ix LETTERS TO MARCO 55 



Possibly after all, too, the partial destruc- 

 tion of buds is more or less good for the 

 trees ; there is a distinct tendency in highly 

 cultivated trees and plants to send out rather 

 more buds than are wanted, so that disbudding 

 is often resorted to by the gardener. 



Roses are of the same family as the apple, 

 as my sketch of the Rosa rugosa shows, and 

 have generally a great superabundance of 

 buds, so that even the little " worm in the 

 bud " sometimes does good in the thinning 

 process ; also the caterpillar, by thinning 

 the leaves and allowing the sun to get at 

 the fruit, when his work is not in excess, 

 does less harm than many people imagine ; 

 no one can suppose that the vast quantities 

 of worm-eaten apples that fall could ever 



have ripened successfully. 







There is a convenient fact in favour of 

 most insects and animals of prey, which is 

 that they seem almost invariably to choose 

 their food from the weakest and sickliest 

 parts of vegetation ; strong and vigorous 



