CHAPTER V 



THE PART THAT BURNS AWAY 



Apparatus required. 



Leaf movld, Movld from a tree. Peat About 



1 lb. soil from a wood, a well-manured garden and a 



field; also some svbsoil Six crucibles or tin lids. Six 



tripods, pipe-clay triangles, and bunsen burners or 



spirit lamps. Six beakers and egg-cups [Ij. 



In the autumn leaves fall off the trees and form 

 a thick layer in the woods. They do not last very long ; 

 if they did they would in a few years almost bury the 

 wood. You can, in the springtime or early summer find 

 out what has happened to them if you go into a wood or 

 carefully search under a big hedge in a lane where the 

 leaves were not swept away. Here and there you come 

 across skeleton leaves where only the veins are left, all 

 the rest having disappeared. But generally where the 

 leaves have kept moist they have changed to a dark 

 brown mass which still shows some of the structure of a 

 leaf. This is called leaf mould. The top layer of soil 

 in the wood is soft, dark in colour, and is evidently leaf 

 mould mixed with sand or soil. 



Leaf mould is highly prized by gardeners, indeed 

 gardeners will often make a big heap of leaves in autumn 

 and let them " rot down " and change into mould. If you 

 can in autumn collect enough leaves to make a heap you 



