* So the importation of forest materials to the places destitute of wood in the Orel government is inevitable; it will increase yearly, and the prices, with the opening of railways, will rise greatly. The most profitable 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 farther 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
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estates the characteristic of one econ^fcic&Lunit, 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 importance 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 advantageous 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 particularly 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 correspond with the demand, and this is the principal thing in every traffic; as for the prices, they will rise every year in 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.