PREFACE 



IN THE following pages an effort is made to tell 

 of the intimate association of trees and mankind 

 from the earliest times. Simplicity combined 

 with accuracy has been the aim, and technical 

 language has been avoided. The opening chapters 

 treat of trees in general and serve to illustrate the 

 mutual dependence of the animal and vegetable king- 

 doms. The records of geology bear witness to the 

 continuous and progressive change in character of 

 the tree types, of the complete disappearance of 

 many, and of the persistence of a few from Coal- 

 measure times down to the present. The protective 

 influence of religion of many creeds is emphasized 

 by the history of the Ginkgo and of the Cedar of 

 Lebanon. The immense value of the Yew-tree to 

 the warriors of the Middle Ages and influence of 

 war-like migrations and wars of invasion in the dis- 

 tribution of fruit trees is told. As a corollary to the 

 development of the civilizations of the Orient and 

 Occident two parallel groups of fruit trees have 



