66 WINTER FIELD MEETING. 



prune a forest tree so as to keep the original plan of the 

 species. To any one who has given this subject a thought, 

 to see the way in which shade trees in Salem are pruned, 

 it would seem as if all that was required was to saw down 

 as many branches as possible in the shortest possible time. 

 The consequence of this is that, not only has the tree lost 

 many of its fine branches, but its entire beauty, in so far 

 as its natural symmetry is concerned, is lost. In order to 

 understand the ramification of branches it is also nec- 

 essary to know the plan of the growth of buds and the dif- 

 ferent species of trees. Buds are the germs of stems ; 

 leaf-buds are those devoted to vegetation. Mixed buds 

 contain both foliage and flowers. Commonly, in plants 

 that live from year to year, growth is divided into seasons 

 or stages with intervals of repose. In such cases, espec- 

 ially in trees and shrubs, instead of a succession of foliage, 

 the period of interruption is apt to be marked by the pro- 

 duction of scales or rudimentary leaves which serve to 

 protect the tender rudiments or growing points within, du- 

 ring the season of rest. This being the winter season in 

 cold climates, Linnaeus gave to such bud-coverings the 

 name of Hibernacula and from the usual scale-like charac- 

 ter of this covering they take the name of scaly buds. 

 Large and strong ones of this kind, such as those of the 

 Horse-chestnut, Magnolia and Hickory, may be taken as 

 the type of this form of buds. In regard to the nature of 

 bud-scales, that they answer to leaves is manifest from a 

 consideration of their situation and arrangement, which are 

 the same as that of the proper leaves of the species, and 

 from the gradual transition from scales to leaves. In 

 the unfolding buds of the Horse-chestnut every gradation 

 may be traced between bud-scales and foliage. 



Of the various kinds of buds it is needful to mention 

 some, as there are shrubs and trees even in the coldest 



