WHAT BULGARIA IS DOING 157 



extent of the operations, but there was uppermost in our minds 

 admiration for the business qualities of any man who can supervise 

 and control such a concern. During the twelve months the figures 

 in fowls alone must run into millions, and the organizing power 

 necessary to keep supplies coming forward must be very great 

 indeed. It will fitly complete the above story when we say that a 

 week before Christmas we saw a large number of these birds in 

 London, where they found an excellent market. In order that 

 they should arrive in proper time, a special train, consisting of 

 twenty-eight waggons, was despatched from Szabadka to Ostend, 

 and a specially chartered steamer brought the birds on the Sunday 

 previous to Christmas from Ostend to London. The carriage alone 

 for bringing these birds was in the neighbourhood of ,5,000. It 

 is not proposed to suggest for a single moment the necessity of our 

 handling operations on anything like so great a scale as this, 

 because, being near to our markets, it is to our advantage to get the 

 produce much more rapidly into the hands of retailers. Still, it is 

 interesting to see what has been done by men of business capacity, 

 and with capital, for meeting the demands of our great population, 

 and bringing the produce of other countries almost to our own 

 doors. 



Mr. Brown also deals with conditions in Servia. In 

 regard to the egg export business carried on in Bulgaria, 

 he quotes the following from the British Consular Report 

 for 1902 : 



The export of eggs is now thoroughly organized, and the centre 

 of exportation for Bulgaria is at Sofia. The merchants at Rustchuk 

 land what comes from Silistria or Tutrucan, and send to Sofia by 

 rail in waggon-loads. The eggs are packed in boxes containing 

 24 shocks of 60 eggs (1,440 eggs) ; I waggon-load contains from 

 100 to 105 boxes, and the price of i box franco Sofia is 65 francs. 

 If the Sofia market will not give this price or what is demanded, 

 the goods go on in the same truck to Vienna, Passau, or Antwerp, 

 and thence to London or any intermediate station. The transport 

 delay is calculated thus : to Sofia, 3 days ; to Vienna, 8 days ; to 

 Antwerp, 13 days always remaining in the same truck till the 

 goods are sold. The cost from Sofia to London is ,52 to .56 a 

 truck, but when the eggs get to London they will be entered as 

 Belgian produce. 



These details are supplemented by Mr. Brown with 

 an account of his visit to the establishment of Messrs. 

 Laue, Furick and Co. at Sofia. A very substantial 

 trade is done by the company, from 50,000 to 60,000 



