—Lowell.
LEAFLET LIX
MAPLE TREES IN AUTUMN.[77]
By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
(Compare Leaflets [XLVII] and [XLVIII].)
The hills are bright with maples yet, But down the level land The beech leaves rustle in the wind, As dry and brown as sand. The clouds in bars of rusty red Along the hill-tops glow, And in the still sharp air the frost Is like a dream of snow.—Alice Cary.
The hills are bright with maples about the time Jack Frost appears, and many people say that he makes the leaves turn red and yellow. Wise folk tell us, however, that Jack Frost is not the artist; that leaves change to autumn tints when their work is completed.
Boys and girls may not know that leaves "work;" yet all through the long summer days when you have been playing in the shade of some old maple, the leaves over your head have been very busy. Uncle John says that each leaf is a "starch factory," and this is true. Starch is necessary for plant food and it is manufactured in the leaves. The green leaves and stems are the machinery, which is run by sunlight. Look at a large branch of maple and see how the leaves are arranged to catch every sunbeam. The more light the green parts of the tree get, the more plant food can be made and the sturdier and handsomer the tree.
But the story of the way in which the plant food is made is a long one and not easy for young people to understand. This can come later when you have become familiar with the many interesting things that you learn by watching the tree and by studying with the microscope.