The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-29
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

active leaves. This function is not. as IS
so often said, to give shade, whether to
me plant itself or to man and beast. If
they shade the roofs and so economics
water, this Is only by the way. and not
the important role they play in the life
of the plant.
The plant gets its food from the earth
and the air. These are the raw materials
salts of the soil dissolved in water and
oxygen and carbonic acid gas free in the
atmosphere. These simple substances are
received in the leaves and spread out with
the green substances of the leaf cells to
the action of the suns rays, and are thus
converted into the complex organic pro-
ducts upon which the plant depends for
its growth and upon which animals can
live. The leaf green or chlorophyll is the
substance upon which all this complicated
chemistry depends, and has, therefore,
been spoken of as the most important of
all known compounds, for life as we know
1t could not exist without it. Without
light, however, and a certain high tenn
perature the chlorophyll would avail moth
ing.
Leaves may be likened not inaptly to
a factory or a kitchen, or yet to a labora-
tory, operating only in summer time,
when the sun is bright and the air Is
warm. Then 1t is that number of def
mite products are manufactured and trans
ported back through leaf stalk and stem
10 parts where they may be Immediately
needed for growth, else to be stored on
future use.
"As autumn comes on. the nights grow
chill and conditions become unfavorable,
preparations are set on foot to stop work
and to destroy the factory. AT this period
the factory is more or less filled with
manufactured goods and of waste or acct
dental products, the more important ones
of which are to be removed and saved be-
fore the factory goes. The most expen-
sive of all there is the chlorophyll This,
with starch sugars, etc, is to be carried
into the body of the plant. But they are
not transmissible in their present form.
They must be changed into soluble if not
similar substances, and so removed to the
places of storage. In this breaking up of
the chlorophyll especially new products
arise, such as microscopic oil drops and
certain fine granular bodies. These re-
tract the light and are the cause of the
color in the leaves, together with other
coloring matters dissolved in the cell sap.
In word, We may say that the color of
| fall foliage is due to waste products at the
| time the leaves are being emptied of val
liable material preparatory to being cast
off as dead tissue.
'The most brilliant display of color may
| naturally be expected after such seasons
| of active growth as ma the leaves StfOtl g
and fun We should expect the present
TO be a favorable year. as, since the
! drought of midsummer, the rains have
| been sufficient to restore the leaves to
! healthful activity. Frost is by no means
| necessary to start the color change, sim
ply cool or chilly nights are sufficient
| hint that the time is at hand to knock off
| work and to save Valuables Even in
midsummer the changes may be brought
! about by accident or unhealthy conditions.
| Wounds or disease win sometimes cause
| the most brilliant hectic colors even in
/ July.
1T is not strange that different kinds of
! trees should offer different colors, but it
| is a matter OF wonder that trees of the
same species should sometimes present
such variety. This has been attributed TO
| differences of soil, amount of water, ex-
! posture. etc. which may or may not be
| true 1t has not been proven.
THE claim that the color effects are
more vivid further north-in Canada for
instance-than in this latitude is to be adj
mitted. They have not in those Northern
| and russet colors TO dilute the effect of
| the fervid red maple, their predomnatng
| tree. Moreover, they are not subject TO
latitude. and consequently the cool au-
| tumn catches the leaves with richer con-
| tents, more color-forming material
I'm Maryland the trees which are most
conspcuously colored are the sassafras.
sweet gum, black gum, tulip tree, red and
sugar naples, sumaes and the virginia