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Show Dutch Tulips jmmiwwwmiiihii.i .im ...LiiMi ,j ji iiir-nn-T-jMiijLV-iLUJiii ji.j m I i mi mum -n .lULutiU-i i"xwrOTwna. A "Garden Spot" in Tulip Land. Prepared by National Geographic Society. Washington. D. C WNU Service. DUTCH bulb growers have enlisted en-listed the aid of the Netherlands Nether-lands government in their Industry. In-dustry. Tulip growing once became a mania in some portions of the Netherlands. More has been written about that chapter chap-ter in Dutch history, in fact, than its Importance warrants; but it Is interesting inter-esting because 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 would lose their heads over a flower at such a time Is a phenomenon phe-nomenon that speaks highly of the fascination of the tulip. Staid burghers abandoned ordinary business to engage in the tulip trade, and a period of gambling began that could not result in anything but financial finan-cial ruin for the participants. 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 be-came mere symbols. All trade was for tulips "in the onion." Buyers would contract for "futures," risking enormous enor-mous sums on the expected products of beds newl. 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 1G23, was exceedingly exceed-ingly scarce, and a single plant brought 5,500 florins, worth at the time about 370 pounds sterling. Queer bargains were made, an example ex-ample that seems particularly ridiculous ridicul-ous 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 bed-stead with its furnishings, a suit of clothes, and a silver drinking cup I At the beginning of the mania the buyers were real tulip fanciers who coveted the flowers, but these soon were shouldered shoul-dered out of the bidding by professional profes-sional market operators who bought in lots and held for a rise. One successful suc-cessful broker made 60,000 florins profit in four months. Stole His Friend's Rare Tulip. That Dumas' picture of Isaac Box-tel's Box-tel's machinations against his rival tulip grower is at least 'tot Impossible Is proved by historic incident A certain cer-tain burgomaster of Holland used his influence to obtain for a friend a political po-litical post of some Importance. Upon the friend's offering to make return for the favor, the burgomaster refused reward and asked merely to be Invited In-vited to see the appointee's tulip garden. gar-den. The Invitation 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 and saw there a rare tulip which had been taken surreptitiously from his own. So furious was he at this discovery that he resigned his appointment, sold his estate, and left the country. With nothing of real value to support sup-port the trade, the mania rose to absurd ab-surd intensity. Traders gathered at inns and marked bids on wooden plates. A bulb would be mentioned, and a prospective purchaser 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 percentage per-centage of the amount in question would be set aside as "wine money,' and the dealer would put this up In cash. When a price was reached that both buyer and seller would check on their plates, the sale was proclaimed; pro-claimed; but no money beyond the wine fund changed hands in the inn. Profits and losses were wholly "on paper." On April 27, 1036, a proclamation of the states of Holland put an end to the wild speculation by rendering Invalid In-valid all contracts in connection wlrh tulips. Confusion resulted. Bulbs which had been bought for more than 5,000 florins were sold for 50. In the wholesale liquidation many traders were ruined. The bottom was out of the market, and holdings were disposed dis-posed of at I per cent to 5 per cent of their cost Despite all this furor the tulip fanciers, fan-ciers, who had retired early from the market lists and were tending their flower beds, lost none of their enthusiasm. en-thusiasm. The fields around Haarlem and Leiden continued to glow just as they glow to this day. If a man produced pro-duced 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 by such men as Pierre Vallet John Parkinson, Parkin-son, and Lauremburg, but Juvenallan jibes by Petrus Hondius, who, in his "Dapes Inemptoe," 1621, had called people fools who devoted their entire gardens to flowers which bloomed for only a few weeks each year. Hondius was the leader of a group of writers who ridiculed tulips and tulip growers. The "Mania Pamphlets." Probably the Dutch government, alarmed at the extent of the bulb gambling, gam-bling, inspired some of the humorists to poke fun at the craze. A series of "Mania Pamphlets" was published in 1637, a few months after the disastrous dis-astrous liquidation. In these publications publica-tions appeared drawings or cartoons showing the tulip "maniacs" in ridiculous ridic-ulous antics. One skit pictured a group of traders sitting around a table under a gigantic foolscap, while toiling gardeners labored la-bored outside with baskets, rakes, and barrows, and a curious crowd looked on. The cartoon 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 ad-miring their tulips, and a queue of well-dressed folk followed the carriage with hands upstretched, begging for flowers. The original pamphlets were distributed distrib-uted in 1637, .and in 1734, when a hyacinth mania threatened, they were reissued as a warning to speculators. Even after the mania subsided, gardeners gar-deners pursued their hobby with such devotion as to provoke satirists to lampoon lam-poon them. In 16S8 Jean de la Bruyere wrote in his "Characters" : "The lover of flowers has a garden In the suburbs, where he spends all his time from sunrise till sunset Yon see him standing there, and you would think he had taken root In the midst of his tulips before 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,' where he remains, is tired out, sits down, and forgets his dinner; he looks at the tulip and admires Its shade, shape, color, sheen, and edges, its beautiful form and calix ; 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 thou-sand 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, comes home tired and half starved, but very pleased with his day's work; he has seen some tulips." Though the tulip has been the butt of considerable ridicule, it still appeals Irresistibly to gardeners everywhere. The second Sunday In April Is usually Tulip Sunday at Haarlem, and on that day the tulip Is king. For miles bright blooms smile under golden sunlight sun-light To the air passenger the country coun-try must look like a gaudy patchwork quilt; for there Is no mingling of colors in a bed, a separate plot being devoted to each hue. The growing of bulbs Is on a commercial com-mercial scale, and no attempt Is made at artistic arrangement. Indeed, the flowers are mowed off ruthlessly and used as fertilizer on the beds. |