000 |
| 1909 | 7,800,000 | |
+---------+---------------+----------------+

The chief districts were the following in 1900:--

+---------------+------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Government. | Factories. | Spindles | Looms |
| | | (in thousands). | (in thousands). |
+---------------+------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Moscow | 56 | 1295 | 33 |
| Vladimir | 67 | 1224 | 42 |
| Piotrkov | 25 | 745 | 20 |
| St Petersburg | 24 | 1074 | 11 |
| Jaroslaw | 4 | 347 | 2 |
| Kostroma | 25 | 274 | 20 |
| Tver | 6 | 348 | 9 |
| Esthonia | 1 | 440 | 2 |
| Ryazan | 4 | 146 | 3 |
| Elsewhere | 15 | 198 | 4 |
| +------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Total | 227 | 6091 | 146 |
+---------------+------------+-----------------+-----------------+

Fine spinning has been attempted only recently. Generally speaking
70's used to be the upper limit, but now counts up to 140's are tried,
though the bulk of the output is coarse yarn. The inefficiency of the
labour was made abundantly plain by Dr Schulze-Gaevernitz in his
economic study of Russia, and conditions have not greatly altered for
the better since. Roughly, 170,000 operatives worked 6,000,000
spindles in 1900, which means 35 spindles per head as compared with
more than 100 in Saxony and more than 200 in England. In weaving the
ratio of operatives to machinery worked out at about one loom to each
weaver, which is comparatively much less unfavourable to Russia. The
proportion in Saxony is about the same, but in England the average
approaches two looms to a weaver. The speed of machinery cannot be
compared, and we must remember that the above contrasts are rough
only, and made without regard to differences of product. Russia is
encouraging the growth of cotton at home. It is of very inferior
quality, but 100,000 tons from the province