HOW PLANTS ARE REARED. 
75 
poor and feeble; and that is most likely the case, 
too, when it is reared from the seed of a weak and 
sickly plant. If a planter wishes to raise good 
crops, he must choose his seed from strong and 
healthy plants that have yielded a full crop; and 
even from such plants he should pick the largest 
and best seeds he can find. In that way he may 
improve his crop year by year; for plants, like 
children, generally take after their parents. 
4. But it must be remembered that seedlings do 
not always have exactly the same qualities as the 
plant from which they come. For 
instance, though from an orange 
seed nothing but an orange-tree 
will grow, this may produce 
oranges of a different quality 
from those of the tree which gave 
the seed. 
There are several other ways by 
i i -i • -i Bulb of the Lily. 
which new plants may be raised. 
5. Take the yams, for example. As soon as these 
are fully grown the plant dies, for its work is done, 
and in course of time new plants sprout forth from 
the ‘ eyes ’ of the tubers. If left in their place 
they would not thrive well, for they would be too 
crowded. So we are careful to split up the yam 
‘ head ’ into pieces, according to the number of 
‘ eyes’, and from each piece we thus get a separate 
plant. These we set out at some distance apart 
