Astragalus, Ornithogalum, Allium, Crocus, Iris, Thymus, Umbellifera, Sedum, Hypericum, Scabiosa, Ranunculus, Orchis, Ophrys.

Forests.—The principal forest trees are the oak, beech, ash, elm, walnut, cornel, poplar, pine and juniper. The oak is universal in the thickets, but large specimens are now rarely found. Magnificent forests of beech clothe the valleys of the higher Balkans and the Rilska Planina; the northern declivity of the Balkans is, in general, well wooded, but the southern slope is bare. The walnut and chestnut are mainly confined to eastern Rumelia. Conifers (Pinus silvestris, Picea excelsa, Pinus laricis, Pinus mughus) are rare in the Balkans, but abundant in the higher regions of the southern mountain group, where the Pinus peuce, otherwise peculiar to the Himalayas, also flourishes. The wild lilac forms a beautiful feature in the spring landscape. Wild fruit trees, such as the apple, pear and plum, are common. The vast forests of the middle ages disappeared under the supine Turkish administration, which took no measures for their protection, and even destroyed the woods in the neighbourhood of towns and highways in order to deprive brigands of shelter. A law passed in 1889 prohibits disforesting, limits the right of cutting timber, and places the state forests under the control of inspectors. According to official statistics, 11,640 sq. m. or about 30% of the whole superficies of the kingdom, are under forest, but the greater portion of this area is covered only by brushwood and scrub. The beautiful forests of the Rila district are rapidly disappearing under exploitation.

Agriculture.—Agriculture, the main source of wealth to the country, is still in an extremely primitive condition. The ignorance and conservatism of the peasantry, the habits engendered by widespread insecurity and the fear of official rapacity under Turkish rule, insufficiency of communications, want of capital, and in some districts sparsity of population, have all tended to retard the development of this most important industry. The peasants cling to traditional usage, and look with suspicion on modern implements and new-fangled modes of production. The plough is of a primeval type, rotation of crops is only partially practised, and the use of manure is almost unknown. The government has sedulously endeavoured to introduce more enlightened methods and ideas by the establishment of agricultural schools, the appointment of itinerant professors and inspectors, the distribution of better kinds of seeds, improved implements, &c. Efforts have been made to improve the breeds of native cattle and horses, and stallions have been introduced from Hungary and distributed throughout the country. Oxen and buffaloes are the principal animals of draught; the buffalo, which was apparently introduced from Asia in remote times, is much prized by the peasants for its patience and strength; it is, however, somewhat delicate and requires much care. In

[v.04 p.0775]the eastern districts camels are also employed. The Bulgarian horses are small, but remarkably hardy, wiry and intelligent; they are as a rule unfitted for draught and cavalry purposes. The best sheep are found in the district of Karnobat in Eastern Rumelia. The number of goats in the country tends to decline, a relatively high tax being imposed on these animals owing to the injury they inflict on young trees. The average price of oxen is £5 each, draught oxen £12 the pair, buffaloes £14 the pair, cows £2, horses £6, sheep, 7s., goats 5s., each. The principal cereals are wheat, maize, rye, barley, oats and millet. The cultivation of maize is increasing in the Danubian and eastern districts. Rice-fields are found in the neighbourhood of Philippopolis. Cereals represent about 80% of the total exports. Besides grain, Bulgaria produces wine, tobacco, attar of roses, silk and cotton. The quality of the grape is excellent, and could the peasants be induced to abandon their highly primitive mode of wine-making the Bulgarian vintages would rank among the best European growths. The tobacco, which is not of the highest quality, is grown in considerable quantities for home consumption and only an insignificant amount is exported. The best tobacco-fields in Bulgaria are on the northern slopes of Rhodope, but the southern declivity, which produces the famous Kavala growth, is more adapted to the cultivation of the plant. The rose-fields of Kazanlyk and Karlovo lie in the sheltered valleys between the Balkans and the parallel chains of the Sredna Gora and Karaja Dagh. About 6000 lb of the rose-essence is annually exported, being valued from £12 to £14 per lb. Beetroot is cultivated in the neighbourhood of Sofia. Sericulture, formerly an important industry, has declined owing to disease among the silkworms, but efforts are being made to revive it with promise of success. Cotton is grown in the southern districts of Eastern Rumelia.

Peasant proprietorship is universal, the small freeholds averaging about 18 acres each. There are scarcely any large estates owned by individuals, but some of the monasteries possess considerable domains. The large tchifliks, or farms, formerly belonging to Turkish landowners, have been divided among the peasants. The rural proprietors enjoy the right of pasturing their cattle on the common lands belonging to each village, and of cutting wood in the state forests. They live in a condition of rude comfort, and poverty is practically unknown, except in the towns. A peculiarly interesting feature in Bulgarian agricultural life is the zadruga, or house-community, a patriarchal institution apparently dating from prehistoric times. Family groups, sometimes numbering several dozen persons, dwell together on a farm in the observance of strictly communistic principles. The association is ruled by a house-father (domakin, stareïshina), and a house-mother (domakinia), who assign to the members their respective tasks. In addition to the farm work the members often practise various trades, the proceeds of which are paid into the general treasury. The community sometimes includes a priest, whose fees for baptisms, &c., augment the common fund. The national aptitude for combination is also displayed in the associations of market gardeners (gradinarski druzhini, taifi), who in the spring leave their native districts for the purpose of cultivating gardens in the neighbourhood of some town, either in Bulgaria or abroad, returning in the autumn, when they divide the profits of the enterprise; the number of persons annually thus engaged probably exceeds 10,000. Associations for various agricultural, mining and industrial undertakings and provident societies are numerous: the handicraftsmen in the towns are organized in esnafs or gilds.

Manufactures.—The development of manufacturing enterprise on a large scale has been retarded by want of capital. The principal establishments for the native manufactures of aba and shayak (rough and fine homespuns), and of gaitan (braided embroidery) are at Sliven and Gabrovo respectively. The Bulgarian homespuns, which are made of pure wool, are of admirable quality. The exportation of textiles is almost exclusively to Turkey: value in 1806, £104,046; in 1898, £144,726; in 1904, £108,685. Unfortunately the home demand for native fabrics is diminishing owing to foreign competition; the smaller textile industries are declining, and the picturesque, durable, and comfortable costume of the country is giving way to cheap ready-made clothing imported from Austria. The government has endeavoured to stimulate the home industry by ordering all persons in its employment to wear the native cloth, and the army is supplied almost exclusively by the factories at Sliven. A great number of small distilleries exist throughout the country; there are breweries in all the principal towns, tanneries at Sevlievo, Varna, &c., numerous corn-mills worked by water and steam, and sawmills, turned by the mountain torrents, in the Balkans and Rhodope. A certain amount of foreign capital has been invested in industrial enterprises; the most notable are sugar-refineries in the neighbourhood of Sofia and Philippopolis, and a cotton-spinning mill at Varna, on which an English company has expended about £60,000.

Commerce.—The usages of internal commerce have been considerably modified by the development of communications. The primitive system of barter in kind still exists in the rural districts, but is gradually disappearing. The great fairs (panaïri, πανηγύρεις) held at Eski-Jumaia, Dobritch and other towns, which formerly attracted multitudes of foreigners as well as natives, have lost much of their importance; a considerable amount of business, however, is still transacted at these gatherings, of which ninety-seven were held in 1898. The principal seats of the export trade are Varna, Burgas and Baltchik on the Black Sea, and Svishtov, Rustchuk, Nikopolis, Silistria, Rakhovo, and Vidin on the Danube. The chief centres of distribution for imports are Varna, Sofia, Rustchuk, Philippopolis and Burgas. About 10% of the exports passes over the Turkish frontier, but the government is making great efforts to divert the trade to Varna and Burgas, and important harbour works have been carried out at both these ports. The new port of Burgas was formally opened in 1904, that of Varna in 1906.

In 1887 the total value of Bulgarian foreign commerce was £4,419,589. The following table gives the values for the six years ending 1904. The great fluctuations in the exports are due to the variations of the harvest, on which the prosperity of the country practically depends:—

The principal exports are cereals, live stock, homespuns, hides, cheese, eggs, attar of roses. Exports to the United Kingdom in 1900 were valued at £239,665; in 1904 at £989,127. The principal imports are textiles, metal goods, colonial goods, implements, furniture, leather, petroleum. Imports from the United Kingdom in 1900, £301,150; in 1904, £793,972.

The National Bank, a state institution with a capital of £400,000, has its central establishment at Sofia, and branches at Philippopolis, Rustchuk, Varna, Trnovo and Burgas. Besides conducting the ordinary banking operations, it issues loans on mortgage. Four other banks have been founded at Sofia by groups of foreign and native capitalists. There are several private banks in the country. The Imperial Ottoman Bank and the Industrial Bank of Kiev have branches at Philippopolis and Sofia respectively. The agricultural chests, founded by Midhat Pasha in 1863, and reorganized in 1894, have done much to rescue the peasantry from the hands of usurers. They serve as treasuries for the local administration, accept deposits at interest, and make loans to the peasants on mortgage or the security of two solvent landowners at 8%. Their capital in 1887 was £569,260; in 1904, £1,440,000. Since 1893 they have been constituted as the "Bulgarian Agricultural Bank"; the central direction is at Sofia. The post-office savings bank, established 1896, had in 1905 a capital of £1,360,560.

There are over 200 registered provident societies in the country. The legal rate of interest is 10%, but much higher rates are not uncommon.

Bulgaria, like the neighbouring states of the Peninsula, has adopted the metric system. Turkish weights and measures, however, are still largely employed in local commerce. The monetary unit is the lev, or "lion" (pl. leva), nominally equal to the franc, with its submultiple the stotinka (pl. -ki), or centime. The coinage consists of nickel and bronze coins (2½, 5, 10 and 20 stotinki) and silver coins

[v.04 p.0776](50 stotinki; 1, 2 and 5 leva). A gold coinage was struck in 1893 with pieces corresponding to those of the Latin Union. The Turkish pound and foreign gold coins are also in general circulation. The National Bank issues notes for 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 leva, payable in gold. Notes payable in silver are also issued.

Finance.—It is only possible here to deal with Bulgarian finance prior to the declaration of independence in 1908. At the outset of its career the principality was practically unencumbered with any debt, external or internal. The stipulations of the Berlin Treaty (Art. ix.) with regard to the payment of a tribute to the sultan and the assumption of an "equitable proportion" of the Ottoman Debt were never carried into effect. In 1883 the claim of Russia for the expenses of the occupation (under Art. xx. of the treaty) was fixed at 26,545,625 fr. (£1,061,820) payable in annual instalments of 2,100,000 fr. (£84,000). The union with Eastern Rumelia in 1885 entailed liability for the obligations of that province consisting of an annual tribute to Turkey of 2,951,000 fr. (£118,040) and a loan of 3,375,000 fr. (£135,000) contracted with the Imperial Ottoman Bank. In 1888 the purchase of the Varna-Rustchuk railway was effected by the issue of treasury bonds at 6% to the vendors. In 1889 a loan of 30,000,000 fr. (£1,200,000) bearing 6% interest was contracted with the Vienna Länderbank and Bankverein at 85½. In 1892 a further 6% loan of 142,780,000 fr. (£5,711,200) was contracted with the Länderbank at 83, 86 and 89. In 1902 a 5% loan of 106,000,000 fr. (£4,240,000), secured on the tobacco dues and the stamp-tax, was contracted with the Banque de l'État de Russie and the Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas at 81½, for the purpose of consolidating the floating debt, and in 1904 a 5% loan of 99,980,000 fr. (£3,999,200) at 82, with the same guarantees, was contracted with the last-named bank mainly for the purchase of war material in France and the construction of railways. In January 1906 the national debt stood as follows:—Outstanding amount of the consolidated loans, 363,070,500 fr. (£14,522,820); internal debt, 15,603,774 fr. (£624,151); Eastern Rumelian debt, 1,910,208 (£76,408). In February 1907 a 4½% loan of 145,000,000 fr. at 85, secured on the surplus proceeds of the revenues already pledged to the loans of 1902 and 1904, was contracted with the Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas associated with some German and Austrian banks for the conversion of the loans of 1888 and 1889 (requiring about