as to who should possess them, and 

 an incredible sum of gold, with horses 

 and carriages added, was necessary to 

 tempt the owner to part with one. It 

 seems certain that it was love rather 

 than a mere desire for barter which 

 caused the giving up of houses and 

 lands, cattle, and even clothes to gain 

 possession of a pot of tulips. 



Though for a century these flowers 

 had been highly considered in Holland, 

 there were three years when no price 

 seemed too extravagant. Some pecul- 

 iar combination of soil and air seems 

 to dwell in that land wrested from the 

 sea, and to-day, as two hundred years 

 ago, the choicest and most brilliant 

 specimens are grown there. The tulip 

 beds near Haarlem are among the 

 wonders of that quaint town. One 

 may see their brilliant colours miles 

 away, and as they bend and sway in 

 the breeze they look like webs of 



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