1 88 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Fig. 2310. 



{p) Branch of Sour Cherry, showing fruit spur 

 forming on two year old wood, and fruit buds at 

 the base of new wood. 



[a) Branch of Sweet Cherry, showing these 

 young fruit spurs with clusters of fruit buds ; also 

 plump fruit buds at base of new wood. 



(f) Another of the same, with lengthened spurs, 

 which have been fruiting seven or eight years. 



soon rises to the occasion and produces a 

 branch, as well as if it had been a terminal 

 bud from the start. Any perfect leaf-bud 

 may thus be made to produce a branch by 

 cutting- off those above it and giving it the 

 position of a terminal bud. In this respect 

 buds and some people are much alike — they 



do much or little depending upon the prom- 

 inence and responsibility of the position in 

 which they are placed. 



The Discouraged Buds. 



If we examine any vigorous shoot after 

 the , leaves have fallen, numerous small, 

 more or less indistinct buds may be found 

 near its base. These are the dormant buds 

 that have been left so far behind in the race 

 by the growth at the extremity of the shoot 

 that they have apparently given up trying 

 to do anything, and unless they are given 

 another chance, by heading off those above 

 them, they will always remain inactive, and 

 will soon be covered up by the annual de- 

 posit of new wood along the sides of the 

 branch. 



The Buds That Bear. 



Fruit-buds are those which produce blos- 

 soms, and if all goes well bear fruit. In 

 the early stages of the growth, they were 

 leaf-buds, or, in other words, fruit-buds are 

 all developed frorr leaf-buds. 



The transformation of leaf-bud to fruit- 

 bud is one of those mysterious natural 

 changes which go on so smoothly and im- 

 perceptibly that we usually see only the re- 

 sult without ' knowing just how it was 

 brought about. If we study the question 

 carefully, however, we will find that there 

 are certain conditions that have a direct in- 

 fluence upon the development of fruit buds. 



In the first place the tree must attain a 

 certain state of maturity. The age at which 

 this stage is reached varies greatly with 

 different species and varieties. Plums, for 

 instance, usually reach a bearing age much 

 sooner than apples, while a Ben Davis or 

 Wealthy tree often reaches a bearing age in 

 about one-half the time that a Northern Spy 

 does. 



Then again, we may notice that anything 

 may tend to check the vigor of growth has- 

 tens the development of fruit-buds. For 

 instance, trees that are more or less checked 



