Evening journal., 1921-10-24
NATURE NOW
ATLOVELIEST
Trees Don Robes of Glory
at Jack Frost's Magic
Touch
MASTER WEAVER'S
HAND is SEEN

The first frosts have come. and
the trees are putting on their robes
OF glory.
Some OF them are fully adorned;
others are slower. seemingly hesitant
to discard the green's OF summer for
the reds Colds, bronzes and deep
toned browns OF the autumn. and
seeming, too, to be tentatively try
ing first one and then another as IL
to see which will be the most be-
coming. as does the maid who ar
rays herself for the coming Of her
lover.
But whether fully clad in gorgeous
color or only partly so. the trees
are all beautiful now.
The gums were the first to turn.
After the first few cold nights. even
when the days were hot, they began,
and many days before the first touch
OF frost they did put on their robes
Of scarlet. as vivid and as tempting
as sin.
The others waited and then. when
the ground first showed white with
cold a week or so ago. they raced
TO empty themselves of their treas
ures Of color. The broad leaves of
the hickories changed to a brazen
yellow; the tulip poplars donned
deeper shade of the same color; some
OF the naples put on crimson, others
turned to gold and some took both
gold and crimson.
The oaks turned a bit more slow
ly but now are all red and gold. and
crimson and scarlet. with every
shade of brown from light tan to the
deep chocolate of good tobacco. on
many the green OF summer still
holds and all. no matter what he
color or shade, hold a glossy. me-
/ talic tone that will remain until the
heavy rains come and send the beau
tiful things showering to the ground.
And what is true OF the woods
themselves is true OF the ground be-
meath the trees. The earth is COW
cred with a carpet more fun Of
beauty than the most wonderful
weaver OF rugs ever saw in her
dreams.
II has all the colors OF the trees and
more. The fern-like fronds OF the
sumac have a red all their own. not
matched by anything about them.
The Virginia creeper. winding itself
about old stumps and crawling up
tree trunks. Is scarlet, while its veno-
nous half-sister, the poison ivy,
makes the fence posts seem like ,oi-
ums Of gold.
The huckleberry bushes are wear
ing gold and yellow, with a slight
tinge Of purple where the shade is
deep, and there is a trailing vine
that is showing a tiny flower Of blue.
Here and there is a clump OF daisies
that have forgotten summer has
gone and is still sporting the white
,, and gold; while the goldenrod rears
/ its tall, spiked head OF yellow.
In all this beauty. the creatures OF
the woods are busy. The gray squir.
J rels are scampering from one tree
to another, and II one stands silent
we can hear them barking with de.
light as they find their stores for the
winter. one of them will pick uI
a nut. turn IL round in his paws tol
a moment and. II II is sound. away
he will go with It TO his storehous'
= lN a MNAANM AANNs II IL - 4nnNuNA
he discards IL and hunts another
The squirrels knowledge Of wheth.
er nut is sound is almost uncanny
II may look to be perfectly good
from the outside. not discoloreu and
Of proper weight. but II Mr.. squir
rel throws it aside there is not th'
. slightest chance in the world OF iti
; being sound.
While the gray squirrel is storing
his supplies away in hollow trees
the little red squirrel is just as busy
-. gathering nuts and acorns and tax
ing them TO his storehouse under
ground. Both OF them say the WIN
? ter will be a severe one, for they are
q laying up greater stores than usual
D Moreover, there has been an abun.
r dant crop Of hickory nuts and
e acorns, and the chinquapin busho,
o have been fun this fall.
:. Since the blight struck the chest
nuts and killed all these trees. tn,
IS squirrels have had to do withou
q these. but they make up on othe
things. The gray SQUIRRELS have bee