100 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETT. 



It then begins a twisting or rolling motion the cause of which is quite difficult 

 to explain. 



In the warm part of a warm day this young vino may make a complete 

 revolution in three hours. The tip of a vine in this way often travels ten or 

 fifteen feet in thiee hours. We can readily see that this peculiarity of 

 vines is of great use, enabling them to find any object witliin reach. After 

 striking an object it no longer "swings around the circle," but clings to tho 

 new support. Time will not permit me to dwell on tliis interesting part of 

 the subject. It has been found tiiat the stems of trees which soon have stout 

 trunks — plants wliich never climb — all have this swinging motion, this 

 circumiiutation. A young stem of corn, or geranium, or ash, in suitable 

 Boil, swings or alternately bends in all directions so as to make a slightly 

 funnel-shaped liole in the ground, Of what use this can be to the plant, I 

 cannot possibly see, but it very likely may some day be found out. It siiows 

 a close similarity or brotherhood in the bdhavior of plants. 



As before mentioned, leaves possess the power of movement; some of them 

 move quite suddenly when brushed or jarred, others slowly with a change of 

 light, iieat, or moisture. Young leaves, even in air which is perfectly still, 

 are all the time changing their positions. The power of motion in young 

 roots, stems, leaves, is universal so far as \ve know. 



Let us return to the germinating acorn of the white oak as left in autumn. In 

 spring it resumes its work. The stout, terminal bud gradually unfolds and casts 

 ofl its scales wiiich have served their purpose and are no longer needed. Leaf 

 after leaf appears as the young and tender stem elongates. There is only one 

 leaf at eacli joint or node of tho stem, and these are arranged in a spiral. 

 The root resumes its growth, puts out numerous new branches, and the root- 

 lets are covered with root hairs. At the close of the first year we shall find 

 that the stem has become firm and hard, and just above each leaf has been 

 developed a bud. 



On the branches of elms and basswoods the buds are alternate and two- 

 ranked, i. e., they are on only two sides of a branch, or point in only two 

 directions. On the box elder, maple, dogwood, and the ashes, the buds are 

 opposite and four-ranked, or point in four directions. While young and 

 growing, bud scales are usually green, but during winter or at an earlier period 

 most or all of them change to a gray or brown color. Buds vary somewhat 

 in shape, color, and size in the same species, but the buds of one kind of tree 

 are unlike those of other trees in some respects. There is a marked specific 

 difference between the shape, size, and structure of the buds of our several 

 species of poplars, so that an expert can distinguish one kind from the other 

 by the buds atid the leaf scars near them. The same is true of the buds and 

 leaf scars of our black walnut and butternut. The bud scales arc arranged 

 with reference to each other in the same manner as the leaves on the stem. 

 In fact, bud scales are nothing but leaves developed in a special way for a 

 definite purpose. 



Buds are often coated with wax or gum to keep the moisture from penetrat- 

 ing them. They are well covered on the inside with long fine hairs of wool 

 which serve to prevent sudden changes of weather from injuring the tender 

 leaves within, which arc also often snugly packed in cotton wool. 



In different sorts of trees the young leaves are often folded in different 

 ways; in each species they are generally all folded alike. A well developed 

 bud contains all the leaves and all the parts of the stem in a rudnnentary 



