of the Northern Forest 73 



fastnesses of Mongolia and Manchuria, the vegetation 

 of which remains in a great measure unknown. 



The Ginkgo is beautiful at all seasons in its erect and 

 graceful habit, with widely-spaced limbs at first rising 

 but when mature gently drooping in wide spreading 

 curves. Its appearance is always impressive, the more 

 so in early autumn, when the entire tree takes a golden 

 tinge. When old it sometimes exceeds TOO feet in 

 height, with a trunk several feet in diameter covered 

 with rough grey bark, deeply fissured. The flowers are 

 not showy, but the fruits, borne freely upon fertile trees, 

 are conspicuous and like a small yellow plum, consist- 

 ing of a pulpy evil-smelling envelope of rancid flavour, 

 surrounding a sweetish kernel like that of the Almond 

 and not unpleasant to taste. 



Hardy throughout the south of Britain, its growth is 

 at first rapid when under the best conditions, but it is 

 long in reaching maturity, and even the oldest plants in 

 Europe have yet to attain their maximum growth. 



When a tree is rare or uncommon it often gets into 

 a staggy state in the nursery, and its increase by layers 

 or cuttings is also against success. We can never get 

 a fine tree in that way, and cutting propagators have 

 done much harm to forest trees. There is not the 

 slightest need for these practices, because, apart from 

 the abundance of seed yielded by the tree in its own 

 country, it seeds freely in the south of Europe. A hin- 

 drance to success is placing the tree isolated on Grass 

 (which gets all the moisture) or in a hungry shrubbery. 

 The conditions to ensure success are above all things to 

 get healthy seedling trees, not too large, and for position 

 choose a vale in a sheltered wood ; put enough plants in, 

 i. e. do not depend on one or two trees, but plant a bold 



