OPENING BUDS 33 



be able to see the various ways in which the individual leaves are 

 protected, folded, and packed. We know beforehand which buds 

 are sticky and preserved from the wet by resinous material, as is the 

 case of the horse-chestnut, but now we shall be able to see how many 

 scale leaves have been specially formed to wrap up the delicate 

 foliage and, maybe, flowers within. 



An interesting piece of work may be done in discovering the 

 particular parts of the tree, which in various cases produce the 

 flower bud. Such knowledge is of use to the horticulturist, and it 

 will not be amiss to study fruit trees from the point of view sug- 

 gested in connection with the garden. The cherry tree offers a very 

 good example of branches specially concerned with the growth of 

 fruit and content to increase but an inch or less each season for 

 many years, unless some accident happen to their more rapidly 

 growing brethren. 



It may be advisable to urge upon the young photographer who 

 wishes to make records from time to time, the necessity of placing 

 behind his chosen bud a suitable background, not only for the pur- 

 pose of making a contrast but in order to hide any branches and 

 other objects which, being near at hand, would needlessly complicate 

 the picture and obscure its meaning or, being out of focus, would 

 give a blurred and ugly image. 



The thorough student will see that all his pictures are made at 

 the same distance from his subject and from the same point of view. 

 Furthermore, as an opening bud of flower increases very much in 

 size during the process, allowance must be made for this when taking 

 the first pictures of the bud ; these must necessarily be small com- 

 pared with the size of the plates chosen. 



Before leaving this subject we may allude to a method adopted 

 by Mrs Dukinfield Scott for obtaining a series of pictures of the 

 n c 



