Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-22
The Rage for Orchids.

Are we to witness the revival of a
mania similar to that which ragged in
Holland some two and a half centuries
since? 1t is recordedin the City Regis
ter of Alkmaar that in 1859 100 tulil S
sold for 10000 guil1ers, or about Sl0,-
600; and that II s. ecimen, named
1.-The Niceroy,: brought the amazing
sum Of 400 guilders. So extraordi-
nary was. indeed, the flower frenzy
which prevailed in the Netherlands in
1856 and 1857, and reached its climax
in 1858. that men speculat,d in bulbs as
in Il own times they dabble in mining
stocks or buy and sell railway shares.
The highest rice eve given at Haar-
lem for a tulip was $4,000 guilders, the
"Sem er Augustus" having been the
variety thus honored. 1.-The owner
ship of a bulb was often divided into
shares. Men sold bulbs which they did
not possess on condition OF delivering
them to the purchasers within a stipu-
lated time; while OF some varieties far
more bulbs We're sold than actually ex-
listed" These eXtrayagances We're not
OF much duration, but they lasted long
enough to involve many hapless alven-
tmersinruin. Sometningot q not widely
different kind threatens to arise among
ourselves. During last spring the sums
OF Us and Of 2l5 guineas, or tA2O, for
two plants, were paid at Stevens Nat
ural History sale rooms for a couple of
varieties OF an orchid called the '.Catt
leyea Triane.n Last week a still higher
sun was given for a single orchid: and
such is the S %eculation now existing in
orchidaceous plants that ere long some
Eaglish Spectator may see his way to
getting up a corner in the "L;eiiss''
and "Iattlevas' for which the Brazilian
forests are so justly renowned, or in or
ganizing q ''put and CALI for the WAX
like "Fandas" Of Hindostan, and the
lovely ''phalanoPses," or moth orchids,
OF the Philippine lsl&nds. Oddly
enough, these prodigious prices are paid
for specimens Of }lants which are found
scattered over almost the entire surface
Of the globe. They abound every
where except in the coolest and most
exposed regions, but are most numcr-
Gus in the humid forests of the tor. id
zone, and especially Of america.
Until a comparatively recent date the
imported specimens were cultivated in
lighthouses together with other exot;cs.
but now a single and specially-prcpared
structure OF glass and iron is devoted to
varieties of ono Sol alone. Sometimes
it happens that individual plants pur-
chased fol- Il few shilliugs may prove,
when they flower for the first time, to
be distinct in some particular from the
previously known patterns of the same
kind. when this happens it is a
windfall: and, should the fortunate pos
SCISSOR wish to part with the plant, there
are plenty Of purchasers who would be
anxious to secure the prize at almost
any price"
Curious and multifarious are, indeed,
the classes of men who attend the great
plant sales in King street, Convent Gar
den. There are. to begin with, the
nursery gardeners Of these islands, in
terspersed with others who act for prin-
cipals on the Continent and in North
America. Sometimes a noblemen OF
count y gentleman is seen hurrving
away with q precious rarity, as he con-
ccives it to be, which coull be put into
a teacup; but no class is so largely rep
resented as that consisting of the iank-
ers, the solicitors, the stockholders. the
nedi:al men, and the pawnbrokers #
this wealthy metropolis. well known
AID pop"'sr solicitor Of L~incoln's Inn-
1elas hos the credit Of being one Of tic
-~-'-- -~.H. Is az