184 Principles of Plant Culture. 
veloping in direct contact with the parent. It also has 
more numerous buds (eyes) than the corm. 
356. Propagation from Bulbs, Bulblets, Corms, and 
Tubers is a very simple operation, and consists merely in 
planting these parts in the place where the plants are de- 
sired. Tubers may be cut into pieces containing one or 
more buds each, if desired. The rules given for planting 
seeds (344) apply equally well here. All should be stored 
for preservation in a cool, moderately-dry place, that is free 
from frost. They retain their vitality but a single year. 
In the methods of propagation thus far considered, with 
the sole exception of layering (349), advantage has been 
taken of a natural mode of plant multiplication. The skill 
of the cultivator, however much it may assist the processes, 
is not necessary to their success, since wild plants habitually 
increase by the same methods. We will now consider a 
method which is far less often illustrated in nature, and in 
which the skill and care of the cultivator are, as a rule, 
essential to its accomplishment, viz.: 
b— Propagation by Sections of the Plant. 
The various methods of propagation in this division are 
alike in the fact that a detached part of the parent plant, 
containing living protoplasm, is placed for a time under 
specially favorable conditions, in virtue of which the part is 
enabled, not only to live, but to perform its functions and 
reproduce the needed organs, or if a cion (383), to unite by 
growth to the part with which it is placed in contact. 
357. In propagation by sections of the plant we must, 
of necessity, wound the plant tissues in securing the parts 
for propagation. Since it is always desirable that the 
wound should heal promptly (73), it is very important that 
the cutting tools used should have sharp and smooth edges. 
