328 PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



water as often as necessary to prevent drying, they will usually produce 

 plump little bulbs, in two or three months. When new roots push out 

 from the base of these young bulbs they may be potted separately or 

 pricked out in shallow boxes filled with light rich soil. Hyacinths are 

 rarely propagated in this country ; nearly all the bulbs cultivated here 

 are imported from Holland, as they soon degenerate in our climate. 

 The bulbs being solid and not made up of scales, as in the true lilies, the 

 propagation of varieties is effected not only by natural division but by 

 cutting off the upper half of the bulb. This forces the base or lower half 

 to produce a large number of buds or bulblets. Sometimes the lower 



Fig. 112. BULB OF LILIUM CANADENSE. 



% 



part is cut across the bottom in various directions and then planted, the 

 exposed parts producing small bulbs near the roots. The young leaves 

 are sometimes utilized in propagation, for if cut off and planted in light 

 soil they will produce bulbs on the lower end. Tulips divide naturally, 

 and increase very rapidly without artificial aid. 



Loranthacece (Mistletoe Family). An interesting order of para- 

 sitic plants living upon trees and shrubs, and mainly drawing their 

 sustenance from the plants which they infest. There are about fifteen 

 genera and three hundred species known, but the most familiar are the 

 European Mistletoe (Viscum album) and the common American Mis- 

 tletoe Phoradendron flavescens. Their propagation is rarely attempted, 



