AUTUMNAL FOLIAGE 



yellow. The scientists tell us that the green 

 was always a compound of blue and yellow, and 

 that somehow at this time the blue gets away 

 and leaves the yellow behind, and that dying 

 chlorophyll is always yellow. When this color 

 is modified by the dying woody tissue of the 

 cell walls, which is brown, it becomes russet. 

 The color of dying chlorophyll, varied by many 

 causes of which we have imperfect knowledge, 

 ranges along the chord of yellow from the pale 

 tints of the Birches and Silver Maples to the 

 brilliant glow of the Tulip-Tree and the Poplar, 

 the deep orange of the Sycamore, and the golden 

 browns of the Oaks. 



The autumnal reds are a different problem. 

 It is known that the red is a liquid dye which 

 stains the cell walls, but exactly why it comes 

 or how it comes is not so well understood. It 

 is a result of a lowered vitality and is believed 

 to be due to acidity of the juices. Red leaves 

 can be found here and there at any time during 

 the summer. The baby leaf just coming from 

 the bud in many cases is red ; moreover, we have 



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