November 10, 1881.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 429 
myself planted, trained, and tended for a number of years. Can 
he ! If so I await proof of the “hundred times” better results 
of the " root-pruned and lifted ” trees on the Quince. I challenge 
him to produce them, and when he has failed, as he will fail, I will 
show him the other side of the question. I am simply on my 
defence, and it is for my assailant to prove his statement. 
There remains only one more question to deal with. After a 
peculiar allusion to the “splendid and splendidly trained trees,” 
1 am asked why such trees were grubbed up. Who told my critic 
they were “grubbed up?” All of them have happily not gone. 
Many trees have been removed, and properly, after being worn 
out by generations of good work ; many have been removed by 
mistake. I am able to adduce some rather striking evidence on 
this point also, but not now. In the first place I fear I am 
encroaching on valuable space, and in the next I am desirous of 
hearing further from your correspondent, who, I feel, has the ad¬ 
vantage over me as a writer, but 1 question very much if he has 
had better facilities for gaining a knowledge of fruit trees and 
their culture than has fallen to my lot during an experience of 
thirty-five years, even if I am “ no gardener.”— John Bull. 
THE MAIDENHAIR TREE. 
Several inquiries have reached us of late respecting this dis¬ 
tinct deciduous tree, and many sprays of it have been sent for 
identification, that we answer them and anticipate other inquiries 
by submitting the annexed engraving and extract from Messrs. 
Veitch’s excellent “ Manual of the Coniferm.” 
Fig. 70 .—Ginkgo BILOBA. (1) Leaf of sterile branch ; (2) of fertile branch; (3) male, or pollen-bearing flowers ; (4) female flowers; (5) fruit. 
“ In the Ginkgo or Salisburia we have a remarkable exception 
to the Yew-like aspect which characterises all the other hardy 
Taxads. So greatly does the Maidenhair Tree differ from all 
other coniferous trees, that its affinity to them would scarcely be 
suspected on superficial inspection. An examination of the 
flowers, and especially of the fruit, and comparing them with the 
same parts of the common Yew, will show, however, that the 
Ginkgo belongs to the same tribe, although an isolated member 
of it. 
“The fruit or berry is by no means common in this country, for 
the Ginkgo is dioecious, and the greater number of the large trees 
growing in England are staminiferous, or males. Fertile trees 
are still rare, and both kinds require in our climate to attain a 
considerable age before they produce flowers. 
“Not much can be said of the economic value of the Maidenhair 
Tree. The wood is yellowish white, with a fine close grain, and 
moderately hard. It is easy to work, receives a fine polish, and 
resembles in its general appearance citron wood ; it is more solid 
and strong than the ordinary white woods of Europe. The 
Ginkgo is peculiar among coniferous trees for the absence of 
resinous secretions. In China and Japan it is cultivated for the 
sake of its fruit, the nuts being much esteemed ; and in Japan, in 
Kmmpfer’s time, these formed part of every entertainment. 
“The Ginkgo is of geological antiquity. In the Miocene period 
it included several species or forms which were spread over the 
greater part of the northern hemisphere in company with the 
Glyptostrobus and Liriodeudron, trees that are still associated 
with it in its present habitat. 
“ Ginkgo is the Chinese name, meaning 1 deciduous.’ This 
name was adopted by Linmnus, and by priority of application 
should be preferred to Salisburia, the scientific name hitheito 
generally current in this country. It is called the Maidenhair 
Tree from the resemblance of the leaves in shape to the pinnules 
of Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, the Maidenhair Fern.” 
We have only to add that the Ginkgo biloba, or Salisburia 
adiantifolia, is one of the most distinct and picturesque trees that 
