TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION. 
43 
Tlie terminal buds of the apple are considerably larger than the lateral, 
:and are more globular in shape. 
The flower-buds are but little larger than the leaf-buds, but they are more 
regular in shape and usually a trifle longer. 
The Plum . — The two classes of buds of the plum are quite similar in shape 
and appearance. 
The flower-buds are usually a trifle the larger, and more oval, w T hile the 
leaf-buds are slightly smaller and a little more conical. 
The buds are borne as a rule, on spurs from one to several inches long, and 
on one spur there may be from two to twenty buds. 
Nearly always there is a leaf bud on each spur as a terminal, but occasion- 
ally the spur terminates in a flow^er-bud. Spurs occur on wood one year or 
i more old, and are seldom found on the last year’s growth. The leaf and 
flower-buds on the previous season’s growth are readily distinguished. The 
flower-buds are on the lower portion of the shoot and stand out at an angle 
of about thirty degrees from the stem. The leaf-buds on the upper portion 
are more closely appressed to the stem and are somewhat narrower and more 
pointed. 
In some varieties of the plum, as Coe Golden Drop, buds occur three in 
a place on the proximate half of the last year’s growth and all of these are 
flower-buds. The middle bud usually contains three flowers and the side buds 
two. The distal half of the stem bears one bud in a place and this is usually 
a leaf-bud. 
The Pear— The so called blossom buds of the pear are not strictly or exclus- 
ively flower-buds. Each one contains a cluster of flowers, but it also contains 
in addition, the embryos of five or six leaves which develop and form a whorl 
around the flower cluster. Until the time of blossoming these leaves are 
scarcely perceptible, and the buds bear ^he general characteristics of all flow- 
er-buds in a marked degree. No one could fail to note the difference in size 
and shape between these terminal mixed buds and the lateral leaf-buds. 
The number of flowers in a terminal bud varies from six to nine, and this 
together with the unusual size make these buds very interesting objects of 
study at any time during the winter. 
As early as November first, a miscroscopical examination will reveal the lit- 
tle nodules in which may be seen the minute pistils and stamens. The leaf- 
buds of the pear are somewhat uniform in shape, but their size is variable for 
different varieties. The material fruits of certain varieties are no more dis- 
tinct than are the buds of these varieties. 
Perhaps there is a more constant difference in the buds than is ever seen in 
the fruit. Probably the Bartlett and Kieffer present the extremes in bud 
variation. The flower-buds of the former are of medium size, short and 
thick, with a blunt or rounded apex. As a rule each bud contains nine flow- 
ers, and the scales are thickly lined with bronze-colored hair. 
The flower-buds of the Kieffer are large, long and pointed. Each bud con- 
tains eight flowers, and the scales are lined with a short pubesence. The 
'Outsides of the scales have a faint, red blush. 
The Cherry — Belongs to that class of fruit which produces buds one year and 
flowers the following. 
The buds are borne either on spurs or branches. Some varieties produce 
all their buds directly on the branches and have no spurs. 
Each flower bud has from two to five blossoms. There are often from three 
to eight flower-buds on a spur, with a leaf-bud as a terminal. 
