42 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
The flower-buds of the peach are quite prominent from about February 1st 
in the vicinity of Columbus, and are often one-eighth of an inch long, with a 
nearly equal diameter. 
One who has not carefully observed the buds of peach trees would not be . 
conscious of the differences between buds of different varieties. 
A close observer, however, can readily determine varieties by the buds 
alone. But this requires a degree of familiarity with the peach of which 
few can boast. 
It is interesting to note that certain individual trees, and even certain var- 
ieties have a marked tendency to produce about the same number of flower- 
buds each year, and that these flower-buds bear a definite proportion to the 
number of leaf-buds. Careful estimates, including several distinct varieties, 
showed that the number of leaf-buds was from 35 to 46 per cent of the 
total number of buds. The average, 39 per cent shows that the number of 
leaf-buds is considerably less than the number of flower-buds. 
It should be remembered, however, that in a short time after blooming there 
are many more leaves than there were flower-buds, because a blossom bud 
produces but one flower, w T hile a leaf-bud may produce one or more leaves. 
The Apricot . — The fruit of the apricot tree is usually borne on spurs formed 
the previous season. The spurs are numerous and mark the position of a 
flower-bud the year before the spur started. 
In late summer and early fall all the buds on shoots of the present season’s 
growth are flower-buds which expand the following spring. 
In the fall and early winter small buds begin to be seen by the side of 
these flower-buds, and in the spring they develop quite rapidly. This is the 
beginning of the spur. 
On the lower part of the shoot two flower-buds usually occur in a place* 
and in such cases no leaf-bud forms. Sometimes three buds start from the 
same point, all of which are flower-buds. 
Whenever two or more flower-buds are found together, it is seldom that 
more than one ever expands into a blossom. The others drop off. In the 
apricot as in the peach only one blossom is found in a bud, while in the plum, 
pear, apple and cherry there may be two or more. 
The Apple . — Although the apple is the “world renowned fruit of temperate 
zones,” and more generally grown than any other tree fruit, very little has 
ever been published concerning the growth and development of its buds. 
During the growing season it is not easy to distinguish between the leaf 
and flower-buds of the apple. At this time neither position, shape, size, color, 
or any other characteristic is well marked. 
Later in the season, however, some differences appear. As a rule all rapid- 
growing shoots of the apple bear only leaf-buds. The flower-buds are almost 
invariably borne on the extremities of spurs or short twigs. These terminal 
buds change each year. That is, they are alternately leaf and flower-buds, 
elongating the spur or twig one year, and producing fruit the next. 
By this alternation of wood producing and fruit-bearing years, one can 
determine w r ith considerable accuracy how much fruit any particular tree, or 
any branch of a tree, has produced during a series of years. 
Whenever an apple has matured there is an enlargement of the stem. 
This is also quite pronounced in the pear. By carefully noting the size of the 
enlarged spur, and the scars at the end, one can tell with a fair degree of 
confidence whether the fruit reached maturity and the number there were 
in each individual cluster. 
