28 
tected on the outside by a few dry scaly leaves, while at 
their centre will be found the foliage leaves and flowers 
of the next season. But between these we find another 
set of leaves which do not occur in the buds of a tree, 
namely, thick storage leaves of a fleshy nature. It is the 
possession of this internal supply. of food material which 
enables these specialised bulbs to produce their leaves and 
flowers in the next season, though separated from the 
parent plant which formed these bulbs, while in the case 
of the tree the winter buds expand in spring by making 
of the food material stored in the branch to which they 
ec.ong. 
What is the nature of the parent plant on which the 
bulbs are borne as lateral buds? Take up a tulip plant 
after it has fiowered and you will find at the base of the 
upright stem bearing the leaves the storage scales which 
have made the growth of the stem and leaves possible, 
and at the base of one or more of these scales will be seen 
small buds, which are beginning to swell owing to the 
organic material manufactured by the leaves, passing 
down to them. This observation will teach us that it is 
important, if we wish to save our own bulbs for planting, 
to leave the old bulbs in the ground for some time after 
flowering and not to cut off the foliage leaves but to pre- 
serve them as long as they are fresh and green and capable 
of manufacturing food material. This is the time, too, to 
give the plant further food in the form of top dressing 
or occasional supplies of manure water. It is also im- 
portant to cut away the dead flowers, so that the food 
material is not expended in the ripening of the seed vessel. 
Another point of importance in bulb growing is to 
secure the proper ripening of the bulb. In nature bulbs 
after losing their leaves pass through a resting stage, 
during which they are kept dry by the vegetation cover- 
ing the soil in which they grow, whether they occur in 
woodlands or meadows. In our gardens where the ground 
above them is usually uncovered, water percolates down 
to them, and if they are not very deeply buried slugs, too, 
may attack them. It is therefore often advisable in the 
case of damp soils, to take up the bulbs when the leaves 
are dying away, and to allow the bulbs to dry in the sun, 
storing them afterwards in a dry place until the time for 
planting arrives. 
Corms are very like bulbs and may often be mistaken 
