26th January, \. D. iSgg. 



ESSAY 



BY 



H. H. GOODELL, M.A., LL.D., 

 PiiEsiDKNT Massachusetts Agricultural Collfoe 



litem e : — Trees, FJoiners and Fruitu of the EcikI. 



As the traveller approaches the golden city of the East, — that 

 city perched on its seven hills and spanning two continents, — 

 two species of trees come prominently into view : the one the 

 symbol of life and perpetuity, the other of death and extinction ; 

 the one planted when a male child is born, the other marking 

 the last resting-place of some beloved one ; the one a giant in 

 size, shading with its outstretched limbs and broad leaves a 

 great area of ground, the other an evergreen, close and compact, 

 tapering up to a point ; the one, the Platanus orientalis^ the 

 plane or sycamore, and the other the Cupressus horizonla/is 

 and the sempervirens found in every Turkish cemetery. A 

 greater contrast between two trees cannot be found. The one 

 standing alone or in small groups, the other massed in such 

 numbers as to constitute a forest, miles in extent. Of the 

 former, two specimens arouse the attention of the curious sight- 

 seer. One stands in the courtyard of the Seraglio at Constanti- 

 nople, more than fifty feet in circumference and reputed to have 

 been planted by Mahomet II. in 1452, to commemorate the birth 

 of his son. In one of the great ravines dividing the hills of the 

 Bosphorus on the European side, in the valley of Buyukdere, 

 about fifteen miles from the city, stands the other, celebrated 

 alike for its age, its size and the historic memories that cluster 

 about its weather-beaten trunk. For two thousand years, 



