THE FLOWER BUDS OF OUR FRUIT TREES. 127 



tinue to absorb water during winter weather, unless the ground 

 about them is actually frozen, and as the water does not evaporate it 

 accumulates in the tree. It is known that the tree is full of sap the 

 latter part of the winter ; that is the reason we can draw maple sap 

 in early spring. When the warm weather comes they are in the 

 best possible condition for growth, and we have a very rapid growth 

 early in the spring because the branches are all gorged with water. 

 After the leaves come out, evaporation becomes rapid, and the roots 

 are not able to keep up with the evaporation ; hence, the water supply 

 begins to dwindle. The leaves are continually evaporating water, 

 and the new leaves are expanding, and they have to be filled with 

 water ; hence, as the season advances there occurs a decided dearth of 

 water, and the trees cannot maintain the rapid growth they have com- 

 menced. The roots may be able to keep up the supply in summer 

 weather sufficient to prevent the leaves from wilting, but they cannot 

 furnish water enough to grow on ; hence, the growth comes to an end. 

 And what results? The sap changes in. composition because the 

 leaves continue to evaporate water, and as the water supply di- 

 minishes the sap becomes more concentrated. It has long been 

 recognized that when the sap becomes stocked with the proper food, 

 when the sap acquires a certain consistency, it is then in condition to 

 form flowers and not before. We can demonstrate this by experi- 

 ment. It is well known that if you girdle the branch of an apple 

 tree, cutting around the branch and removing the bark from the 

 tree, the part of the tree that has been girdled will produce flowers 

 in many cases. In this way trees can be caused to fruit several 

 years earlier than otherwise. What have we done in this case ? We 

 have cut in through the bark but not into the wood. It is well known 

 that the food that is prepared in the leaves goes down through the 

 inner bark, from the leaves into the branches, from the branches into 

 the trunk and from the trunk into the roots. All the growth that is 

 made has to be made through the leaves. If we remove the inner 

 bark we interrupt the current of prepared food, consequently the 

 water will pass off through the leaves, but the food that is formed 

 cannot pass down. The result is we have a thickened stem above the 

 girdle and a formation of flowers, showing that an accumulation of 

 food causes flowers. As I have said, it is only where there is an 

 accumulation of food that the flower is formed. Every observer 

 knows that the first flowers and fruits on a young apple tree are 

 formed on the short branches that leave the main branches at nearly 

 right angles. The union of the two branches causes the bark to 

 wrinkle and acts to a certain extent like girdling, causing an accumu- 

 lation of food that in turn causes flowers to appear. During the 



