the trees of great britain & ireland - Facsimile Books & other digitally ...

60 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland
Fortune x mentions that the tree grows to a very large size in the Shanghai district,
and in the northern part of the Chekiang province. The Japanese name Ginkgo
is their pronunciation of the Chinese yin-kuo, " silver fruit " ; but the common name
in Japan is i-cho.
INTRODUCTION
The tree was introduced into Europe about 1730, being first planted in the
Botanic Garden at Utrecht. Jacquin brought it into the Botanic Garden at Vienna
sometime after 1768. It was introduced into England about 1754; and into the
Unites States in 1784, by W. Hamilton, who planted it in his garden at Woodlawn,
near Philadelphia. It first flowered in Europe at Kew in 1795. Female flowers
were first noticed by De Candolle in 1814 on a tree at Bourdigny near Geneva.
Scions of this tree were grafted on a male tree in the Botanic Garden of Montpellier;
and perfect fruit was produced by it for the first time in Europe in 1835.
CULTIVATION
Ginkgo is easily raised from seeds, which retain their vitality for some months.
Female plants may be obtained by grafting. It is easily transplanted, even when of
a large size. Trees of over 40 feet high have been successfully moved. It thrives in
deep, well-drained, rich soil. It is useful for planting in towns, as it is free from the
attacks of insects and fungi; and the hard leathery leaves resist the smoke of cities.
It may also be freely pruned. It is of course best propagated by seed ; but layers
and cuttings may be employed in certain cases. Falconer (loc. cit.} says that it is not
readily propagated by cuttings, and that it took two years to root a cutting in the
gardens at Glen Core (U.S.A.). Pyramidal forms can be obtained by careful selec
tion, and the broad-leaved variety by careful grafting. The Ginkgo is well adapted
for cultivation in tubs or vases, and may then be trained either as a pyramid or a
bush.
The tree has a formal appearance when young, and is not really beautiful till it
attains a fair age. The peculiar form of the leaves renders it a striking object.
The foliage, just before it falls in autumn, turns a bright yellow * colour, which makes
it very effective in that season, but only for a few days, as the defoliation is very
rapid.
REMARKABLE TREES
Ginkgo is perfectly hardy in England, and, as a lawn tree, is seen to great
advantage. Many trees of considerable size occur in different parts of the country.
The best known one is that at Kew, of which a photograph is given (Plate 21). In
1888 it was (measured by Mr. Nicholson) 56 feet in height, with a girth of 9 feet at
1 See Fortune, Wanderings in China, U S, 251 ; Residence among the Chinese, 1 40, 348, 363 ; Yedo and Peking, 59.
2 There is no trace of red in the autumnal tint, as is usual in other trees in their leaves before they fall. The tint in
Ginkgo depends entirely on the yellow coloration of the disorganised chlorophyll corpuscles, and forms a beautiful object for
the microscope.
I
I
Ginkgo 61
a yard from the ground. It has a double stem, and in 1904 had increased to 62
feet high by 10 feet 4 inches in girth. Other remarkable trees near London l are :
One at Chiswick House, which measured in 1889, 57 feet by 6|- feet, and in
1903, 62 feet by 6 feet n inches; and another at Cutbush's Nursery, Highgate,
which was in 1903 56 feet high by 4^- feet in girth.
Ginkgo trees may be seen in the following places in London : Victoria Park,
Telegraph Hill, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Waterlow Park, Southwark Park.
At Grove Park, Herts, a tree measured in 1904 68 feet high by 8 feet 5 inches
in girth.
At Bank House, Wisbech, the residence of Alexander Peckover, Esq., there
is a tree which was 65 feet high and 7 feet in girth in 1904.
There is a very fine tree 2 at Frogmore, Windsor, which in 1904 measured
74 feet by 9 feet 3 inches, but divides into four stems (Plate 22).
At Barton, Suffolk, a tree planted in 1825 measured in 1904 50 feet by 2 feet
5 inches.
At Sherborne, Dorset, a tree 70 feet by 7 feet 7 inches in 1884.
At Melbury, Dorchester, the tallest tree in England is said to occur, being stated
to be over 80 feet in height. 8 The tree at Panshanger 3 is reported to be 70 feet
high by 10 feet at i foot above the ground. At Longleat 3 there is a tree 71 feet by
9^ feet girth at i foot above the soil.
At Cobham Park, Kent, a tree 68 feet by 9 feet 4 inches.
At Badminton, Gloucestershire, a pair of symmetrical trees each about 50 feet
by 5 feet.
At Blaize Castle, near Bristol, there is a good tree, of which Lord Ducie
has kindly sent a photograph and a letter from Miss Harford, dated December
1903, which states: "The Salisburia is, I am glad to say, in perfect condition, and
a very fine graceful tree. Its height, measured last summer, was 72 feet. I have
always heard that the one at Kew (which is not nearly so well grown) and the one
in the Bishop's garden at Wells came over from Japan in the same ship as our
tree." 4
In Wales the finest tree that we know of is at Margam Park, Glamorganshire,
the residence of Miss Talbot, which in 1904 was about 70 feet high and 6 feet in girth.
We have not heard of any fine specimens in Scotland or Ireland.
A curious form of the Ginkgo tree is reported 5 to occur at Cookham Grove,
Berkshire. This tree grows within 10 feet of the river wall, which surrounds the
lawn, and when there is high water the roots are under water for several days at a
time. The bole is only 2 feet in height, but measures 4^ feet in girth ; at that
point it breaks into many branches, some going upright to a distance of over
30 feet, while others grow almost horizontally, the spread of the branches being
45 feet.
1 The well-known trees in the Chelsea Botanic Garden and in High Street, Brentford, are now mere wrecks.
2 Figured in Garden, 1 904, Ixvi. 344.
3 Flora and Sylva, ii. (1904), p. 357.
4 Elwes has since seen and measured this tree, which he made to be 68 feet by 9 feet 3 inches, with a bole about 12 feet
high. 6 Card. Chron. 1 886, xxv. 53.