July 20, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



53 



The matter in general, however, requires further inves- 

 tigation. 



Connected with this subject of adventitious buds is a 

 number of facts which go to demonstrate what may be 

 termed the independent vitality of buds. Gardeners 

 have long made use of this property of adventitious bud- 

 ding as a means of propagation. Anemone japonica, for 

 example, is generally propagated by cuttings of the 

 root. The artificial production of adventitious buds 

 on the scales of bulbs and on leaves and fragments 

 of leaves of Bryophyllum, Echevcria, Gloxinia, etc., 

 •is generally effected by subjecting them to heat and 

 moisture, as by laying them on moist earth or sand. For 

 scientific experiments, it is better to suspend them in 

 moist air to obtain an "equable environment." When 

 pieces of stems are so suspended, roots arise from their 

 bases and buds from their apexes, the reverse being the 

 the case in pieces of root. But this power of indepen- 

 dent growth is far from being confined to adventitious 

 buds ; in fact, it is a rule that every leaf-bud may be 

 removed, and with proper treatment turned into a new 

 plant — a fact that, both naturally and horticulturally, is of 



Fig. 8. — (After Sachs.) Asplenium dcatssatitm ; central pait 

 of the mature leaf; its mid-rib st bears the pinnae //; 

 at the base of one of these is formed the bud, k, which 

 has commenced to grow. 



great importance. In Nature this occurs by axillary 

 buds in Lilium bulbiferum, bulbiferous bitter-cress, or 

 coralroot (Dentaria bulbifcrd), and in the inflorescences 

 of flowers, as in species of Allium, and that interesting 

 example, the viviparous polygonum {Polygonum vivi-. 

 panim), where either all the flowers or the lower ones 

 are changed into little red bulbs. The " eyes " of the 

 potato, also, may be separated and caused to produce an 

 independent plant, as is also the case with the " cloves " 

 or small bulbs formed in the axils of parent bulbs. 

 Bulbs, it may be said, are analogous to buds, the great 

 difference being that the fleshy leaves of the former act 

 as reservoirs of plant-food, whereas those of the latter 

 are, of course, the great centres of its manufacture. The 

 operations of grafting, " budding," etc., depend upon this 

 property of independent development, and in such opera- 

 tions one important precaution has to be taken, viz., the 

 bringing of the cambium regions (layers of embryonic 

 tissue running through the plant which maintain and 

 renew their annual growth) of both " scion " and 

 "stock" into contact. As an illustration, the following 

 account of the operation of " budding," abstracted from 



Beeton's " Garden Management," may not be out of 

 place :— -" The bud is cut from the parent plant with about 

 5 in. of bark attached above and below, forming what is 

 called a ' shield,' and from this the wood must be 

 removed without injuring the inner bark. The buds or 

 ' eyes ' in the axils should be well developed, or they 

 must be made so by pinching the growing point and 

 causing a reflux of sap to the base, and in twelve days 

 the axillary buds will be sufficiently developed, the bud 

 then being separated. Should any leaves be expanded 

 they must be detached, the stalks being left. A T-shaped 

 cleft is then cut in the ' stock,' which should be from 

 one to five years old, and in full growth (May to Sep- 

 tember), allowing of ready removal of the outer bark 

 from the ' liber ' or inner bark. The bark of the bud 

 is then inserted under the bark of the 'stock,' and the 

 whole is then bandaged up, contact between the liber of 



Fig. 9. — (After Sachs.) Equisetum arvense; longitudinal 

 section through an underground bud in March ; ss, the 

 apical cells of the stem; b-yb, its leaves; KIC two 

 endogenous lateral buds exposed by the section x 50. 



both being ensured. The head of the ' stock ' is then 

 cut down in order to reserve an ample supply of nourish- 

 ment for the 'scion,' which rapidly shows vigorous 

 growth. Grafts may be made on roots in the same 

 way, which, when separated with the bud in thefollowing 

 spring, forms new individuals." 



Among the many interesting facts connected with the 

 physiology of buds, those connected with respiration 

 and the circumstances which determine the time of 

 sprouting may be mentioned here. With regard to res- 

 piration, Garreau is responsible for the following par- 

 ticulars : — " 12 buds of the lilac, weighing 2 grams (about 

 i-i6th of troy oz.), at 112 Fahr. exhaled 7oc.cm. (about 

 4J cubic inches) of carbonic acid gas in 24 hours, the 



