Plants Prepare Efficiently for Winter

   The underground activity, the rising of the sap, and the welling of the buds, which prepare for the coming of spring, are not more interesting or efficient than is the manner in which plants shed their leaves, distribute their seed, and withdraw sap from the tender parts in preparation for winter.

   In spite of the fact that temperatures in the temperate zones in September and October are in many places higher than those for March and April, the plan processes of the two seasons are markedly different.

   Have you ever thought how marvelously coordinated are the processes represented in the shedding of leaves by trees? Pull off a leaf in mid-season and you leave a raw wound; but when the plant drops its leaves in due season, no wounds exist. This is due primarily to the fact that even while the leaves are in full vigor, the tree prepares to throw them off when their work is finished. This preparation for dropping them at the right time begins almost as soon as the leaf is fully mature. Quite early in the history of the leaf, a special arrangement of cells is formed where the leaf is attached to the stem, so when the leaf is dropped there is no open or exposed surface. There are few more beautifully or intelligently contrived processes in the natural world than this fall of the leaf with which the tree passes into its winter rest.

E. H. Ijams
(1886-1982)
The Reality of GOD
pp. 53-54

 E. H. Ijams (1886-1982) preached the gospel for 70 years to congregations in Memphis, TN; Nashville, TN; and Los Angeles, CA. He was a writer, and educator, serving David Lipscomb College (University) as dean and President (1934-1943). Ijams also served as associate professor of Christian Education at Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, TN.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE BOOK THE REALITY OF GOD  by E. H. IJAMS