42 THE HUMAN SIDE OF TREES 



it can. This habit often causes the lower branches 

 to be neglected, especially when the tree has become 

 very tall. 



The buds are most interesting. Each bud has 

 the remarkable power of being able to reproduce 

 everything which has so far been grown on the 

 tree: stem, branches, foliage and fruit. It differs 

 only from the seed in remaining attached to the tree 

 and finding it necessary to stay there to perform 

 its work. 



Each summer the tree forms the buds destined 

 to "germinate" the following spring. Each leaf of 

 that year has an incipient bud in charge. If any- 

 thing happens to a leaf its nearby bud usually dies. 

 During the winter even the thick coats of the buds 

 cannot keep out all the cold, particularly as trees 

 differ from animals in having no internal heat. As 

 a matter of protection the water in the cells com- 

 posing the buds passes by osmosis into the inter- 

 cellular spaces. Here it may freeze to its heart's 

 content without bursting any cell walls. Fruit 

 crops are destroyed by early frosts because the 

 water is caught in the cells instead of out of them. 

 Freezing, it bursts innumerable delicate membranes 

 and disintegration results. 



The ascending sap of spring brings nourishment 

 to the buds. They burst through their scales and 



