388 . 
relation, though still apparent, shows the curious anomaly of pre- 
senting the effect in early spring and the cause not until the suc- 
ceeding winter. In. other words,.in many ligneous plants the 
warmth of returning spring has hardly called the vital functions 
of the trees again into vigorous action before the growth for the 
year is completed, and a few weeks later a well-developed termi- 
nal scaly bud awaits the winter. Of course, this bud itself needs 
considerable maturing before it will attain all the characters ne- 
cessary to endure the winter’s cold, and the parts the scales of the 
bud are intended to protect must still, in a large measure, be de- 
veloped. But the fact that the more terminal leaves have re- 
mained in the crude state of scales when all the freshness of spring 
was inviting them on to full development to vigorous leaves can 
not be overlooked. Nature is thus shown to plan for the future, 
and, to follow this metaphor, she can be said to be prescient, tak- 
ing cognizance for the future, laying in her stores at a time when 
they are not needed, for future use. This is true in so many ways 
that it cannot fail to have attracted attention. _ It is mentioned 
here to explain another set of related phenomena. 
A study of the new growth of the jack oak, Quercus nigra, L., 
in spring will show that the plant has the work for the present 
year all planned out. The growth of the year is already prac- 
tically contained in the scaly buds. Before this year’s growth is 
fully accomplished she begins to prepare for the next year’s task, 
and she lays out only enough work to meet the requirements. 
The result is that there is a certain definiteness to this work, so 
that it is possible in a certain measure to foretell how much the 
plant will do from year to year. This definiteness must bear re- 
lations to conditions of climate found in certain areas from over 
the plant’s range of distribution. In the case of many plants these 
conditions seem to be found over their more northern areas of 
distribution. The result is that northward the relations between 
the requirements as to the number of leaves necessary for the vig- 
orous development of the plant and the provisions for the same are 
so well cared for in the amount of growth the plant arranges for 
from year to year that it is rather rare to find ligneous plants renew- 
ing their growth after having once formed their terminal buds. The 
correlations established for more northern areas lose.in value, ee 
