“We make no mental reservations with regard to Turkey. We do not dream of conquest or annexation. But the Bulgarian nation cannot look coolly on while our blood-brothers (those of our own blood) are being subjected to such ordeals as those they are suffering in Turkey. In the name of reciprocity, in the name of justice and of humanity, the Bulgarian nation demands that the right of existence, and that the right of free development in their nationality, and its religion, be granted to the Bulgarians of Macedonia. She demands that their right of enjoying the fruits of their labour be recognised.

“The Government has the strongest convictions on the subject of the national duty, and will not waver in carrying them out. It is the fulfilling of this duty which must constitute the foundation of friendly relations with Turkey, and in this matter the Government will stand firm.

“The arming of our military forces must, of necessity, be a contradiction. We live in the era of armed peace, and we must not lose sight of the fact that the peace of Europe is due, if not entirely, at any rate in great part, to the formidable armament that each country keeps up. Bulgaria, though small, cannot evade this essential, if she wishes to live in peace.”

Dr. Stancioff resumed his seat amid thunders of applause.

Parliament shortly afterwards adjourned, and we went home to snatch a hasty dinner and put on our war-paint for the smart ball at the Military Club.

Will Bulgaria declare war against Turkey? That was that night, and still is, the question on everyone’s lips in Sofia.

A difficult and little-understood problem—Bulgaria the “dark horse” of the Peninsula—An explanation of the question between Bulgaria and Turkey—The Bulgarian Church and the Imperial Firman—The present position of the Exarchate—Europe should listen to the Bulgarian demand—Chats with Macedonian orphans—Their terrible stories.

The question of the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Porte is of paramount importance in Bulgaria at the present moment—a very difficult problem which the Government have to face.

So little is it understood in England, even by those professing to be au courant with the Balkan question, that I may perhaps be pardoned if I endeavour to render the situation intelligible. “What does Bulgaria want?” is the question so very often asked. What she really wants, and what are her aims, will, I hope, be shown in the following pages.

Bulgaria, it must always be remembered, is with Servia, the coming mistress of the Balkans. She is the “dark horse” of the Peninsula. Her power is admitted, but the extent of her force cannot be gauged. One thing is certain, that the present Government being an essentially strong one, and Dr. Stancioff, the Foreign Minister, a man of action, Bulgaria will no longer sit still and allow her people in Macedonia to be decimated as they now are daily.

In view of this, therefore, it will perhaps be of interest to explain impartially at some little length the question which it is feared must, ere long, bring Turkey and Bulgaria face to face.

Ever since the liberation of Bulgaria up to the present moment the Bulgarian Exarchate has led a perturbed existence.

As long ago as the Russo-Turkish War it had to undergo serious trials, the Exarch being obliged to recall the Bulgarian bishops from the Macedonian diocese. When, after the Treaty of Berlin, he attempted to restore them to their former sees and to complete the organisation of the Bulgarian Church—in accordance with the Imperial Firman of May 16, 1870—by establishing a Synod and a Mixed Council, the Exarch received in 1883 from the Turkish Minister of Justice the following significant answer:—

“When we determine to grant you a status in the vilayets, then only we shall consider the matter of your administration.”

So that, after an existence of only three years, the Bulgarian Exarchate found its right of having a status in the vilayets put in question. This, however, did not discourage the Exarch. On the contrary, he redoubled his efforts. Relying upon the Imperial Firman, and assisted by the Bulgarian Government, he succeeded in winning for the Exarchate an official status in Macedonia, insisting at the same time on the formation of a Synod and a Mixed Council, attached to the Exarchate.

At the present day the authority of the Exarchate in Macedonia extends over seven dioceses, namely, Uskub, Ochrida, Debr, Monastir, Veless, Nevrokop, and Stroumitza. In addition to these, there are still ten bishoprics which, contrary to the Firman, remain vacant, because the Sultan refuses to grant the indispensable berats. During the period referred to, the Exarchate was also deprived of its right of representation at Sketcha and Malgara (vilayet of Adrianople), whose religious communities were suspended in 1897 by the Grand Vizier Rifaat Pasha. The Bulgarian chapel at Sketcha remains to this day under seals placed by the Imperial authorities, and consequently inaccessible to the spiritual needs of the Bulgarian population in that place.

The question of the Mixed Council and the Synod still remains open. The solution of this question is of supreme moment to the Exarchate and to the Bulgarian Government. This is due to the position and importance of the religious communities in the Turkish Empire.

For the better understanding of the bearing of the issues involved, it will be perhaps necessary to refer to the history of the Turkish Empire and its attitude towards Bulgaria.

As is well known, instead of trying to assimilate the Christian nations which they had conquered, the Turks always considered themselves masters of those whom they had vanquished. Their system of government in this respect is, of course, in perfect agreement with the spirit of their religion. The Koran subdivides all countries into two distinct groups: first those belonging to Islam, and secondly those under the domination of the giaours (infidels), with whom Islam was in a state of permanent war. The true believers, the followers of the Prophet, were declared rulers of the infidels. These purely theocratic principles of State organisation form, until this day, the basis of the Ottoman Empire.

As exponents of these principles, the Osmanlis did not attempt, after the conquest of Byzantium, to impose on their new subjects the Turkish State institutions or civil laws. Although despised and humiliated, the rayas continued to enjoy privileges which, in many respects, remind one of those subsequently granted by the capitulations to the foreign Christians. The place of the rulers of the conquered nations was now occupied by the representatives of their Church. As an instance, Mohammed II., conqueror of Constantinople, conferred upon the Patriarch of Constantinople the title of Miletbashi (Chief of the Nation), and entrusted to him the administration of the secular and spiritual interests of his flock. These same prerogatives were also granted to the Bulgarian Patriarchs of Tirnovo and Ochrida, as representatives of the Bulgarian nation. The spiritual leaders of the conquered races delegated, in their turn, part of their attributes to their inferiors—bishops and priests.

In this way, the clergy formed a body of functionaries invested with large administrative and judicial powers. Every religious community was entrusted with the repartition of the State taxes among the members of the community, and was responsible for their payment into the State Exchequer. In a word, the spiritual head of a Christian race was at the same time its civil representative before the Turkish authorities. As regards the Bulgarian nation, this mission was confided, down to the year 1770, to its Patriarchs—at first, to the Patriarchs of Tirnovo and Ochrida, and, later on, to that of the latter place—until the abolition of the Patriarchate of Ochrida, which was brought about by the intrigues of the Greeks.

The fact remains that during several centuries the Christians in the Turkish Empire—and among them the Bulgarians—have, owing to this peculiarity of the Turkish State policy, enjoyed a relative independence, and in this way have been able to preserve their nationality, language, and customs. These exceptional historical circumstances explain at the same time why, among these Christians, the sentiment of patriotism has been transformed into an attachment to their religious communities and their national Church.

This sentiment of patriotism and spiritual consciousness, which, owing to the oppression exercised by the Greek clergy, after the year 1770 had weakened to the extent of national self-forgetfulness and identification with the Greeks, awakened once more among the Bulgarians during the second half of last century. It acquired great force in the course of the struggle for the restoration of the ancient national Church. This new struggle began at the time of the Tanzimat, a period when the Porte had to fight against the growing omnipotence of the Patriarchate, which was threatening the very foundations of the State. It had, as its legal support, the Hatti-Houmayoun of 1856, which reverted to the historical rights of all religious communities. The second part of Section II. of this Act runs as follows:—

“Chaque communauté Chrétienne ou d’autre rite non-musulman sera tenue, dans un délai fixé et avec le concours d’une commission formée ad hoc dans son sein, de procéder, avec ma haute approbation et sous la surveillance de ma Sublime Porte, à l’examen de ses immunités et privilèges et d’y discuter et soumettre à ma Sublime Porte les réformes exigées par le progrès des lumières et du temps.”

Progress, as well as the State interests of the Empire at that time, required the administrative separation of the Bulgarian Church from the Patriarchate, and its endowment with a special chief and clergy. It is interesting to note that, in this struggle of the Sublime Porte with the Patriarchate for the denationalisation of the Christian communities—which had for its consequence the weakening of the Patriarchate and the restriction of its privileges—the Bulgarian nation acted as allies of the Empire, with “the high approval of the Sultan” and “under the control of the Sublime Porte.” Thanks mainly to this alliance and to this struggle against the Patriarchate in favour of the Bulgarian nation, the Patriarchate was considerably weakened through the Organic Statute of 1862, while the Bulgarian Church was restored in virtue of the Firman of 1870.

With the Bulgarian Church restored, it was necessary, in accordance with the Imperial Firman, that it should be organised after the pattern of the Eastern Orthodox Church, of which it formed a branch, without in any case departing from its canons. The Exarchate, as its highest administrative body, was organised on such close lines with the Patriarchate, that its Organic Statute is, in greater part, nothing but a reproduction of that of the Patriarchate in 1862, which, in its turn, is based on the principles laid down by the Hatti-Houmayoun.

In view of all this, it must be admitted that to-day the struggle—or rather the insistence of the Exarchate for the speedier organisation of a Synod and a Mixed Council, forming part of itself—is only a just and legal claim of the rights and privileges sanctioned by the Firman of 1870. It should be clearly understood that the Bulgarian Exarchate does not ask for any new privileges; all that it demands is the restoration of the Synod and the Mixed Council as they existed before the Russo-Turkish War. Surely this is but a very natural demand! The question concerns two administrative bodies, with attributes strictly defined by the canons of the Church, as well as by the statute of the Exarchate and the Imperial Firman, and which cannot be delegated to anyone else, but must be exercised by the Synod and the Mixed Council. To the Synod are reserved all questions of the forum ecclesiasticum, while the mission of the Mixed Council is to look after the schools, the civil administration, and the organisation of the Bulgarian nationality. The Mixed Council forms at the same time the highest judicial body in civil cases between Bulgarians—the mixed courts being reserved for civil cases between Mohammedans and Christians, as well as for commercial and criminal cases without any distinction of religion. This brief mention of the attributes of the Synod and of the Mixed Council is surely sufficient to show the very urgent need of their speedy restoration and organisation.

The needs of the Church and of the community have greatly increased; they are no longer what they used to be thirty years ago, and cannot be left disregarded. The requirements of the population and of the times give rise to fresh questions, while on the other hand the Imperial Ottoman Government comes every day with fresh demands to the Exarchate, which shares in the administration of the country, as an auxiliary organ.

In these present-day times of trial the Bulgarian population in Macedonia, broken up, persecuted, and outlawed as it is, turns for help and protection to its legal head and protector, the Exarch. The Exarch is, however, helpless, because personally he has no authority to decide such questions as fall within the competence of the Mixed Council. His only rôle in such matters is to act as an intermediary between the Council and the Sublime Porte.

The present position of the Exarchate is an abnormal one. According to the Firman, which has the force of law within the Empire, it has well-defined rights and obligations as regards the Porte and the Bulgarian nation in the vilayets, which, however, it cannot exercise or fulfil because of its imperfect and irregular organisation. This state of things provokes among the populations of the Empire complaints both against the Exarchate and the Imperial authorities. Failing to find help and protection at the hands of the legal authorities, the outraged population is naturally tempted to look for such in illegal quarters, and in its despair places its hopes in foreign intervention. This state of affairs explains and fully justifies such tendencies among the Macedonian population. The true interests of the Ottoman Empire demand the preservation of its Christian inhabitants from similar hopes and tendencies. The population ought to expect all improvements from Constantinople. In this respect the formation of a Synod and of a Mixed Council attached to the Exarchate is not only a just demand, admitted on every hand outside Turkey, but is highly desirable and indispensable for the pacification of public opinion both in the vilayets and in Bulgaria. By their very constitution, this Synod and the Mixed Council would act as legal interpreters of the needs of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia and the vilayet of Adrianople, and would form a strong link between the Bulgarians and the Sublime Porte.

It would surely be preferable both for the Powers and for Turkey if they had to deal with a legally organised and responsible body, such as the Bulgarian Exarchate. Indeed, this latter, if completed and fortified by the creation of the Synod and the Mixed Council, would no doubt succeed in attracting the attention of the Bulgarian population of the vilayets once more to Constantinople. The cause of the Macedonian reforms would benefit considerably from such an organisation, while the difficult task of the Powers would be greatly facilitated.

The just and legal measure I have outlined above would pacify public opinion in the Principality of Bulgaria. That something must be done is very plain. Matters in Macedonia cannot be allowed to remain as they are—a blot upon the civilisation of Europe. Bulgaria is, as far as I have been able to judge from personal inquiry, determined to take a strong and definite line. She cannot remain indifferent to the injustice of the Porte towards the Bulgarian Exarchate; neither can she overlook the burning question. Even if she were inclined to adopt such a course, she would not be in a position to do so. No Bulgarian Government could follow such a policy without being accused of violating the Constitution, according to which the Eastern Orthodox religion is the State religion of the country.

In ecclesiastical matters the Principality is, according to Article 39 of the Bulgarian Constitution, placed under the control of the highest spiritual authority of the Bulgarian Church, wherever that authority may be found. This authority is the Bulgarian Exarchate. It must be remembered, too, that this Constitution was ratified at the time, by the Powers signatory of the Treaty of Berlin. The right of the Principality to take an interest in the normal and regular working of the authority in question now became even more indisputable. Besides, political considerations of the very highest importance to the peace of Europe place upon the Bulgarian Government the duty of reminding the Great Powers, Turkey included, of the liabilities which they assumed towards the Christian population of the vilayets by virtue of Articles 25 and 62 of the Treaty of Berlin.

Only natural is it, and in the cause of humanity, that Bulgaria should seek to protect the Bulgarians in Macedonia. Never has the country been in a worse state than at the present time, and never has European interference been more needed than at this moment.

Europe should listen attentively to this Bulgarian complaint against Turkey, for it is surely a just one, crying loudly for remedy. The blood of the poor massacred thousands in Macedonia calls to-day to the Powers for mercy and justice, and yet to-morrow, and still to-morrow, a hundred more defenceless men and women and innocent children are put to the sword, mutilated and murdered, and we in England hear nothing about it. Macedonia is, alas! a country where God is high and Justice far away.

This question of the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Porte is, I know, an abstruse one, neglected by most writers on the subject. However, it is one of the highest importance—one which is inseparable from the future policy of Bulgaria.

Things cannot remain long in Macedonia as I myself saw them. Europe holds up her hands in virtuous horror at the so-called Congo scandals and seeks out every detail of maladministration, yet she turns a deaf ear to the piteous cry of the Macedonians, whose homes are daily burned and pillaged, and whose villages are often completely wiped out—both dwellings and inhabitants—in the course of a few hours by fiends filled with the lust of blood.

If you doubt that there are horrible atrocities daily committed in Macedonia by Greeks and Turks alike, you need go no farther than Sofia. Visit the Orphanage for Macedonian boys established three years ago by Mr. Pierce O’Mahony, an Irish philanthropist, of Grange Con, County Wicklow. This gentleman was living in Sofia, and hearing terrible stories of massacres across the frontier, established an institution for the education of orphans whose parents had been killed in the raids. When I visited the place, I found it neat, orderly, and doing a most charitable and excellent work under the care of two English nursing sisters. In a large commodious house on the outskirts of the capital were thirty lads ranging in age from seven to fifteen, all dressed in their white woollen and black-braided national costume of Macedonia.

When the boys were assembled in the large classroom, I heard some of their stories, and truly they were appalling, many of the details too terrible to be placed here on record. As an instance, one lad I saw, a bright, intelligent little fellow, was admitted to the Orphanage a few months ago. He lived in the district of Ochrida, and was one day tending his sheep as usual, when some Turkish soldiers came past.

“Have you seen a Bulgarian band pass along just now?” they inquired.

The lad declared that he had seen nobody. The soldiers doubted him, for the Bulgarian band in question was protecting the villages in that neighbourhood.

They asked again, and the boy denied having seen anybody, which was the truth. Whereupon one of the Sultan’s soldiers smashed the little fellow’s skull in with the butt end of his rifle, while another took a knife and cut his throat from ear to ear. They then dug a rough hole in the ground and buried him. Some hours after, a shepherd passing noticed that his dog was scratching the earth, and on going to the spot, heard moans. The lad was quickly exhumed, and found to be still living. For many weeks he was in the hospital in Salonica, but was eventually admitted to Mr. O’Mahony’s Home. When I saw him, the wound in the head had only just healed, and the ugly scar across the throat was still red. I have his photograph, but it is too ghastly to here reproduce.

Another little lad described to me how his father and mother had been tortured by the Turks and afterwards burnt alive before his eyes, while another related how he had been captured by the Turks, taken into slavery, and afterwards escaped.

Each orphan boy had his own terrible story to tell, stories that were full of horror and inhuman butchery, stories that made one wonder whether such things could really happen in this enlightened century.

As to the institute and its general conduct, there is no doubt it is performing a most humane and charitable work. There are thousands of the homeless and fatherless in Macedonia, increasing thousands, and the institute, which is purely a piece of private philanthropy, cannot possibly admit one-tenth of the applicants for its charity. The founder hopes, if private subscribers or donors come forward, to extend his work, and Lady Buchanan of the British Legation, Sofia, who takes a great interest in it, told me that she would be very pleased to acknowledge any subscriptions sent to her.

Certainly it is most deserving of support, for already it has sent Macedonian lads into the Bulgarian Agricultural School at Kustendil; two others are in the Cadet School in Sofia, and will become officers; others have been taught trades and are earning their living; and one has been sent to England. Though the founder is a member of the Church of England, the lads are allowed to retain their own religion, the Orthodox.

Every right-minded man must, after investigating the complaint of Bulgaria against the Porte regarding the Exarchate, take the part of Bulgaria. Macedonia is to-day and every day being decimated by Greek bands who raid under the protection and with the connivance of the Turks, and assuredly Bulgaria has just cause for reprisals. At present, however, her bands are inactive, and she is endeavouring to adjust the difficulty by diplomatic channels. Bulgaria has no desire for war, neither has Turkey.

But the question must ere long be faced boldly and fearlessly, and a solution arrived at. Bulgaria has right on her side, and in the name of humanity it is the duty of the Powers to support her.

Tobacco growing in Bulgaria—The otto-of-rose industry—About adulteration—Difficulties of obtaining the pure extract—Corrupting the peasant—What Monsieur Shipkoff told me—Some tests to discover adulteration—Interesting facts about roses.

NO description of the present condition of Bulgaria would be complete without mention of the two principal industrial plants cultivated in the country—tobacco and roses.

Tobacco, I noticed, was particularly plentiful in the south and in the departments of Silistra and Kustendil. The department of Haskovo, it appears, produces 800,000 kilos of first quality tobacco, followed by Philippopoli with 300,000 kilos, Kustendil with 270,000 kilos, and Silistra with 210,000. Three-quarters of all this tobacco is consumed in the country, for Bulgarians are inveterate cigarette-smokers, and the remaining quarter exported. Tobacco in leaf is sold at an average price of 80 centimes to 1 fr. 50 c. per kilogramme. The Government give the peasants, in order to encourage tobacco cultivation, quantities of seed gratis.

As regards the cultivation of roses, the special species grown are the red rose (Rosa damascena) and various species of white rose, of which the Rosa moscata is the most used, the best and most extensive plantations being at Kazanlik, Karlovo, Klissoura, and Stara-Sagora.

I was afforded an opportunity of visiting one of the otto-of-rose distilleries, and the sweet, penetrating perfume of it clings still to the nostrils. Bulgarian otto-of-rose is famous the world over, and its production is carried on in 175 communes in the departments of Philippopoli and Stara-Sagora.

The chief manufacturers and exporters of otto-of-rose are Messrs. Shipkoff & Co. of Kazanlik, who export about two-thirds of the whole rose produce. This firm, as well as the others, make advances to the peasantry upon their growing crops of roses, and the peasant pays these advances in otto-of-rose already distilled. The firms make it a part of the contract that the extract must be pure, and can refuse to accept it if adulterated. As a check, all the exporters make it a point to themselves distil in the various rose-growing districts for the purpose of obtaining the proper standard of purity.

I had an opportunity of visiting Mr. Theodore Shipkoff, Deputy for Kazanlik, of the great firm of Shipkoff & Co. He showed me over the factory, and gave me a number of extremely interesting details regarding this unique industry.

It appears that nowadays it is not an easy matter to obtain pure otto-of-rose. Some forty years ago the entire rose industry was an ideal one. No farmers, small or big, adulterated their otto. They knew nothing about adulteration. In their primitive simplicity and honesty, it would have been altogether against their nature to falsify in any way their produce. The jobbers and dealers who used to come from Adrianople and Constantinople to buy it, and who at that time controlled the whole exportation, while buying it from the growers in its pure state, soon began to adulterate it with the Turkish geranium oil (Idris Yaghi). They found this way of adulterating the otto-of-rose so profitable that, in order to use a larger percentage of geranium oil and at the same time to render it less easily detected, they began to import from Constantinople the crude geranium oil, and in the presence of the growers to redistil and refine it in rose-flowers and rose-water, thus taking away its pungent and heavy vegetable odour. Some of the growers soon learned to do this themselves, and the peddling traders started regular factories for the express purpose of refining geranium oil and selling it afterwards to the peasants for purposes of adulteration. In this way many villages were gradually corrupted, and the otto-of-rose they produced was more or less adulterated with geranium oil; but most of the adulteration has always been done by the exporting jobbers and dealers. This, of course, brought much discredit to the rose industry, and the Government, some fifteen years ago, was compelled to prohibit the importation of geranium oil into the country. This measure was a most wholesome one, and checked, to some extent, the free and open importation of geranium, and saved many of the rose villages from further corruption. However, a great deal of geranium oil is still imported sub rosâ into Bulgaria by unscrupulous jobbers and exporters, and much of the otto-of-rose sold is largely adulterated with it.

Mr. Shipkoff, in course of his conversation with me when he showed me over his distillery at Kazanlik, said, “As our principle is to export only the genuine otto-of-rose, and sell only what we can guarantee as absolutely pure, our task has been, and is, a most difficult one. With the primitive system of distillation still in use in our country, it is actually impossible for us to distil all the otto-of-rose we export, and we still have to depend on our growers for the greater part of our stock. When the means of transportation and communication improve, it will then be possible to centralise the whole distillation in a few places, and establish large steam distilleries, such as those in Grasse, Cannes, and Leipzig. At present most of the rose-flowers are distilled in the villages where they are grown, and by the growers themselves, this method being by far the cheapest. Still, to guard ourselves from all possible adulteration on the part of our suppliers, and at the same time to be able to get as much otto-of-rose as possible of our own distillation, we ourselves have to distil in all the principal places in the eight rose counties of the rose district, and each year we increase our own distillations.

“It is by virtue of this extensive distillation that we are able to obtain pure otto. Besides this practical means, we have continually experimented to discover various tests, whereby we can readily distinguish the pure from the adulterated rose. It is quite impossible simply from the sense of smell to always recognise an adulteration from two to five per cent., and the following are the tests, which we possess and use in conducting our business: the freezing-point test, the specific gravity test, the density test, the spectrum test, the iodine test, and the nitric acid test.

“Otto-of-rose, when analysed, is found to consist of two ingredients: the oleoptene, which is the liquid and odoriferous part of the otto-of-rose, and the stereoptene, which is the solid and odourless part, and causes the crystallisation of the otto-of-rose. The proportion in which these two ingredients are combined in the pure otto-of-rose is more or less fixed, varying only from 10 to 15 per cent. according to the elevation of the localities in which the otto is produced. The highest proportion—15 per cent.—is found in otto-of-rose distilled in villages situated highest in the Balkans; while the villages down in the plains produce otto-of-rose containing only 10 to 11 per cent. of stereoptene. We have lately made experiments to distil these two ingredients separately, but they can best be separated from each other by a very simple physical process. The average proportion of these two ingredients in our stocks during the last five years has been about 12½ per cent. of stereoptene and 87½ per cent. of oleoptene.

“The oil usually employed for the adulteration of otto-of-rose is the geranium oil (Palagonium RadulaPalagonium Radula) known to the trade as Turkish geranium oil. This oil is made in India and is sold in Constantinople. Formerly they used this oil as adulterant in its crude state, but now it is generally refined in rose-water or rose-flower before it is used. No matter how well refined, it is impossible to put 5 per cent. of it in otto-of-rose without changing the freezing point of the otto, its specific gravity, and the proportion in which the stereoptene and oleoptene are combined. Geranium oil contains no stereoptene, and in consequence does not crystallise. In the best refined geranium oil the specific gravity is fully ·880—a difference in weight of about eighteen points. All this helps to detect its presence in otto-of-rose. It can also be detected by means of the iodine as well as the nitric acid tests. The presence of geranium oil in otto-of-rose lowers its freezing point, renders its specific gravity heavier, and changes the proportion in which the oleoptene and stereoptene are combined.

“In order to rectify these defects, the use of spermaceti, paraffin, and alcohol have often been resorted to, but the presence of all these three substances can be discovered without any difficulty. The crystals of both spermaceti and paraffin are entirely different from the crystals of the stereoptene of otto-of-rose, and otto-of-rose containing any proportion of either will lose, when congealed, its sharp-pointed, needle-like crystals. Besides, paraffin and spermaceti being fatty oils, are much heavier, and in time will settle at the bottom. Furthermore, they are not volatile as stereoptene. The presence of alcohol is detected either by the use of double distilled water or of pure glycerine.”

By resorting to these various tests in the selection of supplies from growers, as well as by extensive distillation in all the principal localities, respectable firms are always able to procure the finest otto-of-rose and to export it in its absolute purity.

The whole rose district comprises in all 173 villages, devoted to rose culture, with about 15,500 acres of rose plantations. These yield annually from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 pounds of rose-flowers, for the distillation of which some 13,000 native stills are used. The total yield of otto annually varies according to the year—from 90,000 to 150,000 ounces; the average crop being about 120,000 ounces of pure otto-of-rose. It generally takes from 160 to 250 pounds rose-flowers to make one ounce of otto—and there are about 300 roses to the pound.

Nearly all the otto produced in Bulgaria is exported for consumption abroad, and chiefly to New York, Paris, and London, its three largest markets, and from there it is distributed all over the world. Formerly the perfumers used to be supplied through the intermediary of Constantinople, Leipzig, and London, but now all large consumers buy their supply direct. The house of Shipkoff was the first to inaugurate this system of direct relations. It saves many extra charges, and in case of the goods delivered turning out badly, the guilty party is at once detected.

Shipkoffs do not believe in all sorts of grades, their motto being, “Only one quality—the best.”

The culture of roses in Bulgaria is not only the oldest and most attractive industry of the country, but also quite exclusively its own. While roses are found all over the world and are grown everywhere in garden-beds, in Bulgaria they are grown in extensive fields, as we grow the potato or corn. This industry, however, is confined only to one special district in Bulgaria, which is comprised in the eight counties above mentioned, with Kazanlik as their central town, called, in consequence, the capital of the rose district. The rose district extends along that portion of the southern slopes of the Balkan mountains, comprising in itself the branch range of the Little Balkans, which shoots out of the main Balkans and forms one of its chief arms. The average length of the rose district is about eighty miles, and its average width is about thirty miles. Its average elevation is about 1300 feet above the level of the sea. The average height of the Balkans along the rose district is about 5600 feet, while that of the Little Balkans is about 3700 feet.

Attempts have often been made to grow roses all over Bulgaria, but they have all proved a failure. It is true that roses have been grown, and are grown to this day, in Persia, India, Egypt, and China for this purpose, but they hardly produce any otto-of-rose. They produce almost exclusively rose-water, and it is chiefly used for local consumption. In the Maritime Alps of Southern France, and especially in Cannes and Grasse, they grow quite extensively the “Provence rose,” and they extract from it a peculiar otto-of-rose, but the quantity is very limited, and they chiefly use their flowers to make pomades and rose-water. In Leipzig they also grow roses, but with very little success. Almost in all the other places where the roses are grown, they lack the peculiar advantages of climate that Bulgaria possesses, and have in consequence to use twice and even thrice the quantity of flowers to make the same amount of otto. The hottest weather ever experienced in summer in this part of Bulgaria is 88° Fahr. and the coldest of winter is rarely under 15° Fahr. above zero. Then, during the harvest and distillation season, which is in the latter part of May and the first part of June, there we have regular showers of rain and in the mornings heavy falls of dew—both absolutely necessary for the otto-of-rose distillation.

After the Russo-Turkish War in 1877-78, when Bulgaria was separated from Turkey and constituted into an independent Principality, the Turkish Government spent thousands of pounds in trying to replant the Kazanlik rose in Asia Minor, and many scores of rose-gardens were planted around Broussa, but to no purpose. The gardens grew, thrived, and yielded plenty of flowers, but when distilled they got only rose-water and very little otto, so the work, in consequence, could not pay. It is the peculiarity of the soil, and chiefly that of the atmosphere of this special district in Bulgaria, caused by the peculiar formation of the mountain ranges surrounding it, which makes the roses thrive and yield sufficient otto-of-rose to pay for the very laborious work that the culture entails.

The red rose grown is a semi-double light red rose like the French rose du roi, having from thirty to thirty-six petals and possessing an extremely rich and fragrant odour. The growing of the rose is very much like the growth of the vine, and the planting of a rose-garden is similar to that of a vineyard. After the ground has been prepared by tilling and manuring, ditches are made in rows, about a foot and a half in depth and width, and a yard and a half apart. At the bottom of these ditches soft earth mixed with manure is spread, on which the roots forming the bushes of the new rose-garden and taken from old bushes are firmly stuck vertically, and then well covered up with the earth and manure. This is generally done in the spring, when the rain showers abound. The roses thus planted soon take root, and in less than two months send up soft, glossy green shoots, which in a year become about a foot high. In the second year they are over two feet high, and yield a few rose-flowers. The first crop worth gathering is in the third year, and in the fifth year they attain their full growth. They reach then a height of about six feet, the bushes forming thick rows of clustered rose-trees and continuing to yield rich crops of flowers for a period of twenty years, and in some localities twenty-five years, after the lapse of which time they become old, begin to die from the winter’s cold and frost, and yield but few flowers. Then the old rose-bushes are dug out and the garden is planted anew.

A rose-garden requires constant care. During the year it is hoed three times. In autumn the roots are covered up with earth to guard them from the winter’s cold. In spring that earth is thrown off and the bushes are pruned, and every other year the garden is manured.

The roses yield only one crop every year. The rose-harvest begins in the latter part of May, and as the weather is dry and hot or cool and rainy during the blossoming season, it may last from eighteen to thirty days. During the whole harvest the distillation of the crop is carried on. Morning after morning, hours before sunrise, groups of young maidens and boys, all dressed in their beautiful bright-coloured native costumes, proceed with songs to the rose-gardens to gather the newly opened buds while the heavy morning dew is still on the blossoms. Nothing can present a more captivating scene than a rose-garden in bloom, with its gaily attired peasant-girls gathering the roses, and its nightingales—those romantic lovers of the Regina florum—trying in most melodious songs to out-sing the maidens.

As soon as the roses are gathered they are taken to the distillery, spread in cool and shady rooms, and gradually distilled during the day. The alembics used for this purpose are of the simplest kind. They consist of a convex tinned copper boiler, narrowed at the top to a neck on which is fixed a spherical head-piece with a tube on one side, to which is attached the condensing tube, sloping down and passing through the condenser or refrigerator, a large vessel into which cold water is constantly running. The capacity of the boiler is about 250 pounds of water. In distilling the roses from twenty to twenty-five pounds of flowers are put in it, and from five to six times that much of water, thus nearly filling three-fourths of the boiler.

This done, the head-piece and condensing tube are tightly attached, the fire started, and the distilling of its contents begun. This is carried on about forty-five minutes, until thirty to thirty-five pounds of rose-water are extracted from each boiler. The boilers are then emptied, cleansed with clear water, and the same process is repeated until all the morning-gathered flowers are distilled. The rose-water extracted from the first distillation is redistilled in the same way, only in this second distillation from 100 to 120 pounds of rose-water are used, and out of it they extract some thirty to thirty-five pounds of second rose-water. This double-distilled rose-water is very strong in odour and quite turbid in appearance; it is full of tiny yellow-white oily globules floating in it, and as the bottle is filled they rise up and gather on the top of the long-necked bottles in which the rose-water runs. These globules are the otto-of-rose, and when all the oil has settled on the tops of the bottles, it is skimmed and put in separate bottles by little conical spoons, with a little hole in the bottom, large enough to let the water run out but not the oil.

Thus collected, the otto is sent to London, Paris, and New York, where it is used in the manufacture of high-class perfumes and soaps, etc.

Bulgaria’s future greatness—Her firm policy in Macedonia—An audience of Dr. Stancioff, Minister of Foreign Affairs—A chat with the Prime Minister—Turkey the enemy of Bulgaria—Balkan “news” in the London papers—How it is manufactured—Turkish dominion doomed.

The future of Bulgaria is assured.

Bulgaria, with Servia, is destined to become the power in the Balkans. Vigorous, strong, and fearless, under a Prince who has the courage of his own convictions, the country is one of progress, of great military strength and continual expansion. The Bulgar differs from the Roumanian inasmuch as he is more patriotic and far less extravagant; he is frugal, progressive, and active. His capital is not the weak imitation of Paris, as is Bucharest, nor are his officers gorgeously dressed and corseted. On the contrary, they are hardy, well trained, well equipped, and business-like to a degree.

Some interesting sidelights upon Bulgaria’s growing military strength have been revealed at the recent manœuvres, while an afternoon walk through Sofia will show how rapidly and firmly is the capital being established—the capital which is destined some day to be the capital of the Balkans.