BUDS AND STIPULES 



CHAPTER I 



ON BUDS 



Everyone who loves a garden knows to his cost how 

 susceptible young leaves are to cold how often the 

 bright promise of spring is ruined by late frosts. Buds 

 offer also a tempting food to insects and other animals. 

 Moreover, their development is generally a slow process, 

 the buds for the following year being already formed, as 

 a rule, during the previous summer, in many cases as 

 early as June or July, and in some even a year and a 

 half in advance. The protection of the buds is therefore 

 one of the most important requisites in plant life in cold 

 countries against frost, in hot against the sun. During 

 winter the young leaves lie snugly enclosed in several 

 warm wraps, covered in many cases by furry hairs, and 

 often still further protected from insects and browsing 

 quadrupeds by gummy or resinous secretions. 



The bud is a short shoot bearing a number of young 

 leaves closely packed together. There is generally one 



