HABITS OF GROWTH 



209 



Fig. 70. Blossoming 

 apple spur starting its 

 fourth year's growth. 

 An apple has been 

 borne at A. 



(lateral buds) and at the tips of shoots, spurs, and branches 

 (terminal buds). Leaf buds are those from which a branch 

 or spur may grow, and are often more slender and pointed 

 than fruit buds. Fruit buds contain 

 the unopened flowers, and often rudi- 

 mentary leaves as well. Fruit buds of 

 the peach, apricot, cherry, and plum 

 contain flower parts only, while those 

 of the apple, pear, and quince contain 

 both leaves and flowers. 



Fruit buds are frequently borne on 

 very short growths or branches called 



fruit spurs. The 

 fruit spurs of ap- 

 ples and pears are 

 readily apparent by 

 reason of their 

 characteristic 

 short, crooked, and 



roughened appearance. Fruit spurs of the 



apple and pear normally make only a 



short growth each year, and the same 



^ ^ spur generally bears fruit only in alter- 



FiG. 71. Four-year- . ^tti. 



old apple spur This ^ years. When a spur blossoms, a 

 spur fruited at A and thickened cluster base bearing the blos- 

 secondary growth from soms and several small leaves is formed 

 the cluster base ex- (Fig. 70). Five blossoms usually occur 

 tended to 5, termmat- cluster, though the number varies 



ed by a leaf bud. The f^^^ ^^^^^ ^. j^^^ 



next year a straight . , ,P , ^ . . . 



growth was made ^P^^ Usually proceeds from a leaf 



which formed a ter- bud in the axil of one of the small leaves 

 minal fruit bud. on the side of this cluster base. This 

 side growth is usually spoken of as a 

 ^'secondary growth,'^ but may consist of only a small side bud. 

 This then explains the crooked appearance of such fruit spurs. 

 Usually a leaf bud is formed at the terminal of the secondary 



