Not least among the merits of Dutch Bulbs is the ease with which they can be forced into flower at a period of the year when bright blossoms are particularly precious, and they are equally available for the grandest conservatory or the humblest cottage window.  They are attractive singly in pots or vases, or they can be arranged in splendid banks and groups for the highest decorative purposes.  Another advantage is that bulbs endure treatment which would be fatal to many other flowers.  They can be grown in small pots, or be almost packed together in boxes or seed-pans; and when near perfection they may be shaken out and have the roots washed for glasses, ferneries, and small aquaria; or they can be replanted close together in sand, and covered with green moss.  Their hardiness, too, permits of their being grown and successfully flowered without the least aid from artificial heat.  Small beds and borders may be made brilliant with these flowers, and the number of bulbs that can be planted in a very limited space is somewhat astonishing to a novice.  Unlike many other subjects, bulbs may be rather crowded without injury to individual specimens.

For the decoration of windows no other flowers can compare with Dutch Bulbs in variety and brilliancy of colour.  Some of them are not particularly long-lived, and this need occasion no regret, for it affords opportunity of making constant changes in the character and colour of the miniature exhibition, which may easily be extended over many weeks.  And a really beautiful display is within reach of those who have not a scrap of garden in which to bring an ordinary plant to perfection.  Unused attics and lead flats can, with a little skill and attention in the case of bulbs, be made to answer the purpose which pits and greenhouses serve for many of our showy plants.  Some of the most attractive flowering plants cannot be successfully grown in large centres of population, but bulbs will produce handsome blossoms even in smoky towns.

We do not recommend the attempt to grow bulbs in the actual window-boxes.  It is seldom entirely satisfactory.  They should be treated in the manner advised under the several varieties in the following pages, and just as the colours are becoming visible, a selection can be made from pots or boxes for crowding closely in the ornamental arrangements for the window.  When the first occupants show signs of fading, others can be brought forward to fill their places, and this process may be repeated until the stock is exhausted.  Winter Aconites, Snowdrops, Squills, and Glory of the Snow furnish the earliest display; these to be followed by Crocuses, Tulips, Hyacinths, and the many forms of the great Narciss family, until spring is far advanced.