Colonial Garden-making 27 



war ; but an excellent demand for American shrubs 

 and trees sprung up among the officers of the British 

 army, to send home to gardens in England and Ger- 

 many. Many an English garden still has ancient 

 plants and trees from the Prince Nurseries. 



The " Linnaean Botanic Garden and Nurseries ' 

 and the " Old American Nursery ' thrived once 

 more at the close of the war, and William Prince 

 the second entered in charge ; one of his earliest 

 ventures of importance was the introduction of 

 Lombardy Poplars. In 1798 he advertises ten 

 thousand trees, ten to seventeen feet in height. 

 These became the most popular tree in America, 

 the emblem of democracy — and a warmly hated 

 tree as well. The eighty acres of nursery grounds 

 were a centre of botanic and horticultural interest 

 for the entire country ; every tree, shrub, vine, and 

 plant known to England and America was eagerly 

 sought for ; here the important botanical treasures 

 of Lewis and Clark found a home. William Prince 

 wrote several notable horticultural treatises ; and 

 even his trade catalogues were prized. He estab- 

 lished the first steamboats between Flushing and 

 New York, built roads and bridges on Long Isl- 

 and, and was a public-spirited, generous citizen 

 as well as a man of science. His son, William 

 Robert Prince, who died in 1869, was the last to 

 keep up the nurseries, which he did as a scientific 

 rather than a commercial establishment. He bota- 

 nized the entire length of the Atlantic States with 

 Dr. Torrey, and sought for collections of trees and 

 wild flowers in California with the same eagerness 



