The last shoot that I got that day has a whole volume of history in it, and I cannot begin to tell its story unless I should write a small book. But we will trace out its birthdays and see how many apples it has borne. It is shown in [Fig. 219], and because it is so long I have had to break it into several pieces to get it on the page. It begins at A, and is continued at B, C, D, E, and F.
Let us count the yearly rings and see how old the whole limb is. These rings are at 28, 26, D, 12, 1,—five of them; and as the shoot grew one year before it made any ring, and another year made no increase in length—as we shall presently see—the whole branch must be seven years old. That is, the limb probably started in 1890.[43] Let us begin, then, at A, and follow it out.
1890. Started as a spur from the main branch, A, and grew to 1.
1891. Apple borne at 1. This apple did not mature, however, as we can readily see by the smallness of the scar. In this year, two side buds developed to continue the spur the next year.
Fig. 219. A seven-year-old apple twig and its curious history. (Half size.)
1892. Ceased to be a fruit-spur, and made a strong growth on to 12. For some reason, it had a good chance to grow. Perhaps the farmer pruned the tree, and thereby gave the shoot an opportunity; or perhaps he plowed and fertilized the land.
In the meantime, one of the side buds grew to 3, and the other to 7, and each made a fruit-bud at its end.
1893. Shoot grew lustily,—on to D.
The fruit-bud at 3 bore an apple, which probably matured, as shown by the scar 2. Two side buds were formed beneath this apple, to continue the spur next year.
The fruit-bud at 7 bloomed, but the apple fell early, as shown by the small scar. Two side buds were formed.
The buds upon the main shoot—1 to 12—all remained dormant.