Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-06-01
IN TULIP-LAND
Impressions of Visitor to the largest
Field in Europe.
From the London Daily News.)

From the London Daily News)
I have Just spent a day wandering
through the largest and most beautiful
garden in Europe-the bloom fields Of
Holland; and. as I write amidst the lofty
dunes that fringe the coast, a gentle
west wind sings softly through the
ing kiss for tho flower-spangled low
lands.
From the foot Of the dunes to far be-
yond the horizon the country is a
magic mosaic OF wondrous beauty. All
tho primary pigments dropped from ma
lures box with a lavish hand, have been
blended by the cunning of the horti-
culturist into a wonderful vista of love-
Illness. Patches OF red-reds Of every
tint-pinks white blues, orange, and
brilliant yellow-are splashed about as
with he prodigality OF nature herself
If you go into the fields you will find
there Is absolute order everywhere-that
form Of order which those only familiar
with the picture postcard presentations
Will tell you is all for commercial pur-
poses: but from the slight elevation of
the dunes the parallel lines are lost :;
masses Of pink mingle with the white.
the reds and the blues the vivid yellow
blossoms splashed with flaming red
jostle into the domain of the daffodl.
and the blue hyacinths throw here and
there a brave bar Of blue across the
heavens had fallen.
And It seems limitless It stretches
far beyond the russet-tinted trees to
Too ~
learned Leyden to the south I will not
measure 1t in miles. You cannot meas
ure beauty nor fathom fragrance Hans
down below there, in his bright blue
blouse STOPPING in the midst OF that
patch Of startingly blood-red tulips, will.
II you ask him, tell how many kilo-
metres are annually devoted to the cul-
ture of bulbs or name the myriad patches
Of living color as easily as he could
name his children. But why ask? Sta
tisticians may be left In rnusty room
to calculate how many millions OF
bulbs have been produced in this Won
derful stretch Of so many square miles.
You do not need the knowledge TO adj
mre and drink in the beauty
To appreciate the spirit Of the place
you must do as Borrow or IIazlett would
have done tramp along the by-roads
that meander through this garden, twist
ing and turning back upon themselves,
la2ily looping their way, as though I'M
willing to leave this home OF beauty
And when you reach the little inn at
dusk mine host will sketch in broad out
line all the really human points of in
terest II you stop at beautiful Haar-
lem or PROFESSIONAL Leyden or at little
Observation-Disclosures great rival in
bulb growing-you will hear how, in the
days gone by, the armies of Spain
trampled across this fair land, how they
besieged both Leyden and HARLEM,
and, when the latter town surrendered,
put the whole garrison, the Protestant
clergy, and two thousand inhabitants,
to the sword And AS you listen there
will sing through your brain the quat-
rain OF Omar Khayyam when he unused: .
I sometimes think that never blows the
rose so red,
AS whore some buried Caesar bed:
That every hyacinth the garden wears,
Dropped in its lap from some once lovely
head.
Or he will tell OF those days OF mad
speculation In the seventeenth century