162 NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



from a growth shoot ; for if they set a fruit bud or graft 

 a fruit spur instead of a tree they will at best get but a 

 single fruit. 



Any time after the leaves fall this study of buds may 

 be begun, but it should preferably be put off until late 

 winter, February or March. If branches bearing both 

 kinds of buds of apple, cherry, pear, peach, and plum 



FIG. 62. CHERRY TWIGS 

 The story as told by the buds themselves 



- be then set in a vase in a window in the schoolroom, 

 they will soon begin to swell. Fruit buds are plump and 

 short, while leaf buds are slender and pointed. For the 

 lower grades select a twig of the five kinds named above 

 and have the children guess which buds will produce leaves 

 and which blossoms. Tie a red string at the flower and a 

 white string at the leaf buds, and two or three weeks will 

 tell who is right. 



