CHAPTER II 



CROCUS AND EARLY SPRING FLOWERS 



Winter in the bulb country is not a very 

 attractive time, at least to the foreigner. The 

 same possibly may be said of winter in Eng- 

 land, though few healthy Englishmen, unless 

 tied very tightly to town, admit it. Winter in 

 Holland is long, and, more often than not, very 

 cold. The canals are often frozen for a con- 

 siderable time, when the easiest way to get 

 about in the country districts is on skates. 

 Nearly all Dutchmen are at home on skates ; 

 comparatively few are clever oarsmen, though 

 one might have thought they had equal oppor- 

 tunities. The reason probably is, that one can 

 go upon one's work or business on skates, and 

 save rather than lose time thereby ; whereas, 

 in the average man's circumstances, one can 

 only row for recreation. In England, of course, 



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