FOLIAGE OF TREES AND PLANTS. 
51 
tion. Should they remain in any quantity beneath the 
tree, they appear to be injurious to the smaller herbage, 
but they are more generally dispersed as they part from 
the sprays by the gales of autumn, which whirl them 
along in crowds to the hedges, trenches, and ditches 
around : here they accumulate and decay, furnishing, in 
conjunction with other vegetable decompositions, a very 
nutritive earth, as is manifest by the wild plants grow 
ing in those situations, for notwithstanding all the ob 
structions of shade, thorns, and briers, they are gene- 
rally found in great luxuriance or health. This earth 
in time crumbled by frosts, and washed by rains into 
the ditches from the banks, becomes accumulated there, 
and we collect it, compost it with other matters, and 
use it as a beneficial dressing for our cultivated lands: 
many of these leaves, however, remain near the tree, 
and soon communicate their virtues to the herbage : 
some are consumed by natural consequences, others are 
attacked by small fungi, which break their surfaces, 
admit moisture, and facilitate decay ; the worm now 
seizes them as his portion, and having fed upon a part, 
draws the remainder into the earth, where a rapid sepa- 
ration of the parts takes place, and they are received 
through the roots into vegetable circulation anew ; and 
thus the beautiful foliage which has been so pleasing 
during our summer months, supplied the tree with sus- 
tenance to increase its magnitude, and all the requisites 
demanded by its fruits and products — has glowed per- 
haps with splendor, and been our admiration in the de- 
cline of the year, now returns to the soil, not to encum- 
ber it, but to administer health and vigor to a new series 
of vegetation, and circulate in combinations hidden from 
any human perception. 
By a very wise appointment, peculiar propensities 
have been bestowed upon the vegetable world, greatly 
assimilating to the tastes and inclinations of the ani- 
mated tribes. Beasts and insects feed on particular 
plants, and reject others, and the delight of one is dis- 
gusting to another. So, some plants, not having the 
power of locomotion, will thrive only in certain com- 
pounded soils, aspects, and situations, evincing a similar 
