April 1, 1885.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



AXILLARY BUDS ON THE QUALITY OF TIMBER. 403 



all may appear to have been under the same influences, but yet no two 

 of them grow up alike, either in size, aspect, or habit : one may get a 

 start and grow rapidly, the internodes will be longer, the buds in the 

 axils will be developed with regularity, the whole contour of the tree 

 will be symmetrical and noble, and the timber will be sound and clean. 

 Its commercial value can also be reckoned pretty accurately by the 

 merest novice. 



A second acorn having germinated begins very early to show a 

 marked difference in habit ; the'internodes are unusually shortened and 

 thickened, the tree takes a dwarfed and spreading appearance, with the 

 foliage most dense ; at an early period the lateral buds would compete 

 with the terminal. From this tree we should expect a very different 

 quality of timber from the preceding, nor should we be disap- 

 pointed. The wood will be found more dense, the specific gravity 

 greater, and the grain more wavy and intricate, owing, perhaps, to the 

 compression of the spiral. 



Yet another acorn germinates, and makes a few leaves the first 

 season, but somehow is deficient in vigour ; some of the buds are arrested 

 in the second season, so that we get less wood deposited than we should 

 have had if all the buds had been developed,; subsequently, these early 

 misfortunes influence and eventually give a character to the tree. A 

 tree growing slowly is more subject to accidents than one which grows 

 rapidly or even at the normal rate : thus, larvsa may denude the 

 branches of leaves and eat out the buds, or all the growing parts may 

 be predisposed to disease. These early influence* produce great results 

 in the wood, increasing trie variety of the grain and beauty of the 

 colouring in woods that are of value for show. 



Again : the power of the^ terminal bud is shown by the less amount 

 of lateral cohesion in wood near the centre of the tree to that of the 

 circumference, where the wood has been formed later, when the power 

 of the buds has become equalized. 



Connected with propagation, another point may he urged in favour 

 of bud influences. The Ericas, which are hard-wooded shrubs, with 

 very few lateral or axillary buds, are, of woody plants, the most difficult 

 to propagate from cuttings, and require years of practice before anything 

 like success can be attained. These few facts respecting the in- 

 fluence of leaf-buds on lateral cohesion, we will not, in the present 

 state of our knowledge, insist upon being of a sufficient value whereon 

 to found a theory, as they may possibly be only accidental coincidences. 

 Still, we think it proven that they are important enough to direct 

 attention to the subject. 



