25 



write a small book. But we will trace out its birthdays and 

 see how many apples it has borne. It is shown in Fig. 22, and 

 because it is so long I have had to break it in two several times 

 to get it on the page. It begins at A, and is continued at B, 

 C, D, E, and F. 



Let us count the yearly rings and see how old the whole limb 

 is. These rings are at 28, 26, D, 12, i, — five of them; and as the 

 shoot grew one year before it made any ring, and another year 

 made no increase in length — as we shall presently see^— the whole 

 branch must be seven years old. That is, the limb probably 

 started in 1890.* Let us begin, then, at A, and follow it out. 



1 890. Started as a spur from the main branch. A, and grew to i . 



1 89 1. Apple borne at i. This apple did not mature, however, 

 as we can readily see by the smallness of the scar. In this 

 year, two side buds developed to continue the spur the next 

 year. 



1892. Gave up its desire to be a fruit-spur, and made a strong 

 growth on to 12. For some reason, it had a good chance 

 to grow. Perhaps the farmer pruned the tree, and thereby 

 gave the shoot an opportunity; or perhaps he plowed and 

 fertilized the land. 



In the meantime one of the side buds grew to 3, and the 

 other to 7, and each made a fruit-bud at its end. 



1893. Shoot grew lustily, — on to D. 



The fruit-bud at 3 bore an apple, which probably matured, 

 as shown by the scar 2. Two side buds were formed be- 

 neath this apple to continue the spur next year. 



The fruit-bud at 7 bloomed, but the apple fell early, as 

 shown by the small scar. Two side buds were formed. 



The buds upon the main shoot — i to 12 — all remained 

 dormant. 



* It is really impossible to tell whether the shoot started from the limb A in 1889 

 or 1890, without knowing the age of A ; for the spur may have developed its blos- 

 som bud at the end in either the first or second year of its life. That is, young 

 fruit-spurs sometimes make a blossom bud the very year they start, but they oftener 

 " stand still " the second year and delay the blossom bud until that lime. 



