26 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



make 100 rijksdaelers profit, I will make up the difference." Waermondt 

 replies : " What a splendid proposal ! but suppose I bought the bulb, how 

 shall I get rid of it ? Will the people come to me or must I go to them 

 and offer it for sale ?" Gaergoedt : " I will tell you. You must go to 

 an inn ; I will show you several, as I know but few where there are no 

 collegiums (clubs). When there you must ask if there are any florists. 

 When you are admitted into their club room, because you are a stranger 

 some will quack like a duck, others will say, ' I spy a stranger,' but do 

 not take any notice. Your name will be written on a slate (or black- 

 board)," and then he goes on to describe the method of selling "met de 

 Borden." It was not permitted for one to offer goods for sale, but one 

 might ask what his neighbour had to sell, thus indicating that he himself 

 had something to sell. He could say for instance : " I have more yellows 

 than I can use, but I want some white." Having found a possible 

 purchaser, each, as Gaergoedt tells us, " obtains a small slate or Borden, 

 and each chooses an arbitrator ; the seller then goes to the arbitrators, 

 and demands, for example, 200 florins for his goods ; the buyer goes to 

 the arbitrators, hears what has been demanded, pretends to be in a rage, 

 and bids as much too low as the seller has asked too much. The arbi- 

 trators then fix the value, and write it on the slates of both parties, 

 calling out the amount aloud. If both agree to the amount, the writing 

 must remain upon the slate and the deal is finished. On the contrary, 

 if both rub the writing out, the sale is off ; if either agrees and allows the 

 writing to remain, the other must pay the charges as fixed by the club ; 

 in some places two stuijvers, in others three, five, or six stuijvers. But 

 if a sale is made the buyer pays half a stuijver on each florin, to the 

 amount of three florins on each transaction of 120 florins or higher. 

 This deposit was known as wine money, the seller allowing half of it 

 back again to the purchaser upon settlement. 



The procedure of sales " in het Ootjen " is also explained by Gaergoedt. 

 Waermondt inquires, " Is there no other way of dealing beside ' met de 

 Borden ' ? " Gaergoedt replies, " Yes." When the Schijven or Borden 

 have been round, a drawing is made upon the blackboard (fig. 8). 



In the upper semicircle is written the thousands of florins, in the 

 middle semicircle the hundreds of florins, and in the circle is "het 

 Ootjen," in which the amount the highest bidder receives is written. 

 Under the Ootjen, the tens of florins and stuijvers are written. Now 

 one asks, " Who will put something in the Ootjen ? " If there is one 

 willing, as there always appears to be, he places something in the Ootjen 

 — say it is a " Gouda " weighing 30 azen. The auctioneer announces 

 that the one who bids the highest shall receive a double stuijver, or three, 

 four, five, or even six stuijvers, according to the custom of the place, 

 and as the company have arranged. The bidding commences at, say, fifty 

 florins, and continues till there is silence, or no further bids than, say, 

 1508 florins. Then the one at the slate or blackboard says, " Nobody bids, 

 for the first time," again, "Nobody bids, before I finish." With that he 

 makes three strokes (probably through the amounts written, viz., the 

 thousands of florins, hundreds of florins, and tens of florins) and draws a 

 circle round, and then says, " No one else, once," " For the second time," 

 " Third," " Fourth and last time," and with this he draws a stroke 



