Evening star., 1915-11-16
RICH STOREHOUSE OPEN
TO CENTRAL POWERS
Agricultural Products and Raw Ma
terials in Abundance in
Oriental Territory.
Surplus Of Wheat Especially Will
Help Relieve Reported Scar
city in Mills.


city in Mills.
With the conquest and opening-up of
the connecting link in the Orient rail-
way between Belgrade and Sofia by the
Teutonic and Bulgarian allies, a vast
storehouse rich in much-needed raw
materials has been made accessible for
the supply of the hard-pressed central
powers. Probably the most important
feature of this accomplishment is the
bringing of the Austro-Hungarian and
German nations into communication
with lands where are found minerals
and products of agriculture in abund-
ance: though the control of the Orient
railway. also, enables the remunition-
ing of Turkey and the transportation
of German troops to territories threat
eningly near the Suez canal. A sketch
of the stores of Asia Minor. or Anata-
liza, upon which the Germans will now
be able to draw. is contained in bull
letin just issued by the National Geo
graphic Society. The bulletin reads:
THE mineral and agricultural wealth
OF Turkey-in-Asia is very great. This
wealth, however. is largely of the po-
areas. agriculture is carried on accord
ing to primitive methods, while, for the
most part, the mineral stores have been
left untouched. Among the minerals
known to exist in considerable quanti-
ties are iron, copper, nickel, lead, man
ganese, silver. sulphur, coal, antimony.
arsenic, emery. fuller's earth, gold,
kaolin, zinc, alum, asbestos, rock salt,
boracide. chrome and mercury. OF these
resources, the copper stores will, likely.
he ho hu ha Snvr
though little has been done under Tur-
kfsh administration toward exploiting
the copper. The reserves of Anatolian
copper are said to be large.
Considerable Surplus of Wheat.
wheat. corn and barley are grown in
large quantities in Asia Minor, and, in
normal times, much of the surplus bar
ley has been exported to Great Britain,
where it has been used for brewing.
There is a considerable surplus Of
wheat. which should relieve the re-
ported meal scarcity in the mills of the
central powers. The west coast of Asia
Minor is noted for the fruits that ripen
in its Mediterranean climate. Here are
grown an important part Of the worlds
raisin crop. Olives and figs, also, thrive
summers swelter over the northern
Anatolia coasts some of the finest
Turkish tobacco is raised. which, in all
Likelihood, is now rare luxury among
German smokers: A sort of tobacco is
grown in Germany, pale, insipid,' un-
fragrant leaf, which bears little resem-
blance to the rich tobacco of America,
Turkey and the East Indies. Great
quantities of hazel nuts are among the
exports of this area, and cotton, an
other staple which the Germans are
said to be greatly In need of. is grown
in the districts of Kassaba and Adm in
the west, and on the Cilician plain in
the southeast.
has been but little accomplished to-
ward building up a manufacturing in
dustry. Olive oil soap is extensively
manufactured at Smyrna; carpets are
woven In various places, mostly prod
ucts of home industry; leather is pro-
duced, and cigarettes are made in large
numbers. In Syria there are important
weaving. dyeing and tanning indus
tries at Aleppo and Aintab, and there
Is some small manufacture in Mesopo-
tamia.
List Of Principal Exports.
"The principal exports of Asia Minor
liquorice. wool, hides, cotton and skins.
Owing to the backward organization of
the country it is difficult to assign any
articles which would be worth consid-
ering. The leading exports of Syria
include lemons. oranges. sesame, soap,
silk, barley and liquorice, while Meso-
potamia exports large shipments of
dates. wool. barley. wheat and opium.
Yemen. in Arabia, the land which is
Mokha coffee. Coffee is said to be very
scarce in Germany now. Dates are
about the only other export from
Arabia of any Importance.
The climate of Syria is of the ex-
| treme Mediterranean type, and most
of the soil is fertile. In great part,
however, it remains unworked. Silk
worms are raised in many parts of the
land. and. before the wars outbreak,
most of the silk was sent for manu-
facture to Lyon, France. Some silk is
spun in Syria. Cotton is an impor-
tant crop around Idiib, and surplus
grain crop is raised. Much of once
fertile Mesopotamia is now desert. The
old irrigation systems have fallen to
decay, and, where forty centuries ago
the land was fruitful, today Is mere
| ly wastage. In some areas wheat, bar
! ley and beans are grown for export.
| The date palm and the sheep herd,
| however. are the main element in pres
| ent-day Mesopotamia agriculture"