Bulgarian farmer

The Bulgarian farmer has

not as yet quite learned the use of manures. In the province of Sofia sheep’s

dung is turned to account. In the StaraPlanina district, the Rhodopes, and

SrednaGora, where the earth is poor, and chiefly vines, roses, and fruit are

grown, manure is indispensable for fertilisation. Stable manure is the only

kind in use.

The principal industrial plants grown in

Bulgaria are tobacco, roses, and beetroot.

Tobacco culture is carried on chiefly in

the South and in the provinces of Silistria and Kustendil. The area of the

plantations is estimated at 3,000 hectares. The province of Haskovo has the

greatest yield, over 800,000 kilograms of tobacco yearly; then follows

Philippopolis, with 300,000 kilograms; Kustendil, 270,000 kilograms; Silistria,

210,000 kilograms. According to approximate calculations based on various

statistics, we may conclude that threefourths of the tobacco crop of the

Principality is consumed by the inhabitants and only a quarter is exported. In

point of view of quality, Bulgarian tobacco may be compared with the Turkish

tobacco of Macedonia and Enidj. Leaf tobacco for manufacture is sold at from 80

centimes to 1 franc 50 centimes the kilogram. The Bulgarian Government

encourages the chlture of tobacco by distributing seed of good quality, free of

cost, among the planters, by setting a bounty on the export tariff and by

authorising the Bulgarian National Bank toconsent to loans on the surety of

certificates granted to the planters until they are able to dispose of their

crops advantageously.

The rose crop is next in importance after

tobacco. The roses are used exclusively for the distilling of the famous

Bulgarian attar of roses, which is known and appreciated throughout the world,

and received the highest distinctions at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. The rose

gardens are limited to 148 parishes of the provinces of Philippopolis and

StaraZagora, and occupy a total area of 5,094 hectares. The quantity and

quality of the attar depend very much on the weather at the time of bloom and

gathering. The roses most cultivated in Bulgaria are the red rose (Rosa

damascena) and the white rose {Rosa alba). The best gardens are at Kazanlik,

Karlovo, Klissoura, and StaraZagora.

The following table shows the amount of attar exported

The cultivation of beetroot has been

introduced quite recently and is confined to the province of Sofia, where it

occupies 2,000 hectares. The sugar refinery near Sofia utilises the whole crop.

Hemp and rape are being more and more

grown—rape for exportation, and hemp for its fibre, which is used by rope

makers, especially in the large ropeworks near Sofia.

Rice is largely grown in the province of

Philippopolis and, to a certain extent, at Kotcharinova, in the province of

Kusten dil. The crop is estimated at two million kilograms yearly.

The yield of haricot beans is about eight

million kilograms yearly.