, carpentry, and fuel. In meeting this
demand the government comes into competition with
private proprietors of forests. These are under great in-
ducements to sell expeditiously all that their forests pro-
duce ; but the state can afford to delay felling more than
is necessary to meet existing requirements beyond what
can be so met ; and by acting on this principle the sub-
sequent well-being of the community, in so far as this is
involved in the conservation of the forests, can be secured
without interference with private property. It is exten-
sively held by students of forest science, that it is only in
forests belonging to the state that the full benefit of forest
possessions can be secured to a country. The lifetime of
a man is not yet equal to the life of a tree; and in many cases
it is only by allowing a tree to attain its maturity that
the best results can be obtained. A man may be willing
to plant and to incur trouble and expense in the main-
tenance and conservation of a wood in view of the
prospective good which may be reaped from this by his

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 193

children or even his children's children ; but he may
feel less enthusiastic if the benefit is only to be reaped by
his great-grand-children ; and any one of a hundred things
may occur before these be born or coine of age, to render
it expedient in connection with personal interests to fell
and sell, and not replant. But a nation never dies ; accord-
ing to many all forests, but beyond question all state forests,
are the property of the nation in its entirety — past, present,
and to come, of which each passing generation has the
usufruct, like the holder of an entailed estate, but is bound
in justice tc pass it on in like good condition as that in
which they found it, or with compensating advantages for
what in view of national interests may be destroyed by them;
and as the state never dies, the state can therefore afford to
delay felling till the full benefit of the possession has been
obtained. Many of the students of forest science hold, and
1 hold with them, that it may be all very well to encourage
private planting, and to do so in every way compatible with
the common good ; and that probably only good will result
from such private enterprise ; but that in order to ensure a
continuous supply of forest produce of national growth it is
necessary to have extensive state forests under wise
administration and scientific management : and in
accordance with this is the administration and manage-
ment of forests here, and throughout the central govern-
ments of Russia.

The general impression produced on my mind by all I
have learned is that the exploitation is on what is known
in France as La Methode a Tire et Aire — a rough division
of the forests into sections to be successfully exploited in
successive periods — with the occasional practice of Jardinage
or felling of trees selected as suitable for some purpose
designed, when this is deemed expedient. But all this is done
with a general tendency to introduce, or at least prepare
for exploitation, according to what is known in Poland as
the scientific method of exploitation ; that known in
Germany as Die Fachwerfre Method ; and in France as La
Methode des Compartiments , in regard to which details have

o

194 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

been given in a preceding chapter, relative to forest exploi-
tation in Poland. And the policy seems to me to be to
entrust the work to educated foresters with general instruc-
tions, but with great freedom of action, so as to secure the
application to the details of the principles involved,
leaving them free in the determination of the application
of these, as the medical practitioner is left in determining
the application of the principles of his profession, to be
made in the case of any and every patient under his care.
Of the views entertained in Russia in regard to the
different methods of exploitation, which have engaged the
attention of students of forest science, I have given in
Forests and Forestry of Northern Hussia and Lands Beyond
(pp. 101-108), a translation of a statement of these by M.
Werekha, in a Notice sur les Forets et leur Products, fyc.,
prepared by a special commission charged with the
collection of products of the forests, and of rural industry,
for the International Exhibition at Vienna in 1863.

The following is an account of the transport and pre-
paration of timber on the rivers Dnieper and Berezina,
published in the Transactions of the Scottish Arboricultural
Society as an abridgement of an article on the subject in
the Timber Trades Journal: —

' The business is done here on no small scale ; the
amount of wood yearly floated down on these two rivers is
immense. From the moment, in the early spring, when
the ice melts and the rivers rise some ten to sixteen feet
above their usual level, we see the rafts coming down in
succeeding masses

' Like all business in this part of Russia, the wood
trade is in the hands of the Jews. Owners of estates and
forests sell part of their wood to them, and they know
how to make the best of everything that comes into their
hands, Winter begins here generally in November. In
September, when the peasants have to pay their taxes,
contracts are made with them, when generally those who
are living together in small villages agree, and bind them-

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 195

selves, against an advance, to cut and drive a certain
quantity of wood down to the hanks of the rivers. These
advances are sometimes a third or one-half of the amount
they can expect to earn during the course of the winter,
but when the agreement is signed by the elected
members of the court of the village, or the Starosta and
the Uradaisk, as they are called here, there is hardly any
risk of loss.

' In November the peasants come to the woods, each
with one or two, sometimes three, of their small pony-like
horses, in the last case called troskas, collecting together
often as many as 200 to 300 horses from one village. A
sort of abode for the winter is then erected in the woods,
built of small poles, earth, and straw, which reminds one
more than anything of the huts of the Esquimaux and
the Laplanders. The building is made in the following
manner: earth is thrown up so as to form a round flat
cake, 1 foot high, aud 12 to 15 'feet in diameter. On this
platform poles are placed in the shape of a sugar-loaf. On
the poles, at the top of which is a little hole for the
smoke to escape, is laid straw, and on the straw earth and
sand ; and in the side of this extraordinary Russian mud-
house there is an opening made for ingress and egress.
When ready, 12 to 15 men make it their home for the
winter. Furs, rags, and little boxes for provisions are
placed all around, and the fire, composed of large logs,
with the large saucepan, in the middle. When the work
ot the day is over, the workmen seat themselves each on
his place round the flaming fire, on which the soup, com-
posed of meat, cabbage, and onions, boils ; this is the time
to see the Russian peasant, and to hear his monotonous
chant, reminding one of the inhabitants of some wild
country. As for him, he has no delicate nerves, and his
smelling organs seem to enjoy the smoky air as it
becomes heavier and thicker ; he puts his rags round him,
stretches himself out on the sandy ground, and, unmindful
of storm or cold, sleeps the sleep of the innocent till the
morning light, which wakes him up and reminds him it

196 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

is time to put the primitive harness, generally made of
rags and rope, on his poor half-starved horses, and go to
his day's work again.

' The cutting and driving is done in this way. Every
peasant has his axe ; he fells his tree, clears off all knots
and branches, lays it on his sledge, and drives it to the
river. Thus millions of trees are brought down these two
rivers in the course of the winter.

' The kind of wood grown here is a sort of redwood fir,
sometimes also whitewood. The fir tree grows very fast.
A fir tree which requires 120 years and more to ripen in
the north of Europe matures here in 80 years. It is,
however, coarse, sometimes sappy, and contains a mass of
resin and other matters, which makes the smallest knot
of a bright red colour. To see the trees standing in the
forest is a fine sight when they are straight, and grown
high without branches ; but cut them down and the charm
is gone. Masses of timber, quantities of firewood, chiefly
birch, elm, alder, beech, and other kinds of wood, are
forwarded down the river during the entire spring and
summer ; most of it to the Black Sea, but a small part of
it is taken up by river to the Baltic, Most of the logs
are formed into large rafts. A hole is made in the end
of each log, arid they are tiel together with bands of
willow. This is a clumsy and an expensive way of con-
structing rafts, besides wasting two to three feet of each
log. Two or three rafts are then tied together with
willow bands, a little wooden hut is erected, sometimes
hardly larger than a dog kennel, on which is a tiny pole
with a bit of red or blue cloth as a flag. The three or
four men who are in charge of this raft make it their
home for the six or seven weeks (sometimes more) that
they are on their way to the Black Sea.

' Another way of transporting different kinds of wool
down the rivers is in large lighters, sometimes called
Berliner, sometimes Barkar. The former are very
strongly built, but the latter are of enormous planks 60 to
80 feet long, large enough to load 200 to 300 standards,

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 197

and only built for the one voyage down to the Black Sea,
where they are taken to pieces and sold. I had an oppor-
tunity of seeing both of these kinds of lighters built last
winter. It was a queer sight to see three such Berliners
building, each large enough to hold about 120 standards.
There can be no doubt that in like manner the men-of-
war were built some hundreds of years ago, when many
battles were fought here between the Russians and the
wild tribes from the east and south of Russia. The
boards used were 5 to 6 inches thick, 15 to 20 inches
wide, 50 to 60 feet long, hand-sawn out of one block of
the finest trees found in the woods. Thousands of the
most beautiful oaks were cut down and made into light-
ers, each being equal in value to that of a nice sized
schooner. Still more wonderful was the building of the
barque, which is a sort of Noah's Ark as to size. How
they got this enormous structure to hold together and to
keep tight is not easy to understand, more especially as it
was built to pass the cataracts between Kremenchuek
and Kherson. Most of the timber is being sent down to
Kherson, Nikolaiev, and Odessa; a small part of it is
sold on the way at Kiev and some other places. In
Kherson are large sawmills, where many of the logs are
transformed into deals and boards; others are shipped
from Nikolaiev and Odessa in the form of square timber.

' There are some sawmills in this part of Russia also,
but they are as old-fashioned as everything else, where
some thousands of logs yearly are sawn into largo boards,
mostly all of one size, and sold at so much a piece at
Kiev.

' In this part of Russia there exists a decided feeling
against foreigners ; and with the dim idea they have of
right and wrong, they consider it their duty to persecute
strangers as much as lies in their power.

' In the end of 1882 a wood- exporting firm in Finland
made an agreement with a Count v. M., in St. Peters
burg, who was the owner of a large estate with extensive
forests in this neighbourhood, to take out the value of the

198 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

woods for joint account. The forests contained about a
million of trees, ripe for cutting, and these were to be
made into money in as short a time as possible. Plans
were made ; a sawmill with six frames, and a planing-mill
were to be built, and 80,000 trees were ordered to be
felled the first year. The trees were felled, the sawmill
was built, workmen were collected from Sweden, Finland,
and Riga. Last summer the sawmill was so far ready
that sawing began, when the firm in Finland unexpect-
edly fell into difficulties. Money was not sent to pay the
workmen. Some time after, the firm in Finland became
bankrupt, and the owner left for America. The Count v.
M. stopped payment in the real sense of the word, and
there the poor workmen were left with their wives and
children in utter want of money, in an exceedingly
dangerous climate, where fever and illness came more
regularly than the daily bread, without means to buy
medicine, and without a medical man to attend them.
Death visited them through typhus, and they had to bury
their dead themselves.

' Te detail the intrigues, the unfulfilled promises, and
the mean behaviour of the Russians against these poor
people, would be of no use. Suffice it to say, that by
their common efforts they got over the first part of the
winter, arid through the help of the Swedish Ambassador,
and the Finnish authorities in St. Petersburg, they have
been sent home to their respective countries. The busi-
ness is entirely wound up, and the very fine sawmill, with
its first-rate machinery and every new improvement, is
waiting for a new owner, who may have sufficient means
to make himself independent of Russian intrigues, and be
able to continue a business which began hopefully a little
more than a year ago.'

Kherson, the capital of the government of that name,
was founded in 1778, and soon became a port for vessels
from all countries of Europe. It is 57 miles from the
Black Sea, and 92 E.N.E. from Odessa, on the right bank

FOREST EXPLOITATION. 199

of the Limari, an immense embouchure of the Dnieper,
which is here four miles broad, where, when as is frequently
the case, its numerous shoals are covered with water, but
when the shoals are exposed, the breadth of the river
itself is not more than one verst, or two-thirds of a mile.

It is an emporium for the equipment and armament
of the fleet of the Black Sea, timber being brought by the
Dnieper both for its own supply and that of Nicolaiev aud
Odessa. There is a fine basin cut out of the limestone
rock. During the spring flood of the river vessels built
here can be transported to the Black Sea upon ' camels/
as they are called, and much of the produce of the
interior is brought here, and taken to Odessa in lighters.

The St. Petersburg Vedomosti gives particulars of the
reclamation of a vast track lying between the rivers
Dnieper, Pripet, Beresina, and Ptitshja, known as the
Polessje region, which has been hitherto useless and in
grtat part impassable. The works began in the year 1874,
and by the end of last year a canal system of about 1,695
versts (1,130 miles) had been completed, which had
already drained 1,141,000 desatins (over 5000 square
miles.) Nearly one-sixth of this vast track, which had
previously been an impenetrable morass, has been changed
into meadow land. An area of over 1,250 square miles of
forest, which was totally useless, being traversed by a
network of swamps, has been thoroughly drained, the
lines of swamp being cleared, deepened, and converted
into drainage canals, which, unfortunately, can have only
a very slight fall. Another large piece of forest, over 750
square miles in extent, hitherto practically inaccessible,
has been opened up by canals and made available for
useful purposes ; and the remainder, amounting to about
740,000 desatins (over 2,800 square miles) has been
drained and brought into a condition fit for cultivation or
pasturage. The work is said to have been executed at an
annual expenditure of 265,000 roubles, or a little less than
£40,000.

200 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Of the dexterity of the Lithuanians in what I may call
woodcraft is thus incidentally alluded to by Mr Anderson
in his account of Seven Months1 Residence in Jtussian
Poland in 1863, which has been already cited : —

1 The birch tree is, to the Polish peasant, the most
useful tree of the forest. His furniture, cart, plough — in
fact, all his agricultural and garden tools— are made of
this wood. It seems hard and strong enough for all
purposes, and serves even for the teeth of his harrow, and
for the lower part of his spade, as well as for its handle.
He constructs, also, out of the same material, long forks,
with which he contrives to throw up to a great height the
sheaves of corn gathered into their barns. In this work
two men stand with their backs to the place where the
sheaves are to be stored ; they then stick both their forks
iuto the same sheaf, and, upon one of them giving a
grunt, up it goes, flying over their heads, to its destina-
tion/ And again : —

' Considerable ingenuity is sometimes displayed by the
peasants in the execution of their work. 1 once saw a
man, who had invented a kind of turning-lathe, in order
that he might rapidly finish the nave of a cart-wheel
upon which he was engaged. He had fixed the piece of
wood on which he was at work upon two iron pivots.
He then twisted a rope twice round the piece of wood ;
attached one end of the rope to a strong birch sapling
which he had fastened in the ceiling; and, in a loop at
the other end, he put his foot. He then set in motion
the wood, upon which he was at work ; and the spring,
given by the sapling, acted as a lathe. He had in his
hand a stick, with a strong crescent-shaped piece of iron
fixed to it; and with this he worked away, just as if he
had the best turning-lathe and chisel in the world.'

CHAPTER V.
THE JEWISH POPULATION.

THE black sheep, the bete noir, of the Lithuanian patriot,
and of the enthusiastic forest conservator in Lithuania, is
the Jew. I hold in high estimation the nation ' to whom
pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants,
and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and
and the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of whom
as concerning the flesh, Christ came/ I have met with
noble men and women among them. Even amongst
those of them who do not consider that Jesus of Nazareth
was the anointed King, whose coming was, and is still,
expected by the people, there are men, and at least one
large community, manifesting a spirit such as when seen
amongst Christians is held in high esteem by the more
devout : but all are not such ; and of them, equally with
the British and the Anglo-Americans, there are worship-
pers of the Mighty Dollar ; of them, as of the other
nations named, it may be said they are like the prophet's
figs — the good are very good, but the bad are very bad.*

* In the beginning of 1840, at St. Petersburg1, I made the acquaintance of
Pastor Boerliug, a clergyman of the Lutheran church, and himself a descendant of
Israel, who stated to me, amongst other things, that he was stationed as a missionary
for many years at Seniors, a town in Poland, which is inhabited chiefly by Jews. When
he first went there he saw no opening for usefulness ; and after a little time he began
to fear that he had run unsent. But the tholera boon broke out in the place, and all
the medical men fled ; he then concluded that he had been sent thither of God — for a
previous residence in several towns of Asia, while the cholera prevailed in these places,
bad made him acquainted with the most approved methods of treating the sufferers,
mid now the people implored his aid. He cheerfully attended the sick, and soon gained
their affec ti^ns. From that time their houses were open to him, and he was invited to
all their entertainments and feasts.

On one occasion he was present at a marriage feast, when, according to custom, all
the guests presented gifts to the newly married pair. He had just received from
London a few copies of a 12mo edition of the Hebrew Old and New Testament bound
together, and he presented them with one of these. It was grateful! y received, and at
the close of the feast, when the bridegroom held up the different presents, and
announced the names of the giver of each, exhibiting the Bible last, he said, ' But see
what our friend the missionary has given us — the Scriptures ! This I value more
highly than silver or gold !

202 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

In passing through Lithuania, they seem toswarin so as
to suggest the illustration of locusts eating up every green
thing. No one seems to have a good word for them ; while
every one seems to have something to tell against them.
On learning a little more of facts than can be gathered
only from finding the platform of a railway station

The young man took the Bible regularly to the synagogue when he went to worship.
The Reader, observing this, demanded of him how he dared to bring the Christian book
into the synagogue. He replied, that he had read it through, and found nothing
ungodly in it ; and that he must and would read it. Many of the other Jews then
applied foi copies, with which they were supplied ; and the desire for instruction
became so great that the inhabitants of the town requested the missionary to organise
a school for the instruction of the young. He complied with their request, organising
one for the instruction of boys under his own superintendence, and another for girts
under the superintendence of his wife

He met with opposition from quarters whence he had least reason to expect it, but
the great body of the Jews encouraged him ; and after some time a Jew of considerable
learning and influence came to him and said, ' One or other of us must leave this town.
If you don't go, I go ; for if things go on thus, my children also will be taught to
read, and to read the books of the Christians.'

He also mentioned that he was appointed at one time to labour in Upper Silesia.
He went thither, and on approaching one town, the first he entered, he was informed
that all the inhabitants were Jews, but that he would have no opportunity of prosecu-
ting missionary labour there, for they were all rich and wanted nothing. On entering
the town he was soon convinced of the correctness of the information he had received ;
but as a few Christian Jews resided there he resolved to spend a few days in intercourse
with them. It was then Friday, and on the following day he went to the synagogue. Sevei al
of the Jews assembled there, observing him to be a stranger, welcomed him with the
usual salutation of, ' Peace be with you ! ' When, however, they observed that during
the prayer which was offered he stood devoutly and still, instead of looking about as
did others, they whispered aloud, ' He is not a Jew but a missionary, for all the
missionaries pray so.'

What were the consequences ? In the course of the day many of the Jews visited his
apartment for conversation concerning Christianity ; and they spent the time not in
disputation as at other places, but in calm and dispassionate comparison of the Old
Testament prophecies, with the history of Jesus of Nazareth recorded in the Gospels !
In the evening six Jews, whose heads were silvered with age, waited upon him, and
almost abdured him to tell them what had convinced him of the truth of Christianity ;
and they top spent their visit in a calm and apparently dispassionate examination of
the attestations of the Messiah.

He assured me that ten times the number of missionaries now labouring in Poland
and Silesia might find full scope for their energies in cultivating that extensive and
hopeful field. The opinion prevails that the Jews present a hopeless field for missionary
culture, but there are many things leading us to a contrary conclusion.

God hath not cast off his people, if, with the Apostle, we believe that God is no
respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteous-
ness is accepted with him ; and if we search amongst the Jewish people, we may find
many like their fathers, who bowed not the knee to Baal ; many like the godly Jews of
former days— men like Simeon, 'just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.'

I felt much interested in a description given to me by Pastor Boerling, of one of his
acquaintances, an aged Rabbi, who, like Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel,
of the tribe of Aser, departed not from the temple, ' but served God with fastings and
prayers night and day.' Regularly at the hour of midnight was that aged patriarch to
be found in the synagogue making confession and supplication unto God. He was
accidentally overheard on one occasion by Mr Boerling, and he repeated to me the
prayer, which a retentive memory enabled him to recall. While I listened to it, I
thought I saw before me Daniel when he set his face unto the Lord God, to seek by
prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. The spirit was the

THE JEWISH POPULATION. 203

thronged with Jews in their gabardines ready to turn an
honest penny by exchanging the foreign money of travel-
lers for the coin of the realm, and trying thus while
serving the traveller to make their plack a bawbee as
muny a Scotsman does by honest trading, the stranger
may find reason to conclude that there is nothing surpri-

same, the expressions similiar to those which characterised the prayer presented by
that prophet, and recorded in the 0th chapter of the book which bears his name : —

'O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that
love him, and to them that keep his commandments ; we have sinned and have committed
iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy pre-
cepts and from thy judgments ; neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the
prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to
all the people of the land. . . O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to
our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. . . O my God,
incline thine ear, and hear ; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city
which is called by thy name : for we do not present our supplications before thee for
our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive ; O Lord,
hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God ; for thy city and thy people
are called by thy name.'

This Rabbi led an abstemious life. On one occasion, when offered a little wine he
declined. In a short but thrilling reply (to which I cannot do justice in a translation),
he stated his reasons for acting thus : — ' I read,' said he, ' that wine makes glad the
heart of man ; and I — can I be joyful while the city of the Lord is trampled under foot ?
Can I b«> joyful while the name of Jehovah is blasphemed? Can I be jo\ful while the
people of God, having turned their back upon the Lord, are weltering in sin ? ' Is
not this the spirit expressed by the Psalmist, — ' If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my
right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave unto
the roof of my mouth : if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.'

On another occasion he slipped away from a marriage feast at which he had been
present. He was soon missed ; and one and another of the guests exclaimed at once,
' Where is the Rabbi'.'' A search was made, but nowhere could he be found. At
length some one inquired, 'Have you been to the synagogue?' The parents of the
bridegroom and bride caught at the suggestion — they hastened thither, and there they
found him in the dark, engaged in prayer. They entreated him to rejoin the party and to
bless the youthful couple with his presence. He replied, ' Xo, I cannot. You are joyful as
is befitting the occasion of your meeting, but my heart is sad — sad ; sad, when I think
of the condition of my people.' They still urged him ; when, to meet their wishes, he
consented to rejoin the party on the condition that all music should be laid aside. A
marriage party without music was an incident almost unknown amongst the Jews ; but
such was the attachment of his flock to the Rabbi, that the concession was made at
once. And on his rejoining the party, marked attention was given to several addresses
which he delivered, in the course of the evening, on the sins to which they and their
nation were addicted.

Religion is the same in all, however different may be its manifestations in different
circumstances ; and I was informed that similar manifestations of its influence were not
uncommon amongst the more humble of the Rabbles.

There wns at that time a very prevalent expectation that the Messiah would appear
in the course of that year. The expectation was founded on calculations made by many
of the Ta'mudists, from data drawn from prophecies in the Old Testament Scriptures ;
and I was told of one learned Talmudist, who had declared that if the Messiah did not
appear in the course of that year, they were shut up to the conclusion that he must
have already come ; and if so, that Jesus of Nazareth must have been he. I have had
no opportunity of learning the effects of the disappointment which followed this
expectation.

Amongst the more learned of the Jews in those regions, I have reason to believe
there were many who were not satisfied with Judaism. I made the acquaintance of one

204 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

sing in the fact that they are everywhere spoken against ;
but that those who have suffered from what they are
pleased to call their extortionate dealings, like the
innocent fleeced lambs in Britain who sow not neither do
they spin, but borrow from the Jews, have only them-
selves to blame for the calamities which have come upon

such, — Dr Levaison, a learned Rabbi, who was profoundly versed in the Talmud, but
found in it no satisfaction. While enquiring after the truth at one of the universities
of Germany, he became acquainted with a distinguished professor, whose theological
sentiments have secured for him a soubriquet importing that he is a personification of
Pagan philosophy. He gradually imbibed his sentiments, and in proportion as he did
so he had to give up his Talmudical views, but he still felt that more was necessary
to enable him satisfactorily to account for all the phenomena with which he was
acquainted. In this state of mind he met with a priest of the Gi'eek church, who was
in the suite of a Russian ambassador at one of the German courts. He, carefully
distinguishing betwixt ceremonies devised by man and truths revealed by God, directed
his attention to the doctrines generally received as evangelical, and convinced him of
the truth of Christianity. Not having met with evangelical Christians amongst Pro-
testants, he came to St. Petersburg in the hope of there hearing more perfectly the
principles of the religion he had embraced.

I endeavoured to ascertain the prevalent opinions of the Jews in regard to the nature
and character of the Messiah, and found that of the Talmudists, almost all expected
him to be only a man ; among the Cabbalists, many expected that he wonld be divine ;
but by many of the Jews it was expected that there would be two Messiahs, —one who
has probably appeared already, in whom was to be, and has been, fulfilled the predic-
tions contained in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah ; and another who is to reign for ever. The
former, as might have been expected, lived unknown ; but there is more than one
individual known to Jewish history whose life is supposed to fulfil what was foretold.
None, however, excepting Christian Jews, appear to consider that Jesus of Nazareth
was he. This is not wonderful, as few have access to the New Testament ; and there is
amongst them a distorted history of his life, which is calculated to hold him up to the
ridicule, contempt, and execration of the nation. With regard to that Messiahj I found
it believed that his death would be as a sacrifice for the sins of his people, and not
merely an effect brought about, directly or indirectly, by the wickedness of the nation.

There is a very interesting body of Jews living in the Crimea, known by the name of
Karites or Caraites, and sometimes called Tartar Jews, in consequence of their speaking
the Tartar language. These men long ago rejected the Talmud, and for several genera-
tions have continued to regulate their sentiments and conduct by the Scriptures of the
Old Testament alone. I often heard of them while in Russia, and invariably on
inquiry received a favourable report of their conduct and behaviour. Many of them
appear to be spiritually -minded men ; but they were hated by other Jews, among whom
there was a trite saying expressive of their hatred and contempt, to this effect—' If a
Christian be drowning, take a Karite and make bis body a bridge by which to save
him.' But I have never heard of their rendering railing for railing. The designation
generally given by them to the other Jews, when speaking of their theological difference
is, ' Our brethren of the Talmud.' They had amongst them copies of the New Testa-
ment, which they considered a record of the life and doctrines of a godly Jew and his
disciples, and they manifested to Christians no objection dispassionately to discuss
the question of his Messiahship.

P'rom observation, and from intercourse with Christian Jews who have laboured
amongst their brethren, I am persuaded that the conversion of the Jews to Christianity
has been greatly hindered by the following circumstances : —

1. Both Jews and Gentiles have fostered the notion that a Jew must necessarily
forego his nationality on embracing Christianity. It may he true that they who are like
Abraham are the children of Abraham ; but he who is a aneal descendent of that
patriarch never can cease to be such on abandoning ' vain conversations received by
tradition from the fathers.' The Apostle of the Gentiles, in common with other
Apostles, — and, I may add, in common with their Master, — was a Christian Jew.

2. Jews have seldom an opportunity of witnessing the effects of Christianity in

THE JEWISH POPULATION. 205

them. The landholding community complain that the
lands are passing away from them to the Jews. They
are, because the former have preferred borrowing money
from the Jews to enable them to live in a certain style,
to curtailing their display, and thus reducing their
expenditure, or to labour working, with their own bands

1 converting the soul.' They consequently form their opinion of Christianity from the
conduct of men who are only nominally Christian. If they have never seen what they
consider the beauty of holiness in Cnristians, and if all that they do see, and hear,
tends to confirm their belief that O.iristians are utterly devoid of true religion, their
prejudices against Christianity must become very strong. We accordingly find them
frequently employing the term Christian as synonymous with blackguard. They need,
therefore, ' living epistles ' to teach them, ' without the word,' that the Gospel ' is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that belie veth.'

:>. From what they see and know of the ecclesiastical creeds and ceremonies of
Christians, they consider them as pjlytheists and idolaters, tritheists, and worshippers
of saints, with dressed up representations of the virgin, and representations of God,
which they consider blasphemous, as well as grotesque, and where such are not made
use of, with conceptions of God scarcely "less grotesque, while they have been taught to
hold that God is a spirit, whom no man hath seen or can see.

1. Their usual criterion of learning is acquaintance with the Talmud. To this
Christians attach no importance, and know little or nothing about it, and they are con-
sequentlj- despised. As in the days of our Lord so now, they make the commandment
of God of none effect by their tradition. To the Jews it was commanded — ' When ye
reap the harvest of your land, ye shall not wholly reap the corners of thy field ; thou
shall leave them for the poor of thy people.' Upon this command, there are raised such
questions as these :— How much must be left, if the fie'd be four square / How much,
if it be triangular? How much, and in what form, if it be semicircular '? How much,
in what form, and where, if it be circular?

In listening to a Jew expatiating ua such subjects, one Is forcibly reminded of the
saying of our Lord, — ' \V'oe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe
of mint, and anise, and cummin, and ye neglect the weightier matters of the law, —
judgement, mercy, and faith.' Such questions are discussed in the Talmud, and
the first desire of an ambitious youth amongst the Jews is to study the Talmud. An
acquaintance with several of the sciences is necessary to success ; and in general the
student devotes himself to the study of these with the closest application, that he uiay
afterwards overcome the difficulties to be encountered in his subsequent progress.

They appear to have a passion for such pursuits ; ereu boys at school challenge each
other to a trial of skill in expounding the Talmud. In such cases they go to the Rabbi,
and inform him of their design ; he then appoints them a passage, and they seat them-
selves at the extremities of the room, or in different apartments, to perform their
task. In a given time they each produce a written exposition of the passage
prescribed. These are submitted to the Rabbi, and the contest is determined by his
decision on their respective merits.

It occasionally happens, when the children of wealthy Jews marry, that the father
of the bridegroom challenges the father of the bride to support the newly married pair
and their family for twenty years, or some other term of years, on condition of his
doing the same. If the challenge b 3 accepted, contracts are executed, and the young
man generally devotes himself with close application to the study of the Talmud. If
his success be considerable, his friends boast of his achievements, and congratulate
themselves saying, ' Aye, he'll be a Rabbi yet !'

I'o attain this dignity it is necessary in some provinces to go through a protracted
course of severe study. It is rarely the case that this can be completed before the
student has reached his thirtieth y-jar. If it be accomplished at an earlier age, the
hair of the student, prematurely grev, generally testifies to his mental effort.

It does not appear to be avarice, or ambition, or the desire of usefulness, which alone
prompts to the laborious and self-de lying life of a student of the Talmud. Combined
with one or more of these motives, is the hope of having mvle some attainment
whereof they may glory before God. ' They have a zeal of God, but not aocordin.- to

206 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

the thing which is good ; in which case they themselves
might have had to give to him that needeth. And the peas-
antry complain that they are impoverished, they know
not how, while their Jewish neighbours have enough and
to spare. It is so in part, if not entirely, through their
wasting their earnings upon intoxicating drinks which,
like many of Anglo-Saxon descent living amongst
people easily tempted to indulge in such stimulants, the
Jews who have invested their capital in suitable
premises are willing, and more than willing, to sell to
them ; but which they need not buy or consume unless
they choose. Others, influenced by patriotism, or by
philanthrophy, or by loss coming upon them indirectly
from the evil, may have some right to complain ; but the
immediate victims have none — they are reaping the
rewards of their own doings.

Of the extent to which the fathers and mothers, wives
and children, and brothers and sisters, of drunken
peasants have occasion to complain of the drink traffic,
and of the drink traffic carried on by the Jews in Russia,
some idea may be formed from facts stated by Madame
Novikoff in an article in the Nineteenth Century, of
September 1882, based on statements in a valuable work
entitled L' Empire des Tzar, et les Russes, by M. Anatole
Leroy-Beaulieu.

From the sixteenth century onwards efforts have been
made by patriotic Russians to restrain the indulgence of
the people in intoxicating drink. It is within my personal
knowledge that not a little was done by the Emperor
Nicholas. More was done in more propitious circum-
stances by his successor, the emancipator of the serfs.
From a tabulated statement in the Novoie Vremia it

knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God,'
said Paul of his brethren in his day, and so may seem to devout Christians, and many
of the Jews in the present. The zeal of God is there, and in this it makes itself seen.

It seems, then, to be most desirable that some, at least, of those who devote them-
selves to labour amongst the Jews, should be prepared to cope with the most learned in
the discussion of the most subtile of Talmudical speculations, otherwise contempt for
the intellectual attainments of the missionary may prevent an attentive consideration
being given to the doctrines which he teaches in the name of Jesus.

THE JEWISH POPULATION. 207

appears that from 1863 to 1881 the number of drink
shops was reduced by degrees from 257,531 to 146,000.
A spontaneous movement, with details of which I was
furnished at the time, led to the destruction by the
peasants of many kabaks, or drinking shops, in view of their
emancipation, for enjoying the full benefit of which they
maintained drunkenness must cease. Previously the Baron
had to support the aged serf ruined by drink, now it would fall
upon his family and neighbours to do so ; and a clear head
aii J a firm hand they said would be needed to enable
thorn to make the most of their anticipated freedom.
Thus they reasoned, and upon these views they acted
somewhat riotously. Madame Novikoff writes : —

'After the death of the late Emperor the movement
against drunkenness suddenly reappeared even stronger
than before. In the outburst of sorrow caused by that
' Parricide ' (as it was sometimes called by the lower
classes;, many village communes determined, as a sign of
their grief, to close the drinking-shops. In three places
in the government of Pskov a resolution to this effect-
was signed by 227 heads of families, and it was decided
to close compulsorily all the public-houses, which have
been taking 50,000 roubles a year from the population.
In the government of Penza, where the governor has
energetically striven to close these shops, the villagers
declared in favour of abolishing them for ever. Three
villages in the government of Vilna, moved chiefly by
religious motives, did the same thing. General sympathy
greeted that movement, for, as a rule, the smaller the
number of drinking-shops the greater is the prosperity of
the place. According to an interesting monograph of
MM. Bektieff and Khvostoff on the economical position
of Yeletz in the Ural, an examination of nineteen com-
munes showed that, as a rule, the number of ruined
homes corresponded to the number of public-houses
in a commune. They mentioned two places as examples.
The village of Jarnova possessed 203 homesteads and
three public-houses. The soil was good ; the holdings

208 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

of each peasant averaged 4| desatins per head. They
paid two roubles per desatin. After the public- houses
had been open for some time, 13 per cent, of these
peasants were entirely ruined, 25 others had no horse,
and 53 had. not even a cow. As the possession of at
least one horse and one cow is the minimum of
prosperity, 78, or 38 per cent., of the peasants of Jarnova
had not even attained that minimum. Contrasted with
this sad spectacle of poverty was the state of the smaller
village of Petrovskoye, which fortunately was without
any public-houses. Of its 55 homesteads only one was
entirely ruined, and only 4 were without a cow. Yet
the peasants only owned 2 desatins of land, and paid
for it 3 roubles 73 kopecs. Thus, although they had
to pay more per desatin, and only owned half the quantity
of land held by those of Javnovo, only 7 per cent, are
below the minimum of prosperity, as against 38 per
cent, in Jarnovo.

' The same contrast, MM. BektifF and Khvostoff report
is to be found in all the other villages they examined.
The wine-shops (kabaki) are now regarded as the village
cancers, and some of my friends in Russia would be
enthuastic supporters of the United Kingdom Alliance.
Mr. Katkoff's Moscow Gazette publishes almost daily long
columns in favour of very drastic measures against too
great facilities for the sale of wine. Mr. Akaskoff's Russ
is just as emphatic on the subject. But it is only natural
for such enlightened and cultivated patriots as those two
to take such a course. Let me mention two others, who
although they have risen from the lower classes, may
nevertheless play an energetic part in the direction of
this question. I mean Mr. Tichomiroff and his uncle
Mr. Labsine. At present they are at the head of their
large manufactory at Bogorodsk, near Moscow. They
employ a great number of workmen, but they will never
engage a single man who is not a total abstainer. Extra
tea is willingly provided, and the wages are rather higher
than usual, but still the results economically and morally

THE JEWISH POPULATION. 209

are most excellent. Both Tichomiroff and Labsine are
men of very deep religious feeling, devoted to their
country, genuine enthusiasts. The former has taken an
actixe part in the Commission of Experts, and his speech
impressed bis audience with his simple and fervid
eloquence. His invectives against the drink-shops were
exceedingly vigorous, and really made him a very
valuable ally in the temperance reformation.

' It was very fortunate that neither the Government
nor the experts shared the extraordinary theories held
about the usefulness of drink-shops ; on the contrary, the
prevailing opinion is positively opposed to them. The
initiative, as is generally the case in Russia, has been
taken by the Government. One of the first acts of the
new reign was the appointment of a committee at the
Ministry of Finance to decide what steps should be taken
to prevent the abuse of spirituous liquors.

'This committee, after eleven sittings in August and
September, drew up a scheme of temperance reform
which, in accordance with the excellent rule adopted by
the Emperor, was submitted to a special commission of
experts, selected from the Zemstvos of the empire for
their special acquaintance with the subject to be discussed.

' There were thirty -two members of this commission, to
whom two were subsequently added by vote of the
commission under the title of special experts. The session
of this temperance reform parliament was opened by
General Ignatieff on the 24th of September at the Minis-
try of Finance. In his address, after explaining the
desire of the Government that the representatives of the
Zemstvos should be consulted before any legislation was
undertaken, he referred to the question of intemperance
as follows: "The sale of spirits in Russia, under the
existing conditions, tended rather to the abuse of liquor
and to the ruin of the people than to the satisfaction of
any of the needs of the latter. The Government is

P

210 FOKESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

resolved to take efficacious measures to put an end to this
sad state of things, and it hopes that you will aid it in
discovering the method of doing this without injuring the
revenue."

' The first resolution of our experts, which was carried
with only five dissentients, was in favour of giving to
the communes the right to open communal public-houses.

'The second point decided by the commission was in
favour of a reduction of the number of public-houses.
It was resolved that the Zemstvos and municipal councils
should have the right to decide the number, the size,
and the type of public-houses in their locality ; the right
to issue licenses for commissions to be reserved to a
special licensing board, composed of justices of the peace,
members of the delegates of the Zemstvos, marshals
of the noblesse ; and the normal proportion of public-
houses to population to be 1 to 1000, which is equivalent
to closing about two-thirds of the existing places of sale.
The Zemstvos are to have the right of increasing or
decreasing this proportion by 25 per cent. They are also
to have the right to close them altogether, or open more
than the normal number with the assent of the Minister
of Finance and the approval of the provincial assembly.
4 They decided in favour of confining the sale of spirits
in the rural communes to two descriptions of shops. The
first are those with the right of sale for drinking on the
premises, as you say in England, which answers to your
ordinary public-house. The license is only to be given
to them on condition that they also provide tea and
food for their customers.

' The second description of shops are those for the sale
of liquor in corked bottles for consumption at home.
Hotels and railway buffets are to be left as they are.
Restaurants where drink is sold are to be limited in
number by the municipal councils.

THE JEWISH POPULATION. 211

' Every three years lists of localities where public-houses
can be established are to be drawn up by the Zemstvos,
with the assistance of the excise officers. A proposal to
permit the local commissary of the police to assist in
drawing up these lists was defeated after a very animated
dispute.

' Another important decision was that which interdicted
any member of the Zemstvos or municipal councils to
hold a license for the sale of drink, and the owners of the
houses where drink is sold are not to be permitted to vote
in the settlement of any questions relating to the drink-
shops. They are only allowed to have a consultative
voice — a very necessary stipulation.

' It was also decided to forbid the opening of any
drink-shop within less than 40 to 100 sagenes (from 90
to 230 yards) from any church, school, or other public
building in towns, or within less than 100 to 200 sagenes
in villages.

; Cumrnunes and individual proprietors are to be allowed
to forbid the opening of drink-shops upon their own
land.

* One of the decisions at which the experts arrived, with
only one dissentient, referred to the sale of drink by Jews.
Well, we do not like the Jews, that is a fact ; and the dis-
like is reciprocal. But the reason we do not like them is
not because of their speculative monotheism, but because
of their practical heathenism. To us they are what the
relics of the Amorites and Canaanites were to the Hebrews
in old times — a debased and demoralised element which
is alien to our national life, and a source of indescribable
evils to our people. It is not to the Jew as a rejector of
Christianity that we object ; it is to the Jew as a bitter
enemy of Christian emancipation, the vampire of our rural
communes, the tempter of our youth, and the centre of the
demoralising, corrupting agencies which impair our civil-
isation. Ask anybody who has lived, if only for a day or
two, near our custom-he uses, and you will learn that ail
the smugglers, all the receivers of stolen goods, all the

212 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

keepers of brandy-shops, are the degenerate descendants
of the great Semitic race. If the Jews but obeyed the ten
commandments of their Lawgiver, there would be but
little objection to them in Russia. But as even Moses
found his Jews more than he could manage when his back
was turned, it is perhaps not surprising that Russians
have much difficulty in managing a people in whose ears
the thunders of Sinai have long since grown faint.

' The Pall Mall Gazette recently, in a fit of noble
indignation, delivered a very long lecture on the cruelties
of Jew-baiting in Russia. It might have had some
weight if the writer had not been as inaccurate as he was
prejudiced. For instance, Russians were solemnly
upbraided for confining the chosen people to " the most
ignoble occupations." No doubt. But considering the
number of Jewish journalists in Russia, the editor of the
Pall Mall Gazette does not seem to think much of the
dignity ©f his profession. But Jews are not only
journalists with us ; they also follow the equally " ignoble"
occupations of professors, teachers, authors, lawyers,
barristers, doctors, bankers, merchants, to eay nothing of
those who occupy positions in the Government service !

' An intelligent diplomatist, who has lived a long time
in Russia, said to me the other day, when we were
discussing this question, " The forbearance of the Russians
is wonderful. No one can imagine how much they have
suffered at the hands of these Jews. It is strange that
these outbreaks have never occurred before." But it is
by no means only Russians who find it difficult to love
the Jews.

' There is one " ignoble occupation/' however, to which
the Jews are very much devoted. The Jewish papers
declare that no fewer than one hundred thousand Jewish
families will be ruined if the Jews are not permitted to
keep open these infamous drink-shops which are the

THE JEWISH POPULATION. 213

curse of the Russians communes. How many hundred
thousand honest Russian families, I wonder, have these
Jewish brandy-sellers ruined?

'That our objection is solely to the anti-national Jews,
not to Jews who become Russians in all but their origin,
is proved by the decision of the commission in favour
of allowing the Karaite Jews, or " Karaimes," as they are
called, and call themselves, in Russia, to sell drink as
freely as any other of their Russian fellow-subjects. It
is only the Talmudist Jews who are forbidden that
privilege.'*

This is considered a fair statement, of what is alleged
against the Jews in extenuation of the bad feeling of the
peasants towards vhem. With regard to the bad feeling of
holders of landed property it appears that many of them,
in borrowing money, rind it convenient to do so from Jews,
mortgaging estates in security for the loan ; and if they do
not repay the loan the mortgage is foreclosed ; and Jews
become the purchasers. Many do so ; and the stranger may
be ready to ask, And why not ?

" A correspondent of the Pitil Mall Gazette, who boasts an intimate knowledge of
Hungary, says : — ' Throughout the whole of Hungary hardly a public-house or village
inn can be found which is not owned by a Jew. The Hungarian lower classes, like the
English, are unfortunately addicted to drinking ; and it is by skilfully taking advantage
of this vice that the Jews make their fortunes, an! at the same time raise such ill-
feeling against themse'ves. This is how the matter works. A peasant enters a public-
house^in the evening intending to spend the few kreutzers he may have in his pocket
on drink As soon as these are spent he will very likely get up to go — I have been a
witness to this scene more than once mvself— but this does not suit the landlord's
purpose, who will say to him " Stay a little longer and I will chalk up what jou drink
down." The pexsant— already, perhaps, a little excited — cannot resist the temptation,
and before he has left that evening the commencement of a long score is already made.
The next time he finds it so pleasant and simple to drink without paying that he allows
his score still further to be increased. This goes on till the peasant is in debt for a
iirable sum. Then the Jew turns round, his former civility changes into menaces.
Finally he consents to allow the matter to stand over, on the peasant giving securitv on
his laud for principal and interest of the debt. A fresh score is run up, the interest is
not paid, and at last the Jew seizes the peasant's land ; for in Hungary, it must be
remembered, every peasant owns a piece of land. In this manner all the peasant hold-
ings are gradually bat surely passing into the hands of the Jews. In the village of
Cziffer, for instance, and several more places could be quoted, more than one-third of
the lands formerly belonging to the peasants is now owned by the Jew landlords. Any
one who knows the deep love the Huruarian peasant has for his land can readilv imagine
the string feeling of hatred he will cherish towards the class who have robbed'him of it
by such means. And it is to this cause, more than any other, that the present disturb-
ances against the Jews are to be traced.' The Gazette's comment upon this is that if
this were the only ground for Jew-baiting the anti-Semites might more intelligently
direct their energies to miking tavern scores in Eastern Earops irrecoverable by law.
This is the case in England at present. — J. C. B.

214 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

' The complaint of the patriotic advocate for the
conservation and economic exploitation of forests again
is that the Jewish proprietor does not choose to maintain
the estates in the condidition in which he buys them ;
and does not choose to do anything to develope the
agricultural capabilities of the land ; nor does he choose
to a<]opt the most advanced method of forest exploitation,
but clears off the timber by felling a blanc etoc, and leaving
the land to recover itself as best it may, while consequent
droughts, and, it may be inundations, devastate the
district and the lower lying lands. All this may be
saddening; but with existing ideas in regard to the rights
of propert}7, who can say him nay ? '

My purpose is to report facts. It does not come within
the scope of my scheme to correct abuses in the lands
upon which I report; but I may state here, as I have
stated elsewhere, with a view to the discussion of what
may, or might, be done to prevent the occurrence of like
evils in other lands, that it is a principle accepted by many
students of forest science, that the continued existence of
forests in certain circumstances is so essential to the well-
being of the nation inhabiting the land, that they should be
considered national property, held beneficially in trust
by the holders, and by the generation of which they are a
part, for the nation in its entirety, of past, present, and
future existence, each generation successively having the
usufruct, but nothing more, being bound to hand them
down to those who come after them in like good condition
as they receive them, or with compensating advantages in
one form or another for any destruction of them which
maybe deemed expedient; and that the exploitation of
all forests should be subjectable to legislation with due
regard to the rights of private proprietors.

CHAPTER VI.
GAME.

Of the game found in Lithuania, Mr Anderson, already
cited, gives the following account: —

'The noblemen and landed gentry of Russian Poland
are very fond of hunting and shooting ; but their mode of
following these sports differs very much from that which
prevails in England. For some time past, indeed, shooting
has almost entirely ceased, in consequence of the public
prohibition of the Government to carry or use a gun. To
some favoured few, a licence to do so has been granted ;
the licence being sealed on the stock of the gun or rifle.
But the commanders of the district towns generally advise
the possessors of such a licence not to avail themselves of
it ; for the sound of fire-arms cannot fail to attract the
Cossacks and Russian soldiery : and, as many of them are
unable to read, the life of the poor sportsman, if he fell
into their clut3hes, would not be worth five minutes'
purchase. In consequence of this state of things, I only
tired a gun upon one occasion, whilst I was in the country —
under circumstances which I shall notice hereafter.

' The chief birds of game are the capercailzie, black cock,
and wood hen — a bird very like the grouse, only smaller,
and of a much lighter colour. It is called in German,
haselhuhn. This bird lives in the woods, and is very seldom
found, like our grouse, in the open. Of the common brown
partridges — and this year was very favourable to them —
we saw, frequently, large and numerous covies. The red-
legged partridge is never found. The quail, woodcock,
and snipe are very plentiful ; and, on a summer's evening,
the landrail may be heard in full " crake, crake." There
are immense quantities of wild-fowl of all kinds. The

2ife FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

bustard also abounds in the country, and is considered a
great dainty ; but its shyness makes it very difficult to
approach. I was fortunate enough to catch a good view
of the first I ever saw, for we came suddenly upon him as
we were driving one day, about the middle of April.
During the summer, I remarked several flocks of them
at a distance.

' Besides the fox, the badger, and the hare, which this
country possesses in common with England, it has large
numbers of elks, buffaloes, bears and wolves. The elk is
rarely met with in the southern part ; but, in a large forest
near Grodno, there are several. During our stay at Wier-
cieliszki, part of the wood was on fire, and the flames
disturbed some of its wild inhabitants. Word was brought
to Count Bisping that two elks had passed across his farm,
upon which he immediately mounted his horse and set off
in pursuit, with some big black hounds. He failed to
overtake the elks, but plainly marked their track. They
had gone through a piece of standing rye ; and, in the wet
soil, he pointed out to me the same evening, the clear
impression of their large cloven feet. The buffalo, or
bison, is not frequently seen. I was told that there was a
herd of them, about a thousand head, some forty or fifty
miles from Grodno, and they are very strictly preserved.
They are much larger than the American or African
buffalo. The law forbidding the slaughter of one of these
animals is as strict as that which prohibits the murder of
a man.

' The wolf is greatly on the increase, as the inhabitants
are denied the means, which they formerly possessed, of
killing them. One day, as we were drawing near a small
cover with some greyhounds, I observed a great number
of magpies and carrion crows, which, on our approach,
flew around, marking their displeasure at our intrusion by
cries and croaks. We brushed through the little wood :
and, at the lower end, saw, what I at first thought to be a
dog trotting away. I galloped after him, when my com-
panion also saw him, and cried, wilka, wilka, (wolf, wolf,)

GAME. 217

Our dogs, having sighted him, quickly caught him up ;
but were shy of making further acquaintance with him,
until urged on by the cries of the huntsman, when they
soon rolled him over. The wolf had tried at first to gallop
off; but, unfortunately for him, he had partaken too freely
of his breakfast, and could not escape from his swift and
strong pursuers. He was quickly despatched with the
butt end of the huntsman's whip. We proceeded with
our trophy homewards, and, upon reaching a hamlet
belonging to the property of Wereiki, the peasants met
us, expressing the greatest delight at the death of their
enemy. They told the Count that hardly a night passed
in which the wolves did not rob them of sheep ; and that,
two nights before, they had made off with a cow. Two
old wolves with four young ones had been lately seen by
them; and, no doubt, the one we had just killed was one
of the litter. He appeared about eight months old ; more
than three parts grown, and very strong ; the bone of his
leg was very large. He was in colour a brown-grey and
black, with light tan legs, and greyish eyes. He ran with
bis tail between his legs, just like a cowardly cur. In
winter, wolves assemble in large numbers, and, being
stimulated by hunger, are very formidable. But, as long
as they are alone, and not much pinched for food, they are
easily frightened. On one occasion, the wife of the Count's
farm director was returning in her carriage from a friend's
house, where she had been visiting, about five miles dis-
tant. One of her carriage horses was a mare, by the side
of which (as the custom is in Poland) was running a little
black foal. It was just becoming dark, when suddenly
they were startled by seeing what they at first thought
was a dog, running after the foal. But the coachman
soon made him out to be a large wolf. He gave the reins
to the lady ; and, jumping out of the carriage, picked up
a goodly supply of stones. He then called the foal, which
instantly ran up to him : for the foals, being always in the
stables with the other horses, become tame as dogs. The
coachman next turned round manfully upon his enemy,

218 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

shouting at him, and pelting him with stones. The brute
forthwith acknowledged the superiority of his assailant,
and slunk away into the wood. The lady meanwhile was
not a little alarmed by the reconnoitre, and right glad to
reach home in safety. It was towards the end of August
that this incident occurred, and wolves are rarely found to
be so venturesome at this early period of the autumn.
As the winter advances, hunger compels them to more
daring deeds.

' Traps of all kinds are employed to catch the wolf in
severe weather ; the steel snap-trap, the pitfall, and the
split tree — like that in which the old bear is represented
as caught, in one of Kaulbach's illustrations of " Reineke
Fuchs." The last, it is said, is the best snare. Some-
times, but very rarely, a fox is caught in it instead of the
wolf; but the characteristic cunning of the fox generally
prompts him to avoid it. Strychnine also is frequently
used to destroy the wolf; and many become the victims
of this poison. But the peasants more frequently injure
their own property, by resorting to this process of destruc-
tion, for their dogs, being left to forage for themselves,
are attracted by the poisoned bait, and die in consequence.

' The fox in Poland, as in Germany, is ingioriously
murdered. He certainly has the pleasure in Poland of
hearing the music of his pursuers, but his death by the
gun is accomplished in a way which would be indignantly
condemned by the English fox -hunter. As soon as the
hunters are posted in the wood, the dog-keeper lets loose
his pack of ten or twelve large clumsily-built hounds, of
black or tan colour. They trot away without any order,
and speak to every kind of game, hare, fox, or wolf. In
brushing about the wood, they often start other game
which, if it come in the way of the hunters, hardly ever
fails of being shot ; for these hunters are capital marks-
men. The wild boar also is frequently started from his
lurking-place on these occasions, and is always regarded
as game of the first order by Polish sportsmen.

' There are two kinds of hare. The field or common

GAME. 219

brown bare, and the wood hare, which is very like the
Scotch hare, as it changes its colour with the season. I
saw several of them quite white, when I first went to
Poland ; whereas, in summer, they are a brown-grey.

' The huntsman came home one evening with a large
dog badger. It appeared that a hare, which he had been
chasing with his dogs, took refuge in a small opening in a
bank, which proved to be one of the entrances into the
badger's hiding-place. As the hare ran in at one end, the
startled badger sprang out at the other, almost into the
jaws of the dogs; and was soon despatched by them and
by the huntsman's whip. The poor hare also was after-
wards pulled out of her hiding-place, brought home in a
sack, and, after a few days, produced again to furnish
sport (as it was called) for a brace of young greyhounds.
-But the confinement had so broken the spirits of poor
puss, that she became, as might be expected, an easy prey
to her pursuers.

1 The common dogs of this country are a wretched
mongrel race, and a most intolerable nuisance. They are
to be seen in the house of every peasant, and crowding
the streets of every village, yelping at the heels of every
traveller, and flying out upon him, whether in carriage or
on horseback or on foot, with great ferocity.

' The greyhounds are of a strong build, and far heavier
than the thoroughbred animals seen at the coursing
meetings in England. Many of them have long feather
on their tails and legs ; and these are much superior to
the smoother sort, being quite as fleet, and endowed with
higher courage and greater powers of endurance. The
amusement of coursing is oftentimes greatly impeded by
the quantity of rough and sharp stones with which the
surface of the soil is covered. Indeed, I one day saw a
poor greyhound so mutilated by one of these stones that
it was found necessary to destroy him.

'The pointers are, as a c'ass, very inferior dogs. One
indeed, was to be regarded as an exception — a coarse,
heavy animal in appearance, but with a most sensitive

220 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

nose, and excellently trained by his master, the Count's
huntsman, who was a keen and sagacious lover of field sports.

* We took this dog one day upon an expedition which
to me appeared veiy like a poaching enterprise. In
walking over some marshes at Wiercieliszki, we had seen
a great many snipe, some of which Count Bisping was
resolved to have. Accordingly, he had a net made of very
fine thread, about twenty yards in length and width. We
began work about eight o'clock in the morning, the
weather being very mild. The dog found the snipe well,
standing very staunch. The two men who had the
management of the net ran over the place at which he
pointed, covering both the dog and game. He took it
very calmly, and stayed until the game was captured. I
never saw birds lie so close. They would not get up,
even when the net was over them. Indeed, we lost
several at first, thinking that it was not possible for any
birds to be there, and not rise up in alarm ; and that the
dog must have pointed false. On lifting up the net, away
flew two or three birds from the very spot covered by the
net, proving the dog's staunchness and the folly of our
impatience. The whole arrangement, I must repeat, was
very like pjaching ; but in this country all is allowable.
No net, no snipe, appears to be the rule.

' We were walking in the woods another day with this
same dog, in search of blackcock, though we were not
allowed to shoot them. The dog came to a good point ;
and, as we followed him up, away went a hen bird with
five young ones, all fine birds. We marked down one of
the young birds, and went after him ; arid the dog was
soon seen again pointing beautifully. The bird had
crept into a small bush by which we were standing ; and,
on its rising, flew directly in the face of one of our party,
who hit at it almost involuntarily with his stick, and it
fell into the dog's mouth. I confess, I felt ashamed at
this mode of bagging game ; but I was told, that, at the
present time, the capture of game, by any means, is
accounted lawful.

GAME. 221

' Permission was once granted to us, through the kind-
ness of a Russian Director of the Government woods, to
have some shooting. Count Bisping's huntsman, who, I
have said, was a keen and experienced sportsman, had
been obliged, on account of the insurrection, to give up
his gun to this same Director ; an<l it was with no ordi-
nary satisfaction that he came to us one day, towards the
end of Apri1, with a message from the Director, saying,
that, if the Count and I would like to have some wood-
cock shooting, we were to be at his house by five o'clock
the next evening The Count was unwilling at first to
embrace the offer, fearing lest he might thereby com-
promise the Director or himself; and that the noise of
fire-arms in the forest might lead to collision with the
Russian soldiers. But, on further consideration, feeling
assured that the Director would not have sent such a
message without ample authority, he agreed to go.
Accordingly we started, at four o'clock, in an old post-cart
without springs, and a pair of horses ; and soon reached
the comfortable house of the Director, who was by birth
a German, and an intelligent and agreeable man. He
offered us coffee and cigarettes ; and showed us his
private room, hung round with various trophies of his
success in the chase : the antlered head of the elk, the
smaller head of the roe, the tusks of the wild boar, the
skins of the fox and bear. I also observed in a stand some
very useful double-barrelled guns and rifles, in excellent
order. His equipment was after the style of German
sportsmen, who always carry a game-sack, like a railway
travelling-bag ; the powder-horn gracefully suspended
round the shoulder by a green cord (such as we use in
England for Venetian blinds) with large green tassels.
The shot-flask is carried in the pouch. The gun has a
beautifully-ornamented sling (generally worked in worsted
by some fair hand), with which they carry it hung round
the neck ; anrl it is, in my opinion, very much in the way.

'After all preparations had been duly made, we
mounted our waggons, having for our advanced guard

222 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

a Cossack fully armed, and another equipped in like
manner in our rear. The presence of these men of course
removed any misgiving which might have been felt as to
the authority under which we ventured forth ; and off we
went at the usual galloping pace observed by travellers in
this country. Our course lay through a large wood, with
no very definite roadway ; and, as there had been lately
some heavy rain, the ground was little better than a con-
tinuous bog. The horses sank up to their bellies three or
four times, and how they ever came out again is still a
mystery to me. And yet more wonderful does it appear
that our rope tackle bore without breaking, the violent
jerks and strains which it had to undergo. After about
an hour spent in this hazardous journeying, we reached
an open space in the middle of the forest, where we
alighted and loaded our guns. Whilst we were thus
engaged, a large hawk came and settled on a high tree
close by. One of our party, a young man, whose eye was
as quick and piercing as that of the hawk, speedily
brought him down. At this moment I heard a curious
noise, like hammering, which seemed gradually to come
nearer; and, upon asking what it was, learnt that it
proceeded from the large wooden bells fixed on the necks
of cattle which feed in the wood, and some of which I saw
a few minutes afterwards. The sound of their bells is
disagreeably monotonous.

4 The woodcock begins to fly about half-past six o'clock,
and flies for about an hour ; so we had not much time to
lose. The huntsman soon posted us at our various
stations ; and, during the few minutes we remained thus
waiting, I heard distinctly the crane whistling, and the
capercailzie crowing. But very soon a whirring, chatter-
ing sound announced the approach of the first woodcock.
Its slow flight seemed to offer an easy shot ; but the
dusky light balked our aim ; and the first three or four
shots, on the part of the huntsman and myself, were
failures. We were afterwards more successful ; and three
birds fell to my share. I saw several others, but at too
great a distance to reach.

GAME. 223

' It was the beginning of the breeding season when we
went upon this expedition ; and, according to our English
notions, the pursuit of any game at such a time was
unlawful ; but it is not so regarded in this country.

' We returned home to Wiercieliszki by a smoother and
more agreeable road. The Director joined us at supper,
and provei himself, by his amusiag stories, to be not less
welcome a companion than he had been a kind and
zealous sportsman.

'The crane is a bird often to be seen in this country.
They gather together in flocks, amounting to many
hundreds ; delighting chiefly in marshy ground, over
which they stalk gently with light and graceful step,
neither experiencing, nor appearing to fear, any molesta-
tion.

' The stork also cannot fail, from its novelty, to attract
the notice of the English traveller. The first stork's nest
I ever saw was at Marienburg, on my way from Berlin to
Konigsberg ; and, at that season of the year, it was, of
course, untenanted. But the stork is held in great
reverence by the people among whom it takes up its
abo-le. Much pains are likewise taken to preserve the
stork's nest, and encourage the parent birds to return to
the spot which they have once selected for hatching and
rearing their young. The storks are often very lazy in
constructing their nests ; and the people consequentlv
help them, by putting up an old harrow, or something of
the kind, on the roof of a barn, or the top of some unused
chimney, or the branches of a solitary tree. Over this
they spread a foundation of hay or straw, and then pile
upon it suine twigs, or loose sticks, placed across each
other, after a rough fashion, to about the height of two
feet. This place the storks accept for their nest ; and,
upon their arrival, will sit for hours, as if resting them-
selves after the fatigue of a long journey. They will then
set about the task of putting the nest into something like
order ; and, in about a fortnight, if the weather be warm,
will begin the work of incubation. The parent birds

224 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

never both leave the nest at the same time ; and the
male takes his turn on the eggs as well as the female.
They may be seen for hours, with their long bills projec-
ting over the edge of the nest, patiently performing this
duty. Nobody ever thinks of disturbing them, there or
elsewhere. They may be seen sometimes, three or four
in number, striding quietly after the husbandman, as he
works away with his bullocks and plough, and securing
for themselves a meal from the worms, which the up-
turned furrows expose to their view.

' It is curious to observe the process by which the
storks feed their young. Each parent bird goes away in
turn ; and, upon its return, stands, for a few seconds,
balancing itself upon the edge of the nest ; then, throwing
back its head with a quick action, it ejects from its crop
into the nest some portion of worm or frog which it has
picked up ; and the young instantly seize upon the same
and devour it with avidity. This action of throwing the
head back and ejecting the treasured food is repeated,
until all the contents of the bird's crop are exhausted.
About the middle of September, the storks assemble in
large flocks, like the swallows in England, and prepare for
their migratory flight to warmer latitudes.

' I have elsewhere described the manner in which the
Poles sometimes spear fish at night time, by the aid of
fire-light, which they kindle in a grate fixed at the head
of their boat, and need not therefore do more in this place
than allude to it as one of the modes to which they resort
for capturing fish.

' In England I used to be very fond of fly-fishing, and
had brought with me a nice light rod, in the hope of
meeting, in the streams of this country, with trout and
grayling as abundant as those which I had found in some
of the affluents of the Rhine. But the hope was not to
be fulfilled. As for trout, I was informed that it is found
only in one stream in Lithuania. I sometimes caught a
few fish like grayling, but smaller and coarser, and of a
muddy taste. Indeed, the constant muddiness of almost

GAME. 225

all the streams in this country is alike destructive of the
delicacy of the fish, and of the pursuit of the fisherman.

' The pike is the most common fish to be found here,
and grows to a very large size in the extensive lakes
which abound in the country. The chief revenue, in fact,
of some properties, arises from their fisheries, and from
the number of their wild fowl. Some of the lakes are
four or five miles in circumference, and surrounded in
some instances with hundreds of acres, upon which
neither man nor beast ever ventures to set foot. The
proprietor has to pay as large a tax for this area of marsh
and water as for his arable and pasture land, and not
without reason ; for the great demand for fish, in a
country peopled for the most part by Roman Catholics,
must make this kind of property very valuable.

*' The carp is also found in these lakes, frequently of
large size. I saw one brought to table, which weighed
upwards of eighteen pounds ; and, being stewed with
Hungarian wine-sauce, was very palatable.

' The tench is of a more delicate and agreeable flavour
than any fish in this country. I have frequently seen
them weighing from two to four pounds: and one even
reached the weight of eight pounds.

1 It is no unusual thing to meet with pike ranging from
twenty to twenty-five pounds' weight, and sometimes
more. The largest are generally captured in nets ; but
the quantity of weeds, with which the lakes and streams
are covered in summer, makes net-fishing very difficult, if
not impracticable. The fish are caught therefore in the
greatest numbers as soon as the weeds die away, and are
preserved in stews or in ice-houses.

' For my own part, net-fishing did not hold out much
attraction. I therefore persuaded my friend, the ingenious
carpenter at Wereiki, to fashion a dozen trimmers for me ;
and, having prepared some twine and hooks which I had
bought at Konigsberg, I frequently made successful use of
them. I caught also, in a large lake which I visited
at Massalani, by trolling, many pike, which varied

Q

226 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

from one to eight pounds in weight. Upon one occasion,
in June, I had sailed slowly, by the aid of a gentle breeze,
from one side of the lake to the other, trolling as I went
along; and had just started upon my return, when the
bait was voraciously seized by a monster of a fish, that
came right up to the top of the water, and darted off
instantly with it. I let him have the line as quickly as
possible. But the wind sprang up at this moment, and
carried my boat off in one direction ; whilst the fish was
rushing madly away in another. I only had forty yards
of line upon the reel ; and, as soon as it had all run out,
it of course snapped, and away went the only trolling
gorge-hook that I possessed, with twenty yards of line.

' Thus abruptly and disastrously ended, as I thought, all
my trolling speculations. But, upon returning to Mas-
salani, a fortnight afterwards, the boatman brought me
my hook and line, extracted from the fish, which be had
found lying dead upon the water, a few days after my
former visit. The fish, he told me, weighed more than
twenty pounds. Behold ! the old fable of the ring of Poly-
crates over again — stripped, indeed, of much of its miracu-
lous character ; for a sharp gorge-hook was much more
likely to lead to the discovery of the fish that swallowed
it, than a precious jewel ; and the narrow circuit of a
small inland lake a far more favourable place for such
discovery than the waves of the open sea that washed the
shores of Samos. Nevertheless, the incident could hardly
fail to remind me, as it did, of the story, which has been
told with such inimitable simplicity by Herodotus, and
sung in inmortal verse by Schiller/

PART III.

THE UKRAINE OR LITTLE RUSSIA.

To the district embracing the governments of Tchernigov
and Kiev, with those of Poltava and Kharkov, are given
the designations Little Russia, and the Ukraine.

The name Ukraine is said to signify frontier, a name
not inappropriate to the country, which lies on the borders
of European Turkey, Poland, Russia, and Little Tartary.
It was acquired by Russia at different periods from
Poland, a large portion having been seized by Catherine
II. in 1793.

Of the Ukraine M. Marny writes : — ' In the Ukraine
the black earth, called by the Russians stepnoi-ezernozem,
which constitutes the soil of a part of South Russia, gives
rise to forests of a special nature, of which the principal
constituents are oaks, limes, and elms. These trees
grow with uncommon vigour, and are associated with an
immense number of large pear trees of a magnificent
aspect. Nevertheless, this beautiful forest mantle is
desolated under the pernicious action of drought, which
causes the destruction of thousands of trees, more
especially of hazels, ashes, and elms ; only the spruce with
deep roots escape its devastating influence.'

In Little Russia, and in the old Polish country to the
south and the west, we find the villages of the north built
of timber logs, and laid out as graphically portrayed in
the quotation I have given from Hepworth Dixon's Free
Itussia, in Forest Lands and Forestry of Northern Russia
(pp. 53-55), in illustration of forest scenes in the government
of Archangel, have given place to villages of a different

228 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

character. We find the difference thus indicated
by that writer :— ' Instead of the grimy logs, you
have a predominant mixture of green and white ;
instead of the former blocks you have scattered cottages
in the midst of trees. The cabins are built of earth and
reeds ; the roofs thatched with straw, and the walls of the
homestead are washed with lime. A fence of mats and
thorns runs round the group. If every house appears to
be small, it stands in a common yard, and one of its own.
The village has no streets. Two, and only two, openings
appear in the outer fence ; one north, one south, and in
finding your way from one opening of the fence to another,
you pass through a mass of lanes between reeds and pines,
beset by savage dogs. Each new comer would seem to
have pitched his tent where he pleased, taking care to
cover his hut and yard by the common yard.

'A village built without a plan, in which every house is
surrounded by a garden, covers an immense extent of
ground. Some of the Kozack villages are as widely
spread as towns. Of course there is a church, with its
glow of colour, and of poetic charm.

'From Kiev, on the Dnieper, to Kalatch, on the Don,
you find the villages all of this type. The points of
difference [between these and those further to the north]
lie in the house and in the garden; and must spring from
difference of education, if not of race. The Great
Russians are of a timid, soft, and fluent type. They like
to huddle in a crowd, to club their means, to live under a
common roof, and stand or fall by the family tree. The
Little Russ [or inhabitants of Little Russia], are of a
quick, adventurous, and hardy type, who like to stand
apart, each for himself, with scope and range enough for
the play of all his powers. A Great Russian carries his
bride to his father's shed ; a Little Russian carries her to
a cabin of his own.'

Conterminous with the government of Voronetz, on the
south-west, is the government of Kharkov, in which the

THE UKRAINE OR LITTLE RUSSIA. 229

area of forests is 620,000 desatins, of which 308,883
desatins belong to the crown, equivalent to 12*9 desatins
of forests, or b''5 desatins of crown forests, to the square
verst ; and to 0'42 desatins of forests, or 0'2 desatins of
crown forests, to each inhabitant. The annual fellings in
the crown forests yield 37'8 cubic feet, and the revenue is
148'8 kopecs per desatin.

The government of Poltava lies immediately to the
west of the government of Kharkov. In this government
the area of forests is 310,000 desatins, of which 39,142
desatins belong to the crown, equivalent to 7 desatins of
forests, or 08 desatins of crown forests, to the square
verst; and 0'2 desatins of forests, or 0'02 desatins of
crown forests, to each inhabitant. The annual fellings in
the crown forests yield 1051 cubic feet, and the revenue
is 228 2 kopecs per desatin.

In the government of Tchernigov, which lies to the
north of Poltava, there are 928,000 desatins of forests, of
which 261,697 desatins belong to the crown, equivalent
to 20' 1 desatins of forests, or 5*6 desatins of crown
forests per square verst ; and to 0'6 of forests, or 0 2
desatins of crown forest per inhabitant. The annual
fellings in the crown forests yield 21 cubic feet, and the
revenue is 30'1 kopecs per desatin.

In the government of Kiev, which lies to the west of
the government of Poltava, the area of forests is 1,555,000
desatins, of which 272,739 desatins belong to the crown,
equivalent to 26'2 desatins of forests, and 6'1 desatins of
crown forests, per square verst ; and to 0*6 desatins of
forests, or 01 desatins of crown forests, per inhabitant.
The annual fellings in the crown forests yield 2T2 cubic
feet, and the revenue is 50'8 kopecs per desatin.

In the government of Tcbernigov is the town of
Baturin, a beautifully situated and well-built town on the
banks of the Segma, named after its founder, Etienne
Batori, King of Poland. It was formerly the residence of
the Hetmen of the Ukraine. In 1703 it was the

230 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

rendezvous of the famous rebel Mazeppa, by whose over-
throw it suffered greatly, until, with the surrounding
villages, containing, with the town, a population of 20,000
souls, it was given by the Empress Elizabeth to the last
pet ward of the Ukraine, Count Cyril Razumoffsky, who
rebuilt it, and in whose family it still continues.

Of Kiev Mr Dixon writes : — ' The first towns of Russia
are Kiev and Novgorod the Great ; her capitals and holy
places long before she built herself a Kremlin on the
Moskva, and a Winter Palace on the Neva. Kiev and
Novgorod are still her pious and poetic cities : one the
tower of her religious faith, the other, of her Imperial
power. From Vichgorod at Kiev springs the dome which
celebrates her conversion to the Church of Christ. In the
Kremlin stands the bronze group which typifies her
empire of a thousand years. Kiev, the oldest of Russian
sees, is not in Russia proper, and many historians treat it
as a Polish town. The people are Ruthenians, and for
hundreds of years the city belonged to the Polish crown.
The plain in front of it is the Ukraine steppe ; the lands
of Hetman and Zaparogue; of stirring legends and
nations song. The manners are Polish, and the people
Poles. Yet here lies the cradle of that church which has
shaped into its own likeness every quality of Russian
political and domestic life.

'The city consists of three parts, of three several towns —
Podd, Vichgorod, Pechersk ; a business town, an imperial
town, and a sacred town. All these quarters are crowded
with offices, shops, and convents ; yet Podd is the
merchant quarter, Vichgorod the government quarter, and
Pechersk the pilgrim quarter. These towns overhang the
Dnieper, on a range of broken cliffs ; contain about 70,000
souls; and hold, in the several places of interment, all
that was mortal of the Pagan Duke, who became her
foremost saint.

' Kiev is a city of legends and events ; the preaching of
St. Andrew, the piety of St. Olga, the conversion of St.

THE UKRAINE OR LITTLE RUSSIA. 231

Vladiiner ; the Mongolian assault, the Polish conquest,
the recovery by Peter the Great. The provinces around
Kiev resemble it, and rival it in historic fame. The country
of Mazeppa and Gonta, the Ukraine teems with story,
tales of the raid, the flight, the night attack, the revolted
town. Every village has its legend, every town its epic,
of love and war. The land is aglow with personal life.
Yon chapel marks the spot where a Grand Duke was
killed, this mound is the tomb of a Tartar horde, that
field is the site of a battle with the Poles. The men are
brighter and livelier, the houses are better built, and the
fields are better trimmed, than in the north and east.
The music is quicker, the brandy is stronger, the beer is
warmer, the hatred is keener, than you find elsewhere.
These provinces are Gogol's country, and the scenery is
that of his story called " Dead Souls."

' Like all the southern cities Kiev fell into the power of
Batu Khan, the Mongol chief, and groaned for ages under
the yoke of Asiatic begs. These begs were idol worship-
pers, and under their savage and idolatrous rule the
children of Vladimer had to pass through heavy trials ;
but Kiev can boast that in the worst of times she kept in
her humble churches, and her underground caves, the
sacred embers of her faith alive.

' Below the tops of two high hills, three miles from that
Vichgorod in which Vladimer built his harem, and raised
the statue of his Pagan god, some Christian hermits, —
Anton, Feodosie, and their fellows, dug for themselves in
the loose red rock a series of corridors and caves, in
which they lived and died, examples of lowly virtue and
Christian life. The Russian word for cave is " peck,"
and the site of these caves was called Peckersk. Above
the cells in which these hermits dwelt two convents
gradually arose, and took the names of Anton and
Feodosie, now become the patron saints of Kiev, and the
reputed fathers of all men living in Russia a monastic life.

' A green dip between the old town, now trimmed and
planted, parts the first convent - -that of Anton — from the

232 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

city ; a second dip divides the COD vent of Feodosie from
that of his fellow-saint. These convents, nobly planned,
and strongly built, take rank among the finest piles in
Eastern Europe. Domes and pinnacles of gold surmount
each edifice ; and every wall is pictured with legends from
the lives of saints. The ground is holy ; more than a
hundred hermits lie in the catacombs, and crowds of holy
men lie mouldering in every niche of the holy wall.
Mouldering ! I crave their pardons. Holy men can
never rust and rot ! The purity of the flesh in death
is evidence of the purity of the flesh in life ; and
saints are just as incorruptible of body as of soul ! In
Anton's convent you are shown the skull of St. Vladimer ;
that is to say, a velvet pall in which his skull is said to
be wrapped and swathed. You are told that the flesh is
pure, the skin uncracked, and the odour sweet. A line
of dead bodies fills the underground passages and lanes —
each body in a niche of the rock ; and all these martyrs
of the faith are said to be like Vladimer — also fresh "and
sweet ! . . . Fifty thousand pilgrims, chiefly Ruth-
enians, from the populous provinces of Podolia, Kiev, and
Volhinia, come in summer to these shrines.

' When Kiev received her freedom from the Tartar begs
she found herself by the chance of war a city of Polonia,
not of Muscovy ; a m'ember of the western, not of the
eastern, section of her race. Kiev had never been Russ,
as Moscow was Russ ; a rude barbaric town, with crowds
of traders and rustics, ruled by a Tartarised court ; and
now that her lot was cast with the more liberal and
enlightened west, she grew into a yet more Oriental
Prague. For many reigns she lay open to the arts of
Germany and France ; and when she returned to Russia,
in the time of Peter the Great, she was not alone the
noblest jewsl in his crown, but a point of union, nowhere
else to be found, for all the Sclavonic nations in the
world.

* As an inland city, Kiev has the finest site in Russia.
Standing on a range of bluffs, she overlooks a splendid

THE UKRAINE OR LITTLE RUSSIA. 233

length of steppe, a broad and navigable stream. She is
the port and capital of the Ukraine, and the Malo-
Russians, whether settled on the Don, the Ural, or the
Dnieper, look to her for orders of the day. She touches
Poland with her right hand, Russia with her left ; she
Hanks Galicia and Moldavia, and keeps her front towards
the Bulgarians, the Montenegrins, and the Serbs. In her
races and religon she is much in little ; an epitome of all
the Sclavonic tribes. One-third of her population is
Muscovite, one-third Russian, and one-third Polack ;
while in faith she is Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and
United Greek. If any city in Europe offers herself to
Pansclavonic dreamers as their natural capital, it is Kiev/

In M. Polytaiefs account of forests on the Dnieper,
embodied in a preceding chapter, is given [ante pp.
187-190] information in regard to the forests of the
government.

One of my correspondents, writing to me some years
since, stated that shortly before he bad had a conversation
with a German land steward, from the neighbourhood of
Kiev, who had the charge of a number of estates in that
locality, and that in reference to the injury and loss to a
country resulting from the clearing away of forests, he
said the climate in that district had changed much for
the worse, and that he attributed the recurring famines
from which the people suffered, and the bad harvests of
which they complained, in a great measure to aridity of
soil and climate, consequent on the extensive cutting
down of the woods. Of the Russian landholders, he said
they were so improvident, and so reckless of the morrow,
that it was difficult to induce them to plant trees which will
not attain their full growth till some 170 years hence.
And he alleged that there was no hope of the evil being
counteracted, excepting in so far as ^necessary measures
might be undertaken and carried out by the government.

Pinkerton epitomising a journey made by him from

234 FOKESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Odessa to Orel, writes : — ' The appearance of the country
from Odessa to Nicholaief is flat and woodless. Near
Elizabethgrad several ravines produce some little variety
on the surface, but few trees of any kind are to be seen ;
and this bald uninteresting scene continues as far as Kiev,
though with rather more undulations on the surface of the
country as we approach the banks of the Dnieper. Those
about Kiev may be styled hills ; and are formed by the
torrents that flow into the above-mentioned river, creating
in their course a number of ravines. After crossing the
Dnieper at Kiev, the country continues level the whole way
to Orel, except here and there a few gently rising slopes ;
but there is extremely little wood, though the scenery is
not quite so barren as that south of the Dnieper. Here
there is little variety of prospect, therefore, to amuse the
traveller excepting the common appearances of a regular
Russian winter, the blue expanse of heaven above, with
the woodless snow-clad earth beneath, and the clear pale
powerless lunar-like rays of the sun shed over it; spotted
with hamlets and villages, often at many miles distance
from each other, and nearly concealed from view by
winters revengeful robe ; now and then a chain of sledges
traverses the scene, and at the twilight seems to be
moving in the air, so singularly does the united line of
snow and sky deceive the eye of the beholder ; or perhaps
the sound of a fellow-travellers bell is heard tinkling, as
he draws near. This precaution is adopted to prevent
accidents in the night, as the movement of the sledge
upon the snow, like that of a ship upon the sea, gives no
indication of its approach.'

Such is the monotonous scenery which presents itself to
the traveller in Russia everywhere during winter, But the
intensity of the cold, and its invigorating effects upon animal
life, seems to make every living creature to move with greater
celerity; and in general 1 have observed the Russians
give greater demonstrations of joy at the commencement
of winter than at the opening of spring.

PART IV.

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC.

IN M. Polytaiefs account of forests on the Dnieper, it is
stated that from the government of Volhinia the forest
produce is sent to Riga and Prussia, with which there is
river communication.

Lithuania is situated on the water shed between the
valleys of the Black Sea and the Baltic ; the Ukraine is
situated entirely on the former ; Poland almost entirely
on the latter. While much of the timber yielded by these
countries is conveyed by the Dnieper to the south of
Russia, and much of what is produced by Lithuania and
Poland is conveyed to Central Europe by rail, much also
is exported from Dantzig, Konigsberg, Memel, and Riga.
From Poland much of the timber is conveyed by the
Vistula to Dantzig.

Of later exports of timber from this port I have no
information. But from a report made to the Commissioner
of Crown Lands in Quebec by Mr William Quinn,
Supervisor of Cutters, compiled from notes collected by
him on a mission to Europe, we learn that —

236

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TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 241

Mr Quinn had letters of introduction to Her Majesty's
Consul General in Dautzig, and to the several mercantile
houses engaged in the trade. He reports —

' All those parties seemed earnestly inclined to afford
i-.e all the information possible relative to the trade of
this port. They are straightforward, open, and candid
men, and did not appear to have anything to conceal of a
general character with respect to the business. They all
complain that the standing timber is fast disappearing,
that it is rising in price at each and every succeeding sale,
and that the distance they have to haul is constantly
increasing. Mr Grade, of the firm of Messrs Albrecht &
Co., said timber not requiring to be hauled more than 12
to 15 English miles is considered handy to the river. To
have to haul 6 to 8 German miles (30 to 40 English) is by no
means unusual. Afterwards it has to be driven a great
distance by a tortuous, tedious, and expensive route. A
great proportion of the lumber brought to this market is
made a long way to the south and south-east of Warsaw,
and much of it is brought from Galicia, in Austrian
Poland. The general custom of selling the standing
timber is as follows :— A certain limit or circuit is sold,
which is supposed to contain a specified number of trees,
suitable to be made into timber, for a slump sum or for so
much per tree. The number of trees is generally over-
rated, but such is the competition among purchasers that
they submit to this. The purchaser is bound to take off
the quantity within a given time, if to be found ; but in
no case is any deduction made. He is not allowed to
take more than the number stipulated for, should they
even be there, without paying additionally for them.
Every tree which is cut down counts, whether rotten or
otherwise. I went with Mr Albrecht and looked over
all the lumber in the river, down to the harbour. There
was but little remaining after the spring shipments, and
none of the new timber had then arrived. It was
expected in a few days. The timber is separated into
three classes —1st, 2nd, 3rd. Mr Albrecht told me that to

H

242 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

get any considerable quantity of first quality is very
difficult and expensive, and scarcely any of it is to be had
without having to be hauled 30 or 40 English miles. The
value of first quality redwood here at present is 55s. per
load, free on board ; 2nd, 45s. ; 3rd class about 41s. per
load. The freights just then were very low, not more
than 15s. per load to the east coast of England. Large
quantities of redwood are now being sawn up by the
different establishments here into deck plank for the
English and French Governments. The prices paid by
the French Government are for 1st quality 21s. sterling
for 40 feet long, 3 inches thick, and 9 inches broad ; and
two-thirds that amount for 2nd quality. There must not
be any pith in those planks, and they must show heart-
wood the whole length, of at least 7 inches wide. 1 find
that the production of last winter does not exceed that of
the previous year. A considerable quantity of redwood is
also being prepared here, intended for the defences at
Southampton, England. The pieces are all to be 35 feet
long, 12 inches square, and to show a certain amount of
heartwood on all sides. The price to be paid is 65s. per
load, free on board — a price with which the sellers seem
well satisfied. The timber purchased from the Prussian
Government in almost all cases is cut down and squared
at their expense. A portion of the timber is also got out
round the full length of the trees. It is then sold by
public auction — the square timber by the foot, the round
timber by the piece. The latter timber is brought down
without being squared, and part of it shipped as spars.
The remainder is sawn and manufactured into different
descriptions of scantling.'

In Britain we hear as much or more of Dantzic wheat
as of Dantzic timber. The wheat is not produced in
the vicinity of Dantzic, but is brought thither from a
great distance — some of it from the south of Russia, and
the transport barges make a demand upon the product of
the forests in Lithuania and Poland, which is by no

FOREST EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 243

means inconsiderable. In Fullarton's Gazetteer I find it
stated : —

' Dantzic has long been regarded as one of the principal
granaries of Europe. It was at one time the only port
from which shipments were made to foreign countries of
the wheat sent down by the Vistula; and although of late
years exportation has also taken place to a considerable
extent from Elbing, Riga, and Memel, yet Dantzic still
enjoys the greater portion of this trade, exporting
occasionally 500,000 quarters of wheat in the year, besides
flour, rye, barley, meal, oats, and pease. There are two modes
of conveying wheat to Dantzic by the Vistula. That which
grows near the lower parts of the river— comprehending
Polish Prussia, and part of the province of Plock, and of
Masovia, in the kingdom of Poland— which is generally
of an inferior quality, is conveyed in covered boats, with
shifting-boards that protect the cargo from the rain but
not from pilfering. These vessels are long, and draw about
15 inches water, and bring about 150 quarters. They are
not, however, so well calculated for the upper parts of the
river. From Cracow, where the Vistula first becomes
navigable, to below the junction of the Bug with that
stream, the wheat is mostly conveyed to Dantzic in open
flats. These are constructed on the banks, in seasons of
leisure, on spots far from the ordinary reach of the water,
but which, when the rains of autumn, or the melted snow
of the Carpathian mountains in the spring, fill and overflow
the river, are easily floated. Barges of this description
are about 75 feet long, and 20 feet broad, with a depth of
2J feet. They are made of fir, rudely put together, and
fastened with wooden trenails ; the corners are dovetailed
and secured with slight iron clamps, the only iron employed
in the construction. A large tree the length of the vessel
runs along the bottom, to which the timbers are secured.
This roughly cut keelson rises 9 or 10 inches from the
floor, and hurdles are laid on it which extend to the sides.
They are covered with mats made of rye straw, and serve
the purpose of dunnage ; leaving below a space in which

244 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

the water that leaks through the sides and bottom is
received. The bulk is kept from the sides and ends of
the barge by a similar plan. The water which these
ill-constructed and imperfectly caulked vessels receive is
dipped out at the end and sides of the bulk of wheat.
Vessels of this description draw from 10 to 12 inches of
water, and yet they frequently get aground in descending
the river. The cargoes usually consist of from 180 to 200
quarters of wheat. The grain is thrown on the mats, piled
as high as the gunwale, and left uncovered, exposed to
all the inclemencies of the weather, and to the pilfering
of the crew. During the passage, the barge is carried
along by the force of the stream, oars being merely used
at the head and stern, to steer clear of the sand -banks,
which are numerous and shifting, and to direct the vessel
in passing under the several bridges. These vessels are
conducted by six or seven men. A small boat precedes with
a man in it, who is employed in sounding, in order to avoid
the shifting shoals. This mode of navigating is necessarily
very slow ; and during the progress of it — which lasts
several weeks, and even months — the rain, if any falls, soon
causes the wheat to grow, and the vessel assumes the
appearance of a floating meadow. The shooting of the
fibres soon forms a thick mat, and prevents the rain from
penetrating more than an inch or two. The main bulk is
protected by this kind of covering, and when that is thrown
aside, is found in tolerable condition. The vessels are
broken up at Dantzic and usually sell for about two-thirds
of their original cost. The men who conduct them return
on foot. When the cargo arrives at Dantzic or at Elbing,
all but the grown surface is thrown on the land, spread
abroad, exposed to the sun and air, and frequently turned
over till any slight moisture that it may have imbibed, is
dried. If a shower of rain falls, as well as during the
night, the heaps of wheat on the shore are thrown together,
in the form of the steep roof of a house, that the rain may
run off, and are covered with a linen cloth. It is thus
frequently a long time after the wheat has reached Dantzic

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 245

before it is fit to be placed in the warehouses. The
warehouses are very well adapted for storing corn. They
consist, generally, of 7 stories, 3 of which are in the roof.
The floors are about 9 feet asunder. Each of them is
divided by perpendicular partitions, the whole length,
about 4 feet high, by which different parcels are kept distinct
from each other. Thus the floors have two divisions, each
uf them capable of storing from 150 to 200 quarters, and
leaving sufficient space for turning or screening it. There
are abundance of windows in each floor, which are always
thrown open in dry weather to ventilate the corn. It is
usually turned over three times a- week. The men who
perform the operation, throw it with their shovels as high
as they can, and thus the grains are separated from each
other, and exposed to the drying influence of the air.
The whole of the corn warehouses now left — for many were
burned during the siege of 1814— are capable of storing
500,000 quarters of wheat, supposing the parcels to be
large enough to fill each of the two divisions of the floors,
with a separate heap ; but as. of late years, it has come
down from Poland in smaller parcels than formerly, and
of more various qualities, which must of necessity be kept
distinct, the present stock of about 280,000 quarters is
found to occupy nearly the whole of those warehouses
which are in repair, or are advantageously situated for
loading the ships. Ships are loaded by gangs of porters
with great despatch, who will complete a cargo of 500
quarters in about three or four hours. [Jacob's Report in
1826.] In 1845, the exports of wheat were 34,106 lasts.
In the beginning of last century rye was the grain chiefly
exported from Dantzic. In the preceding century its annual
average export of rye amounted to 95,000 lasts. The
grain warehouses, and those for linen and hemp, are
situated, as already noticed, upon an island, formed by the
river Mottlau on one side, and another branch on the other.
There are three bridges on each side of the island, which are
drawn up at night, excepting the two at the end of the
main street across the centre of the island, communicating

246 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

between the Altstadt and the Vorstadt. To guard these
warehouses, there are from 20 to 30 dogs let loose at 11
o'clock every night. To keep the dogs within these
districts, and to protect passengers from harm, at the end
of each street leading to the main one there are high gates ;
no light is allowed, nor any person permitted to live on
this island.

' Among the chief exports from Dantzic are masts,
corkwood, hemp, flax, potash, honey, wax, tallow, iron,
steel, copper, lead, saltpetre, tar, amber, skins, furs, wool,
and salt ; but corn and timber have always been, and still
are, the staple exports. In 1788, the following estimate
was made of its commerce : — About 60,000 lasts of corn
from Poland were annually exported, amounting, at 18
ducats per last, to about 2,080,000 ducats. The wood,
masts, potash, hemp, flax, hides, linens, skins, honey, tallow,
wax, and tobacco, from Poland and the Ukraine, were
valued at nearly the same sum ; making an annual capital
of 6,000,000 thalers vested in commerce. The profit upon
this sum amounted to about 1,200,000 thalers, from which,
deducting 150,000 for taxes, custom-house dues, and
interest of money, there remained 900,000 thalers as annual
profit. In 1839, the total exports and imports were valued
at 13,236,118 thalers, or about £2,200,000. The restrictive
duties imposed by Russia have directed much of the
produce of the Ukraine and Poland into other channels.'

From Konigsberg and Memel, Prussian ports east of
Dantzig, the timber exports consist largely of the produce
of Lithuania.

At Konigsberg Mr Quinn obtained much information
from Mr Hertsel, the British Consul, who had previously
resided some time at Memel, and was there engaged
in the timber trade. Mr Quinn reports : —

' He seems to be well acquainted with the affairs of the
country, as connected with the lumber trade. He
informed me that about one-third of the forest lands
which supply this place and Memel belong to the Russian

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 247

Government, and about two-thirds to Polish and
Russian nobles, and that almost the whole of said supply
comes off Russian territory, scarcely any off Prussian.
There is scarcely any possibilit}7 of arriving at the cost of
bringing it to market, the business being altogether in the
hands of the Jews, who hitherto had an understanding
with the proprietors that tho serfs on the estates should
be employed in making and bringing it forward, and,
consequently, the exporters at these ports neither know
or care about the cost of production, not being interested
in the same. What effect the emancipation of the serfs
will have on the trade remains yet to be developed. The
great timber-producing districts are comprised within an
area of about 27,000 English square miles— a great
portion of which has been cut over and over again, besides,
there is a population within this circuit of from 1,600,000
to 2,000,000, and it is considered one of the best agricul-
tural provinces in the Russian empire. From these facts
I infer that there is a limit to the timber even in this
province. The standing timber is gradually becoming
.scarce and dear. The distance to haul is increasing, and
it is thought that the emancipation of the serfs will have
the effect of changing the nature of the trade altogether.
In the first place, it is to. be expected that much more of
the land will be brought under cultivation, and, in the
next, the men will not continue to work for the same
small pittance they have hitherto been in the habit of
receiving. In fact, they seem not to be inclined to work
at all. In proof of this assertion I can state that large
numbers of Germans, from the province of Pomerania, at
the time I was there, were moving to Russia to supply
the labour heretofore performed by that class. This
change in the condition of the serfs must raise the price
of labour, and a corresponding rise in the price of timber,
or a diminution in the quantity, must necessarily be the
result. Mr Hertsel further informed me that the country
is now undergoing such changes that it is hard to say
what ultimate effect such changes may produce. One

248 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

thing, however, is certain, that, so far, the effect has been
a large diminution in all the products of the country.'

Mr Quinn subsequently visited Mem el with every
provision for obtaining information upon which reliance
might be placed. The corroborative information which
he there obtained amounts, he says in his report,
to the following : —

' Memel is supplied with lumber from Russia and
Poland by the river Nieme. The lumber has such a long
distance to be driven that it only reaches the market in
September and October, which market is at a place called
Russ, about #0 English miles from Memel, situate on the
bay which lies between that city and Konigsberg. At
Russ the wood is purchased by Mernel merchants, and
brought down at their risk and expense in large rafts of
1500 to 2000 pieces of square and round timber. When
the timber arrives at Memel it is assorted according to
quality and the views of the owners. There is a
government system of classification, but it is not
compulsory. The different kinds of timber brought to
this place are : —

Fir Redwood, square.
,, round.

,, Whitewood, round.

Oak, square.

Wainscot Logs.

Staves.

' And in about the following quantities : —

Square Redwood, 12 to 18 inches square,

20 to 60 feet long ; very few pieces

of the latter length or size ; general

average about 30 x 13, 150,000 to 200,000 pcs. an'ly.

Round do., 150,000 ,,

Whitewood, round, 20,000

Square Oak, 10,000

Wainscot Logs, 4,000

Staves, about 15,000 shocks of 60 pcs. ea.

' The square redwood is classified as under : —

Crown Timber, value at that time, 70s. stg. per load.

Best Middling, ,, ,, 66s. ,,

2nd „ „ 54s.

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. '249

* The round wood, both red and white, is cut here by
steam and \\iiid-rmlls into 3 x 11, 3 x 9, 4 x 11, 4 x 9, 2J
x 7, and boards 1 to 1J inches thick by 8 to 11 inches in
breadth, and all generally of long lengths. They are
classified as follows —

Redwood, Crown, was then worth £12 per St. Petersburg std.

,, second quality, ,, 7

third „ „ 6

\Yhitewood, Crown, ,, 7

,, second quality, ,, 6

third 5

'The latter deals compete with our spruce in the English
market ; but according to my opinion they are not as
good, or equal in any respect. I was told by the gentle-
men in the trade that a few years ago this whitewood
was attacked by an insect, which has almost killed every
tree. I have seen a considerable quantity of this kind of
lumber in the log, and found it all to be perforated to the
heart by grab- worm.

' Square oak, 12 to 14 inches square, and 20 to 50 feet
long, general average, not more than 35 feet cubic, and
classified as under —

Crown, was worth at that time 100s, per load.

Second quality, „ 90s. ,,

' Wainscot logs, in lengths of 9 feet and upwards. This
timber is sawn from pretty large trees, must be free from
heart, and shaped thus, ~io . ) • and must be at least

"To

10 inches deep from the curve to the corner of the large
flat surface.

Crown.— The value at that time was 5s. 6d. per foot.
Second quality, ,, ,, 3s. 6d. ,,

' Staves are ofthe following dimensions —

250 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Pipe, 6 feet long, 6x3 inches, ^

Brandy 5 „ ,, ,,

Hogshead, 4 feet long, 6x3 inches, I All reduced to

Barrel, 3 „ „ „ 6x6x3

Heading, long, 2£ ft. long, 6 x 3 in., j

short, ij „ ,,

And were then worth, Crown, £140 per 1,200 pieces.

,, ,, ,, 1st brack, 115 ,,

Three pieces long heading counts one.
Four ,, short

' The provinces which supply Memel are Kovno,
Augustoo, Bialystock, Vitepsk, Minsk, Wilna, and
Volbinia — this latter province furnishing or yielding
two- thirds of the whole. As far as I can understand,
the timber trade is gradually declining here, and although
the lumber is becoming scarce, that is not the only
reason given for the cause of the trade languishing. The
late season at which the timber arrives necessitates the
holding over large quantities during Winter, which is
embarrassing in a monetary point of view. Nevertheless,
at that time in Memel, as well as in the other ports in
the Baltic, the people were as busy as possible sawing and
preparing timber for the French Government, and
complained that they were not able to get it fast enough.

' The following were the prices of lumber, free on board,
at Memel in March 1861 —

Crown Fir Timber, 12 in. ) 25 feet average, at 70s. Od. per load.

11 ...68s. Od.

First Midlg,
Second ,,
Inferior ,,

26 „ 64s. Od.

62s. 6d.

27 „ 54s. Od.

,...52s. 6d.

25 „ 45s. 6d.

Oak Timber.— Crown, 100s. Od., Second quality, 90s. Od. per 50 run'g ft.

Wainscot Logs. — Crown, 5s. 6d., 3s. 6d. per run'g foot.

Deals, 3 x 10^-1 Iths and 3x9 inch, averaging 17 to 18 feet.
Red, Crown, £12 ; Seconds, £7 ; Thirds, £6 6s. Od. \ per 750 run'g. ft.
White, ,,7 ,,6 6s. ,, 5 5s. Od. \ 3 x lO^llths in.

Staves.— Crown Pipe, £150, 1st Brack, .. 125 Os. Od. per 1,200 pieces.

Memel, a Prussian port, is situated not far from the

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 251

frontier, where it is conterminous with the Russian
province of Courland.

At about the same distance along the coast, within this
province is Liban, destined it may be to be ere long,
through the increase and extension of railways in Russia,
the one great Russian commercial port on the Baltic.

Meanwhile Riga, at the head of the sheltered
gulf to which it gives its name, and situated at the
mouth of the river Dwina, in Polish Dzwina, is the great
Russian port for the export of timber from the territory
traversed by that river, chiefly Lithuania. This river must
not be confounded with the Dwina in the northern govern-
ment of Archangel.

One of my correspondents connected with the timber
trade in Riga wrote to me in answer to enquiries I had
addressed to him — ' As to the forests of the Baltic pro-
vinces, strictly speaking they are nearly all cut down, at
least the larger sized trees are, and those now obtained
have in many cases to be transported a distance of some
20 or 30 versts (14 or 20 miles), on axle or sledge. In
general the latter mode of conveyance is preferred, as it is
the cheaper of the two. From this you will perceive that
a good deal depends ou the kind of winter we have, as
good sledge roads are desirable for the transport of timber
to the edge of the water, by which it is floated down in
spring at the breaking up of the ice. This department of
the trade, I may mention, is almost entirely in the hands
of the Israelites.' He goes on to say — ' To give you some
idea of the extent of the timber trade in this place I may
mention that there are annually exported about
2J,000,000 of railway sleepers, and about 300,000 logs of
square timber, which are hewn in the forests, all the
chips and branches of which remain there to rot, and
make manure for the next forest that grows in their place.
There is no attempt made to clean out such refuse, in fact
there is no fostering care whatever employed in such
things, it is entirely left to nature. Anything can be
made, such as squared timber, railway sleepers, &c., and it

252 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

is a very rare thing indeed to replace any of the forests
that have been so wrought out, by planting young trees
in their stead ; nature is allowed to do that herself, and
of course will accomplish it in a series of years. There
are still a few forests in these provinces held by the
crown, the first cost of which is so high that at present
prices it almost precludes merchants from working them
to advantage.

' The most of the timber exported from Riga at the
present time comes from the provinces of Smolensk and
Vitepsk, along the banks of the river Dwina and its
tributaries, but owing to the great distances at which
some of the woods are situated from water communication
with the river there is a good deal of extra expense
incurred for the transport, and this is increasing yearly, con-
sequently the price of timber is getting much higher to
work out this one problem. In addition to the above
exports there is another large demand which must make a
big hole in the woods yearly, viz. : — There are 1^,000,000 of
fir logs, averaging 24 feet in length, rafted down from the
above-mentioned provinces annually, and cut up into 3
inch planks and boards, and exported to England, France,
Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Notwithstanding these
great quantities, I am told the increasing demands can be
met for a great many years to come, subject to an
increase in price owing to the extra transport by water
communication, which is indispensable to the trade.

' As to the titles of official reports or documents issued
by the Government there is no one here can enlighten
me on the subject, all saying they never heard of any
such things.

There are no wholesale joinery establishments here at
present, but formerly there was one in connection with a
large saw-mill which was burned down about 18 months
ago ; and that part was not rebuilt, as it was considered by
the proprietors to be a bad speculation.'

I was supplied with a copy of a report by Mr A.

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 253

Kauffman, which had appeared in the Bijscomy Cbaesdy
Laesochozaaev, and of which the following is the substance.
It is headed: — To what extent is the Export Wood Trade
from Riga in the future warranted l>y the Present Condition
and Management o) the Forests in the West Dwina
Districts.

' The writer of this report thinks it necessary in order
properly to treat the question of the future supply of
wood for export trade, not to confine himself strictly to
the consideration of the present supply of the west
Dwina district sent to the port of Riga, but to embrace
the principal sources of supply on the Baltic and Black
Sea, to which wood is conveyed to, and exported Iron),
the ports of Memel, Dantzig, and Stettin — in short, to
consider the uhole export supply of the west and south-
west country of the Dwina. In order to this, it is
necessary at the same time to remember and to state the
different branches of the home trade which derive their
supply from these sources, these are— the Kherson port
and the Crimea; the ansenals and waggon factories of
St Petersburg and Riga; and railway materials for their own
and the southern net- work of railways. And over and
above this there has to be considered the wood that is used
by the inhabitants of these districts for building purposes,
together with the enormous quantity used as fuel.'

There is given a tabulated statement of the quantity
and description of materials sent to the ports of Riga,
Memel, and Dantzig, on the average of the past three
years, and the overland exports for one season ; and with
this there is given the number of trees (arranged
according to their respective ages) that were cut down
in one winter to supply this quantity.

The following is a summary of exports : —

(1.) TREES OF MATURE GROWTH.

No. of trees. Cubic feet.

Pine and fir wood from 140 to 250 years old,... 1,250,450 = 50,018,000

Oak ,, „ 120 ,, 260 ,, and over. 373,600 = 30,548,000

254 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

(2.) TREES OF MIDDLE GROWTH.

No. of Trees. Cubic feet

Pine and fir wood, from 100 to 140 yrs. old & over 1,439,800 - 43, 194,000
Oak, „ „ 120 „ 160 „ ,, 503,200 = 20,128,000

(3.) YOUNG TREES,

Pine and fir, from 40 to 100 years old and over, 1,650,000 = 24,750,000
Oak „ 60,, 120 „ „ 700,000 = 11,900,000

(4.) UNDERGROUND.

Pine and fir, from 15 to 40 years old 2,550,000 = 15,300,000

Oak, „ 25,, 60 „ 906,000= 9,050,000

Total, 9,373,050 = 194,898,000

There are then given the details and description of the
wood used for home trade, and the respective quantities
sent to such places as St Petersburg, Odessa, Nicolaieff,
&c., in one year, the summary of which is given as
follows : —

HOME CONSUMPTION.

TREES OF MATURE AGE.

No. of trees. Cubic feet.

Pine and fir, from 140 to 170 years old, 579,000 = 20,265,000

Oak, ,, 160 ,, 300 „ 13,500 = 9,940,500

TREES OF MIDDLE GROWTH.

Pine and fir, from 100 to 140 years old, 559,000 = 16,810,000

Oak, ,, 120 ,, 160 „ 58,000 = 2,352,000

YOUNG TREES.

Pine and fir, from 40 to 100 years old, 677,000 = 10.155,000

Oak, ,, 60 „ 120 ,. 400,000 = 6,800,000

UNDERGROWTH.

Pine and fir, from 15 to 40 years old, 1,056,000 = 6,396.000

Oak, ,, 25 „ 26 ,, 1,000,000=10,000,000

Total, 4,353,300 = 82,718,800

Having given these statistics, the writer goes on to
show how grave the consequences of the present system
of indiscriminate and wholesale destruction of the forests
must inevitably prove, and urges that immediate
measures should be taken to prevent further devastation.
He states it emphatically as his opinion that if the whole of
the trees in these districts, of the first and second
growths — which form the staple of the export trade —

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 255

were to be divided by the number exported in one year
it would be seen that the export supply would not
possibly be sustained for a period of ten years. Taking a
retrospective view, he states that in the year 1859 the
exports of wood amounted to the value of 4,500,000
roubles, in ten years from which time it had increased to
15,000,000 roubles, and it has gradually gone on increasing
during the past five years — thanks to the abolition of the
duty — till it had in the preceding year reached the enormous
sum of 32,000,000 roubles. Calculations are then entered
into to prove that if the present system of the management
of fortsts be persisted in, the utter annihilation of all the
forests of the west and south-west country of the Dwina
within the period of fifty years is inevitable. The rest
of the report is taken up in an endeavour to prove to the
owners of these large estates, &c., that their interests will
in no way suffer by Government supervision interfering
with the management of their forests, but that this will
rather be the means of adding to the value of their property
by increasing the price of wood, &c.

In an article in Le Marchand de Bois on the lumber trade
of Riga, it is stated : — ' Of the ports of the Baltic
provinces, Riga exports more lumber and timber than all
the others, consequently a statement of the amount of the
trade done at Riga will give some idea of the extent of
the lumber trade of Russia in Europe. The details of
the exports of Riga for a series of years, from 1871 to
1882, are taken from a recent official document issued
from the bureau of commerce. The timber and lumber
reaches Riga by the Dwina and its tributaries, and
comes from the provinces of Livonia, Esthonia, Corn-land,
Mohilev, and Minsk, in Lithuania. Notwithstanding the
extensive devastation of the forests, carried on with no
assurance of their renewal, the vast forests which formerly
covered these provinces yet contain large reserves of
timber of the best quality, but their continued depletion,
with no provisions made for their future restoration,

256 FOEESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

should give rise to serious apprehension. The transport of
the wood from the forests to the rivers, which is made by
log waggons during the snows and frosts of the winter
season, is attended with increased difficulties and cost
when the winters are usually rainy, which is quite
common ; and the transport by water is also difficult
on account of the shallow ness of the waters and the
strength of the currents ; and in addition to this it is
peculiarly difficult to safely run the rafts which are con-
structed to suit the special navigation of the streams.
The large timbers are bound together and form the raft
proper. On these are then placed laths, staves, clapboard,
&c. It is said the manufactured stuffs brought to market
in this way are limited in quantity. This is to be
regretted, as persons who are acquainted with the interior
of Russia state that it would be much to the interest of
the proprietors if they would prepare on their places in
the interior the greater portion of the flooring, laths,
deals, scantling, &c., as it is well known that large
quantities of timber useful for these purposes are left to
rot. It is also stated that the debris left by the loggers
in the pine forests might be profitably distilled. But to
bring about such necessary improvements and progress,
the interior must have the benefit of better methods of
communication with the markets than by the inefficient
and tedious ratting system.

' The rafts are formed on the ice before it begins to
break up, in order that advantage may be taken of the
first rising of the waters. When this occurs the rafts
usually arrive at Riga from eight to fifteen days thereafter.

' During the period above mentioned, from 1871 to 1«82,
there were exported from Riga 87,377,512 pieces of timber
and lumber, or an average of 7,281,456 pieces per annum.
The progress made in this trade since 1871 is shown by
the fact that in that year only 4,542,155 pieces were
exported ; whereas, in 1882, 9,184,199 pieces were exported.

' The total value, in silver, of the wood exported in that
time was 122,342,708 roubles ; a yearly average of

TIMBER EXPORTS BY THE BALTIC. 257

10,195,225 roubles. The value of the exports of 1882 was
placed at 12,911,072 dollars. A silver rouble is worth
about two shillings at present.

'Of the leading articles exported during the twelve
years, there were in pieces, 3,651,095 staves and clapboards ;
30,382,566 sleepers ; 49,491,155 posts and flooring. With
the exception of 47,709 pieces shipped to Africa, the
whole amount was cleared for European ports. England
received 58'7 per cent, of the total exports ; Holland, 14*1 ;
Germany, 101 ; France, 86; Belgium, -5 ; and Portugal, 2'2
per cent. The balance was taken by Denmark, Sweden,
Norway, Spain, and Ita4y. During the year 1882 the aver-
age freight charges, per St. Petersburg standard, to French
ports were as follows : — Dunkirk, Boulogne, and Dieppe
9 dols. to 9'50 dols. ; to Havre, Honefleur, and Rome;
10-50 dols. to 11-50 dols.

' On the whole, the timber and timber trade cf Riga
for the past several years has made notable progress, and
the movement in 1882 was especially favourable. The
trade of France with this port, though not nearly so heavy
as that with Norway, is yet of no mean importance, as
the transactions for 1882 reached the sum of 835,000
dols., and it is susceptible of considerable expansion.'

Further to the east, on the Gulf of Finland, are the
ports of Revel, Narva, and Cronstadt, from all of which
there is an export of forest produce, but this is not to
any great extent, if at all, derived from Lithuania.

The following memorandum supplied by Mr Quinn, in
regard to charges made at the time of his visit (1860),
for the transport of wood from ports which have been
named, and from Windau and Pillau may be useful for
purposes of comparision : —

Cronstadt to London, deals 40s. Od. per std.

,, to Exmouth Bight, deals, ... j 47s. 6d. ,,

or to Shoreham, \ 47s. 6d. ,,

Narva Bay to London, deah and timber, 57s. 6d. ,,

,, to East Coast, deals, 55s. Od. „

S

258 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

Narva Bay to Grimsby , deals, ) 52s. 6d. per std.

Or square sleepers, > 1 7s. 6d. per load.

Or round „ ) 19s. 6d.

,, to West Hartlepool, square

sleepers, } 15s. 6d. ,,

Deals, [ 47s. 6d. per std.

Option desired of Grimsby ) 17s. 6d. per load.
Riga Town (Bolderaa) to London, square

sleepers or fir timber, 21s. Od. ,,

,, to W. Hartlepool or Tyne Dock, ) 17s. Od. „

Or square sleepers, \ 20s. Od. ,,

,, (Belderan) to a dockyard in j

Thames, timber, [• 21s. Od. „

And masts, ) 24s. Od.

, , to Portsmouth, timber, j 23s. Od.

Masts, ( 26s. Od.

Libau to London, timber, deals, or

square sleepers, 19s. Od. ,,

Windau to London, Hull, or Grimsby,

timber or square sleepers, ... 17s. Od. ,,

Memel to London, staves, £17 Os. Od. per mille

Or to Grimsby, 15 Os. Od, ,,

Or to Liverpool, 18 Os. Od.

,, ,, or East Coast, timber

and square sleepers... 17s. Od. per load.

,, Chester, timber, ) 20s. Od.

Or to Dublin, sq. sleepers... > 20s. Od.

Round sleepers, ) 22s. Od.

,, Torquay, timber and deals, 18s. 6d. ,,

,, English Channel, between Dover

and Southampton, 18s. 6d. ,,

,, British Channel, timber or

square sleepers, 19s. Od. to 19s, 6d. ,,

,, Wexford, 200 loads timber, 23s. Od. to 24s. Od.

., Table Bay, or Algoa Bay, deals, £7 15s. Od.

Or Dantzig to Newport or Car-
diff, sq. sleepers or tim.,) 19s. Od. to 23s. Od. ,,

Or round sleepers, at f 20s. Od.

Pillau to Combwich Pill, sq. sleepers... ) 21s. Od. ,,

Or to Drogheda, J 22s. Od. „

Dantzig to London or East Coast, timber

or square sleepers, 16s. 6d. .,

,, Sunderland or a Coal Port, i

oak timber, J 18s. Od. ,,

OrtoHull \ 20s. Od. „

,, Shoreham, ... j 18s. Od.

Or to Milford, timber [• 11s. Od.

Or to Bristol, ) 19s. Od.

Or to Truro, timber 19s. Od. „

PART V.

BALTIC PROVINCES OF RUSSIA.

CHAPTER I.
FOREST LANDS.

A POPULAK name by which the Pinus silvestris is more
extensively known than it is by the name of Scotch fir,
is the Riga pine ; but this latter designation is associated
with tall straight trunks, such as are fitted for being used
as masts and booms, while the former is associated with
what, compared with these, seem dwarfed shrub-like
trees unsuitable for such applications.

It is from the place of export that it has received that
designation. Most of the timber exported thence, as has
been mentioned, is brought thither from the provinces
of Smolensk and Vitepsk, but some of it is the produce
of the Baltic provinces of Russia. These are generally
described as being three in number.

Conterminous with the government of Kovno, in
Lithuania, situated between it and the Baltic, and the
Gulf of Riga, is Courland. To the east of this, separated
from it by the Dwina, lying between the north-western
boundary of Vitepsk and the Gulf of Riga, is Livonia ;
and to the north of this, between this and the Gulf of
Finland, is Estonia.

Limited and compressed as Estonia or Est-land, the
land of the Ests, may now be, that tribe represents the
primitive people inhabiting the whole of this region

260 FORESTKY IN LITHUANIA.

previous to the settlement within its bounds of the
dominating German population.

Three, if not four, or more distinct tribes resident
here are represented by these Ests, while a fourth allied
family or tribe— the Fins — are found on the northern shores
of this arm of the Baltic, inhabiting still the whole land
between Russia and the Gulf of Bothnia, and giving
their name to that territory. The Ests, or a large portion of
them, and their territory constituted from the thirteenth to
the fifteenth century a federal state, acknowledging the
Roman Emperor and the Pope as its paramount lords and
supreme heads. And the people differ as manifestly
from the Lithuanian and Polish people of the adjacent
provinces as they do from the Russians, whose empire
extends over all.

Lithuania is frequently spoken of as a Polish colony, and
I have no reason to doubt the correctness of the supposition
that many of the more energetic Polish people penetrated
into the country, contiguous as it is to their own, and in
course of time became the dominant race. Something
similar has occurred here — the dominant race is com-
posed of the descendants of German emigrants, who,
in turn, are being dominated by Russia.

Including the outlying islands, these provinces cover
an area of 1,754 German miles, and comprise a population
numbering about 1,850.000.

Courland is described as a flat country, interspersed with
sand hills, extensive heaths and marshes, and patches of
cultivated land, intersected by two ranges of hills running
east and west. About two-thirds of the surface are
covered with noble forests of pine and fir, interspersed
occasionally with groves of oak. Game is abundant ; and
deer, bears, wolves, lynxes, and martins, haunt the
forests. Agriculture and the rearing of cattle are the
leading branches of industry.

According to official returns, which I obtained some
years ago, in Courland the total area of forests is 851,000

FOREST LANDS. 26 1

desatins, the area of crown forests is 458,963 desatins,
giving for every square verst 35 '4 desatins of forests, and
19 desatins of crown forests — giving 1'4 desatins of the
former, and '7 desatins of the latter, for every inhabitant
of the province. The annual fellings in the crown
forests yield 61 8 cubic feet of wood, and 52 roubles 9
kopecs per desatin.

On crossing the Dwina, travelling eastward, we enter
Livonia, a province, the physical aspect of which is
different, and also the people, who manifest more of an
Estonian character, while their language is designated
Dorpat Estonian, in contradistinction to that spoken in
Estonia, which is designated Revel Estonian.

According to official returns which I obtained at the
same time with those already cited, the total area of
forests in Livonia is 1,896,000 desatins ; the area of crown
forests is 195,711 desatins ; giving for every square verst
47'4 desatins of the former, and 4*8 desatins of the latter,
and giving T9 desatins of the former, and 0*2 desatins of
the latter for every inhabitant of the province. The
annual fellings in the crown forests yield 30'7 cubic feet
of fuel ; and the revenue is 32 roubles 1 kopec per desatin.

By a boundary imperceptible to the passing stranger is
Livonia separated from Estonia, the province situated
further to the east, with Revel for its capital.

In Estonia the total area of forests is 450,000 desatins,
the area of crown forests is 4,556 desatins, giving for
every square verst of territory 26 4 desatins of forests and
0'2 desatins of crown forests, and giving 1*3 desatins of
the former and 01 desatins of the latter for every inhabi-
tant of the province. The annual fellings in the crown
forests yield 44 2 cubic feet, and the revenue is 20 roubles
G kopecs per desatin.

Both in Courland and Estonia are extensive forests of the
lime tree, and these have given rise to much local
industry, but, as has been intimated, there are also forests
yielding both forest timber and firewood.

CHAPTER II.
FOREST ADMINISTRATION.

As has been stated, the administration of the management
of forests in Russia constitutes a special department of the
Ministry of Imperial domains. But there are in different
parts of the Empire forests which were formerly, and still
continue to be, under the supervision of special depart-
ments of the administration. Thus has it been with the
government forests in the Baltic Provinces. In a
codification of the then existing forest laws of the Empire,
issued in 1857, it was enjoined in regard to the fourth
division of the admiralty forests in the Baltic district : —

' 336. The admiralty forests of the Baltic district
are supervised by a board of management,
similar to the boards of other districts.

337. The members of this board are determined by the

authorities. The requisite number of forest
officials and warders, for the improvement and
protection of the woods, are appointed by the
board of managers.

338. The Board is located in the town of Vytegra, as the

most suitable for its duties ; but the Ministry of
Imperial Domains may appoint any other town as
the seat of the board.

339. The principal duties of the board are : —

1. Supervision of admiralty woods and forests,

which will be placed under its sole control and
management, in the governments of Olonetz,
Novgorod, and St Petersburg.

2. Preparation of leaved and other timber in the

government of Olonetz for the port of St
Petersburg.

FORKST ADMINISTRATION. 263

3. The allotment of civil forests, as well out of

the district as out of the government forests,
for the ports of Revel and St Petersburg.

4. Preparation of timber (a) in Courland and the

island of Osel ; (6) on the Dwina, until the
appointment of the western board of manage-
ment; (c) along the Nieman river, from the
confluence of the same with the Windau
canal ; (d} from Finland, should such prepara-
tions be deemed desirable.

340. The following districts come under the exclusive

control of the Direction of the Baltic district : —

1. All eastern and northern leaved and other

forests, from which timber can be conveyed to
St Petersburg, after the distribution of lands to
peasants, namely, lands producing less remun-
erative qualities of timber.

2. Several wooded districts of St Petersburg
government already apportioned to the Morin
department.

3. Forest districts and parks which have to be set

aside, on account of adaptability for timber
being floated down by flowing rivers in
Olonetz, Novgorod, and St Petersburg govern-
ments, after deduction of lands apportioned to
government peasants, and for building of
government and private barges, also for saw-
mills, and for Olonetz and St Petersburg
government foundries.

341. Out of the remaining portions of forests of this

district it is permitted to prepare timber for
building of ships, according to requirements,
but without exhausting the forests. The timber
requisite for government building purposes at
Revel is to be furnished as far as practicable from
government forests.

As regards management and improvement of forests,
the division of the same into forest districts, and

264 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

the preparation of building timber, the board of
management will be guided in its action by —

1. Rules existing for other Admiralty forest

districts.

2. Rules issued to the existing commission of

Pudosk town, and pre- sketched in code, &c.,
of Department of goverment forests.

3. General forest laws.

The Department of admiralty forests is, however,
directed to issue, without loss of time, a codex for
the Baltic districts, with basis of rules existing for
northern districts of leaved forests.'

In Courland there are several forests belonging to the
government, and in the codification of the then existing
laws in regard to administration and management of forests,
the following were published as the laws and regulations
relating to these forests, specifications being given of the
chapter and section of the law on which each statement
was based : —

' Foundation of Board of Management oj Government
Forests in the Government of Courland.

DIVISION I. — GENERAL COMPOSITION OF BOARD.

* 362. The local management of government forests of Cour-
land belongs to that of the Courland Palata Imperial
Domains, which manages these forests on strength of
rules 867 to 1,050, 1,534 to 1,589, 1,645 to 1,668 of
this codex.

363. In forest districts of Courland there exist, (1)
foresters, according to rules of forest corps, as
stated in section 70-71 ; (2) foresters and under
foresters, with warders and guardians.

Note.— The foresters and foresters' assistants
presently existing are to be replaced, on their
leaving the service, by students of the forest corps

FOREST ADMINISTRATION. 265

of the St Petersburg Institute, and these may
serve up to grade of Lieutenant-Colonel.

o(34. All the governments constituting Courland are divided
into twenty-nine forestries. To each is attached
a forester, two under foresters, according to size of
district, and two or three warders on horseback.
The foresters are appointed by the forest depart-
ment of Imperial Domains on recommendation of
Palata; the rest are appointed and dismissed on
option of Palata.

365. Forest warders are appointed to watch over the con-
servation and security of government forests ; and
these are elected from holders of government
dairies or farms situated within the limits of the
district. The number of these to be fixed by
Palata of government domains, subject to approval
of local governor, in proportion as lands are
planned and mapped out, and the situation
becomes permanent ; and in order not to render
the situation complicated, they are to be excluded
from register of proprietors, for the time being, and
to be subject to the foresters, whose fields and
meadows they are required to till and cultivate.
In this office are to be placed only the best,
sober, and best behaved peasants, who are
irremovable from their position, and can only lose
their situation through bad behaviour and faults,
in which case their place is to be filled by others, by
arrangement of the Palata with the occupant for
the time being, and on the approval of the local
governor of the government.

The forest warders pay in the government
taxes to the forester, and the money due to the
owner for the time being they pay to the latter by
inventory — the so-called wakengeld — which money,
on the separation of the forest warders from the
dairies, is not to be deducted from the inventory ;
and the foresters pay over, or send those monies
to where they belong.

266 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

866. The exclusion of the forest warders from the lists of
proprietors for the time being is to be effected
at the close of the terms of rental, but should it
be necessary to relieve certain warders from their
duties towards the proprietors for the time being
before the term, then the Palata of Imperial domains
must, having solicited permission from the
governor, notify the forest department of Imperial
domains of the contemplated act, in order that the
minister of these domains may, in reference to the

government Palata, settle accounts with the
older of the dairy or farm, and reduce the rental
in proportion.

Of Duties and Emoluments of Foresters and Under Foresters,
and other Forest Servants.

367. Foresters, under foresters, and warders on horseback,

have their houses situated on lands belonging to
the government forests. Each forester (apparently
superior officer) has 10 desatins of arable land
allowed him, and meadows that yield 100 loads
(or 30 poods) of hay. Under foresters are allowed
one- half the allowance of a forester. The horse
warders are allowed 3 desatins, and of hay 25
cart loads. Besides this, the foresters are allowed
5 per cent, of the gross income of their circuit, and in
case of their exerting themselves, they may receive
extra remuneration.

368. The Palata of Imperial domains is to assign a

sufficient quantity of timber for the building
and repair of foresters', under foresters', and
warders' houses. The requisite supplies of work-
men are furnished from the government farms, which
receive building timber and firewood from the
forest circuit. The interior or ornamental work of
their house is to be done by the foresters, &c., but
this alone at their own expense. The sum expended

FOREST ADMINISTRATION. 267

is to be charged to the individual on the basis of a
twenty years' service, so that if a forester or under
forester, &c., leave the service, he will be charged
for the value of the house for as many years as he
has not served of the number of twenty years;
and the new comer is bound to pay his prede-
cessor, who has vacated by reason of death or
otherwise, for the remaining years up to the full
twenty years. For this reason the forester is
bound to give to the Palata of Imperial domains
an account of the sum expended in building his
house.

Xote. — The foresters, &c.. of the Baltic provinces,
are not subject to these rules, as houses, &c., are
furnished to them on other conditions.
3b'9. The cultivation of the fields and hay fields of the
foresters and under foresters is the duty of the
forest warders, inasmuch as these warders seldom
cultivate more than one desatin for themselves,
but the work of ploughing, reaping, and har-
vesting cannot be executed by the warders alone.
Therefore the Palata of Imperial domains is
required to calculate, on the basis of the amount of
land and the number of forest warders, how much
land each forester and under forester has unculti-
vated, in order that the necessary workmen may
be sent from the government farms, which receive
assistance in timber and firewood. On the basis
of this calculation of ploughed land, hay-fields,
and corn lands, the Palata sues for and allots all
the work and working days between the govern-
ment farms in proportion to the number of
peasants' houses.

370. The warders on horseback — mounted warders — are

bound to till their own fields.

371. The Palata of Imperial domains is diligently to see

that foresters and under foresters do not exact too
many duties according to schedule from the

268 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

forest warders, nor demand too rnucli assist-
ance from government farms, in order that all the
labour may be done according to correct time.

372. The foresters and under foresters may send the

forest warders with their produce to market ;
but not with more than six quarters of grain during
the whole winter.

373. The forest warders are under the immediate and

full control of the foresters and under foresters,
and are bound to guard the forests, and to ride
about them continually, and to execute their
superior's commands without fail ; and, as the
foresters and under foresters are responsible for
the neglect of the warders, they are at liberty
to inflict slight fines on the latter, and in case of
greater offences, to inflict corporal punishment, with
permission of the Palata of Imperial domains,
and in case of unfitness, to demand their expul-
sion from the service.

374. The Palata of Imperial domains requires the

government land surveyors in preparing the plans,
to suggest the most suitable track to be allotted to
the forest servants, warders, and inspectors ; these
plans are laid before the Palata, who again refers
them for sanction to the fourth department of Im-
perial domains. The proprietors for the time being
of the government farms, or their managers, are to
allow the forest inspectors as many workmen as
are allowed to other government peasants :
which allowance cannot be altered without the
sanction of the Palata.

375. The forest inspectors wear brass badges on their

coats that they may be recognised, and that no
opposition may be offered to them in the execution of
their duties/

CHAPTER III.
APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY AT DIFFERENT SEASONS.

OF Revel and Estonia, and of life there, a pleasing picture
is given in a small volume published in 1844 under the
title of Letters from the Shores of the Baltic.

The quantity of forest land in this province is small
in comparison with what there is in the more western
provinces ; but it is not altogether devoid of forests, and
in general aspects at the different seasons of the year, a
description of this may be accepted as more or less
descriptive of the characteristics of all. The authoress of
that work thus writes of a day spent in the country
shortly after her arrival : —

' Summer's busy workshop has long been closed, and
Nature has shrouded herself deep within her monumental
garments, though, as if to cheer us on the long and dreary
winter pilgrimage before us, she charitably reveals a few
glimpses of her real features, shows us here a line of bold
grey rocks butting through the snow, and there a dashing
cascade, which the frost has not yet completely stiffened,
till our faith in her hidden beauties is only equalled by
our impatience to behold them.

' There is something, however, very exhilarating in this
breathless, still, bright cold — with a clean white expanse
— a spotless world before you— every tree fringed — every
stream stopped — freedom to range over every summer
impediment ; while the crystal snow, lighting up into a
delicate pink or pearly hue, or glistening with the
brightest prismatic colours beneath the clear, low sun,
and assuming a beautiful lilac or blue where our long
shadows intercept its rays, can no longer be stigmatised

270 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

as a dead lifeless white. We walk every day, and no
sooner are the heavy double doors, which effectually seal
our house, heard to open, than half a dozen huge, deep-
mouthed cattle-hounds come bounding through the deep
snow to meet us, oversetting, with the first unwieldy caress,
some little one of our party, scarce so tall as themselves,
and even besetting the biggest with a battery of heavy
demonstrations, to which it is difficult to present a firm
front. Sometimes we take the beaten track of the road,
where peasants with rough carts, generally put together
with less iron than an English labourer would wear in his
shoes, pass on in files of nine or ten ; as often as not the
sheepish-looking driver, with his elf locks, superadding his
own weight to the already overladen little horse — or where
a nimble-footed peasant woman, with high cap and clean
sheepskin coat, plunges half-leg high into the deep snow
to give you room, and nodding, and showing her white
teeth, cheerily ejaculates Terre hommikust, or Good day.
Or we follow a track into the woods so narrow that we
walk in each other's steps like wild Indians, and the great
dogs sink up to their bodies in the snow whilst
endeavouring to pass us. This is the land of pines— lofty,
erect battalions — their bark as smooth as the mast of a
ship— their branches regular as a ladder, varying scarce an
inch in girth in fifty feet of growth — for miles interrupted
only by a leaning, never a crooked tree — with an army of
sturdy Lilliputians clustering round their bases — fifty
heads starting up where one yard of light is admitted.
What becomes of all the pruning, and trimming, and train-
ing—the days of precious labour spent on our own woods?
Nature here does all this, and immeasurably better, for
her volunteers, who stand closer, grow faster, and soar
higher, than the carefully planted and transplanted children
of our soil. Here and there a bare jagged trunk, and a
carpet of fresh-hewn boughs beneath, show where some
peasant-urchin has indulged in sport which with us would
be amenable to the laws — viz., mounted one of these
grenadiers of the forest, hewing off every successive bough

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 271

beneath him, till, perched at a giddy height aloft, he
clings to a tapering point which his hand may grasp. The
higher he goes the greater the feat, and the greater the
risk to his vagabond neck in descending the noble and
mutilated trunk. In perambulating these woods, the idea
would sometimes cross us that the wolves, the print of
whose footsteps, intercepted by the dotted track of the
hare and slenderly defined claws of numerous birds, are
seen in different directions, and even beneath the windows
of our house, might prowl by day as well as by night.
One day, when, fortunately perhaps, unescorted by the
huge dogs, we were mounting a hill to a neighbouring mill,
my companion suddenly halted, and lying her hand on
mine silently pointed to a moving object within fifty yards
of us. It was a great brute of a wolf stalking leisurely
along— its high bristly back set up — its head prowling
down — who took no notice of us. but slowly pursued the
same path into the wood which he had quitted a few
minutes before. We must both plead guilty to blanched
cheeks, but beyond this to no signs of cowardice ; and, in
truth, the instances are so rare of their attacking human
beings, even the most defenceless children, that we had no
cause for fear. They war not on man, unless under ex-
cessive pressure of hunger, or when, as in the case of a
butcher, his clothes are impregnated with the smell of fresh
blood. This is so certain an attraction that peasants
carrying butchers' meat are followed by wolves, and often
obliged to compound for their own safety by flinging the
dangerous commodity amongst them ; or if in a sledge, three
or four of these ravenous animals will spring upon the bas-
ket of meat and tear it open before their eyes. Wherever
an animal falls, there, though to all appearance no cover
nor sign of a wolf be visible for miles round, severa] will be
found congregated in half an hour's time. Such is their
horrid thirst for blood, that a wounded wolf knows that
only by the stictest concealment can he escape being torn
in pieces by his companions. As for the dogs, it is heart-
rending to think of the numbers which pay for their

272 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

fidelity with their lives. If a couple of wolves prowl
round a house, or fold, at night, a dozen dogs, with every
variety of tone, from the sharp yap of the shepherd's
terrier to the hoarse bay of the cattle-hound, will plunge
after them, and put them to flight. But if one, more
zealous, venture beyond his companions, the cunning
brutes face about, seize him, and before three minutes are
over there is nothing left of poor Carrier Pois, or sheep-
boy, — a common name for these great mastiffs, — but a few
tufts of bloody hair. The cattle defend themselves
valiantly, and the horses, and the mares especially who
have a foal at their side, put themselves in an attitude of
defence, and parry off the enemy with their fore-feet — their
iron hoofs often taking great effect. But woe be to them
if the wolf, breaking through the shower of blows, spring
at the throat, or, stealing behind his prey, fasten on the
flank ! — once down all is over, though there be but one
wolf. Sometimes, in a sudden wheel round, the wolf will
seize upon a cow's tail, on which he hangs with his jaws
of ten-horse power, while the poor animal drags him
round and round the field, and finally leaves the
unfortunate member in his grasp, too happy to escape
with a stump. At one time these animals increased so
frightfully in number that the Hit terse haft, or assembly
of knights, by which name the internal senate of this
province is designated, appointed a reward of five roubles
for every pair of ears brought to the magistrate of the
district. This worked some change, and, in proportion as
the wolves have fallen off, the Ritterschaft has dropped its
price, though an opposite policy would perhaps have been
more politic, and now a pair of ears, generally secured
from the destruction of a nest of young ones, does not
fetch more than a silver rouble, or three roubles and a
half.* An old plan to attract them was to tie a pig in a
sack, squeaking of course, upon a cart, and drive him
rapidly through a wood or morass. Any cry of an animal

* Paper. Nevertheless a thousand wolves upon the average are killed in a year.

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 273

is a gathering sound for the wolf, but the voice of man,
made in his Creator's image, will hold him aloof. The
blast of a horn greatly annoys them, a riddle makes them
rlv, and the giogling of bells is also a means of scaring
them, which, besides the expedience of proclaiming your
approach in dark nights on these noiseless sledge-roads, is
one reason why all winter equipages are fitted up with
bells.'

Nor is the breaking up of the winter in Estonia less
truly portrayed : — ' The soft hand of spring imperceptibly
withdraws the bolts and bars of winter, while the earth,
like a drowsy child, 'twixt sleeping and waking, flings off
one wrapper after another and opes its -heavy lids in
showers of sweet rivulets. And the snow disappears, and
the brown earth peeps almost dry from beneath ; and you
wonder where all the mountains of moisture are gone.
But wait — the rivers are still locked, and though a strong
current is pouring on their surface, yet, from the high
bridge, the green ice is still seen deep below, firm as a
rock — and dogs gj splashing over in the old track, and
peasant* with their horses venture long after it seems
prudent At length a sound like distant thunder, or the
crashing of a forest, meets your ear, and the words " i)er
Eisguny, der Eisyang ! " pass from mouth to mouth, and
those who would witness this northern scene hurry out to
the old stone bridge, and are obliged to take a circuitous
route, for the waters have risen ankle deep— and then
another crash, and you double your pace regardless of wet
feet, and are startled at the change which a few hours
have produced. On the one side, close besetting the bridge,
and high up the banks, lies a field of ice lifting the waters
before it and spreading them over the country ; while huge
masses flounder and swing against one another with loud
reports, and heave up their green transparent edges, full
six feet thick, with a majestic motion ; and all these press
heavily upon the bridge, which trembles at every stroke,
and stands like a living thing labouring and gasping for

24 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

breath through the small apertures of the almost chocked
arches. On the other side the river is free of ice, and a
furious stream, as if all the imprisoned waters of Russia
were let loose, is dashing down, bearing with it some huge
leviathan of semi-transparent crystal, and curdling its
waters about it, till this again is stopped by another field
of ice lower down.

' The waters were rising every minute — night was
approaching, and the beautiful old bridge gave us great
alarm, when a party of peasants, fresh from their supper
at the Ho/, and cheered with brandy, arrived to relieve it.
Each was armed with a long pole with an iron point, and
flying down the piles and on to the ice itself, began
hacking at the sides of the foremost monster, till,
impelled by the current beneath, it could fit and grind
itself through the bridge and gallop down to thunder
against its comrades below. The men were utterly
fearless, giving a keen sense of adventure to their danger-
ous task which rivetted us to the spot ; some of the most
daring standing and leaning with their whole weight over
the bed of the torrent upon the very mass they were
hewing off, till the slow swing which preceded the final
plunge: made them fly to the piles for safety. Some
fragments were doubly hard with imbedded stones and
pieces of timber, and no sooner wa>; one enemy despatched
than another succeeded ; and although bodies of men
continued relieving each other all night, the bridge
sustained such damage as could not be repaired. All was
over in twelve hours, but meanwhile, " the waters pre-
vailed exceedingly upon the earth," and every hill and
building stood insulated.

' Such was the picture of our life a fortnight ago, since
when a still more striking change, if possible, has come
over the face of things. The earth, which so lately
emerged from her winter garb, is now clad in the liveliest
livery ; while every tree and shrub have hastily changed
their dresses in Nature's vast green-room, and stand all

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 275

ready for the summer's short act. Nowhere is Nature's
hocus-pocus carried on so wonderfully — nowhere her
scene-shifting so inconceivably rapid. You may literally
see her movements. I have watched the birdcherry at
my window. Two days ago, and it was still the same
dried up spectre, whose every form, during the long winter,
the vacant eye had studiously examined while the thoughts
were far distant— yesterday, like the painter's Daphne, it
it was sprouting out at every finger, and to-day it has
shaken out its whole complement of leaves, and is throwing
a verdant twilight over my darkened room. The whole
air is full of the soft stirring sounds of the swollen buds
snapping and cracking into life, and impregnated with
the perfume of the fresh, oily leaves. The waters are full
and clear — the skies blue and serene — night and day are
fast blending into one continuous stream of soft light, and
this our new existence is one perpetual feast. Ob, winter !
where is thy victory? The resurrection of spring speaks
volumes.'

The same pencil has painted the passing away of
summer : — ' The beauties of autumn, and the moral of its
yellow leaves, are seen and felt in all countries. Nowhere,
however, I am inclined to think, can the former be so
resplendent, or the latter so touching, as in the land where
I am still a sojourn er. In our temperate isle autumn
may be contemplated as the glorious passing away of the
well-matured — the radiant death-bed of the ripe in years
— while here the brilliant colours on earth and sky are
like the hectic cheek and kindling eye of some beautiful
being whose too hasty development has been but the
presage of a premature decay. Thus it is that the vast
plains and woods of Estonia are now displaying the most
gorgeous colours of their palette, ere the white brush of
winter sweep their beauties from sight, while the golden
and crimson wreaths of deciduous trees, peeping from
amongst the forests of sober pines, may be compared to
gay lichens sprinkling their hues over a cold grey rock, or

276 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA.

to a transient smile passing over the habitual brow of
care.

' But all too hasty is the progress of this splendid
funeral march —even now its pomp is hidden by gloomy
slanting rains, its last tones lost in the howl of angry
blasts, which, as if impatient to assume their empire, are
rudely stripping off and trampling down every vestige of
summer's short-lived festival, while Nature, shorn of her
wealth, holds out here and there a streamer of bright
colours, like a bankrupt still eager to flaunt in the finery
of better days.'

FINIS.

GENERAL LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA— BERKELEY

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