AUTUMN LEAVES. 



bonus given for sparrows' heads is doing 

 much to thin their ranks, but in Canada 

 as yet no legislation has been made in 

 the matter. I would like to suggest that 

 this subject be made a topic for discus- 

 sion at our winter meetings of Institutes 

 and Horticultural Societies. 



In experimenting somewhat this year 

 in protecting insectivorous birds, I have 

 kept a gun in my barn and have shot, 

 or shot at, every sparrow that showed 

 his head on the place, at the same time 

 putting up nests and protecting useful 

 birds in every way possible. As a result 

 I have noticed more swallows in the barn 

 and more warblers, bluebirds, orioles, 

 etc., in the orchards than I have seen 



on the place for years, and more than 

 one stranger has remarked to me on the 

 number and variety of birds about my 

 trees. Would it be too much to add 

 that a heavy crop of plums, in an 

 orchard where the curculio, in spite of 

 our efforts, has always reigned su- 

 preme has convinced me of the profit 

 of protecting native birds. I might say 

 in conclusion, that I am confident that 

 if every farmer and fruit grower would 

 take the trouble to shoot off the spar- 

 rows about his premises, the present 

 regime of back aching spray pumps and 

 nauseous insecticides would pass away. 

 VVm. N. Hutt. 

 Southend, Otft. 



AUTUMN LEAVES. 



" Tp^ROBABLY not one person in 

 ^J^ a thousand knows just why 

 ,_i leaves change their color in 



the fall," remarked an eminent 

 botanist the other day. " When the 

 sap ceases to flow in the autumn, the 

 natural growth of the tree is retarded 

 and oxidation of the tissues takes place. 

 Under certain conditions the green of 

 the leaf changes to red ; under different 

 aspects it takes on a yellow or brown 

 hue. The difference in color is due to 

 the difference in combinations of the 

 original constituents of the green tissues 

 and to the varying condition of climate, 

 exposure and soil. A dry, hot climate 

 produces more brilliant foliage than one 

 that is damp and cool. This is the 

 reason that American autumns are so 

 much more gorgeous than those of Eng- 

 land and Scotland. 



" There are several things about 

 leaves, however, that even science can- 

 not explain. For instance, why one of 



two trees growing side by side, of the 

 same age, and having the same expos- 

 ure, should take on a brilliant red in 

 the fall and the other should turn 

 yellow, or why one branch of a tree 

 should be highly colored and the rest of 

 the tree have only a yellow tint, are 

 questions that are as impossible to 

 answer as why one member of a family 

 should be perfectly healthy and another 

 sickly. Maples and oaks have the 

 brightest colors. 



" People should be careful not to 

 touch the gorgeous red and yellow 

 autumn leaves of shrubs and climbing 

 plants which are known to be harmless. 

 Our two poisonous native plants display 

 the mo.st brilliant autumnal colors of 

 any species in our woods and highways. 

 The poisonous sumac resembles a group 

 of young ash trees. The poisonous ivy 

 resembles the harmless woodbine. Its 

 leaves, however, have but three leaflets, 

 while those of the woodbine have five." 



458 



