250 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[August, 



things hy the rule of contrary ; they sell then- 

 fish alive and the dead ones they throw away. 

 They sell, what do yon think? Water! and what 

 else? Fire! They anchor their boats by the 

 stern, the carpenter pulls the plane and pushes 

 the draw knife, the saw'yer cuts fine wood by 

 drawing the cord wood sticks over a fixed saw 

 blade. 



For two and a half centuries Haarlem has been 

 celebrated for its culture of bulbs. Before 

 Pennsvlvania was settled speculation ran wild 

 on Tulips and Hyacinths — gambling in imagin- j 

 ary stocks was pursued then and there as at ! 

 present in our money centres. I 



It is recorded that six thousand dollars was i 

 paid for a single bulb, two thousand dollars be- 

 ing a common price; the Government finally 

 declared such sales illegal and they were thus 

 suppressed. To-day propagators frequently pay 

 twenty-five to thirty dollars for bulbs of rare new 

 varieties. 



The culture is now principally pursued in the 

 vicinity of the town of Hillegom on the edge oft 

 the reclaimed land of Haarlem Lake. To reach 

 it we take carriage and drive over a praire-like 

 country principally devoted to pasturage, wind- 

 mills in every direction, some devoted to grind 

 ing grain, most of them for pumping water from 

 the lower ditches to the higher. Looking from] 

 the train yesterday we sighted seventy-five wind- j 

 mills at one time. I 



Ditches on every hand, water everywhere j 

 within two or three feet of the surface, the soil | 

 black and covered with a luxurious sod of rye 1 

 grass upon which feed thousands of sheep, geese 

 and Dutch cattle, the latter closely allied to the 

 Holsteins now becoming such favorites with us ; 

 'tis odd to see the cows blanketed, a system 

 pursued with all the milking animals. The milk 

 is turned to butter and cheese for export to Eng- 

 land ; there it has a famous reputation. 



The roads dressed with sea gravel and sand from 

 the neighboring dunes, well kept, and without 

 fences. No senseless tax here or elsewhere on 

 the continent on the farmer to keep up fences to 

 protect his crops from road cattle — only in 

 America is liberty confounded with licentious- 

 ness. 



We drive on through hamlets and past fine 

 country seats — long drawn out mansions set in 

 the midst of horticultural embellishment 'neath 

 noble trees of hollj^ yew, lime and oak, and in 

 the distant vistas herds of deer ; on the lakelets 

 flocks of swan. Nothing in comparison with the 



great show places of England, but occupying a 

 middle ground, and filling the position with a 

 quiet dignity. The Dutchman does not go be- 

 yond his means, what he does he does well, and 

 he keeps his place in good form. 



The Haarlem Meer was reclaimed in 1840 and 

 gave up to culture five thousand acres of land, 

 now valued at an average of four hundred dol- 

 lars per acre. It now supports a population of 

 ten thousand people. It is on the borders of 

 this reclaimed land Hillegom is situated and we 

 Tuust hurry on or the bulbs will be out of flower. 

 Every one grows them; if not an acre, a rod or 

 so; the aggregate area annually under culture 

 is estimated at eight hundred acres of Hyacinths, 

 seven hundred acres of Tulips, four hundred 

 acres of Crocus, five hundred acres of other bulbs. 



The estimated value of these various bulbs 

 is two thousand five hundred dollars per acre 

 for Hyacinths. Nine hundred dollars per acre 

 for Tulips. Eight hundred dollars for Crocuses. 



The crops must needs bring much money, as 

 the expenses are exceedingly heavy, the value 

 of suitable land before preparation being five 

 hundred to eight hundred dollars per acre. 

 After securing the land it must be prepared 

 and this is a very expensive business; drainage, 

 spading, manure, hauling sea sand and other 

 costs running up two thousand to four thou- 

 sand dollars per acre and then only available 

 for bulbs every fourth year. Thus nine to ten 

 thousand acres are in the bulb rotation and 

 all necessarily of this costly prepared land. 



Cow manure only is used, — they say it is best, 

 but perhaps it is because they have more of it 

 than any other. A Hyacinth in marketable 

 form is four years old, sometimes five, and has 

 been handled about twenty times a year, or one 

 hundred times in all. The various sorts and 

 colors are classified in planting, and the bloom 

 is only allowed to develop sufficiently to prove 

 the variety and color. It is then cut off"; the 

 writer saw hundreds of wagon loads of blooms 

 thrown into the ditches or piled up for manure. 

 Large quantities of blooms are boxed and 

 shipped to London by steamer from Flushing. 



The effect during the season of blooming 

 about the first of May is most brilliant, fields 

 here and there of three, five, ten acres, a blaze 

 of scarlet or a cloth of gold ; everybody grows 

 them, one sees them extending in all directions, 

 field after field or small patches alongside the 

 thatched cottage of the peasant, making it for 

 the time a spot of beauty. 



