CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 297 



novelties which deserve to be studied and planted more than the 

 larger and nobler evergreens. 



In conclusion, we hope that in canvassing a few of the qualities 

 of evergreens as compared with deciduous trees and shrubs, we 

 have called attention to the best qualities of both, rather than 

 prejudiced any mind against either. 



Warmth of Trees in Winter and Coolness in Summer. — 

 Our clear-headed horticulturist, Thomas Meehan, of Germantown, 

 Pa., has treated this subject so well that we take the liberty of 

 adopting his language. 



" We all know that a stove throws out heat by reason of the fuel 

 it consumes, and that in a like manner the food taken by an animal 

 is, as so much fuel to a stove, the source from whence animal heat 

 is derived, and which is given off to the surrounding atmosphere, 

 precisely as heat is given off from the stove ; but it is not so well 

 known that trees give off heat in the same way. They feed ; their 

 food is decomposed ; and during decomposition heat is generated, 

 and the surplus given off to the atmosphere. 



" If any one will examine a tree a few hours after the cessation 

 of a snow storm, he will find that the snow for perhaps a quarter 

 of an inch from the stem of the tree, has been thawed away, more 

 or less according to the severity of the cold. This is owing to the 

 waste heat from the tree. If he plants a hyacinth four inches or 

 more under the surface of the earth in November, and it becomes 

 immediately fro-^n in, and stays frozen solid till March, yet, when 

 it shall then be examined, it will be found that by the aid of its 

 internal heat, the bud has thawed itself through the frozen soil to the 

 surface of the ground. 



" These facts show the immense power in plants to generate 

 heat, and the more trees there are on a property the warmer a 

 locality becomes. 



" Evergreens, besides possessing this heat-dispensing property, 

 have the additional merit of keeping in check cold winds from 

 other quarters, thus filling, as it were, the twofold office of stove 

 and blanket."* 



* Am, Hort. Annual, 1867. 



