The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-04
OF TULIP
BULBS FOR EMPEROR


stood proudly up on their tall. slim
stalks. tho goblet of each blossom
perfect in form and In color. Among
THIS dazzling dream the Sultan and
MS household. aid whoever was great
and mighty 1T tha court of STEAMBOAT.
worshiped ut the shrine of the tulip"
The tulip WAS fist introduced to
western Europe by an ambassador of
the German Emperor Charles V. to the
Sublime Porte. While travelling from
Adrianople to ConstantinopIe In the
spring. he is stated to have seen the
most wonderful spectacle thu: he had
ever beheld. There. growing among
the reeds and grasses by the roadside.
were thousands OF stately, goblet
shaped flowers. blazing In all the
colors Of the rainbow. He Immediate
~ ordered a consignment to be shipped
to Germany But. in some way. It mis-
carried. and did not get beyond Am
sterdam, where the bulbs came into the
hands OF a certain Or. Clusius, ma
tive horiculturist. who settled at Ley
den.
His garden became the rage. and
from Leyden the fashion spread
throughout the Netherlands and from
thence all over Europe But. perhaps
owing to the popularity of Dutch soil,
the tulips produced in Holland were
finer than those grown anywhere else,
and their cultivation became n science.
The craze for tulips affected all
parties
Tulips hove a popularity which
does not. so far as 1 am aware, be-
long to any ether flower. Thus, nor
NAL and regular in every respect In
their growth for several years in sue
cession. they will suddenly assume a
monstrous habit, and become quite
different. botn In bulb ard foliage,
producing horned. angular and irregu-
lar flowers. known as parrots. no two
OF them alike. In fact. no florist
planting a bulb can be absolutely Ger
tain as to how the flower Is going TO
turn out. whether IT will be a regular
flower or a freak.
Although old Dutch writer's on gar
dens dilate enthusiastically upon the
original black tulip Of HARLEM. which
used 10 cost $1,000 bulb. and despite
the fact that The Black Tulip" consti-
tutes the title and theme OF one OF
the most famous novels of Alexandra
Dumas, yet there are grave doubts as
to whether it ever really existed II
1t did. Its cultivation has been lost
for considerably over a century
Black has hitherto been the one
hue against which Dame Flora mas set
her face. and with which she would
have nothing whatsoever to do. Three
years ago Dennis Capley. n crippled
keyring maker. of Savannah. Ga, ar
rived In Washington, for the purpose
Of securing patont for a process
whereby black roses could be grown.
But I ara not aware that he was able
to show that he had actually produced
anything of the kirL
In the sixteenth century, William
of Orange and the States General of
Holland offered purse Of 100000
In it,S -, ~I,,~
tulips. and it is the story to the effect
that a certain Cornelius Van Baerele
won the prize, that constitutes the
theme OF the romantic Alexandra
Dumas. But certain it is that nothing
of the kind has been seen within liv-
ing memory, the nearest approach
| thereto being the Sultan tulip. which,
shown in 1896. is Of so sombre a pur-
| pie as to almost be black.
With regard to black roses. the
most sombrc-aued roses in existence
| are to be found In certain portions of
| the gardens Of the Vatican. They are
so dark n red as to ~ almost black,
and while there is no truth in the
ridiculous legend to the effect that
their color is produced by watering
with human blood. Yet It is a fact that
the particular part of the garden
where they grow was in medieval
| times the scene OF a sansuinary ar-
fray, and much bloodshed
From time immemorial n supcrsti-
ton has existed To the effect that roses
and flowers generally attain the great
est beauty in soil fortified by blood.
especially by human blood. Every
racing man and racing woman vino
has visited Newmarket, in England,
knows OF the so-called Bloody Flow CIR
of Newmarket. which is to be foT.,d
nowhere else than in the old moat
now filled UP, and In which, according
10 tradition. very large quantity OF
human remains are inferred These
flowers bloom in June and July, and
certainly. by the dark. bloodlilte hue
of their blossoms. suggest the name
that has been given to them.
According - legend and ancient
mythology. violets are indebted for
their origin to the blood OF the self
slain Atys. though. according To an
other legend, they were originally
white, and owe their violet hue 10 the
fact that. raising their eyes upward on
an occasion whcE they ought to have
Kept them discreetly lowered. they
remained blushing ever since.
Copyright, 1918, by the Brentwood
Company