110 
GLACIAL PHENOMENA IN MAINE. 
ries do not assume their various shades of red, 
deepening sometimes into black, or the plums 
their purples, or the peaches their velvety-rose 
tints, or the apples their greens, russets, browns, 
and reds, with more unvarying accuracy than 
the different kinds of maples and oaks, or the 
beeches, birches, and ashes, take on their char¬ 
acteristic tints. The inequality of the ripen¬ 
ing of the foliage alluded to above lias also its 
counterpart in the fruits. Here and there a 
single apple or peach or pear ripens prema¬ 
turely, while all the rest of the fruit remains 
green, or a separate branch brings its harvest 
to maturity in advance of all the surrounding 
branches. No doubt the brilliancy of the 
change in the United States, as compared with 
other countries, is partly due to the dryness of 
the climate; and indeed it has been observed 
that certain European flowers take on deeper 
hues when transplanted to America. But I 
believe the cause lies rather in the special 
character of certain American plants and trees. 
The Yirginia-creeper, for instance, which is 
much cultivated now in France and Germany, 
turns to as brilliant a scarlet in a European 
garden as in its native woods. 
