Fe 
aS BULLETIN 1331, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
about three months. It is best to prepare 18 inches or more of the 
bases of the stems by stripping off the leaves as soon as the flowers 
are cut. These old bases can be easily pulled out of the bulbs by 
giving them a slight twist and pull sidewise, apparently without 
injuring or disturbing the bulb. | 
These stem bases are then layered thickly on the surface of the 
ground under a shed, under a porch, in shaded frames, or in some 
similar situation and covered with 2 inches of sand. They are then 
left with little or no attention until the bulblets begin to grow roots, 
showing that they are ready to be planted in the field. Each old 
stem base should produce 10 or 12 bulblets 3 to 7 centimeters (1.18 
to 2.76 inches) in circumference. ; | 
If the situation in which the stems are layered is suitable, rea- 
sonably protected, and shaded, they will scarcely need any attention. 
The main thing to look out for is to see that.no water seeps on to 
them and that exposure does not cause them to dry out too much. 
Usually the natural capillarity of the shaded soil will be sufficient to 
prevent too great desiccation. The stems should be kept decidedly 
on the dry side, but not powdery dry. If water is necessary, it 
should be applied with extreme care, for if the soil is moist enough 
for ordinary plant growth it will cause decay of the stems in a few 
days. By far the best plan in making such a propagation is to select 
a situation so shaded and protected that there is always likely to 
be a trace of moisture present and then to leave the stems severely 
alone. <A fair propagation will occur in very dry soil, but it will be 
infinitely better when a slight moisture content is brought up by 
capillarity. The writer has never been able to add moisture satis- 
factorily. 
The stem bases may be incubated in precisely the same manner 
as described for the scales. Whenever that method is employed for 
the scales it is recommended that the stems be included with them. 
The stem bases may be laid on the surface of the sand, but it is 
often more satisfactory to lay them on trays having a galvanized- 
wire mesh to keep them from actual contact with the sand. In the 
experiments recorded in this bulletin the bulblets have usually fin- 
ished their growth and begun to root, indicating the proper time 
to plant them out, in 45 days. They attain a size of 3 to 7 centi- 
meters (1.18 to 2.76 inches) in that time. 
Possibly the easiest way to handle the stems for propagation when 
the flowers are not to be used is to heel them in in the field in such a . 
way that a foot or so of the base of the stem is covered with 1 to 3 
inches of friable soil. With this treatment, the whole stem should 
be used with no leaves removed. Under ordinary conditions the 
stems can not be successfully layered in the open ground in either 
the Puget Sound region or at Washington, D. C., on account of 
excessive moisture present in the soil, but when heeled in with the 
tops on, the stems continue to function long enough to allow the 
formation of bulblets to take place before decay'starts. Under this 
treatment the bulblet formation will be ready to space in its perma- 
nent quarters on Puget Sound in the first half of October and a few 
weeks earlier in the vicinity of Washington, D, C. 
