SELECTING BUDS 75 



the Prunus group, bear their fruit on one-year old wood. 

 Therefore the buds that form the fruit, and the first set 

 of leaves in the spring develop in the fall of the preced- 

 ing year. The buds that develop into leaves are separate 

 from those that bear the fruit. It is probable, then, in 

 cutting twigs for budding work that many fruit buds will 

 be cut. Of course, the fruit buds are no good for nursery 

 work and in making the selection they should be dis- 

 carded. It is not always easy to distinguish fruit buds 

 from leaf buds, but with little observation and study, 

 few mistakes need be made. The first buds that appear 

 in the axis of the leaves during the summer's growth are 

 usually leaf buds, but along in July and August fruit buds 

 begin to develop down near the base of the current year's 

 growth and, as the season advances, appear farther and 

 farther out on the terminal branches. They may appear 

 singly, in pairs or in sets of three. Where they appear in 

 pairs or in sets of three one of them is nearly always a fruit 

 bud. In a general way, the fruit buds are a little larger 

 and more plump than the leaf buds, the latter being thin 

 and tapering to a long point. 



Bud forms on the apple and pear are quite different 

 from those of the stone fruits. The fruit is always born 

 on two-year old wood hence any bud formed on the current 

 year's growth would necessarily be a leaf bud. This makes 

 the process a fairly simple one with the Pome fruits. With 

 the evergreen fruits such as the olive and the citrus fruits, 

 bud formation is quite different. In climates where these 

 fruits can be grown good, dormant buds can be found 

 at nearly all periods of the year. With the various nut 



