Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-10-30
CHANGE THEIR COLOR
Mother Nature Laying Down Her Au-
tumn Carpet OF Vivid
Tints.


Il requires no vivid imagination to
picture Mother Nature going about
these days with a liberal supply OF
paint with which she colors the leaves
of the trees and other plants and
thereby produces the vivid tints which
characterize the foliage Of this sea-
son In reality the change in color
ing is the result OF certain chemical
processes which take place in the
leaves.
The change is not. as many people
suppose, due to the action of frost,
but is preparation for winter. All
during the spring and summer the
leaves have served as factories, where
the foods necessary for the trees
growth have been manufactured.
This food making takes place in
numberless tiny cells of the leaf and
is carried on by small green bodies
which give the leaf it's color. These
chlorophyll bodies, as they are known,
make the food of the tree by combin-
ing carbon taken from the carbonic
acid gas of the air with hydrogen,
oxygen, and various minerals sup
piled by the water which the roots
gather In the fall when the cool
weather causes a slowing down of
the vital processes, the work of the
leaves comes to an end. The machin-
cry of the leaf factory is dismantled,
so to speak, the chlorophyll is broken
up into the various substances Of
which it is composed. and whatever
food there is on hand is sent to the
body of the tree to be stored up for
use in the spring. All that remains
in the cell cavities of the leaf is a
watery substance in which few oil
globules and crystals, and a small
number of yellow, strongly refractiye
bodies can be seen. These give the
leaves the yellow coloring so familiar
in autumnal foliage
It often happens, however, that
there is more sugar in the leaf than
can be readily transferred back to the
tree When this is the case the chem
zeal combination with the other sub
stances produces many-colored tints
varying from the brilliant red of the
dogwood to the more austere red
browns of the oak. In coniferous
trees. which do not lose their foliage
in the fall, the green coloring matter
takes on slightly brownish tinge
which however, gives way to the
lighter color in the spring.
While the color of the leaf is chang
ing. other preparations are being
made At the point where tn estem of
the leaf is attached to the tree,
special layer of cells develops which
gradually sever the tissues which sup
port the leaf At the same time Ma
ture heals the cut, so that when the
leaf is finally blown off by the wind
or falls from its own weight, the
place where it grew on the twig is
marked by scar
Although the food which has been
prepared in the cell cavities is sent
back to the tree, the mineral sub
stances with which the walls of the
cells have become impregnated dur
ing the summer months are retained
Accordingly, when the leave fall they
contain relatively large amounts Of
valuable elements, such as nitrogen
and Phosphorus which were original
~ part of the soil. The decomposi-
ton of the leaves results in enrich
ing the top layers OF the soil by re-
turning these elements and by the ac-
emulation Of humus. That Is why
the mellow black earth from the for
est floor Is so fertile. But If fires are
allowed to run through the forest and
the leaves are burned, the most val
liable Of the fertiliing elements are
changed BY the heat into gases and es-
cape into the air AS a result. for
ests which are burned over regularly
soon lose their soil fertility even If
no apparent damage Is done to the
standing timber.