Bulb

“ The Bulb, strictly so-called, is a stem like a reduced corm as to its solid part (or plate) ; while the main body consists of thickened scales, which are leaves or leaf-bases. These are like bud-scales; so that in fact a bulb is a bud with fleshy scales on an exceedingly short stem. Compare a White Lily bulb (Fig. 107) with the strong scaly buds of the Hickory and Horse-chestnut (Fig. 72 and 73) , and the resemblance will appear. In corms, as in tubers and rootstocks, the store of food for future growth is deposited in the stem ”

“ From the base of the bulb a pale green, almost white, articulated flower-spike shoots up along the side of the bulb, and rises to the height of four or five feet, the upper portion forming a raceme of pure white waxy flowers, sometimes as many as twenty in number. ”

“ The procession, to which the umbrellas give something of dignity if not solemnity, moves slowly along a field, each man taking a row and examining the hyacinths one by one for signs of the disease. With his umbrella he shields the sun from his head and neck, the weather usually seems to be hot on these occasions; with his tool he neatly and cleanly lifts the suspected bulb from among its fellows. ”

“ A typical bulb, such as that of Lilium Longiflorum, consists of numerous scales, closely packed together, united to a firm, fleshy part—the base of the bulb. It is from the base that the lower roots spring. In a perfectly sound fresh bulb the outer scales are approximated to the next layer, but in dry bulbs the outer scales wither and are but loosely applied to the inner ones. ”

“ IF we were not so familiar with the fact, we would think there were few queerer things in nature than the mode of growth followed by this sprouting hyacinth-bulb on my mantel-piece here. It is simply stuck in a glass stand filled with water, and there, with little aid from light or sunshine, it goes through its whole development like a piece of organic clock-work, as it is, running down slowly in its own appointed course. For a bulb does not grow as an ordinary plant grows, solely by means of carbon derived from the air under the influence of sun-light. ”

“ A BULB-GROWER’S GARDEN
Other growers there are whose tastes are scientific, or perhaps for photography or the microscope. These, too, are turned to account; exquisite photographs of flowers illustrate the bulb lists; patient examination of pollen and plant parasites, careful and systematic experiments with soils and fertilisers, give help and enlightenment in the growing and varying of the bulbs. Others there may be who have had some thought of another profession before family circumstances gave them to this life, but they are not the worse growers on that account. ”

“ At the summit of each pseudo bulb arises a single elliptical or lance-shaped leaf, six or seven inches long, of a reddish-brown colour, marbled with spots of green. From the base of each bulb springs a small leafless articulated or jointed stalk, stiff, and frequently four feet long, with small deciduous scales attached to the joints of the stalk. At the end of each stalk a small green peduncle supports a single flower bearing a singular and striking resemblance to a butterfly on the wing, not only in general outline, but in some of the details, both of form and colour. ”

“ In the soil of the plains and the dry hillsides you will find an amazingly large solid bulb, thickly enwrapped in a coat of brown fiber, the long threads of which can be braided, their amazing strength making them suitable for bow strings, lariats, or rope of any kind that must needs be improvised for use at the moment. The bulbs themselves have many uses. ”

“ The bulb, when four years old (having developed more perfect leaves and begun to produce flowers) , is composed of about twenty tunics.
If the flower, during the fifth year, continues to develop and shows to advantage in colour, form, etc., the growers’ hopes rise higher still, but they cannot tell even yet if the flower will fulfil its great promise.
A bulb which has grown too rapidly will sometimes throw out young bulbs (or offshoots) at four or five years old, but never before it has once, during the course of its life, put forth a flower. ”

“ They are the most easily raised of all the bulbous plants and increase in a manner quite alarming, each bulb forming a long tuber resembling a white radish in general appearance, and covered with small bulbs—probably fifty—the top being crowned with one large bulb, the source of the season’s florescence. ”

“ It can be accounted for sometimes by the fact that the bulb itself is feeling disposed to throw out young bulbs, and the sap is being drawn away from the flower-stalk—or it may have suffered from a cold draught, when it was lying on the shelf in the winter—or it may be it is feeling the damp. ”

“ These lie in the earth very still through all the winter. The life in them is asleep, just as it is in the buds. But it wakes up in the spring, and down go the roots from the bottom of the bulbs, and up come the plants from their tops. It is sometimes said that a bulb is really a bud, only it [1098] is in the ground, instead of being in the air as most buds are. Thus the onion is a bud, and the real roots of the plant are what you see branching down from the bottom of the bulb. ”

“ One can see very well how this comes to pass when it is remembered that the next year’s flower is actually contained in the base of this year’s stem, therefore what weakens one weakens the other. If the bulb is very deep in the earth and the ground is hard, it cannot spread and enlarge itself with comfort, so the health of the bulb requires it to be lifted every year. ”

“ A complete treatise on the history, description, methods of propagation and full directions for the successful culture of bulbs in the garden, dwelling and greenhouse. As generally treated, bulbs are an expensive luxury, while when properly managed, they afford the greatest amount of pleasure at the least cost. The author of this book has for many years made bulb growing a specialty, and is a recognized authority on their cultivation and management. ”

“ One who goes to the bulb gardens does well to put that sense to rest, for, seen hastily, run through in a few hours or a day at most, they produce little but an impression of sheets of gorgeous colour, which might possibly have been more beautiful had they been otherwise arranged. ”

“ The bulb when finished may be lightly tapped on the table, when, if there is any weak place owing to inequality of thickness, the bulb will break, and the operation may be started afresh. "A good bulb is round, set truly on the tube, and free from lumps of thick glass or places of excessive thinness." When the amateur has succeeded in blowing a bulb two inches in diameter on the end of a strong bit of thermometer tube — say for an air thermometer — he may well seek the congratulations of his friends. ”

“ The angular form of the young bulb comes from the kind of resistance it meets and moulded by the space in which it is free to expand. If it grows on the outside of the bulb, it is concave on the side which joins the round side of the bulb, while on its outer side it is round. ”

“ Across the arms he balances the iron rod to which the glass bulb adheres, and rolling it backwards and forwards with the fingers of his left hand fashions the glass between the blades of his sugar-tongs tool, grasped in his right hand. The hollow bulb is worked into the shape it is intended to assume, partly by blowing, partly by gravitation, and partly by the workman’s tool. ”

“ By Offsets.—This mode of increase applies specially to bulbous plants, such as the lily and hyacinth, which produce little bulbs on the exterior round their base. Most bulbs do so naturally to a limited but variable extent; when more rapid increase is wanted the heart is destroyed, and this induces the formation of a larger number of offsets. The stem bulbs of lilies are similar in character to the offsets from the parent bulb. The same mode of increase occurs in the gladiolus and crocus, but their bulb-like permanent parts are called corms, not bulbs. ”

“ Most bulb catalogues give specific cultural recommendations that are helpful in selecting varieties that will adapt to your climate, and to the sun, soil, and moisture in the spot where you want to plant them. In general, bulbs are either hardy or not; they will survive a deep winter freeze, or they must be lifted and stored before the ground freezes at all. ”

“ A Scaly Bulb (like that of the Lily, Fig. 107, 108) is one in which the scales are thick but comparatively narrow.
Fig. 107. Bulb of a wild Lily. 108. The same divided lengthwise, showing two forming buds of the next generation.
Fig. 109. A ground leaf of White Lily, its base (cut across) thickened into a bulb-scale. This plainly shows that bulb-scales are leaves.
115. A Tunicated or Coated Bulb is one in which the scales enwrap each other, forming concentric coats or layers, as in Hyacinth and Onion.
[Pg 47]
116. Bulblets are very small bulbs growing out of larger ones ”

“ These thickened parts are stored with nutriment which is used during subsequent growth. Bulbs occur only in plants which are accustomed to a long period of inactivity. Many bulbous plants are peculiar to dry and arid regions, where growth is impossible during long periods. A bulb is, therefore, a more or less permanent and compact leaf-bud, usually occupying the base of the stem underground and emitting roots from its lower portion. ”

“ Before planting the large bulbs, it may be well to examine the points, to determine whether they are likely to bloom. The tuberose blooms but once. If there is a hard, woody piece of old stem in the midst of the dry scales at the apex of the bulb, it has bloomed, and is of no value except for producing pips. Likewise if, instead of a solid core, there is a brownish, dry cavity extending from the tip down into the middle of the bulb, the heart has rotted or dried up, and the bulb is worthless as far as blooming is concerned. ”

“ The bulb forms an artificial mouth, as was the custom many centuries later in the cap of the cromorne. The position of the reed determines the effective length of the pipe; the difference of pitch would be in each case one tone, as I find that the length81 of bulb corresponds with the distance between two finger holes of the pipe. Does this solve the mystery? Be that as it may, I have found in these vases a source of ever renewed pleasure.
Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. ”

“ They seem to love the shelter and dampness of the wood, where the falling leaves each autumn make a fresh covering for their bulbs. Once I tried to see how deep in the earth the bulbs were buried, but I did not succeed in getting down low enough, and could only tell, from the mark on the stem of the lily which had been pulled, that about eight to ten inches seemed to be the usual depth of the bulb. ”

“ The bulb is dipped into hot water; the air expands, and it is driven out. Simply introducing our bulb into cold water, the air shrinks, and by atmospheric pressure the liquid is driven into the bulb. Again we drive the air out, and, by a few operations of this kind, we find that we can charge our bulb with a very great degree of accuracy. You can see the liquid in the bulb at the present time. In this way we charge a bulb which has had its common air and floating matter removed with our infusion. ”

“ The construction of a great number of philosophical 40 instruments requires that he who would make them should exercise himself in the art of blowing bulbs possessing a figure exactly spherical. This is one of the most difficult operations.
To blow a bulb at the extremity of a tube, you commence by sealing it; after which, you collect at the sealed extremity more or less glass, according to the size and the solidity which you desire to give to the bulb. ”

“ The parent bulb sends out one or more thick rhizomes which grow outward if the bulb is at the normal depth, downward if the bulb is too near the surface of the ground and the new bulbs are formed by the shortening of the outer end and the growth and thickening of the scales of the rhizome. ”

“ Bulbs.—Cut an onion or snowdrop bulb down the middle, and draw what you see, marking on your drawing the outer scale leaves, the swollen bases of last year’s leaves, the young leaves in the middle, the short, thickened stem, and the roots. Also cut other bulbs across and again draw. What is the similarity and what is the difference between these bulbs and such a bud as a cabbage?
Also examine hyacinth, tulip and daffodil bulbs. Put them in glasses with water touching their bases, and watch them grow. What do they live upon?
6. A crocus corm.—Obtain a few crocus “bulbs” in the early winter. ”

“ There are some bulbs, such as François Ist, which may exist years without producing a single young bulb, while others produce at so great a rate that one only wishes they would stop. This shows that young bulbs are plentiful, and may grow in all parts of a bulb,—only that in some they find more resistance than in others,—and the difficulty they find in working their way through the harder sorts causes the slight difference in the forms of the bulbs in the different species. ”

“ The leaves are then cut off altogether, and the bulb is replaced in the earth on its side, being covered up again with an inch or two of very light soil, such as we described—the bulbs are left about a month or two in this state. When the time comes for them to be finally taken up, a fine dry day is chosen. The bulbs are then left out in the open air for a few hours. (If the sun is too hot, it will make them “boil,” as the gardeners say, and the sun can kill them as surely as the frost.) ”