Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/410

* RUSSIA. 370 RUSSIA. acres; in Finlnnd, 50,000,000; and in Poland, 6,700.000. .Stock-Raisixg. In its live-stock interests Rus- sia naturally surpasses any other country of Europe. Nearly half the horses of the Continent are raised in Russia; it leads all the other coun- tries in cattle, sheep, and goats, and is inferior only to Germany in the nuniher of hogs. In iiro- portion to the population, however, Russia's wealth in live stock is not remarkable. The in- dustry is largest on the broad southwestern steppe, where the animals spend the whole year in the open air. Farther north, however, animals must be fed under cover for 100 to 200 days in the year, and this is a great region of hay-mak- ing. The breeding of domestic animals is not skillfull,v conducted except as to horses, the 3000 stud farms by which the Government is promot- ing this industry having been so successful that Russia now has not only the most, but also the best horses in Europe. Meat, tallow, and hides are the main objects of cattle-raising, dairy in- terests being neglected. Next to Great Britain, Russia yields the largest quantity of wool in Europe, all of which is utilized in the Russian wool factories, most of it being sold in the great wool markets of Warsaw, Kharkov, Xizhni-Xovgorod, and Rostov. Bristles are the chief article of hog products exported. Camels are bred in the southeast, and reindeer form the wealth of the Laplanders and the inhabitants of Xortheast Siberia, The num- ber of domestic animals in the empire in 1900 was: Horses, 25,9(il,700; cattle, 43,58(5,900: sheep and goats. 70,647,300; hogs, 13,924.500. Perhaps in no other country are fish so important in domestic economy as in Russia. On account of the numerous fast-days, fish are indispensable to the whole nation; and though the value of the home fisheries is in some years as high as $50,- 000.000, large imports are necessary, and isin- glass and caviare are the only fishery produce exported. Ma>'UFACTURES. The Government protects home industries by imposing a very high tariff on imports, averaging about 35 per cent, of their value. Until about 1S20 Russia was almost com- pletely dependent upon other nations for manu- factured goods, ilanufactures have wonderfully developed imder the protective tariff, but the hardships of excessive protection have forced the Government recently to abolish some of the im- port duties, notably those on iron and steel. In- dustries have been greatl.v promoted by the variety of raw material which the empire aft'ords, as well as by the abundance of capital (much of it from foi-eign coimtries, attracted into the em- pire by high protection) and the large dividends which enterprises in Russia have yielded. Trained talent and highly skilled labor from foreign coun- tries are largely employed. The superintendents, chemists, engineers, and mechanics in the fac- tories are generally foreigners. The industrial system differs much from those of more western countries. The larger part of the Russian factories are very small and are situated in the country, not, as in the United States and England, in the towns. The majority of the work people are engaged in agriculture in' summer, but devote the long winters to various manufactures, either in their own homes, or in towns, whither they rejiair for employment. Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Warsaw, Lodz, and Bialystok have a permanent manufacturing population. IMany other cities attract to their factories in winter thousands of work people from the farms; and a. large part of the factory hands in all the larger centres are those who have abandoned agriculture for manufacturing pursuits. The nuinufacture of linen, wocden gooils, leather, house utensils, earth- enware, hats, and many other articles is still ciy largely in the hands of peasant work people (Kustari), who produce their wares in their own homes or village shops. Their work is highly skilled, for the division of labor is often carried to a very great length. There are more than 100,000 of these small factories and home workshops, most of which were not included in the enumeration of manufactories (including mining industries) in Russia proper in 1897, wlicn the number of establishments was given as 39.029, employing 2.098,202 work people, and with a total product valued at $1,402,159,160. The chief branches of industry, with the number of people employed and value of production, were, in 1897 : People employed Production Articles of food , 255,357 642.5i0 64,418 86.273 35.320 46.190 758,644 143,291 66,249 $333 779 740 Textiles .... 487 34"* 440 68,009,870 52 991 955 Wool ■... . . 30,670,825 23 427 350 Paper and cardboard . Metals 362.753,125 ±0 533 R50 Ceramics Other 60,650,005 Total 2,098,262 $1,462,159,160 In 1898 the capital invested in the leading financial, manufacturing, industrial, .steamship, and other Russian enterprises, numbering 1181, was estimated at $894,480,840, nearly 20 per cent, of which was supplied by foreign com- panies. Moscow is the greatest industrial centre. The output of the textile industries is of greater value than that of any branch of manufactures. Only imported cotton goods were worn before 1840, but there are now nearly 5.000,000 cotton spindles, and Russia is surpassed in amount of cotton spinning only by Great Britain and the United States. The ])roduct of the cotton indus- try was valued in 1897 at 430.218.000 rubles, or about half the value of the entire textile output. The product not only meets almost the entire do- mestic demand, but there is also a stirplus for ex- port to Asia and Runumia. Russian cotton goods cannot compete in the markets of Central and Western Europe: neither is there any market in Russia for any Western cotton products excepting the finer fabrics which are not vet produced at home. The chief cotton-manufacturing centres are the JIoscow district, with large dyeing and print- ing works, A'ladiniir, Ivanovna. Tver, Shuya, Saint Petersburg. Warsaw, and Lodz, which last produces seven-eighths of all the cotton cloth made in Poland and one-tenth of the cotton yarn spun in Russia, The woolen industry also has greatly expanded, especially in the manufacture of cloth, the Moscow district leading. The car- pets of Vassilievka, near Moscow, are noteworthy. The value of the flax and hempen goods, produced chiefly in the households and in the factories of the central governments, averages about $125,- 000,000 a year. The silk industiy, centred al- most wholly in the ^Moscow district, consumes