Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-06-22
Hollands Principal Indus
try Greatly Interfered
With This Year.
EXPORT TO THE U, S.


HAARLEM. Netherlands. June 19.
Although the bulb business for which
Holland is world famous would seem
10 be immune from the effect Of the
war 1t has, like other industries, had
a sad blow from which 1t is even less
able to recover as time goes on and
the war continues. The head of the
Bulb Growers association of the Meth
erlands, whose headquarters are in
this city, reviewed the effects Of the
war ON Hollands ancient traffic for
the Associated Press.
Everything in the bulb trade was
ready for ,hC export season which
starts the first week of August when
the war broke out" said Mr.. krclIge,
as his motor Whirled the correspond
cnt through gorgeous fields, planted
in ChcCkcrboards Of scarlet, purple,
yellow, white and partiColJred late
tulips and fragrant hyaCinths whose
CdOr hung heavy above the sandy
fields. "Our sirst impression then was
that expectation would be impossible
altogether, and that the whole season
would be lost But the results were
really better than we had anticipated.
Expectation was found possible to the
United States without interruption;
also to England, Sweden, Norway and
Denmark, Germany and Austria,
France and even Russia. Many or
deTs. however, were cancelled or cut
down. Domestic rcadjustmcnts made
necessary by the departure Of so many
millions of men for the battleflelds Of
Europe caused the ABANDONING of
much Of the garden beautifying which
is annually planned in the fall, For
this reason here came to be an enOr-
NOUS surplus stock ON the hands of
1 ha ntJt,h Irlh Nr,NvDrG nGntRipl lr Of
hyacinths, which had already been
somewhat too plentiful even before
the war.
Bulbs at Auction.
"Enormous quantities of bulbs, also,
seem to have been sent to public Tue
tions in several foreign countries, to
be sold i'm that way at exceedingly
low prices-w hich did not keep the
Dutch bulb business. At the end Of
the export season, tulips and narCissi
proved to be practically all sold, while
there still remained an important
stock of hyacinths in the warehouses,
which had to be thrown away in the
end.
"Thc prices of most kinds Of bulbs
went down in August. HyaCinths
could be had at any figure; tulips in
cases for half the normal price. The
official export statistics show only a
very slight decrease compared with
the record year Of 1913, but these
figures are deceptive. They can be
accounted for by the large size and
heavier weight Of the bulbs, and also
by the large quantities sold at auction
upon which there was little if n
profit to the vendors, or the bulb
growers.
The financial losses to the bulb
growers, although not perhaps so bad
as anticipated last August, nave been
very serious. But they depend to a
certain extent upon the character Of
the trade supplied by the individual
grower. Firms dealing only with the
United States have not irreparably
suffered, while those exporting chiefly
to Russia have had a very bad year.
Payments Good.
This spring the representatives OF
the bulb firms Of Holland have
Travelled as usual to take orders and
make collections for former supplies.
They report, generally, that payments,
even in the countries at war, are COM
ing in far better than expected. They
are, however, booking their new or
ders as a rule without definite ar
rangements as to prices, as many large
buyers of bulbs prefer to wait until
later before confirming their orders.
II the war looks as if it might con-
tinue on into e. spring. of course
many of these orders will be lost, and
the plight Of the Dutch bulb growers
will be worse than ever"
IT is the smaller bulb growers who
suffer most. just as it is the small
butcher, baker and candlestick maker
in Holland who has, so far, had TO
bear the chief burden of wars misery.
The small bulb grower must sell to
the large wholesaler, who has the
facilities for storing the bulbs and
can afford to do so. one large whole
saler of Hillegom, near here, recently
stated that he had received e n
million bulbs at his warehouses, of
which he had been able to dispose of
only 10000. These bulbs came from
the small growers.