The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-04-26
bulgarian Rose Haryests.

than very slight knowledge ~ Bulga-
ria. But the terrible scenes which have
recently taken place in that province
have made it receive 50 nl'r-h attention
from the civilized worm hat every
source of information about il has been
eagerly sought for and examined.
Works like the latelyypphlishea apd very
valuable ohelby n. IT, KahitE. \5htitled
Donal-B ulgarien md der Balkan, which /
were once Known only to ! fimited num-
Der of readers,T have now tbeeeme very |
popular, and even older publications, of |
the same kind are being widely read. I
In reality, the land and its people Are
worthy of all the interest that hasslatelF
been hestoweduponthem.d sThecorIntry
has many natural advantages, from
which, under even moderately favorable |
auspices, very important results might
be produced. And its people have SO
much latent energy, and take sonatrral-
" to steady and persistent labor, that
Herr qKanitz predicts forfthenp asbril-
liant future as an industrial class Even
those interchangeable workers. the Ar
menians, do not surpass them in this
respect.
a curious and interesting branch of
Bulgarian industry, and one which has
of late received a good deal of notice,
from some of the foreign joufaalss is
the cultivation of roses and their manu-
facture into valuable perfumes. By far
the greatest portion of the altar of roses
used in Europe is produced in Bulgaria,
and the central point of the Bulgarian
rose culture is the beautiful valley of
Kazanlik in the Balkan Mountains, the
ancient Hgmus, OF the one hundred
and twenty-three Bulgarian Villages,
whose inhabitants are engaged in man
ufacturing' altar of roses, forty-two are
IN the Kazanlik Valley A German
writer, .Moltke, calls this9 yaIley,t' the
Cashmere of Europe, then European
Gulistan, the Land of Roses" The last
title is eminently appropriate, for roses
form the crops of that district. The
bushes grow in great fields, where the
face of the country seems to be covered
with sea of splendid flowers and the
air is heavily laden with then. perfume.
The Thraeian rose Rosa daaldsceHa,
senperUirens and m0Schata), which is
the one here referred to, grows best on
.H
sandy slopes with a good exposure to
the sun. 1t is planted in the spring and
autumn, and the flowers are gathered in
May and June. The rose-harvest. of
Kazanlik varies according to the, influ-
ences of the weather. In favorable
seasons as much as three thousand kilo-
grammes Of flowers are produced, while
in unfavorable ones theg amount is not
greater than eight hundred kilo-
grammes. .fasHssiiI3gbG -
The peasants who cultivate the flow
ers also usually manufacture the oil on
their own premises; but mercantile
houses have already begun to be estab-
lished in the larger towns for the pur-
pose of buying up the yearly growth of
the fields and manufacturing byfWhple-
sale, Three thousand two hundred
kilogramInes of roses are needed for the
production Of one kilogramme Of oil.
Eight hundred roses may be made to
produce about half an ounce. 1.-The roses
raised on the declivities of the Balkan
range produce about fifty per cent. more
oil than those which grow. on the plains
around them. The oil made from them
is stronger also, and, in consequence,
they command better prices. ii ''ti'i1fl
This branch of popular industry, like
all others in Turkeys subject provinces,
is burdened with oppressive taxes. In
deed, the duty on the manufactured oil
was a few years ago made so outrage
ously heavy that the people were onthe
point of abandoning their rose-cultrre
altogether, and deyoting their time and
energies to the cultivation. of Indian
corn. The burdens, imposed by the
Government officials were afterward
lightened somewhat, and it is now pos
sible for the poor peasant, with great
and ceaseless exertions, to make some
little profit out of his rose-harYest.IQ
"A prettier sight is seldom. witnessed
in any part of the world than that of a
party of Bulgarian mountaineers- men,
women and children-going to the
nearest town on bright June afternoon
with the produce of their rose-felds.
Their donkeys carry double panniers.
heaped to overlooking with lovely pink
Thracian roses. They themselves are
adorned with the same beautiful flowers,
the young cir. many. of whom
are extremely pretty and graceful
wearing garlands of them around
their heads and the mem having
them twined around their stayesg 1t is
holiday occasion with these people,
and they are not only in their best attire,
but in their best spirits also, and 90 on
their way laughing and singing IN great
glee. Ashley move, the air is scented
far and near with the odorlof theirfra-
grant burdens, and long after they have
gone by the perfume remains to tell OF
their passing. Altogether, the scene is
very much ike what may be imagined
to have taken place in Arcadia far back
in those happy early ages when sin and
misery had not welcome to make every
thing dark and dreary, But it is not
possible now, to think Of this bright pic
ture without remembering the frightfui
scenes that have lately taken place in
those lovely rose-clad valleys and flow.
cry sunlit slopes ofthe balkans; and the
contrast makes the second spectacle all
the more dreadful and abhorrent. Sure
", the day must soon come when the
civilized nations of the whole world
will understand that not only COM