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WISCONSIN STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY          79
BUDS
A. L SCHROEDER, College of Agriculture.
Buds represent the resting stages in tree growth and in fruit
production, and from that part of the tree which develops into
the fruit and branches. Because of this importance attached
to buds it is quite essential for any fruit grower to have an ade-
quate knowledge of where blossom buds are situated on the
tree, and also to have some idea of the kinds of buds. Such
knowledge will enable him to better judge what treatment is
necessary to maintain his trees in a profitable condition.
A few explanations of terms generally used will be attempted
before considering the differences in the fruiting habits of trees.
Buds are grouped usually in three classes, according to their posi-
tions, as, terminal buds, lateral buds and spur buds. Terminal
buds are found at the tips of new shoots. Lateral buds are
formed at the sides of new shoots, developing during the growing
season in the axils of the leaf stems, hence they are also called
axillary buds. Spur buds are found on spurs. Spurs are gen-
erally defined as short branches, usually developing from lateral
leaf buds. Spurs may occur on one-year, two year, or older
wood. One-year wood represents wood of the past season's
growth as distinguished from new shoots of the growing season.
Buds are also classified according to the kind of growth pro-
duced, as leaf buds, and blossom buds. Leaf buds produce leaves
and vegetative growth. Generally the term "blossom buds" is
used synonymously with the term "fruit buds." In this discus-
sion, the term "blossom buds" will be used, which will include
two types: 1. A simple blossom bud which produces only blos-
soms, such as we have in the case of plums and cherries. 2. A
compound blossom-bud which produces both blossoms and vege-
tative growth such as is found in apples and pears. It is im-
portant to remember that the fruit produced on a tree may not
represent more than about one-fourth of the blossom buds which
the tree bore, since the larger percentage of blossoms usually
set no fruit. Either leaf buds or blossom buds may occur later-