late last summer (and this condition is shown in Fig. 156). The part from _f_ to _h_,--which has just completed its growth,--is seen to have its leaves growing singly. In every axil (or angle which the leaf makes when it joins the shoot) is a bud. The leaf starts first, and as the season advances the bud forms in its axil. When the leaves have fallen, at the approach of winter, the buds remain, as seen in Fig. 155. Every bud on the last year’s growth of a winter twig, therefore, marks the position occupied by a leaf when the shoot was growing.--The part below _f_, in Fig. 156, shows a wholly different arrangement. The leaves are two or more together (_aaaa_), and there are buds without leaves (_bbbb_). A year ago this part looked like the present shoot from _f_ to _h_,--that is, the leaves were single, with a bud in the axil of each. It is now seen that some of these bud-like parts are longer than others, and that the longest ones are those which have leaves. It must be because of the leaves that they have increased in length. The body _c_ has lost its leaves through some accident, and its growth has ceased. In other words, the parts at _aaaa_ are like the shoot _fh_, except that they are shorter, and they are of the same age. One grew from the end or terminal bud of the main branch, and the others from the side or lateral buds. Parts or bodies that bear leaves are, therefore, branches.--The buds at _bbbb_ have no leaves, and they remain the same size that they were a year ago. They are dormant. The only way for a mature bud to grow is by making leaves for itself, for a leaf will never stand below it again. The twig, therefore, has buds of two ages,--those at _bbbb_ are two seasons old, and those on the tips, of all the branches (_aaaa_, _h_), and in the axil of every leaf, are one season old. It is only the terminal buds that are not axillary. When the bud begins to grow and to put forth leaves, it gives rise to a branch, which, in its turn, bears buds.--It will now be interesting to determine why certain buds gave rise to branches and why others remained dormant. The strongest shoot or branch of the year is the terminal one (_fh_). The next in strength is the uppermost lateral one, and the weakest shoot is at the base of the twig. The dormant buds are on the under side (for the twig grew in a horizontal position). All this suggests that those buds grew which had the best chance,--the most sunlight and room. There were too many buds for the space, and in the struggle for existence those that had the best opportunities made the largest growths. This struggle for existence began a year ago, however, when the buds on the shoot below _f_ were forming in the axils of the leaves, for the buds near the tip of the shoot grew larger and stronger than those near its base. The growth of one year, therefore,