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Show ' WHY THE LEAVES TURN. t , TT'i-' the fall of the year every one admires the v ;" vast beauty of the variegated colors of the leaves - ; which Jack Frost has spent night after night in ; painting. But what causes the foliage at this time of ; I year to change from green to such magnificent colors? : The common Idea is that frost causes the brilliant f colors of the leaves. This popular fallacy Is without ' foundation In fact, for frost bus nothing whatever to : ! .lo with the delicate tinting of the leaves; It docst how- I ever, hasten their fall. You have only to go out In the T swamps and woodland a month before frost to find a I young maple in all of Its fall glory, or a sumack bush blaziug forth its llery leaves, to explode the theory that frost changes the leaves. Autumn coloring Is actually due to oxidization. : which Is caused by the action of light and hent, somewhat some-what similar to the rust on iron or steel. With leaves 1 ; It lb due to the fact that In fulfilling their mission they become choked by their own excretions, aud I he acids ttbuB formed arc acted on by the oxygen. It Is a pecu-.' pecu-.' liar fact' that young trees are the first to turn red In autumn. ij In extremely moist atmospheres the colors of the "j leaves arc not usually very bright, as lu England, And 0 In very dry climates the leaves dry up suddenly, nnd f their skin, which Is very thick, to prevent Uie cscnpo ' of moisture, is not sufllcleutly transparent to allow j the color to be seen beneath. In regions where the 1 autumn foliage is most vivid we tlnd that an average season produces the most cxqiIsUo colors. Neither a " a cry dry nor a very wet summer will result in much y brllllanc3 -f The extraordinary range of coloring In the autumn leaves, of a single species is very noticeable, partlc-l partlc-l , nlarly so with the sugar maple; and It In a remarkable b fact that Individual trees will continue the same colors It for year after year, nud not only that, but the same I ' branch will show the llr.st tiuge of color each season. J But frost doe not do this, it is the physical makeup B 'or Uie tree that causes the Joitvrs to shljie In Srldcceut K- bcautj durlnc the autumn months. |