Fruit bud formation—a criticism 
J. H. Gourley 
(WITH ONE TEXT FIGURE) 
Early in 1915, I wrote as follows in Technical Bulletin No. 9, 
New Hampshire Experiment Station: 
Writers in the eastern United States have commonly made the statement that 
fruit buds are never axillary in the apple such as occurs in the northwest, yet this 
method of producing fruit buds in the east is not uncommon. It has been observed 
by the writer throughout the eastern states on both old and young trees and with 
— emagen bess er re srs aay: ieseceastian or hegns it aesaa a ees that it was 
Isewhere 
in the orchard. While soar a ag a at standpoint this method of fruit-bud pro- 
duction can be almost ignored, it is well worthy of record. 
This position has been controverted by O. Butler in the Bul- 
letin of the Torrey Botanical Club (44: 85-96. 1917), as follows: 
A fruit branch is a leader in which the terminal and axillary buds in the upper 
two thirds or thereabouts of its length become flower buds during the season of its 
ric sei (PLATES 1, FIG. 2,and 2). The flower buds borne laterally on the leader 
e been seems as doch anxillarly ia pepe and by Gourley, though they are 
in nepali b 11 mbourdes).- Aclose study during 
the first season of the bade from which the sninomed axillary clusters arise will show 
that at the close of vegetation the buds are subtended by a rosette of leaves and are 
not in the axil of a single leaf. The buds are, therefore, terminal on sessile spurs and 
not axillary, as by definition an axillary bud is a bud borne in the axil of a leaf. 
Forney is also of this opinion for he states that ‘‘it often happens that the eyes of this 
season’s leader become transformed at once into spurs, and flower perfectly the 
following year.” ose see apne = Gorerepone of eae dei on sii branches is 
not ] ees weakened 
by eA see apie or soil exhaustion. : . 
I have recently reéxamined material in our orchards and again 
find that fruit buds are formed as true axillary buds in abundance 
on many trees (see FIG. 1). Occasionally short spurs are formed 
on new growth as I think horticulturists were aware, but in nosuch 
abundance as the axillary buds. It is likely that Butler mistook 
the points of attachment of the larger bud scales for leaf scars as 
they resemble them somewhat after the blossom cluster has been 
out a short time. I am led to suggest this explanation as the 
