28 THE FLOWER GARDEN COMPANION. 



they are perpetually attracting food from the earth, and con- 

 veying it into the interior of the plant, where it, at that sea- 

 son, is stored up till it is required by the young shoot of the 

 succeeding year. The whole tissue of a plant will, therefore, 

 become distended with fluid by the return of spring, and the 

 degree of distention will be in proportion to the mildness and 

 length of the previous winter. As the new shoots of spring 

 are vigorous or feeble in proportion to the quantity of food 

 that may be prepared for them, it follows, that the longer the 

 period of rest from growth, the more vigorous the vegetation 

 of the plant will become when once renewed, if that period 

 is not excessively protracted. " 



Anx. 6. Observations on the Bud. 



The bud of plants is very aptly termed by the botanist, the 

 hybernacula or winter quarters. It is formed in the sum- 

 mer, and properly fed and nourished by the descending sap. 

 Buds may be considered under three definitions : first, buds 

 which contain the rudiments and organization of fruits only, 

 as the Cherry, Plum, and Pear; second, buds which con- 

 tain the blossom and wood-buds under the same covering, as 

 the Grape, and most other trailing vines ; and thirdly, those 

 which contain all the rudiments of a young plant in embryo, 

 as the Cherry, Plum, and Pear, which are called wood-buds. 



Nature has carefully protected "those precious appendages 

 of plants, by covering them with a hard, scaly substance out- 

 wardly, and a woolly substance inwardly, to protect the more 

 tender parts. 



It will be found by a due observance of buds, that those 

 which produce the fruit are the most delicate, and of course 

 the most liable to injury by drought, cold, and the many 

 causes inimical to them; hence the Peach, and many other 

 fruit trees require protection during the winter in the North- 

 ern states, particularly those that have been grown under 

 glass, the buds of which are always more delicate than when 

 the tree is wholly exposed. 



