(10) 



Two very interesting" questions naturally arise here : "What 

 became of the relatives associated with the Ginkgo in prehistoric 

 times?" "Why has the Ginkgo alone survived?" Any answer 

 would be necessarily speculative and would be too involved for 

 discussion here. The only thing that we know with reasonable 

 assurance is that the Ginkgo, which we regard as a native of China, 

 was preserved for us by the timely intervention of the Buddhist 

 and Taouist priests. For long ages it has been cultivated about 

 temples and shrines, court gardens of palaces and great mansions 

 throughout China as well as in Japan, where it was probably intro- 

 duced. It has been sought for by botanists in China but there is 

 no authentic record of its existence outside of cultivation. We 

 must then give thanks to the priests of ancient times who snatched 

 this splendid tree from extinction at some remote date and pre- 

 served it for us. 



From the Orient the Ginkgo was introduced into Europe and 

 then brought to this country, probably sometime during the late 

 eighteenth or early nineteenth century. To-day it is very widely 

 planted as an ornamental tree and has proved well worthy of great 

 use. In addition to its striking shape and attractive form, its prin- 

 cipal asset is its possession of an unusual combination of char- 

 acters scarcely to be found in any other tree. It is, so far as we 

 know, free from both insect and fungous attack. Moreover, it is 

 apparently unaffected by the poisonous gases and smoke common 

 about cities and so fatal to many native trees. Finally, it is quite 

 hardy as far north as Massachusetts, lower Canada, and southern 

 Minnesota and thrives on a variety of soils. 



The only objection that is sometimes raised against the Ginkgo 

 has its basis in the disagreeable odor emitted by the fallen fruit. 

 The fruit (really a seed) resembles a small yellow plum and its 

 fleshy covering is rich in butyric acid, which gives an odor of 

 rancid butter. This bad feature is apparent, however, only when 

 the seeds have fallen and is scarcely noticeable while they are still 

 on the trees. Furthermore, seeds as a rule are not borne until 

 the trees are from 25 to 40 years of age. In addition, the fruit 

 has been found to be poisonous to some, causing a very severe 

 skin irritation similar to ivy poisoning in many respects. The 



