Note 8 — Chapter VIII · CARBON AND THE HYDROCARBONS

The principal coal beds of Russia under exploitation are: The Don basin (150 million poods per annum, 62 poods = 1 ton), the Polish basin (Dombrovo and others 120 million poods per annum), the Toula and Riazan beds of the Moscow basin (up to 25 million poods), the Ural basin (10 million poods), the Caucasian (Kviboul, near Kutais), the Khirjhis steppes, the smithy coal basin (Gov. of Tomsk), the Sahaline, &c. The Polish and Moscow basins do not give any coking coals. The presence of every variety of coal (from the dry coal near Lisichansk on the Donetz to the anthracites of the entire south-east basin), the great abundance of excellent metallurgical coal (coking, see Note 6) in the western part of the basin, its vast extent (as much as 25,000 sq. versts), the proximity of the seams to the surface (the shafts are now from 20 to 100 fathoms deep, and in England and Belgium as deep as 500 fathoms), the fertility of the soil (black earth), the proximity of the sea (about 100 versts from the Sea of Azoff) and of the rivers Donetz, Don, and Dneiper, the most abundant seams of excellent iron ore (Korsan Mogila, Krivoy Rog, Soulin, &c., &c.), copper ore, mercury ore (near Nikitovka, in the Bakhmouth district of the Ekaterinoslav Gov.), and other ores, the richest probably in the whole world, the beds of rock-salt (near the stations of the Stoupka and Brianzovka) the excellent clay of all kinds (china, fire-clay), gypsum, slate, sandstone, and other wealth of the Don coal basin, give complete assurance of the fact that with the growth of industrial activity in Russia this bountiful land of the Cossacks and New Russia will become the centre of the most extensive productive enterprise, not for the requirements of Russia alone, but of the whole world, because in no other place can be found such a concentration of favourable conditions. The growth of enterprise and knowledge, together with the extinction of the forests which compels Russia to foster the production of coal, will help to bring about this desired result. England with a whole fleet of merchant vessels exports annually about 25 million tons of coal, the price of which is higher than on the Donetz (where a pood of worked coal costs less than 5 copecks on the average), where anthracites and semi-anthracites (like Cardiff or steam coal, which burns without smoke) and coking and metallurgical coals are able both in quantity and quality to satisfy the most fastidious requirements of the industry already existing and rapidly increasing everywhere. The coal mines of England and Belgium are approaching a state of exhaustion, whilst in those of the Don basin, only at a depth of 100 fathoms, 1,200,000 million poods of coal lie waiting to be worked.