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Show inn jtch Tu USPS !? L. r. m 15 T -" 1 A "Garden Spot" in Tulip Land. Prepared by National GeonraiIc Society. Washlnston, D. C WNU Service. DUTCH bulb growers have enlisted en-listed the aid of the Netherlands Neth-erlands government in their industry. Tulip growing once became a mania in some portions of the Netherlands. Neth-erlands. More has been written about that chapter in Dutch history, his-tory, in fact, than its Importance warrants; but it is interesting because be-cause the mania began at a time when the Dutch government was engaged in naval expeditions to acquire ac-quire territory, and taxes were so high as to be almost unendurable. That the sober Dutch should lose their heads over a flower at such a time is a phenomenon that speaks highly of the fascination of the tulip. tu-lip. Staid burghers abandoned ordi nary business to engage in the tulip tu-lip trade, and a period of gambling began that could not result In anything any-thing but financial ruin for the participants. par-ticipants. The mania started in France in 1635 and quickly shifted to the Netherlands. Once the gambling was under way, the plants about . which it swirled became mere symbols. All trade was for tulips "in the onion." Buyers would contract for "futures,' "fu-tures,' risking enormous sums on the expected products of beds newly new-ly planted. A bulb of the "Admiral Liefkens" sold for more than 4,000 florins the equivalent probably on current exchange of nearly 300 guineas. The "Semper Augustus," which had not increased rapidly since its introduction In 1623, was exceedingly scarce, and a single plant brought 5,500 florins, worth at the time about 370 pounds sterling. ster-ling. Queer bargains were made, an example that seems particularly ridiculous being the exchange of one bulb for a load of grain, four fat oxen, twelve sheep, five pigs, two barrels of butter, 1,000 pounds of cheese, four barrels of beer, two hogsheads of wine, a bedstead with its furnishings, a suit of clothes, a silver drinking cup! At the beginning be-ginning of the mania the buyers were real tulip fanciers who coveted cov-eted the flowers, but these soon were shouldered out of the bidding by professional market operators who bought in lots and held for a rise. One successful broker made 60,000 florins profit in four months. Stole His Friend's Rare Tulips. That Dumas' picture of Isaac Boxtel's machinations against his rival tulip grower is at least not Impossible is proved by historic his-toric incident. A certain burgomaster burgo-master of Holland used his friend's influence to obtain for a friend a political post of some importance. Upon the friend's offering to make return for the favor, the burgomaster burgomas-ter refused reward and asked merely mere-ly to be invited to see the appointee's ap-pointee's tulip garden. The invitation invita-tion was forthcoming at once, and the visit was made. A few months later the appointee returned the. burgomaster's visit. He went into his benefactor's garden gar-den and saw there a rare tulip which had been taken surreptitiously surreptitious-ly from his own. So furious was he at this discovery that he resigned re-signed his appointment, sold his estate es-tate and left the country. With nothing of real value to support the trade, the mania rose to absurd intensity. Traders gathered gath-ered at inns and marked bids on wooden plates. A bulb would he mentioned, and a prospective purchaser pur-chaser would jot down on his plate a tentative offer. The holder of the bulb would write down a much-inflated price. While the dickering was in progress, a small percent" age of the amount in question would be set aside as "wine money " and the dealer would put this i,p n cash. When a price was readied that both buyer and seller would check on their plates, the sale was proclaimed; but no money beyond the wine fund changed hands in the inn. Profits and losses were wholly "on paper." On April 27, 1630, a proclamation of the states of Holland put an end to the wild speculation by rendering ren-dering Invalid all contracts in connection con-nection with tulips. Confusion resulted. re-sulted. Bulbs which had been bought for more than 5.000 florins were sold for 50. In the wholesale liquidation many traders were ruined. Despite all this furor the tulip fanciers, who had retired early from the market lists and were tending their flower beds, lost none of their enthusiasm. The flelds around Haarlem and Leiden continued contin-ued to glow just as they glow to this day. If a man produced a new and beautiful variety of tulip, he was sure of a ready market for It. Popular fads afford rich material for satirists in both literature and art. The tulip mania called forth not only serious Horticultural essays es-says by such men as Pierre Vallet, John Parkinson, and Laueremburg, but Juvenalian jibes by Petrus Hondius, who, tn his "Dapes In-emptoe," In-emptoe," 1621, had called people fools who devoted their entire gardens gar-dens to flowers which bloomed for only a few weeks each year. Hondius Hon-dius was the leader of a group of writers who' ridiculed tulips and tuiio srrowers. The "Mania Pamphlets." Probably the Dutch government, alarmed at the extent of the bulb gambling, inspired some of the humorists hu-morists to poke fun at the craze. A series of "Mania Pamphlets" was published in 1637, a few months after the disastrous liquidation. In these publications appeared drawings draw-ings or cartoons showing the tulip tu-lip "maniacs" in ridiculous antics. One skit pictured a group of traders sitting around a table under un-der a gigantic foolscap, while toiling toil-ing gardeners labored outside with baskets, rakes, and barrows, and a curious crowd looked on. The carton car-ton was titled "Flora's Foolscap." Another picture, "Flora's Carriage of Fools," represented a crowd of tulip fanciers in a wagon equipped with sails. All were admiring their tulips, and a queue of well-dressed folk followed the carriage with hands upstretched, begging for flowers. The original pamphlets were distributed dis-tributed in 1637, and in 1734, when a hyacinth mania threatened, they were reissued as a warning to speculators. spec-ulators. Even after the mania subsided, gardeners pursued their hobby with such devotion as to provoke satirists satir-ists to lampoon them. In 16SS Jean de la Bruyere wrote in his "Characters": "Char-acters": ' "The lover of flowers has a garden gar-den in the suburbs, where he spends all his time from sunrise till sunset. sun-set. You see him standing there, and you would think he had taken root in the midst of his tulips he-fore he-fore his 'Solitaire'; he opens his eyes wide, rubs his hands, stoops down and looks closer at It; it never before seemed to him so handsome. "He is in an ecstacy of joy, and leaves it to go to the 'Orient,' then to the 'Veuve,' from thence to the 'Cloth of Gold,' on to the 'Agatha,' and at last returns to the 'Solitaire.' 'Soli-taire.' where he remains, is tired out, sits down, and forgets his dinner; din-ner; he looks at the tulip and admires ad-mires its shade, shape, color, sheen, and edges, its beautiful form and enlix; but God and nature are not In his thoughts, for they do not go beyond the bulb of his tulip, which he would not sell for a thousand crowns, though he will give It to you for nothing when tulips are no longer in fashion, and carnations are all the rage. "This rational being, who has a soul and professes some religion, conies home tired and half starved! but very pleased with his day's work; he has seen some tulips." Fancy Names for Tulips. English gardeners were not less enthusiastic than their fellows on the continent, and in the Tatler for August 31, 1710, Joseph Addison chaffed them In an amusing letter. Probably no other flower has boon given such an Imposing lot of "higfalutin" names as have been bestowed be-stowed upon tulips. In his letter Addison tells of taking refuge from a storm 'at a wayside inn. He overheard over-heard a group of men talking about Admiral This, General That, and Lord So-and-so. His interest intrigued, in-trigued, he asked his host to admit him to the distinguished company Of course, the great personages he hail heard mentioned proved to he varieties of tulips. His host took him later Into the Inn garden to see a bed to tulips Addison admired several, but wis laughed to scorn for his choiee and lold that his favorites were onlv fool's coats. The owner of the hod boasted that Ihe small strip r ground, not 'Jil .Vlms long hv ,. In hreadlh. was worth more to him ! best two h,ln acres of land m England. |