TULIPS IN HOLLAND

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 27 July 1929, Page 4

TULIPS IN HOLLAND

OPENING OF THE SEASON

A WONDERFUL SIGHT

STRANGE CUSTOMS OJ? (jRO\yEES

THE HAGUE, 31st May

The Dutch tulip iieltlS'avO slowly-but very slowly. ’ nearing perfection. -In sunny, protected spots, doubio and single blooms are fully out, but the more ! shaded plants pr those with 'a northern exposure simply show green spikes. The fight between the bulb growers and tulip is/of long standing. Every years, with tiresome regularity, tho growers put down the tulips loi flower tbr Easter. With oven greater regularity the bulbs, unknown to the growers, put. oil one, two, three or up to seven extra greatcoats, according to the weather to be exported in the -coming winter, . and thus' delay bursting- their beauty on the world for weeks after Easter. • & As weather prophets the tulips beat all the meteorological experts. This year they gauged the situation correctly, prepared for the coldest _ and worst winter Holland has known within living memory, and now .they are gradually shedding their extra coverings, but in a hesitating way. To provide for all contingencies, tho :growers' lay down many bulbs besides tulips that are delicatoJn .their naturo and retiring in their ways. There are more daffodils, hyacinths, and narcissi in the' tulip liclds than tulips, and it must bo so because, of the colour scheme. These colour schemes-,■> - thes pride of the Dutch-growers, are not merely accident. They are designed by artists for a fee. The mingling of ..flowers • also gives life" to .the fields, as only the 1- ngstalked tulips, daffodils, and narcissi) bend and shake their top-heavy heads | in the breeze. Dwarf tulips and I jacinths are too stiff. .' - , _ . $ ; '• . WHITE AND ORANGE PREVAIL r ’

The prevailing colours' are white and orange, while there..are patches of deep scarlet, almost blrfclk;.*f delft and several shades of Wedgewbod bine. The palest to the deepest magenta is seen, with all shades of purple. As a rule there is a great carpet of gold, laid beside a carpet of white, with a border of blue, perhaps, , hut some growers specialise in mixed beds; mingling both species and colours! •

The tulip fieldsg jnajs r Jiaj3eea ficm airplanes or -motor-’ Carsyf the artist holds- thatthey .should'"Beseen'fiom tho tram. Leaving the Taguo at noon by tram, the visit can be. accomplished in six hours at- the costs- of,-. roughly,. 50 cents.. By. conducted ■C?t x -it-,^;os.ts r .j)Vsli' twice that sum. The'electric tram swirls visitors through the .woods .to. Leyden, the old university city,- passing . some tulip beds, while many, tulips,and daffodils grow in wild, profusion in'fields and woods.

■ At Leyden, the “hlue ,? tram should bo taken. '. Dozensctf trams, gay: with daffodils - and hyacinths, but never, a tulip, wlriz by- Tiie.v aro not’ going To the tulip fields. Finally .the tulip

field tram comes along. It announces its arrival by much whistling and the solemn tolling of a hand bell. The dirtiest and most ancient contraption, in Holland, it is one of -tho original steam trams, with an eugiin such as is sometimes seen in motion pictures showing, the first trams. Wheezing and panting, it moves gingerly, amid Lhe jeers of tho tulip growers, who ask it to pull up for a m sr.eiit while they sell some flowers to the passengers within. This is strictly forbidden. In other ways plenty of time is provided for bargaining with the tulip men. As tho line is single track, tho steam tram nulls up to allow others lo pass at the frequent junctions, and this usually in tho middle of tho fields. FOREIGN FLAGS OVER DOORS At last Hiilcgum, tho very centre of tho bulb-growing trade, is reached, and (ho visitors are turned out of the Haarlem tram, the sights being over. Here somo exporters show tho national flags of their best customers. Tho Stars and Stripes float over many a. doorway. There are bulb doctors,- who advertise their willingness to treat bulbs with hot water,- etc., while all kinds of parking for bulbs and for flowers aro recommended by the vendors of boxes and “cornets.’' All around the bulb district men on bicycles and women in cars carry large sugar-loaf “cornets,’ ’entirely dosed, containing flowers. This is the best possible way of protecting tho flowers from the wind and sun and also from the gaze of the curious, for it is an unwritten law that, although hyacinths, narcissi and daffodils can be sold ad lib., tulips should be cut and thrown away by the bulb growers, who are not supposed to sell both flowers and bulbs, or at any rate not of the rarer specimens.

Along the route children sell nosegays hanging from sticks, the flowers with their head hanging downward. They do not deal in tulips, however. If inquired for specially, they may be obtained at about half a cent a bloom for the finest- specimens, but they are kept in the dark under carts for flowor stands.

The whole district between Leyden and Hillegom lives on. tulip growing. .Barges bring sand if the soil is hot sufficiently light for tulip growing and parry awdy the discarded blooms to serve as manure. Men tend the fields constantly, cutting every fading flower, leaving nothing hut choice specimens on exhibition. When not busy with the fields the growers must attend to the bulbs, which require careful drying, turning and sorting when not underground, and a bulb lasts only three or four years at that.