A few words about the history of ,, Dutch Bulbs". 



Bulbs are now fully acclimatized in Holland, 

 although they were for the greatest part impor- 

 ted from the Far East. 



The tulips, originally from Persia & Asia 

 Minor, found their way to Constantinopel, where 

 they were first seen (in 1554) by de Busbecq, 

 ambassador of Emperor Ferdinand I at the 

 Court of the Sultan, who sent seeds or bulbs to 

 Europe. A few years later Conrad Gesner was 

 the first who saw tulips flowering there, viz at 

 Augsburg (Bavaria). The renowned botanist 

 Clusius, who met de Busbecq at Vienna distri- 

 buted many bulbs of tulips to this friends in the 

 Netherlands. So the tulip came to Holland where 

 the growing of this bulb should later on become 

 such an important part of cultivation. 



In the first part of the 17th century the cul- 

 tivation of tulips developed very quickly and far 

 quicker than one should have expected the tulip 

 became popular. Every body who had a fair 

 seized garden wanted tulips. Remarkable is it j 

 that at that time people valued most the varieg 

 ated tulips, that is: red, pink or purple flo- 

 wers, white or yellow striped, or marbled. These 

 variegated tulips were obtained by propagating 

 the sports of the ordinary kinds, which contained 

 - as a sportstripes etc. The more stripes the 

 more valuable the tulip! It was a fine hobby, 



which, alas afterwards degenerated into gam- 

 bling. This foolish gambling in tulips lasted 

 from 1634 1637. All kinds of auctions were 

 organised; and the enormous amount of money 

 paid for tulips made people invest their saving 

 in bulbs. People of all trades: weavers, tailors, 

 black-smiths etc. started bulb growing, trying 

 to make a fortune quickly. 



Capital for carrying on the bulb trade was not 

 immediately necessary, because at the time the 

 tulips were sold, the bulbs were still in the 

 ground; very often they had not even bloomed. 

 The sale therefore was merely an exchange of 

 contracts. The same purchase changed hands 

 several times, even on a single day. That is why 

 it was possible for the prices of the bulbs to soar 

 as they did and that at the time of delivery a 

 fabulous sum had to be paid. And even that was 

 not enough; they contrived to weigh the bulbs 

 on an assay balance, and sold them, not per 

 piece, but per asen (28 asen = 1 dram, 16 drams 

 = 1 ounce). A well developed bulb weighed 

 1000 asen or more. At an auction one bulb of 

 the tulip ,,Vice Rot" was sold for 4200 guilders 

 (350:0:0), and one tulip: ,,Admiraal van 

 Enckhuysen" fetched 5400 Guilders (450:0:0). 



Such an absurd trading led to the most serious 

 excesses, and fortunately the States of Holland 



