there are scars marking the growths of 

 the steins in successive years. From time 

 to time portions of the old rootstock dies. 

 The potato is an example of another 

 kind of stem, the tuber. An old potato, 

 one that has been stored in a dark cellar, 

 will be covered with sprouts which" are 

 growing from the "eyes" of the potato. 

 These "eyes" are really buds which ap 

 pear in the axils of the scales, which cor 

 respond to leaves. If you cannot see the 

 scale you will see the scar left by it. The 

 potato, then, is certainly a stem, bearing 

 leaves or rather scales, and buds. In the 

 potato is the store of nourishment which 

 feeds the growing buds. The old potato 



with long sprouts is shrunken and soft 

 after having given up its supply to the 

 young branches. 



The Indian turnip and the crocus 

 spring from corms. Corms are very 

 short rootstocks, something like tubers 

 in that the buds grow on the sides. 



Bulbs have thickened scales in which 

 food is stored. If you examine the bulb 

 of a white lily you will see that the short 

 stem with its arrangement of leaves is 

 very like the bud of the horse- 

 chestnut. Indeed, a bulb is a bud, with 

 a very short stem and leaves so close to 

 gether that they seem almost to spring 

 from the same point. 



PART V, BUDS 



Plants and birds and humble creatures 



Well accept her rule austere; 

 Titan-born, to hardy natures 



Cold is genial and dear. 



EMERSON, "May-Day." 



The charm of early Spring is partly 

 one of contrast ; after the silence comes 

 the twittering and stir ; the bleakness 

 gives place to soft verdure ; the world of 

 nature so long asleep, awakes. Yet this 

 contrast, the abrupt passing from one 

 season to another, is not so marked to 

 those who are wide awake the year 

 around. When the snow is the deepest 

 they listen for sounds that some of us 

 only hear in the springtime, and their 

 sharp glances see the things in winter 

 that others think belong only to the 

 warmer seasons. They know the birds 

 that linger with us in winter ; the little 

 animals that track the snow in the course 

 of their daily pursuits ; and watch the 

 progress of the trees and shrubs that live 

 above ground, and that of the hardy per 

 ennials that cherish their stores of nour 

 ishment beneath the frozen earth. 



The very fact that there are fewer 

 signs of life in winter than at other sea 

 sons makes each new thing discovered 

 the more precious and wonderful and 

 gives then to our walks a charm and pi 

 quancy that we can feel at no other time. 

 Winter-buds are a noticeable sign of life 

 of trees in winter time. They are to be 

 seen throughout the season but are best 

 examined toward spring when they have 

 begun to swell. Much that is interesting 

 is to be observed about the buds ; their 



position on the stem and the effect upon 

 the development of the tree or shrub; 

 the way the young leaves are packed in 

 to the bud, in a way economical of space 

 and at the same time affording the leaves 

 when unfolding sufficient light without 

 too great an exposure to the scorching 

 heat of the sun ; also, the various means 

 of protection from the weather and from 

 visits of insects which might prove in 

 jurious. 



Notice the position of the buds on the 

 branch ; they are borne on the sides, 

 either alternately or opposite to each 

 other lateral buds, or on the end of 

 the branch terminal buds. The termi 

 nal buds are larger and stronger than 

 the lateral buds, usually, and so have the 

 advantage in growth. When the termi 

 nal buds have the lead, we have one or 

 more distinct main branches with lateral 

 branches growing from them. The pine 

 is a good example of this kind of growth, 

 where the terminal bud has predominated 

 and there is the straight shaft with lateral 

 branches. However, the terminal bud is 

 often a flower bud, and the lateral buds 

 have the advantage and the main branch 

 es are lost in the lateral one. This is the 

 case with the horse-chestnut and the elm ; 

 indeed most of the shade trees are more 

 or less deliquescent, which is the name 

 applied to trees without the distinct cen- 



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