XX VI The Fall of the Leaf 



EVEN in those soft and fertile hollows where 

 summer seems always to be preserved beyond its 

 normal term, the trees begin to show clear signs 

 of autumn decay in the week that sees the end of 

 the harvest moon. The frost or the heavier dews 

 of the lengthening October nights make the wither- 

 ing leaf-stems an easier prey each morning to the 

 sunshine or the autumn winds ; and each morning, 

 on the grey-beaded grass of the lawn, we can see 

 how the earth-worms are already busy at their 

 winter work of curling up the dead leaves into 

 crumpled cylinders, and drawing them down into 

 the mould to which their substance returns . Though 

 there are certain kinds of trees which are generally 

 the first to shed their leaves, the earliest decay 

 seems to be rather due to disease or weakness than 

 to represent a regular and settled stage in nature's 

 annual progress. Few of the earliest leaves to 

 fall go through the full succession of brilliant 

 autumn hues ; they drop from the bough in parched 

 and brittle inanition, like foliage scorched in a 

 fire, or like the soot-choked leaves of London 

 elms or planes. In many cases it is the pinch of 

 summer drought which strips the leaves from the 

 trees in this sombre and premature fall. Yet 



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