THE GARDEN PRIMER 



strongest buds become, in their turn, leaders. Some- 

 times there are several of these, sometimes only one. 



There is a third kind of bud which some trees and 

 shrubs produce in great abundance, following injury. 

 These, rising from anywhere on old branches or out of 

 the trunk itself, are called adventitious buds. They 

 simply supplement the work of the dormant axillary 

 buds, and hasten foliage renewal when large limbs have 

 been sacrificed and there has consequently been great 

 loss. 



Generally speaking the most virile strength of any 

 branch is nearest its tip. Growth proceeds at the apex, 

 with branching growths usually springing from the 

 axillary buds nearest the apex — the upper buds these are 

 called. Removing the terminal bud stimulates the 

 growth of these upper axillary buds — or the branches 

 which these have formed — ^because the supply of nour- 

 ishment to that particular stem has then to be divided 

 between only two buds, while before it supplied three. 

 It is seldom, however, that the removal of the terminal 

 bud alone will induce branching further down a stem — 

 otherwise that form of growth characterized as bushy — 

 though it may sometimes. 



The severe cutting back of privet in hedges is an 

 excellent example of what must be done to secure dense 

 branching low down on a plant; and it is also an ex- 

 cellent example of what will happen to a plant that is 

 pruned to excess. Privet branches are opposite each 

 other always, and two will appear immediately below 

 where a stalk is cut, while a third, lower down, will very 



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