40 Winter Buds and Tree Forms 



the whole the buds placed on the outer side or on the 

 inner side of the main boughs that have grown into the 

 largest branches ? You will find that in some cases one 

 thing has happened and in some the other, but the same 

 is always met with in the same kind of tree. You will 

 understand what I mean if you take a simple outline of 

 a tree like the figure opposite, with unforked branches 

 growing opposite each other, and draw in yourselves 

 the smaller branches and twigs : In the first case make 

 the branches growing outwards into thick many forked 

 ones, and the inner ones quite small. This gives you 

 a spreading tree like a sycamore or horse-chestnut, with 

 a large crown of leaves in the summer (Fig. 23 b). In 

 the second one the inner branches are to be the im- 

 portant ones. This kind of growth is seen in lime trees 

 and lilacs and gives the idea that the branches have all 

 been pushed together (Fig. 23 c). 



You will say you never saw trees as regular in shape 

 as these diagrams. No, because although I told you 

 how well protected the buds are, they still often get 

 knocked off or eaten by insects, and, even if a leaf bud 

 is not altogether destroyed, a small accident to it will 

 mean that later on a whole branch will be stunted in 

 growth. You will sometimes see a small Christmas 

 tree (spruce fir) or a young maple growing beautifully 

 regular, but as trees grow older each individual begins 

 to have a shape of its own. For this reason it is much 

 easier to notice different patterns of branching on young 

 trees. 



Although trees will suffer if they do not get plenty 

 of air, yet if this air takes the form of continual wind 

 they may easily have too much of it. When they grow 

 along the sea coast, or in any other exposed position 



