Boilers in Russian ships are nearly all of the Belleville type. The war has considerably reduced Russia's battle fleet strength. The old battleships are of no special interest, except that they have received modern 6-inch quick-firers and been otherwise brought to date. The Osliabia is a compromise between a battleship and a cruiser, and not satisfactory as either. She is a huge target, though well-designed internally. Her 10-inch guns are more powerful than the 12-inch of her predecessors. The Tsessarevitch, Borodino, &c., are all excellent ships of French type, very well armoured and with modern guns of high power and good command. The Imperator Pavel is a Borodino with a superior secondary armament. The new projected battleships are not yet laid down. The coast defence battleships are small and none too seaworthy, but carry fairly powerful guns. The older cruisers, though employed in the Baltic Fleet, have little fighting utility. The Rossia represent a of a bye-gone monster cruiser era, the Gromoboi is an attempt to bring those ideas up to date. The other cruisers are merely protected vessels of the ordinary type, and of no special interest except for their high speed. The new 10,000 ton cruisers are as yet only projected, and will be improved versions of the armoured cruiser Bayan, lost at Port Arthur. The Black Sea battleships up to the Georgi Pobiedonosetz represent obsolete type. The Tri Sviatitelia is an improved edition of the British Trafalgar. The Rostislav is a well-designed little vessel, with all her guns coupled in turrets on the upper deck. The Kniaz Potemkin Tavrichesky, Johann Zlatoust, and Efstafi are practically copies of the U.S. Maine, and very powerfully armed. The Black Sea cruisers duplicate cruisers in the other squadrons. No more ships are to be laid down in the Black Sea. The entire Russian fleet, excepting Black Sea ships, is now under Admiral Rojestvensky in the Baltic Fleet. Production and Industry. I. AGRICULTURAL. The whole territory of the 50 Governments of European Russia proper, and of the 10 Governments of the Kingdom of Poland, is distributed among different owners, as follows: The distribution of land according to its nature, in European Russia proper and in Poland, is as follows: Previous to the Emancipation Act of February 19 (March 3), 1861, all peasants were serfs of the State, of the Crown, or of the nobility. In 1861 the State bought of the serf-owners the lands upon which the serfs were settled, and has since then liberated the serfs and sold the land to them in consider. ation of 49 annual payments, each amounting to 40 million roubles. In nine-tenths of the cases the serfs acquired land independently of any desire to do so, the prices having been fixed either by special commissions, in which they took no part, or else by Government. The last annual payments from the Crown peasants and the liberated serfs are shown in the table of actual ordinary revenue (see above). The actual state of the redemption operation among the village communi ties is seen from the following accounts up till January 1, 1902. The accounts are shown separately for liberated serfs, for crown-peasants, and for peasants of imperial domains : Crops.-The cereal crops of Russia (exclusive of Finland) for 1903 and for the period 1898-1902 (average yield) are seen from the following, in thousands of pouds for all sorts of grain and for potatoes ; Yield of crops in 72 governments of Russia for the last 10 years, in millions of pouds : Years Total Number Number Number Number production in of inhabit- of pouds Years production in of inhabit- of pouds 1,000,000 of ants per 1 inhab. Total 1,000,000 of ants Millions per 1 inhab. The yield of all kinds of crops in 1904 was 4,371 millions of pouds, as against 3,643 of an average yield for the period 1899-1903, 4,108 in 1902, and 3,938 in 1903. Of special cultures there were in 72 governments and provinces of Russia in 1902, 4,456,926 acres under flax (yield 580,128 tons of flax fibre and 560,220 tons of linseed), 2,117,471 acres under hemp (yield 340,093 tons of fibre and 459,356 of hempseed). The amount of hay gathered in 1903 in thousands of pouds: European Russia proper, 2,119,8287; Poland, 122,7166; Northern Caucasia, 213,248 8; Siberia, 469,597.2; the Steppes, 186, 246 6; total, 3,111,637.9 (50,165,170 tons) from 34,587,035 dessiatines (93,375,656 acres). In 1899 in Transcaucasia there were 250,675 acres under vines yielding (exclusive of grapes grown for sale) 17,043,000 gallons of wine. În 1902 there were in the Russian Empire 163,672 acres under tobacco, yielding 98,682 tons. The governments yielding the greatest quantities of tobacco are: Chernigov, Kuban, Poltava, Tambov, Tauride, and Kutais (81 per cent. of total production). Tea planting is extending in Transcaucasia. The cotton crops in Turkestan which covered, in 1888, 214,115 acres, and yielded 325,148 cwt. of raw cotton one-half of which was the American, and the other half the local cotton tree, attained in 1902 to 531,037 acres, chiefly in Fergaanh (402,080 acres), and yielding 950,320 cwt. of raw cotton out of which 88 per cent. was the American, and 12 per cent. the local cotton tree. Khiva and Bokhara supplied in 1902 628,000 cwt. In 1902 the cotton crop in Transcaucasia yielded 240,000 cwt. of raw cotton (Erivan, 160,000 cwt.; Elisabethpol, 48,000 cwt.; Baku, 19,200 cwt.; Kutais, 9,600 cwt.; Tiflis, 3,200 cwt.). Nearly 2,670,000 cwt. of rice are grown every year in Turkestan. Production of cocoon silk in Turkestan, 77,380 cwt. in 1903 (38,693 cwt. in 1892). Number of horses, cattle, &c., in 1902 in thousands : Meat production of the Empire during the last five years in thousands of slaughtered beasts : Of the total area of the Empire under forest, only that of European Russia proper, the Kingdom of Poland and the Caucasus can be estimated with some degree of certitude. In European Russia forests cover a territory of 474 millions of acres; in Finland, 50.5 millions; in Poland, 6.7 millions; in the Caucasus, 18.7 millions, reaching a total for the regions named of 550 millions of acres, 39 per cent. of total area. In the two Ural mountain provinces forests cover 70 per cent. of total area; in the two northern |