ORNAMENTAL PLANTS. 



65 



and center of the bulb, and as it pushes its Avay upward it 

 partially divides the bulb, forcing it open ; and by keeping 

 it in this position for the two or three months which is re- 

 quired for the flower and seeds to mature, causes the bulb 

 in most cases to produce two or more distinct flower-buds 

 for the ensuing season. Thus we find bulbs that produce 

 one flower stem the first season, producing two the next, 

 and often four the next, after which they usually become 

 entirely separated, and the same process is repeated. From 

 these natural divisions we learn that these bulbs are sim- 

 ply an aggregation of individual bulbs, though collectively 

 they are but one, and that each scale is capable, under 



Fig. 6. 



proper, conditions, of becoming or producing a perfect 

 bulb ; not that the scale itself enlarges into a bulb, but a 

 new one is formed at the base of it (see fig. 6, which shows 

 the new bulb as it is being developed), the scale being a 



