1898 } THE SIZE OF EVERGREEN NEEDLES 429 
was observed in many instances; in fact it not infrequently 
occurred that zo leaves were formed during 1896, the apical bud 
having remained almost dormant through that year, and grown 
again normally in 1897. Since it was the weakness of the trees 
as a whole that found expression in the stunted needles, it was 
bound a priori to show itself alike on all stems and branches, of 
whatever order, and I have thought it worth while to show this 
only in table IV. It was equally to be expected that such pro- 
found variations in the strength of the plants would affect the 
stems and the leaves alike, and as all the tables show, this was 
found to be true. In some cases the effect was most marked 
in the leaves, in others, notably Taxus, in the stems. 
The growth of the stem in thickness was likewise uniformly 
checked. Thus inall cases the annual ring formed in 1896 was 
appreciably thinner than that of other years; which indeed was 
to be expected, as merely an unusually dry season is able to 
leave its record in a thinner ring. The leaves formed in 1896 
Were not only shorter but less in diameter as well, as is shown 
by the area of their cross sections. The leaves measured were 
among the largest of each year’s growth. The measurements 
Were made by drawing the outlines with a camera lucida on 
paper of uniform thickness and cutting out and weighing the 
sketches. 
On trees set out in 1897 (table VII) it was of course that 
_ Year in which the needles were dwarfed in length and diameter, 
4 and the annual ring remained thin. 
While the shorter stem-segments of the season following 
transplanting bore also- shorter. leaves, they were much more 
densely beset by them; so that in most of the tables the total 
humber of needles forrned is found to have been greatest in that 
year.’ I forbear to offer any hypothetical explanation of this 
interesting phenomenon. The number of needles compensates 
the plant for their lack of size, sometimes furnishing an even 
*MEIssNER sometimes confuses the internode with the year’s growth in stighhe 
“a internodes are much more conspicuously shortened after transplanting than is even 
© year’s growth, since their number is commonly increased. 
