Killing of Fruit-buds. 319 
maturely developed buds. At a, Fig. 51, is shown 
a section through a bud, as found in January of an 
ordinary winter. The bud scales overlap each other 
closely, and inclose all the more tender parts that go 
to make up the blossom. The pistil, that is to de- 
velop into the fruit, occupies the center, and is a 
somewhat flask-shaped body, while next to it are the 
floral parts, to which the stamens are attached. The 
stamens are small and almost colorless. Turning now 
to b, which represents a section through a half-opened 
bud, it will be seen that there is very little change 
in the pistil. This portion is the last to be affected 
by the modifying circumstances; but the scales are 
wide open at the top, the stamens have enlarged re- 
markably, and it is to their development that much 
of the opening out of the scales is due. It is only 
necessary, at this time, to call attention to the fact 
that the stamens are organs for the production of pol- 
len, and this flower-dust is only used to stimulate the 
receptive pistil into new life. And, while the growth 
of the pistil is mostly after fertilization, it is, however, 
true that during the time when it is receptive to the 
pollen it is most susceptible to cold and other condi- 
tions, and it is the portion of a peach bud that first 
manifests injury from frost or other exposure. 
“The inference is natural that cold can get into 
an open bud much more easily than a elosed one, 
but we need to look back of the visible differences 
to the vital conditions. Vegetable tissues in active 
condition are less able to bear extremes of heat and 
cold than those in a quiescent state. A seed, for 
