CHAPTER V 



THE ARISTOCRAT OF THE BULB GARDENS 



THE Tulip is the aristocrat of bulbs, the one 

 with whose name is connected squandered fortunes, 

 romantic tales, long history, and other attributes 

 of traditional aristocracy. It is also the one 

 which, more than any, has made Holland famous. 

 To go to see the bulb gardens usually means 

 to go to Haarlem towards the latter part of 

 April, when the tulips are at their best and 

 there are literally acres of flowers. A patch of 

 seven hundred square metres of scarlet tulips, and 

 beyond perhaps as much of yellow or white, and 

 beyond, with nothing but a hedge between, others, 

 yet others, everywhere. It is a wonderful sight. 

 Red tulips and purple tulips, rose colour, buff 

 colour, yellow and white and streaked. Though 

 it must be said the streaked tulips are less than 

 they were, for they are somewhat out of fashion 



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