126 OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 



delphia had heard of it, and made a point of seeing it. 

 Its successive proprietors seem each to have cherished 

 the same enthusiasm that animated the first, and Wil- 

 liam Hamilton, who visited abroad during the Revo- 

 lution, added many rare plants and flowers, collected 

 at this time, to its already well stocked gardens. 

 Tradition has it that the Lombardy poplar was one of 

 these, the Ginko another; and that there were several 

 magnolias. 



John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall were both 

 friends of the later Hamilton and much of his success 

 may have been inspired by the counsel and advice of 

 these two famous botanists. The natural style, which 

 by his time was quite the rage, driving everything else 

 before it, found an ardent advocate in him, and 

 "Woodlands" was probably the best example of it that 

 this country possessed at the close of the eighteenth 

 century. Its trees were fine specimens and they were 

 said to be arranged with great skill, producing care- 

 fully considered effects. But we surely must wonder 

 a bit at the "naturalness" of the following: "Walks 

 unexpectedly ended where, as one stood, the vision 

 beyond was through a square or oval opening of leaves 

 that seemed a picture frame, so nicely were the 

 boughs trimmed to secure the charming vistas afforded 

 by the beautiful Schuylkill." 



The first botanic garden in America, planted by 



