CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 297 
novelties which deserve to be studied and planted more than the 
larger and nobler evergreens. 
In conclusion, we hope that in canvassing a few of the qualities 
of evergreens as compared with deciduous trees and shrubs, we 
have called attention to the best qualities of both, rather than 
prejudiced any mind against either. 
Warmth of Trees in Winter and Coolness in Summer._ 
Our clear-headed horticulturist, Thomas Meehan, of Germantown, 
Pa., has treated this subject so well that we take the liberty of 
adopting his language. 
“ We all know that a stove throws out heat by reason of the fuel 
it consumes, and that in a like manner the food taken by an animal 
is, as so much fuel to a stove, the source from whence animal heat 
is derived, and which is given off to the surrounding atmosphere, 
precisely as heat is given off from the stove; but it is not so well 
known that trees give off heat in the same way. They feed ; their 
food is decomposed; and during decomposition heat is generated, 
and the surplus given off to the atmosphere. 
“ If any one will examine a tree a few hours after the cessation 
of a snow storm, he will find that the snow for perhaps a quarter 
of an inch from the stem of the tree, has been thawed away, more 
or less according to the severity of the cold. This is owing to the 
waste heat, from the tree. If he plants a hyacinth four inches or 
more under the surface of the earth in November, and it becomes 
immediately frozen in, and stays frozen solid till March, yet, when 
it shall then be examined, it will be found that by the aid of its 
internal heat, the bud has thawed itself through the frozen soil to the 
surface of the ground. 
“ These facts show the immense power in plants to generate 
heat, and the more trees there are on a property the warmer a 
locality becomes. 
“ Evergreens, besides possessing this heat-dispensing property, 
have the additional merit of keeping in check cold winds from 
other quarters, thus filling, as it were, the twofold office of stove 
and blanket.”* 
* Am. Hort. Annual, 1867. 
