Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-12-10
BULGARIA A FARMER NATION
Interesting Facts About People Of the
Largest Balkan State.

Interesting Facts About People Of the
Largest Balkan State.
Almost as important as the splendid
army which she brings to aid the cause
Of the Teutonic powers Is the agricul-
ture wealth that Bulgaria throws into
the balance as an aid toward the So
luton Of their provisioning problem.
says a statement given out recently by
the National Geographic society.
Bulgaria Is essentially farmer ma
ton; its exports consist Of its agri-
culture surplus. and in good years
these surpluses amount to very re-
spectacle quantities.
Nearly 40 per cent Of the country's
area is cultivated, Of which three
fourths is devoted to cereals, wheat
yielding the largest crop and Indian
corn and barley coming second and
third in Importance. Ten per cent Of
the land is devoted to grazing, but
Bulgaria has little importance in the
commerce of live stock. Meat pro-
ducts take almost no part in Bulgaria. g
foreign trade, although large numbers
Of cattle and sheep have been raised
during recent years and considerable
attention given to the improvement Of
the native breeds.
Wheat and Indian corn are the two
principal items on Bulgarias export
list. They constitute about one-half
Of her total foreign sales. Oats, rye and
barely are also raised upon the little
Kingdoms farms for foreign consump-
tion. These exports Of cereals, togeth-
er with eggs, altar Of roses, sheep
and lambs wool, and silk worm CO.
coons make up more than rs per cent
Of the total exports. The raising Of
tobacco has come to be an important
source Of the Bulgarian farmers reve-
nue., while from Austria Hungary the
sugar beet has found it's way into the
central Balkan kingdom, and the man.
ufacture Of beet sugar has increased
rapidly.
Almost the whole of Bulgaria's for
eign trade during normal times has
been with those countries with whom
she is now fighting as an ally-with
Austria Hungary, Turkey and Ger
many For some strange reason, Bel
gium was among Bulgaria's best GUS
toners. With the exception Of this
last named nation. the choice Of Allies
made by the Bulgarians is a choice
coinciding with the interest Of her
foreign trade in the years before the
war. Bulgarian corn, tobacco, hides,
forest products and cocoons found
their best markets among the German
and Turkish buyers in days before the
war. OF course, altar Of roses, was
largely taken by the French, and en-
joyed its own market among the buyers
Of all the nations Of the west. Just
such luxury product, however, would
be the first to suffer by reason Of the
world war, and Bulgarias trade in the
expensive essence Of her wonderful
rose valleys was bound to fall Off
greatly.
Most every Bulgarian Is either a
farmer or a politician. AS politician,
he writes, offices the army and takes
up the various professions. Political
Bulgaria lives in the little nations one
pretentious city, Sofia, while every
where else throughout the country
stretch the little peasant holdings.
About 40 per cent Of the country is
held as private property and about "a
per cent is parish property. The bulk
Of the holdings owned outright are
held in less than one hundred acres
plots. Land magnates, so prominent
in the other agriculture nations Of the
world, are rarely met with among the
folk. Thrifty, well-to-do, persistent
farmers, defendants Of generations Of
farmers. make up the financial strength
and the greater part Of the popula-
tion Of Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian peasants are as frugal
and as careful in administering their
resources as are their German allies.
Little is wasted by the peasant family
in display or for festival. Herein
Bulgaria contrasts strongly with her
western neighbors, the Serbians, who
are a people firmly imbued with the
hedonist's philosophy Of doing by our
selves as we'll as our means allow. The
Bulgarian has not enjoyed his freedom
hA
preston at the hands Of the Turks
was, more likely, more severe than
that experienced by the Serbians,
farther removed from the centers Of
Turkish domination. Thus, the Bull
garian has a sterner. more repressed
outlook upon life than his neighbors in
the Balkans, and less Of a demand for
comfort and the joys Of living.
Foundations Of a manufacturing in
dustry in Bulgaria have already been
laid and such things as are made are
largely produced in the homes of the
people, who fill great many Of their
needs by home manufacture. This
home industry has lost greatly in
Importance with an increasing stream
of imported products from Austria
Hungary. Germany and Great Britain.
Where the Bulgarian peasant formerly
made his cloth. his tools, his house
hold utensils, his furniture and his
clothes, he is now looking more and
more to the mills and factories Of
western civilization. This has had the
result Of making his exports more and
more important to him. AS the peas
ants demands upon civilization have
grown his interest in supplying his