1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



319 



formed in the centra of an envelop of scales ; the 

 tuds were probably destroyed by a sudden change 

 of temperature last autumn, or early this spring, 

 and the powers of the tree which would have been 

 spent in developing them, have done the best they 

 could towards converting into leaves the hud- 

 scales, which in the natural course of things 

 would have fallen off soon after the opening of 

 the blossoms. On some of the later trees, per- 

 haps, a few blossoms can be found ; they are quite 

 numerous on a small tree, bearing sour cooking 

 cherries, in our garden, but many of them are 

 already decaying when but half-expanded ; there 

 are none at all on the other trees. Where they 

 do exist, they generally form clusters of two or 

 three together; around the base of the pedicels 

 we may see perhaps some of the bud-scales, them- 

 selves, but probably only the scars left by their 

 falling. Their function was, to enclose and pro- 

 tect the tender flower-buds, till they were ready 

 to push forth and unfold ; and now, when that has 

 taken place, having no more to do, they soon 

 wither and drop off. But when, as on most of 

 the trees this season, the flower-buds have .een 

 killed, and the regular order thus disturbed, the 

 scales, instead of falling oflf, retain their vitality 

 much longer than usual, and, as we have seen, as- 

 sume much the form of ordinary leaves. So 

 among insects ; the female moth or butterfly 

 lives only to provide for the next generation, and 

 dies soon after the deposition of her eggs ; her 

 body and its energies are devoted solely to the 

 formation, protection and proper disposal of the 

 eggs, but if prevented from laying them, she not 

 only lives much longer than usual, but is very 

 hard to kill, resisting a degree of violence and 

 mutilation, which would otherwise speedily de- 

 stroy her. 



We may, especially in the leaf-buds, remark 

 an unmistakable proof of the identity of bud- 

 scales and leaves, in the evident transition from 

 the hard, dry scales on the outside, to the more 

 leaf-like parts within, and so to the true leaves, 

 which are successively unfolded from the centre. 

 The first change from the outer scale, is the notch- 

 ing of the upper rounded end, to form three points 

 of nearly equal size ; in the next, the middle lobe 

 becomes more prominent, and in the succeeding 

 ones, this finally becomes the broad blade of the 

 leaf, while the two others remain small, as the 

 stipules or appendages of the leaf-stalk. One of 

 the best examples of this transition maybe seen in 

 the Sweet Buckeye, {yEscuhts parvifiora,) where 

 the top of one of the lower bud-scales is cut into 

 the form of a little star ; the scale next above 

 has the star more distinct, and so on till it has 

 become the largest part, and forms the fine leaf- 

 lets of the compound leaf. This transition from 

 bud-scales to leaves is also well shown in the li- 

 lac, though not in so striking a manner, the 

 leaves being of a much more simple form. 



Now compare a real blossom with one of the 

 collections of bud-scales which we find on the 

 cherry trees, and we may see that they diS'er in 

 some very essential particulars. The parts of an 

 apple, pear or cherry blossom, (for the three are 

 nearly related species,) are on the plan of fives ; 

 that is, the number of parts in any one of the 

 floral circles, is either five, or some multiple of 

 that number ; there are five pointed green sepals 

 outside as a calyx j then five rounded white pet- 



als alternate with them as a corolla, enclosing fif- 

 teen or twenty stamens, and in the centre, in the 

 apple, five pistils, in the cherry, one ; moreover, 

 the sepals are all on the same level, not overlap- 

 ping each other, except in the bud, and so also 

 the petals. Now if there is any regularity at all 

 in what we have been examining, there are three 

 inner pieces as a corolla, then three more outside 

 of them as a calyx, with a number of thin scales 

 below them both ; so that the parts would be in 

 threes instead of fives, a change for which it would 

 be hard to account. Having scraped away the 

 smaller scales outside, take off" the remaining 

 half-dozen one by one, passing round from right 

 to left, and we find that instead of each three be- 

 ing at the same level, each one stands just out- 

 side of, or lower down than the one next to the 

 left ; and that as we thus approach the centre, 

 they more and more resemble leaves. Again, 

 these two rows of three each are not really alter- 

 nate with each other, like the calyx and corolla of 

 a true flov/er, but the distance from each to the 

 one next within it, is just two-fifths of the whole 

 distance round the circle, so that the sixth stands 

 directly above the first ; this is precisely the ar- 

 rangement of the leaves on the stem of a cherry 

 tree ; if we begin with any leaf, and count round 

 in a gradually ascending spiral from right to left, 

 we shall find each leaf two-fifths of the entire cir- 

 cumference from the next above or below, and 

 that after going twice round, the sixth stands over 

 the first ; the numerator of the fraction two-fifths 

 thus expresses the number of circuits which must 

 be made, and the denominator the number of 

 leaves included, before we come to one immedia- 

 ately above the first. And the only diff"erence be- 

 tween the leafy branch and the small portion of 

 stem which supports the scales of the bud is, that 

 in the latter the stem is so short as to bring all 

 the parts close together, thus giving the appear- 

 ance of a flower made up of green leaves. We 

 have, however, seen that they are not flowers re- 

 verting to leaves, but merely the bud-scales en- 

 closing the true flowers, whose death has allowed 

 them to receive an amount of nourishment which 

 has more or less completely converted them into 

 real leaves. Burt G. Wilder. 



Brookline, Mass., May 31, 1861. 



For the New England Fanner. 



AGHICULTUKE, NOT COTTON, IS KINO. 



Messrs. Editors : — There has been much talk 

 of late about the claims of cotton to the kingdom, 

 but if cotton obtains the crown, it must be by an 

 act of usurpation. Cotton is only one of the off- 

 springs of agriculture, and if he, like Absalom, 

 rises up in rebellion against his lawful sovereign, 

 his fate will be that of other traitors. The reign 

 of King Agriculture extends over the whole earth ; 

 he rules strictly on the Christian principles of 

 benevolence ; he bestows his favors upon the just 

 and upon the unjust, and his bounties extend to 

 all who trust in him. The merchant is dependent 

 upon his supplies to freight his vessels, the man- 

 ufacturer for the many articles he fabricates into 

 the endless varieties of gewgaws and wearing ap- 

 parel, and if the natural productions of the soil- 

 may be included in the kingdom of agriculture, 

 he supplies the mechanic with all the materials 



