'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, -To.) • and must be at least
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 —
Pipe, 6 feet long, 6x3 inches, ^
Brandy 5
Hogshead, 4 feet long, 6x3 inches, j All reduced to
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Heading, long, 2i ft. long, 6 x 3 in.. |
„ short, IJ „ And were then worth, Crown, £140 per 1,200 pieces.
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.
First Midlg, Second „ Inferior,,
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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, in.
Staves. — Crown Pipe, £150, 1st Brack,.. 125 Os, Od. per 1,200 pieces.
Memel, a Prussian port, is situated not far from the 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 government 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 provinces, 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 on 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 nexfc 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