198 NOTES ON LILIES 



in the Lily, the greater number originate low down in tho centre of the 

 new lulb, within less than a ^ of an inch of the base of the bulb; some 

 originate further down the centre, and othei's are formed at a distance 

 from the parent bidbs, to which they are attached by an underground or 

 creeping axis. 



" All, however, spring from a familiar source, that is, from germs or seed- 

 buds, and these in October, are of so delicate and tender nature, as to be 

 in the highest degree liable to injury from drying, exposure, or other 

 adverse circumstances. 



§ 10. " Newly imported bulbs are not worth a tenth part of the value of 

 bulbs 'freshly taken up' out of a respectable nurseryman's grounds, and 

 guaranteed by him as having flowered the previous season. It is 

 comparatively of little consequence what the quality of the bloom may 

 have been, provided it was healthy, and that the leaves and stems decayed 

 and died down gradually in the ordinary way, for it is the new bulb within 

 the old one that is now to be depended upon, and that, and its successors, 

 may go on gradually rising in the scale of perfection, through judicious 

 culture. 



§ 20. " Cutting off tho roots is the source of more evil than can be 

 foreseen or imagined ; in such a case, let me again remind your readers, 

 that a Lily bulb, in the autumn, has, within itself, three distinct gene- 

 rations, and that the third generation is tho germ or seed-bud, which is 

 intended by nature to bloom during the second season. At the time for 

 lifting and re-planting, the seed-bud, as I have shown, is very delicate and 

 tender, and so minute, that it cannot be seen without the aid of a 

 niagnif^-ing glass. 1 have also shown, that in some bulbs, its position is 

 within less than a quarter of an inch of the base of the bulb. If, therefore, 

 the roots, j'oung as well as old, be cut oft', the tender seed-bud is exposed 

 to the drying effects of the atmosphere and other evils, the result of which 

 is that, in nineteen cases out of every twenty, its vitality is destro3'ed. 

 The new bulb, or second generation, may bloom, though not strongly, as it 

 has to make fresh roots ; but any chance of future bloom in the seed-bud 

 is completely gone. It is thus that so many complaints have arisen about 

 imported bulbs ; some bloom once, though weakly, and some do not bloom 

 at all. How can the}', if kept dry all the winter, and planted as late as 

 January or February ?" — Gardtn, vol. 11, ;;. 175. 



§ 21. It will be seen from the subjoined extract that Duncdin not con- 

 tent to apply his seed-bud theory to full grown bulbs, pushes the applica- 

 tion of it to bulblet offsets, and seedling bulbs from the first year of their 

 existence, contending that even these little bulblets perish every year, and 

 are replaced by lari^er successional growths. "There is not one in 

 fifty Lily growers but believes that the same identical offset or seedling 

 goes on year after year growing larger and larger, until it becomes 

 capable of developing a flower-bearing stem. Now, this is entirely 

 erroneous, and clearly contrary to facts ; experimental researches have 

 proved beyond a doubt that there is no sucla thing as a two or three- 

 year-old offset or seedling, tho existence of an offset being comprised 

 within the first season of its growth, after which it decays and dies, 

 having thus fulfilled what Nature had destined to be its office. In the 



