CHAPTER XVII 



ADVENTITIOUS BUDS 



BUDS such as we have been considering appear 

 in the spring and then spend the summer in 

 gaining strength, after which they remain stationary 

 and as if wrapped in deep sleep all through the win- 

 ter. The following spring they wake up and grow 

 into branches or blossom into flowers. It is plainly 

 to be seen that these dormant buds, as arboriculture 

 calls them in its picturesque language, must, in or- 

 der to withstand the summer heat and the winter's 

 cold, be clothed so as not to be parched by the sun 

 or killed by the frost. They are all in fact covered 

 with a wrapping of scales, and for that reason are 

 called scaly buds. Buds of this class are found in 

 the lilac, chestnut, pear, apple, cherry, poplar, and 

 in fact nearly all the trees of our country. 



"But if a tree can wait and devote a whole year 

 to the development of its buds, which are clothed 

 in a sheath of scales because of this waiting, there 

 are a multitude of plants that have only a limited 

 time at their disposal: they live only a year, and 

 hence are called annuals. Such are the potato, car- 

 rot, pumpkin, and a great many more. In a few 

 months or days they must hastily develop their buds. 

 These, not having to pass through the winter, are 



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