THE GROWTH OF THE SHOOT FROM THE BUD 45 



give rise to a leafy or to a flowering shoot. The character of 

 the bud scales, the organs from which they are formed, and 

 the means by which they protect the inside tissues should be 

 investigated, and sketches made of the different structures, with 

 the date of observation. Then as the buds begin to burst 

 and the leaves and flowers come out, the buds should be 

 examined again, and the later stages of growth compared 

 with the earlier ones. It is a good plan to watch the gradual 

 opening of the bud and unfolding of the leaves from day to 

 day. The way in which the leaves are packed in the bud should 

 be noticed. 



In gardening, the effect of pruning will be found to cause 

 buds to develop which would not otherwise do so. The structure 

 of such buds, as those of Cabbage and Brussels Sprouts, may be 

 compared with the buds of shrubs and trees. 



BRANCHING. The branching of a stem depends on the position 

 of the buds and on which buds develop. As buds are situated in 

 the angle which the leaf makes with the stem, the branching of 

 a tree would normally follow the arrangement of the leaves. All 

 buds, however, do not develop, for if they did the shoots would 

 become overcrowded and would not get enough light. In the 

 elms, lime, and some other dicotyledons, the terminal bud is 

 suppressed and the axillary bud beneath it then swells and 

 takes its place. In such stems, the main trunk consists of 

 a series of branches. In time, the lower ones drop off ; the 

 bare portion of the trunk is then known as the " bole," while 

 the mass of boughs, branches, and foliage above it, is called the 

 crown. 



Another factor affecting the development of the branches 

 is the relative position of the leaf and flower buds. In some 

 trees, the terminal buds develop into leafy shoots. This is the case 

 in the Ash. In others, the terminal bud contains the flowers, as 

 in the Horse-chestnut, and growth is continued by the lateral 

 buds. This partly accounts for the difference in the shape of 

 these two trees ; the Ash, as we have seen, is more tapering than 

 the Horse-chestnut, which has its upward growth stopped, in some 

 branches at any rate, by the formation of the flower. 



