3 THE NURSERY-BOOK. 



withered remains of the corm which was planted in the spring, 

 and above it the new corm which will furnish bloom the follow- 

 ing season. A number of cormels or "spawn" have also ap- 

 peared. These may be planted out in a border or bed and will 

 produce mature bulbs in one or two seasons. The larger ones, 

 under good treatment, will often produce bulbs an inch in 

 diameter the first season. Some growers keep the cormels a 

 year and a half before planting them out, as they are thought to 

 vegetate more evenly under such treatment ; in this case they 

 should be placed in sand to prevent too great drying out. 



Adventitious cormels may be produced by various methods of 

 wounding the mother corm, and this practice of exciting them 

 is often necessary, as some varieties do not produce cormels 

 freely. Each bud on the top or side of the corm may be made 

 to produce a separate corm by cutting a deep ring around it, so 

 as to partly divide it. Or the corm may be directly cut into as 

 many separate pieces as there are buds or eyes, after the man- 

 ner of cutting potatoes, but these pieces are usually handled in 

 flats where temperature and moisture can be controlled. Almost 

 any injury to such vigorous corms as those of the gladiolus and 

 crocus will result in the production of cormels, if care is taken 

 that the corms do not become so cold and wet that they will rot. 



A tuber is a prominently thickened portion of a root or stem, 

 and it is usually subterranean. The potato, sweet potato and 

 dahlia furnish good examples. Tuberiferous plants are multi- 

 plied by planting these tubers whole, or the tubers may be 

 cut into small portions as described in Chapter IV, in the descrip- 

 tions of cuttings. In hardy species, the tubers may be allowed 

 to remain in the ground during winter, but they are generally 

 dug in the fall and stored in a dry and cold place, but where 

 they will not freeze. 



An offset is a crown or rosette of leaves, usually borne next 

 the surface of the ground, which detaches itself and forms an 

 independent plant. The best examples occur in the house-leeks, 

 plants which are more familiarly known as "hen and chickens" 

 and "man and wife." These offsets take root readily, and in 

 propagating there is no other care necessary than to remove 

 and plant them. 



