44 THE NATURE-STUDY OF PLANTS 
I do not propose going into this trite and fairly 
well-understood matter, but whatever plant we may 
happen to select for our Nature-study we must on 
no account neglect its vegetative propagation, if it 
has any such power. 
Daffodils, for example, are propagated by Bulbils 
underground ; some plants, such as Tiger Lilies and the 
Lesser Celandine, by other kinds of bulbil produced 
on the stem above ground; the Sweet Violet and many 
other plants by Runners above ground ; Roses by under- 
ground ones called Suckers; and Potatoes by swollen 
underground stems known as Tubers. 
There are other ways, too, which we can notice 
for ourselves, as, for example, in the Houseleek ; but 
all that I am concerned to impress upon the reader 
now is (1) that whatever the mode of vegetative 
propagation may be, it is quite a different thing from 
reproduction by seed, and (2) that it does not take the 
place of the latter; those species which have the 
power possess two methods of reproduction instead 
of only one. 
Let us now turn to the seeds, and see something 
of the way in which they are produced. 
II. REPRODUCTION BY SEED 
(a) Pollination 
Nowadays, fortunately, and thanks once more to 
the patient work of our ancestors, things which were 
hidden from the wisest of sages are the common 
property of educated men and women, and there are 
very few, if any, even among those who pay but little 
or no personal attention to flowers, who do not know 
something about the necessary preliminaries and 
