The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1903-12-09
PLANTS WITH OILSKINS.
They Are Protected Equally Asainss
Damp and Droucht.

Damp and Drought.
Gather sycamore bud just before
1t bursts and look at it closely. You
will notice that it is enveloped IN
tough scales. There are either twelve
or fourteen Of these scales, which
make q close and complete covering
around every single Individual bud.
Strip them of, and in the very heart
YOU come upon two pairs Of what will
eventually be leaves tightly folded to-
gether.
Some Of these sycamore buds are
larger than others. These, on exami-
nation, will be found to contain
punches of flowers as well as leaves.
Sycanores, like all other trees, take
long time to make their ouas 1or
the following season. They begin ne"
growth. indeed, just as soon as they
have got rid of their old leaves IN the
Autumn, and go on quietly WorAlns an
through the Winter Hard frost WOULD
of course, kill the buds at once were
they not protected; while, even Il there
were no frost. the cold rains and togs
Of winter would rob the tender oegln-
nincs Of the new leaf. Bud scales,
therefore, are grown by the sycamore
and other trees simply to protect the
buds from frost and damp. They are,
in fact. a sort of combination over
coat and mackin' osh. When the leaves
break forth in spring-generally about
the middle Of April-the sycamore
buds shed their overcoa.s, which fall
off, and may be seen littering the
ground beneath the tree.
Every tree Of the kind known as
deciduous-.hat is, the trees which lose
their leaves in winter-acts in much
the same way as the sycamore; but
the form of overcoat is not always the
same. Beech buds have very tough
little brown overcoats, fringed with
white, silky hairs. The white willow
and some other trees also have hairy
or furry coats fer their young leaves
and flower buds. These silky hairs
entangle air just as animal fur does,
and so keep the buds from the cold
winds of spring.
All trees DO not get rid Of their
bud projections. The hawthorn, for
instance, keeps them on all the sum.
mer They open into small green
leaves, which do not fall until the
other leaves do.
Trees are very careful, as a rule, not
to dispense with their overcoats too
soon; but yet they are occasionally
caught mapping. In 1891, for instance,
there was a terribly sharp frost late
In the spring, and the beech leaves,
which were almost fully out, were
caught and nipped. For weeks after
ward the beech trees had brown and
withered look; but by the end Of June
fresh leaves pushed out from younger
buds.
Regular oilskins are worn by the
horse-chestnut Anyone who has
handled the bursting leaf buds Of this
tree knows how gummy and sticky
they are. The use of the gum which
/ .he coverings OF cheStnul DudS e&ude
is to protect them from moisture as
well as from cold.
Later on in the year plants need pro
lection against the sun, which would
otherwise take up all the moisture in
t::icc::l. leaves and wilt them. The leaf
of a cabbage has a mealy look about
it-almost as If it had been busted with
-four. Many grasses have similar
appearance. and so have the leaves Of
the Australian gum-tree. All these
leaves, if examined under the miscro-
scope, will be found 20 be covered with
a bloom consisting Of tiny needles Of
wax. This stuff has been exuded from
the leafpores in order to save the
water contained.