OBSERVATIONS ON BUDS. 



187 



of these buds and those formed in the ordin- 

 ary way, there is also a difference in the 

 connection which branches, arising from 

 them, have with the branch upon which they 

 are situated. Terminal and axillary buds 

 are formed as the young shoot grows, and 



Fig. 2309. Peach Shoots. 



The large buds near bottom being fruit buds and 



the smaller single ones above leaf buds. 



are connected with the pith or centre of the 

 shoot. The branches which arise from 

 such growth are therefore formed in the 

 tree. Accidental buds are formed on the 

 older wood, and, as they originate in the 

 cambium layer, they have no connection 

 with the pith or centre of the branch ; con- 

 sequently the branches produced from them 

 are not deeply seated. That is why 

 branches from such buds may at first be 

 pulled off so easily. Each year's growth, 

 of course, helps to bury them deeper, and 

 after a time, they become as firmly united 

 as the other branches. 



What Buds May or May Not Do. 



If we observe buds to learn what they 

 produce, we will find that some produce 

 leaves or branches. These are called leaf- 

 buds. Others bear blossoms and fruit and 

 are known as fruit-buds. Others simply do 

 nothing, but remain inactive. These are 

 dormant buds. Let us study each of these 

 classes of buds a little more carefully, and 

 we shall learn some interesting things about 

 them. 



The Buds That Grow. 



Leaf-buds, of course, produce leaves, but 

 every perfect leaf-bud is also capable of pro- 

 ducing a branch. This is one of the most 

 important points to know in connection 

 with the propagating and pruning of trees. 

 It is, in fact, the foundation upon which is 

 based all of the most important nursery op- 

 erations in propagating by cuttings, by 

 layering, by grafting, and by budding. 



The terminal bud nearly always produces 

 a branch, or it at least extends the growth 

 of the branch on which it is situated. 



The lateral buds are all capable of pro- 

 ducing branches, but only a few of the 

 strongest ones near the end of the shoot 

 naturally do so. If, however, the end 01 

 the branch should be cut off, thereby giving 

 one of the less vigorous buds below the 

 prominent position of a terminal bud, it 



