My Garden in Spring 



just to fit). This second bulb scale has an inner lining 

 similar to the first, and so has the third and innermost 

 one, which also has one side fluted and thicker than the 

 other, and its fluting is on the opposite side of the bulb 

 to that of the second scale. These three scales form the 

 whole of last season's bulb, and directly inside them you 

 will find a long tube, thick and fleshy below and gradually 

 becoming thinner upwards, till it emerges in the centre as 

 the almost transparent sheathing leaf that wraps round 

 the lower part of the two real leaves. A section of its 

 base will show that it is of uniform thickness, and is the 

 counterpart of the outer scale of the bulb, only a year 

 younger, and will form the outer scale of next season's 

 bulb. Inside this sheath come the two leaves, and if you 

 can follow them down carefully to the point where they 

 join on to the base of the bulb, you will notice that one 

 grows gradually wider and thicker till it wraps right 

 round the other, and by cutting through their thickened 

 bases and examining them with a lens, traces of ridges 

 may be seen, and also that one side is thicker than the 

 other. So we learn that the bulb is formed annually of 

 the bases of the sheathing leaf and the two true leaves, 

 which swell out and store up all the nutriment gathered 

 by roots and leaves during the period of growth. I do 

 not know of any other bulb so wonderfully yet simply 

 constructed from three pieces, and that yields up its secret 

 so easily to the inquirer. 



Another interesting characteristic of the Snowdrop 

 that gives me annual pleasure to notice is its method of 

 piercing through the hard ground. The two leaves are 

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