Broken Tulips In The Time Of Tulip Mania
During Tulip Mania, growers were desperate to breed so called 'Broken' Tulips - those with bold and beautiful streaks (as in the featured image). While breaks were eventually found to be caused by a (destructive) virus, growers at the time did not know this, and had an array of wild theories on how to achieve the desired effect - ranging from adding paints or powders to the soil, to mixing in 'elixirs' from street merchants, to cutting two differently colored bulbs in half and attempting to fuse them together. Unsurprisingly, none of them worked! (Image source: OldTulips.com)
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