120 



POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



more in thickness and quite brittle. This covering of bark is 

 quite impervious to disease where intact, but there are gener- 

 ally many small breaks in its surface through which disease 

 may enter and once inside the bark it is w-ell protected. 



Cracks in the live bark are most common in early summer 

 when growth is rapid. Diseases may also enter through some 

 wound, and hence the desirability of covering large wounds 

 with some impervious material to keep disease out of the plant. 

 Buds are the portions of plants which always tip new 

 growth. They are often opposite, as in the case of the Maple, or 

 alternate as in the apple, pear, plum or peach. Adventitious 

 buds are those that start apparently without system. Theoreti- 

 cally, botanists say that any cell may grow into a bud so that 



buds may appear in almost 

 any place on the trunk, roots, 

 or branches, and in the case 

 of the orange a single seed 

 may grow three plants, one 

 of which is the result of ordi- 

 nary sexual union while the 

 other two may be looked up- 

 on as being adventitious. 

 Buds may produce leaves or 

 flowers. The former are 

 termed leaf buds and the lat- 

 ter flower buds. These are 

 illustrated in Fig. 58. They 

 vary in shape, time of forma- 

 tion and location in different 

 plants. Flower buds are more 

 liable to winter injury than 

 leaf buds. Plants that are 

 growing fast are quite liable 

 to form only leaf buds and 

 often fail to form flower buds. 

 When growth is rather slow 

 naturally or when checked by artificial means, fruit buds are 

 formed. In the case of some trees that do not come into bear- 



Fig. 58. Fruit buds of: a. Apple, 

 b. Plum, c. Peach. The crosses 

 indicate fruit buds. 



