into Germanic Europe, and the Sulina mouth of the Danube into
the Black Sea. The growing of maize for home consumption and wheat for
export form the only noteworthy industries. Most of the grain is shipped
up the Danube and sold in Great Britain and Germany.

From the Iron Gate to the Black Sea the Danube is held as an
international highway, and the control of its navigation is directed by
a commission of the various European powers, having its head-quarters at
Galatz, Roumania.

[Illustration: TURKEY AND GREECE]

In the Balkan Mountains is the famous Vale of Roses which furnishes
about half the world's supply of attar-of-roses. The petals of the
damask rose are pressed between layers of cloth saturated with lard. The
latter absorbs the essential oil, from which it is easily removed. About
half a ton of roses are required to make a pound of the attar. Kazanlik,
noted also for rugs, is the great market for attar. _Galatz_ and
_Rustchuk_ are grain-markets and river-ports; from the latter a railway
extends to _Varna_, the chief port of the Black Sea. From _Sofia_, near
the Bulgarian frontier, a trunk line of railway extends through
Budapest to western Europe.

=Turkey-in-Europe.=--The European part of the Ottoman Empire has long been
politically known as the "Sick Man" of Europe, and so far as the
industries and commerce of the state are concerned, there is no excuse
for its separate existence as a state. Its political existence, however,
is regarded as a necessity, in order to prevent the Russians from
obtaining military and naval control of the Mediterranean and Black
Seas, and thereby becoming a menace to all western Europe. Less than
one-half the people are Turks; the greater part of the population
consists of Armenians, Jews, Magyars, and Latins.

Most of the country is rugged and unfit for grain-growing. The internal
government is bad, the taxes are so ruinous that the agricultural
resources are undeveloped, and every sort of farming is primitive. In
many instances the taxes levied on the growing crops become practical
confiscation when they are collected. Much of the cultivable land is
idle because there are no means of getting the crops to market.

Grapes and wine, silk, opium, mohair and wool, valonia (acorn cups used
in tanning leather), figs, hides, cigarettes, and carpets are the
leading exports, and these about half pay for the American cotton
textiles, woollen goods, coal-oil, sugar, and other food-stuf