134 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



The upper part (of the bulb operated upon), consisting of 

 tunics without base or crown, which is thus able to produce 

 so many young bulbs, can also manage to nourish them 

 during their early growth (though without roots). 



This operation will sometimes save a bulb when it is 

 beginning to decay at the base, and it will thus produce 

 bulbs when the decayed part has been cut away. The bulb 

 called " TEveque " has a way of bringing forth young bulbs 

 like buds at the base of the flower-stalk — one or two young 

 bulbs will be found adhering to it an inch or so above 

 ground. These little bulbs are as well formed as if they had 

 come from the base and had been nurtured in the earth. 

 Perfect bulbs can be raised from them by cutting the stem 

 an inch above and an inch below the part to which the 

 young bulbs are attached ; they are then put by in earth, 

 and treated in the same way as those which had the conic 

 operation performed on them ; and just as those were grown 

 and nurtured, simply fed by the tunics — so these obtain their 

 sap for the first year entirely at the expense of the stem, 

 and without starting any roots on their own account. Never 

 more than two bulbs grow thus upon a stem, while very 

 often nearly thirty appear on the upper part of the bulb, 

 which has been separated from the lower part (cone shape). 

 The bulbs grown on the stem take a longer time in coming 

 to perfection than those that start from the base, as a rule 

 in their first year they seem to reach to the same stage as a 

 three-year-old bulb which has been raised from seed — and 

 follow the same gradual course of development, not producing 

 a perfect stem in the beginning. 



It is a well-known method with gardeners to cut their 

 bulbs in order to give air and outlet to the young bulbs 

 that are coming. They are simply sliced across (not very 

 deeply) underneath, at their base ; sometimes they are slit 

 crosswise, good care being taken the knife does not cut into 



