The New Orleans bulletin., 1876-03-26
THE TULIP MANIA.

OF all things in the world in which to
make q corner, to excite q speculation, to be
puffed by brokers, it would seem as if flowers
would be the last But that whole nation
should grow mad over bulbs; that the indus
try of q people should be turned aside from
the pursuit Of agriculture to that of horticul-
ture, and that the mania should spread from
the phlegmatic Dutchman to the phlegmatic
Englishman, seems almost incredible. Yet
in the beginning Of the seventeenth century
the desire for tulips had so spread over Eu-
rope that no wealthy man considered his gar
den perfect without his rare collection of
tulips. From the aristocracy the rage spread
to the middle and the agricultural classes,
and merchants and shopkeepers began to vie
with each otEer in the rarity of their flowers
and in the prices paid for them.
A trader at Harlem was actually known to
pay half his fortune for o single root, not
from any expectation of profit in its propaga-
tion, but to keep it in his conservatory for the
admiration of his acquaintance. The first
tulip seen in Europe was beheld as Augsburg.
in Germany, in 1859, and was imported from
Constantinople, where it had long been q
favorite. Ten or eleven years after this the
plant was in great demand in Holland and
Germany. Wealthy burghers Of Amsterdam
sent direct to Constantinople for their
precious bulbs, and paid extravagant prices
for them. The first roots planted.in England
were brought from Vienna in the year 1000.
and were considered great rarity. For thirty
years tulips continued to grow in reputation.
One would suppose there must have been
some virtue in this flower that made it SO
valuable in the eyes Of so prudent a people
as the Dutch.
Yet it has neither the beauty nor the per-
fume of the violet nor the fragrance of the
rose. It hardly possesses the beauty of the
humble sweet-pea. Its only Recommendation
is its aristocratic stateliness. and this should
hardly have commended it to the only demo-
cratic republic on the globe. But it is by no
m means the first time that fashion has turned
uginess into beauty and rarity into wealth.
In 1884 the rage for tulips among the Dutch
was 80 great that the ordinary industry Of the
country was neglected, and the whole people
turned to the production of tulips As this
mania increased, prices increased with it,
until in 1886 merchants were known to have
spent $40, 600 in. the purchase Of forty tulips.
At this time each species was sold by weight.
A tulip of the kind known as the Admiral
Lietkin, and weighing 4OC grains, would sell
for $500; the Admiral Won der EScke, weigh.
ing $50 grains, was worth $500; Nlceroy Ut
400 grains would bring $1,000.
Most precious of all, Sempef Augustus,
weighing only 200 grains, was thought to be
cheap at $4,000. This last species was much
sought a'ter, and even an inferior plant would
readily sell for $500. When this species was
first known, in 1886. there were only two
roots of it in Holland, and those not of the
best One belonged to dealer in Amster-
dam, and the other was owned in HARLEM.
So anxious were the purchasers for this new
variety that ono person offered twelve acres
of valuable building land for the HARLEM
tulip. That of Amsterdam was sold for S184O,
q new carriage, two gray horses, and q COM
plete suit of harness. As q specimen Of the
value of these bulbs We give the actual copy
of bill of sale of certain articles given in
exchange for one single root OF the Viceroy