APPLE BRANCH 95 



Drawing. — Draw a picture of the apple twig so 

 as to show how it grew during the last two years. 

 Draw its joint, its buds, its leaf scars, and its side 

 branches. 



Composition. — Write a description of the last two 

 years' growth of the apple twig. Make the first para- 

 graph about its joint, the second about its buds, the 

 third about its leaf scars, and the fourth about its 

 side branches. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



Joints. — An apple branch grows in yearly lengths which 

 are marked by joints. By counting the joints you can tell the 

 age of the branch. After several years the joints disappear 

 because of the growth of the wood and bark. See for how 

 many years you can trace the joints back from the tip end of 

 a large branch of an apple tree. 



Buds. — When a newly grown stem is only a few weeks old, 

 it prepares all the buds that will ever appear on that part of 

 the stem. Like a pine, it places a bud on the tip of each 

 branch, but instead of placing the other buds around the end 

 bud as a pine does, it scatters them over the whole length of 

 the shoot, placing one above each leaf. What is the difference 

 between the buds on the side of an apple branch and those 

 on its end ? 



Carefully peel a bud and a little bark from the wood of a 

 twig. Do you find any mark on the wood under the bud ? 



Usually, only those buds at or near the outer end of a shoot 

 open and grow. The rest stand still unless the end of the 

 limb should be broken off. Then the buds on the part that is 

 left may grow, even if they have waited four or five years for 

 the chance. Look for the unopened buds on a large apple 

 branch. How old are the oldest buds that you find ? What 



