FLORISTS' FLOWERS are those kinds of flowers which have been cultivated with peculiar care, and of which, consequently, there exist numerous varieties, differing very much in appearance from each other and from the original flower. Such are tulips, hyacinths, roses, auriculas, carnations, anemones, ranunculuses, dahlias, etc. The special cultivation of particular flowers was first prosecuted to a remarkable degree in Europe by the Dutch in the beginning of the 17th c., and from the Netherlands a pas sion for it extended to other countries, particularly to England and Scotland, when the religious persecutions deove many refugees to the British shores; and to this day it pre vails most of all where the branches of manufacture introduced by the refugees are car ried on. In the litthi gardens of operatives in some of the manufacturing towns may be seen many of the finest tulips and carnations in Britain. It is still, however, in Hol land, and particularly at Haarlem, that this branch of gardening is carried on to the greatest extent, and it is from that quarter that the market of the world is chiefly sup plied with bulbs, seeds, etc. Between Alemsei and Leyden are more than twenty acres appropriated to hyacinths alone, which succeed best in a loose sandy soil. The culti vation of roses at Noordwyll, in South Holland. is carried on in considerable fields situ ated in the dunes, and affords support to many families. Berlin has of late years become
'the seat of a flower-trade, which partially rivals that of Holland. Some flowers, as dahlias and hollyhocks, are produced in greatest perfection by British cultivators. The Chinese have had their florists' flowers, camellias, hydrangeas, tree peonies, etc., from time immemorial.
In the years 1636 and 1637, an extraordinary flower-mania prevailed in Holland, chiefly with reference to tulips, in which men speculated as we have recently seen them do in railway shares. Bulbs were sold for enormous sums. For a single sewer Augus tus (a tulip), 13,000 florins were once paid, and for three such together, 30,000 florins. The ownership of a bulb was often divided into shares. Men sold bulbs, which they did not possess, on condition of delivering them to the buyers within a stipulated time; and of some varieties, far more bulbs were sold than actually existed. But these extravagances soon ceased, although not till they had involved many persons in ruin.— It was not till about the year 1776 that the real flower-trade of Holland reached its great est importance; from which time it has rather declined. New varieties of tulips and hyacinths are sometimes marked in the Haarlem catalogues at prices from 25 to 150 florins.