J\>sitii>n of Buds. 131 



the trunk, and that the trunk must be kept solid 

 and entire a single shaft ? Did any force in nature 



iblish these relationships by \vhich the tree is 

 only fitted to the earth and air, but to the dan- 

 gers of particular zoi. 



The position of the bud is also worthy of atten- 

 tion. Every plant has a specific form, and this form 

 is glue mainly to the position of the buds upon its 

 stem. They appear in an exact relation to each 

 other, which in each species can always be re] 

 sented by a fixed mathematical ion. Since 



bu<: -ent leaves and flowers and branches, not 



only the symmetry but the welfare of the tree de- 

 mands that there should be some definite order or 

 plan in their distribution. Were it not so, leaves 

 mi^ht be crowded together on some branches and 

 scattered far apart on others, and the same would 

 be true of the branches on the trunk. 



this mathematical arrangement of branches 

 and leaves, the beauty of the tree is secured, it has 



ater strength, and the leaves arc' hot distributed 

 for contact with the air. When the tree is injured 

 or diseased, it sometimes puts out buds without 

 order, but we see at once that they mar the beauty 

 of the tree, and that the power by which it builds up 



\ nimetrical whole has been overcome, for such 

 branches never grow in any fixed relation to the 

 parent stock. They grow like independent plants, 

 while every branch that grows from the appointed 

 place, at once bends itself in obedience to the pa- 

 rent tree. 



