26 THE FRUIT -BUD 



in strength is the uppermost lateral one, and the 

 weakest shoot is at the base of the twig. The 

 dormant buds are on the under side (for the twig 

 grew 'in a horizontal position). All this suggests 

 that those buds grew which had the best chance, 

 the most sunlight and room. There were too 

 many buds for the space, and in the struggle for 

 existence those which had the best opportunities 

 made the largest growths. This struggle for 

 existence began a year ago, however, when the 

 buds upon the shoot below / were forming in 

 the axils of the leaves, for the buds near the tip 

 of the shoot grew larger and stronger than those 

 near its base. The growth of one year, there- 

 fore, is very largely determined by the conditions 

 under which the buds were formed the previous 

 year. 



All these remarks are still further illustrated by 

 Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 7 is the current year's growth 

 of apple. The leaves are placed singly, and there 

 is a single bud in the axil of each. (The two 

 awl -like bodies at the base of each leaf are 

 stipules, or appendages of the leaves.) Fig. 8 

 is a shoot a year older than the other. Four 

 buds were formed in the axils of as many leaves 

 in the previous year; one of these buds is dor- 

 mant, but the other three have produced short, 

 leafy branches. Any tree or shrub will show the 

 same differences between the two last annual 

 growths. 



