532 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
B©Yi§ is MLU1IM 
The Doctor’s Talks. 
Some letters that come to me simply ask ques¬ 
tions, others, while they may ask questions give 
me a hint as to what the boy or girl has been look¬ 
ing at and thinking about. Of this last kind is one 
from “H. D. B.,” which asks a good many ques¬ 
tions, but it shows that he has been using his eyes 
and has thought about what he saw. I shall not 
take up the space to print liis letter, but as 1 will 
let it suggest the topics for this “ Talk ” you can 
guess what he asked about. In the first place I 
can not tell him—no one can—why some 
Trees Drop their Leaves and Others Do Not. 
I can not tell you why snakes shed their skins 
and rabbits do not. In studying nature we must 
take many things as we find them. We can know 
the why and wherefore of many things, while of 
others we probably never shall know. But all trees 
—at least all of our northern trees—do shed their 
leaves ; some are longer about it than others, and 
We Call these Evergreens. 
Though these trees are never without foliage, yet 
the leaves have their time for dropping ; some last 
one year, others two, three, and up to ten or more 
years. The Palms, and other trees related to them, 
never shed their leaves, which hang on until they 
are beaten about by the storms, and wear out or 
decay. The leaves of most of our northern trees 
drop at the approach of winter. They have clone 
their work, are ripe, and are ready to fall. Do you 
know what their task is ? I can not now say more 
than it is to work over and prepare the crude liquid 
which the roots take up from the ground that it may 
be fitted to use iu the growth of the tree. Im¬ 
mense quantities of water are given off by the 
leaves—evaporated just as much as if the water had 
been put into the tea-kettle and boiled away. You 
know that water often leaves a crust on the inside 
of the tea-kettle. In some such manner the deli¬ 
cate cells in the leaf become encrusted, they are 
at length clogged, and being of no further use, are 
ready to fall. You know that in summer a leaf 
clings firmly to the twig, and in autumn it falls at 
a slight touch, or a breath of wind. 
The Fall of the Leaf 
is provided for long beforehand. Earlier in the 
season a line forms at the base of the leaf-stalk, 
showing just where it will break away, and a grad¬ 
ual separation between the parts of 
the leaf-stalk and of the tree takes j 
place, so that when all is ready the i 
leaf comes away, leaving a clean, 
smooth scar—no ragged, bungling- 
work. You can see these scars on 
most trees, and some are plain for 
several years. Especially large scars 
are seen on the twigs of the Hickory, 
Horse-Chestnut, and others. As you 
examine the trees, now that the leaves 
have fallen, what do you find ? Take 
a twig of Horse-Chestnut, like figure 
1. It is something more than a mere 
stick. What is that handsome knob 
at the end, and the smaller ones 
along the sides ? You need not to be 
told that these are Buds. 
What are Buds—what are they For? 
But before we try to answer this, 
let me say that you will find a great 
variety in the buds on the trees ; all 
ore not so large and rounded as those 
of the Horse-Chestnut. The Beech, 
for example, has long and pointed 
buds. The buds of the Beech are 
covered with a dry papery coating ; those of Horse- 
Chestnut, and especially of the Balm of Gilead 
Poplar, are shining and sometimes sticky, as if 
varnished. By observing these differences you will 
soon be able to know trees by their buds as readily 
as the. woodsmen do by the bark. If you have 
watched the woods in spring there will be a day on 
which you can see a tint of green, and then a few 
Fig. 1. 
days after, the branches are no longer seen at a dis¬ 
tance, but the whole is clothed in green leaves. 
Where did these Leaves Come from ? 
Go to the trees and you will see. In place of the 
buds, you find young shoots, each bearing tender 
green leaves. The coverings of the buds have been 
broken, and have mostly fallen away, and a green 
shoot has pushed out. You will wonder if this 
shoot and its leaves were concealed within the bud. 
Yes, in some shape all this sudden display of 
leafage whicli bursts upon us with so much beauty 
and is so welcome in spring, has been sleeping in 
the bud all the winter. In some buds the leaves 
are well formed, though thin and small; in others 
less perfect, but there in some shape. In the win¬ 
ter you can tell by cutting open the Horse-Chestnut 
bud for example, just hov r many leaves the shoot 
would have,for they are all there 
in miniature packed away close¬ 
ly in their varnished case. Even 
the flowers may be seen in the 
buds of some trees—very small, 
to be sure, but the beginnings of 
flowers. The leaves on a tree 
are separated by a longer or 
shorter portion of the stem. 
The point where a leaf or a pair 
of leaves is attached to the stem 
is called the node, and the spaces 
between the internode. In a 
bud the internode is hardly to 
Fig. 2.— section -p e seen — so s hort that the 
or a bdd. leaves apparently touch one 
another. When growth begins in spring, it con¬ 
sists largely of the 
Lengthening of these Short Internodes. 
—hence in most trees the growth in length for the 
season takes place very rapidly. When this has 
been made, and the leaves reach their full size, 
there is a long time, several mouths, in which the 
tree appears to be doing nothing. But important 
work is quietly going on, a part of which is 
To Prepare for Next Year’s Growth. 
After a while you will find a bud (or buds) appear 
at the base of each leaf-stalk, and a larger bud is 
formed at the very end of the stem. These gradu¬ 
ally increase in size, and by the time the leaves 
fall, the twig or part of the stem that has made its 
growth this year will present a similar appearance 
to the one noticed the winter before. This prep¬ 
aration for the next year’s growth, which is shown 
in such a striking manner in trees, takes places in 
other plants, iu the cabbage for example. At first 
the cabbage bears a number of flat open leaves ; the 
later leaves curl towards one another and wrap one 
another closely, or, as we say, it heads. In reality 
A Cabbage Head is a Terminal Bud. 
If you cut open a cabbage, as in figure 3, you will 
see that, like the Horse-Chestnut bud, it consists 
of small leaves packed closely together. Besides, 
we find in the axils of these leaves small buds 
which are to produce flower stems. When the 
cabbage is set out in the spring, the stem does not 
elongate like that of the Horse-Chestnut, but the 
buds within start vigorously and push their way 
through the leaves, some of which loosen a little, 
and growing rapidly bear flowers and seeds. 
Our 1®sizzle Bux. 
EASY LETTER ENIGMA FOR THE LITTLE ONES. 
In good, not in bad, 
In gay, not in sad, 
In large, not in small, 
In gross, not in tall, 
In light, not in dark, 
In dog, not in bark, 
Iu barge, not in boat, 
In song, not in note, 
In grey, not iu red, 
In gold, not in lead, 
In give, not in spend, 
In grudge, not in lend, 
In ground, not in spade, 
In grown, not in made, 
In gate, not in latch, 
In hinge, not in catch, 
In lounge, not in seat, 
In grain, not in meat, 
In grief, not in joy, 
In girl, not in boy. 
Mrs. Mayo. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
1. I am composed of 13 letters : 
My 10, 5, 2, 1, is used as an ornament, it may 
cost less than a cent, or many dollars. 
My 10, 11, 13, 2, 7, comes from the farm. 
My 10, 4, 3, is forbidden in the Scriptures. 
My 12, 8, 6, is a fish. 
My whole is the name of a well-known states¬ 
man. St. Clair & De Leon. 
riddle. 
On with the carriage ever I go, 
Whether its course be rapid or slow. 
AVith my presence it cannot dispense, 
Tlio’ to be useful I’ve no pretence. 
On stony pave I clam’rously cry, 
But sunk iu mire more silent am I. 
Without me moves on the rolling sphere, 
But ever with shouting boys I’m near. 
We read, indeed, of music of spheres, 
If so, never reaching mundane ears ; 
Yet never a movement mortals make 
But 1 their ready tympanum shake ! 
Iu erashiug thunder I fear inspire, 
But ecstaey wake with touch of lyre ; 
My voice is muisc from lips of love, 
In wrath, as shriek of hawk to the dove. 
AVm. Hennessy. 
“what is it?” 
T hew I C Kedfle E W hen N Omaupur Sue T H. 
P. T. 
METAMOREMS. 
(About once a year we introduce our Metamorem 
Puzzles; and for the benefit of those who do not 
possess the necessary books of reference, we give a 
list of the Roman numerals with their value. You 
all know that M stands for one thousand, D for 
five hundred, C for one hundred ; but you may not 
know that every letter except J, U, and W, stood 
for some number. We will take the liberty of let- 
ting two 5s stand for W. 
Here is the list 
A=500 
G= 400 
N= 
900 
T= 
160 
B=300 
H= 200 
0=11. 
, orO 
V= 
5 
C=100 
1= 1 
P= 
100 
W= 
55 
D=500 
K= 250 
Q= 
500 
X= 
10 
E=500 
L= 50 
R= 
80 
Y= 
150 
F= 40 
M=1000 
S= 
7 
Z = 
2000 
(Example. —100002507= Cooks.) 
1. 20000100. 3. 100111900160. 5. 505001000100. 
2. 10015150. 4. 2501160500. 6. 5111501900. 
DIAMOND. 
Down. —1. A letter. 2. A grain. 3. One in great 
distress. 4. A bud. 5. A letter. 
Across. —1. A letter. 2. To build. 3. A slave. 
4. To put forth. 5. A letter. 
Henry Alice Donogh. 
■ PUZZLE. 
Take one-sixth of a dozen, five hundred aud one, 
Then add one more hundred to finish the sum. 
If you do it aright you will eertaiuly see. 
That fortunes have often been squandered by me. 
Answers to Puzzles in the October Number. 
Classical Acrostic. —“ 1 am monarch of all I 
survey.” 1. Ida. 2. Aricia. 3. Melpomene. 4. 
Mercurius. 5. Osiris. 6. Naiades. 7. Augias. 8. 
Rhesus. 9. Capricornus. 10. Horta. 11. Omphale. 
12. Feronia. 13. Alcon. 14. Lycaon. 15. Lireope. 
16. Icelos. 17. Sterope. 18. Uranus. 19. Rhada- 
manthus. 20. Yoluptas. 21. Electryon. 22. Years- 
ley (Anna). 
Anagrams. — 1. Necessitate. 2. Obtained. 3. 
Presidential. 4. Household. 5. Menagerie. 6. 
